Exhibition Resources

The resources on this page are free to use and explore different topics represented in National Records of Scotland (NRS) archives. These mini-sites were originally produced for NRS exhibitions and provide information, images and other content created from primary sources in NRS records.

Take me to the online Prisoners or Patients resource

‘Prisoners or Patients? Criminal Insanity in Victorian Scotland’ was a partnership exhibition between National Records of Scotland and Professor Rab Houston of the University of St Andrews. Originally on display in August 2019 for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, this mini-site takes the stories of the criminal ‘lunatics’ featured in the exhibition, and examines the personal histories of crime, recovery and release recorded in the archives. It includes images of key records, audio excerpts and a free-to-download version of the exhibition for educational purposes.

Take me to the online Malicious Mischief? Women’s Suffrage in Scotland resource

‘Malicious Mischief? Women’s Suffrage in Scotland’ was the National Records of Scotland (NRS)’s 2018 Fringe Festival exhibition, marking the centenary of some women gaining the parliamentary vote. Originally on display in August 2018 inside the Matheson Dome, General Register House, this mini-site includes images of archival files which primarily relate to the arrest, prosecution and imprisonment of suffragettes in Scotland; a timeline of women’s suffrage; profiles of some of the key women represented in the records of NRS; and transcriptions relating to those women who boycotted the 1911 census.