Description

Join us online via Zoom on Friday 17 April 2026 at 14:30 UK time to hear Murdo MacDonald speak about his latest volunteer project: cataloguing the papers of the Callander family of Craigforth & Ardkinglas.

The House of Ardkinglas was one of the senior most cadet branches of Clan Campbell. Sir James Campbell of Ardkinglas, 2nd baronet, died in 1752 without a male heir. His estate passed to his eldest daughter, Helen, who married Sir James Livingstone of Glentirran. Sir James took the name Campbell in accordance with his father-in-law’s will, and his grandson (the child of his eldest daughter Mary Livingstone and John Callander of Craigforth, Stirlingshire) eventually inherited both the Craigforth and Ardkinglas estates, becoming known as Sir James Callander Campbell of Craigforth & Ardkinglas.

The Callander Papers came into the ownership of Niall Diarmid Campbell, 10th duke of Argyll, through his role as curator (court-appointed representative) to his uncles George and Henry Callander, who suffered from mental illness. Duke Niall’s mother, Janey Sevilla Callander, was their half-sister. To pay off inherited debts the Ardkinglas estate was sold in 1905 to the Noble family and much of the Callander archive, together with some family portraits, were taken by Duke Niall to Inveraray Castle.

Murdo’s talk will look at the first stages in cataloguing this fascinating collection of family and estate papers in more detail, work that follows on from summary listings created by him for the National Register of Archives for Scotland in the 1980s.

Speaker Biography

Murdo MacDonald is a native of Kintyre, educated in Taynuilt, South Uist and Inverness. He studied Scottish Church History at St Andrews University and achieved his post-graduate diploma in Archive Administration from the University of Liverpool. His career as an archivist started in Carlisle from where he moved to Glasgow Corporation, and then to Orkney. He finally returned to Argyll in 1975 where he remained County Archivist until his retirement in 2006. In both Orkney and Argyll & Bute, Murdo was a pioneer archivist, gathering the archives and establishing a professional archive service. He now volunteers every week at Cherry Park, passing on his encyclopaedic knowledge to grateful archivists, volunteers and researchers alike. He is also the much-respected chair of the Friends of Argyll Estates Archives.

Key Info

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This event is FREE* for members of the Friends.

*Please note: Friends must be logged in to their web account to receive their discount!

Tickets for non-members are £10. Find out more about becoming a Friend here: Become a Friend of Argyll Estates Archives – Friends of Argyll Estates Archives