One Place Studies Directory

The free directory of one-place studies on the web

Category Archives: Scotland

Watercolour World

Watercolour World online database

Watercolour World have created a free online database of documentary watercolours painted before 1900.

Before the invention of the camera, people used watercolours to document the world. Over the centuries, painters – both professional and amateur – created hundreds of thousands of images recording life as they witnessed it.

Every one of these paintings has a story to tell, but many are hidden away in archives, albums and store rooms, too fragile to display. Watercolour World exists to bring them back into view.

For the first time, you can explore these fascinating visual records on a world map, search for topics that are important to you, and compare watercolours from multiple collections in one place.

Watercolour World hope that this project will not simply preserve the watercolour record but revive it, sparking new conversations and revelations.

Check out Watercolour World now to see if your One Place Study location is featured.

The Local Historian – free access

BALH (The British Association for Local History) has made all online back issues of The Local Historian (their quarterly journal) free to download for the duration of the pandemic crisis. Usually only those older than three years are available to access free of charge.

The Local historian - free access

Be sure to take a look. There are loads of interesting articles that may help your research or trigger ideas to pursue for your One-Place Study.

Click here to access back copies for download

NLS Maps new search function

The National Library of Scotland have added a really handy new search function to their fantastic NLS Maps website.

NLS Maps: new place name search

You can now enter the name of a little known place name and the function will help you find it on Ordnance Survey six-inch maps.

For example, if a census revealed someone was born at Scratchy Bottom, the search function will help you quickly find that place.

Try it now.

Or search our One Place Study Directory

British and Irish Furniture Makers Online (BIFMO)

The British and Irish Furniture Makers Online (BIFMO) project is a partnership between the Institute of Historical Research and the Furniture History Society.

The BIFMO mission is to serve as the one-stop definitive resource for British and Irish furniture makers from the beginning of the 17th century to the onset of the Great War, by providing the details of furniture manufacturers and suppliers: their organising structures, their clientele, the material they produced and the services they provided.

The newly redesigned search facility makes it possible to carry out both simple and analytical queries.  At the most basic level it acts as a searchable directory of furniture makers and associated trades, providing access to names, occupations, dates, the locations of artisans and tradespeople, the products they supplied and the clients and patrons they served. However, BIFMO now also has the ability to carry out statistical and quantitative queries to inform social and economic analysis.

Aerial Photographs – Britain from Above

The Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol, from the south-east, 1921

 

Britain from Above was a four year project (2010 to 2014) aimed at conserving 95,000 of the oldest and most valuable photographs in the Aerofilms collection*, those dating from 1919 to 1953. Once conserved, the images were scanned into digital format and made available on the Britain from Above website for the public to see.

*The Aerofilms collection is a unique aerial photographic archive of international importance and includes 1.26 million negatives and more than 2000 photograph albums. Dating from 1919 to 2006, the total collection presents an unparalleled picture of the changing face of Britain in the 20th century. It includes the largest and most significant number of air photographs of Britain taken before 1939. The collection is varied and includes urban, suburban, rural, coastal and industrial scenes, providing important evidence for understanding and managing the built and natural environments. The collection was created by Aerofilms Ltd, a pioneering air survey company set up in 1919. In addition to Aerofilms’ own imagery, the firm expanded its holdings with the purchase of two smaller collections – AeroPictorial (1934-1960) and Airviews (1947-1991).

Photochrom Prints (PPLOC)

Photochrom Print of Corfe Castle in Dorset

The Photochrom Print Collection, which forms part of the Library of Congress Print and Photographs Online Catalog (PPLOC), includes almost 6,000 views of Europe and the Middle East and 500 views of North America.

Published primarily from the 1890s to 1910s, these prints were created by the Photoglob Company in Zürich, Switzerland, and the Detroit Publishing Company in Michigan.
The richly coloured images look like photographs but are actually ink-based photolithographs, usually 6.5 x 9 inches.

Like postcards, the photochroms feature subjects that appeal to travellers, including landscapes, architecture, street scenes, and daily life and culture. The prints were sold as souvenirs and often collected in albums or framed for display.

There are no known restrictions on publishing.