I’m really happy to let you know that the Library has recently been able to purchase the extensive Stuart and Cumberland Papers from the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle, digitised for the first time by Gale. This fascinating digital primary source database has been much requested by both students and staff in HCA, as well as ECA and LLC, and I hope it proves to be a useful and well-used resource for teaching, learning and research.

You can access the Stuart and Cumberland Papers via the Databases A-Z list or the Digital primary source and archive collections guide. Access via DiscoverEd will also soon be possible.

This primary source database contains two remarkable collections, The Stuart Papers and The Cumberland Papers, available online in their entirety.

The Stuart Papers contains three generations of the Stuarts in exile, as purchase by George IV. Covering the history of the Jacobite movement from the Glorious Revolution in 1688 to the death of the last Stuart heir, Henry Benedict, Cardinal Duke of York, in 1807, The Stuart Papers provide intimate insights into the social, military and personal worlds of the Jacobite claimants and their followers. These documents include the private and diplomatic correspondence of James II alongside that of his son, James Francis Edward Stuart and grandsons Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) and Henry Benedict Stuart. Together with communications from the nobles, exiles, soldiers and spies who made up the European Jacobite network, this collection documents the attempts of the Stuart pretenders to regain the British throne, most significantly through the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745-1746, and provides a valuable insight into the daily workings of the exiled Stuart court.

Screenshot from The Stuart and Cumberland Papers.

The Cumberland Papers, the papers of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, the second surviving son of George II, provide a Hanoverian counterpoint to the Stuart Papers, and an unparalleled insight into eighteenth century military matters and British foreign policy. As Captain-General of His Majesty’s Land Forces, the Duke of Cumberland’s correspondence relating to Jacobites provide a vital piece of the jigsaw of eighteenth century British politics and loyalties.

You can access the Stuart and Cumberland Papers via the Databases A-Z list or the Digital primary source and archive collections guide. Access via DiscoverEd will also soon be possible.

The Library has access to a large number of digitised primary source and archive databases, you can find these on the Digital primary source and archive collections guide.

Access is only available to current students and staff at the University of Edinburgh.

Caroline Stirling – Academic Support Librarian for History, Classics and Archaeology