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Our current sponsorship campaign focuses on our superb collection of early glass plate negatives. A total of 97 photographic plates require expert care from skilled conservators, including individual cleaning, repackaging and stabilisation of broken plates. There are 78 plates by Scipio Mactaggart depicting Inveraray and its inhabitants in the 1860s, and a further 19 from the Campbell of South Hall collection, which dates from the late 1890s and early 1900s.
Scipio Alexander Mactaggart was a man of many talents. Born in Campbeltown in 1812, he excelled in his studies as a lawyer, eventually becoming Sheriff Clerk of Argyll and Provost of the Burgh of Inveraray. His unusual forename was a legacy of his great grandfather on his mother’s side, Captain Scipio Duroure Campbell (1742-1794). Captain Campbell was himself member of a military family – his father James Campbell fought alongside Colonel Scipio Duroure in the War of the Austrian Succession, and James evidently thought highly enough of the Colonel to name his son after him.
Unlike his martial ancestors, Scipio Mactaggart did not seek to capture prisoners in war, but rather photographic images of the people and environs of Inveraray. His enthusiastic adoption of photography as a hobby in addition to his legal work has left us with a captivating visual record of the town as it was in the 1860s and 70s. ‘Adopting’ one of Scipio’s glass plate negatives will help fund their conservation at the Scottish Conservation Studio at Hopetoun House. Sponsors will receive high-quality digital images of their conserved plates, and their names will be recorded in the archive catalogue.
Would YOU like to help us fund this exciting project? Download the catalogue below to learn more and pick a plate.