Papers of Lady Henrietta Gilmour, photographer, Montrave House, Scoonie, Fife, Scotland

Description Papers of Lady Henrietta Gilmour, photographer, Montrave House, Scoonie, Fife, Scotland

Date 1895 to 1909

Collection Papers of Lady Henrietta Gilmour, photographer, Montrave House, Scoonie, Fife, Scotland

Catalogue Number 551 152

Category All Other

Scope and Content This collection from one of Scotland’s earliest female photographers is comprised of glass plate negatives dating from c1895 to 1909. The collection features architectural subjects with a particular emphasis on Scottish country houses and thatched vernacular dwellings in the Scottish highlands. Many of the photographs were taken when Lady Henrietta was resident at Montrave House, Fife or while the family were staying at sporting estates in the west of Scotland in the vicinity of Glencoe, Fort William or Inverewe. People often feature in the photographs. Other subjects include church and school architecture, coastal scenery, harbours, piers, lochs, glens and antiquarian subjects. All the images have been digitised and are accessible online.

Archive History No formal accession record has yet been identified, but the county run catalogue numbers indicate that it had been acquired by RCAHMS prior to c.1983.

System of Arrangement The original glass plate negatives have been catalogued by county.

Related Material In 1978, Lady Henrietta's grandson, Sir John Gilmour, 3rd Baronet, deposited 1500 glass and film negatives and 145 lantern slides with the University of St Andrews, Special Collections (GB 227 LHG). Approximately 600 glass plate negatives were also deposited by Sir John Gilmour at the Scottish Life Archive at the National Museum of Scotland.

Access Conditions Open: digital copies of all images are available online. Note that access to the original glass negatives is subject to conservation requirements. Please contact the archive to confirm access in advance of a visit.

Administrative History Lady Henrietta Gilmour Montrave (ca. 1850-1926) was one of Scotland’s earliest known female photographers. She was also a pioneering winter sportswoman in the sport of curling. She was born in the province of Quebec, Canada to an affluent Renfrewshire family that had extensive interests in shipping, shipbuilding and Canadian timber. On the 18th of September 1873, she married her first cousin, John Gilmour at St Andrews Presbyterian Church in Quebec City, and then moved to Scotland to take up residence on one of the family estates at Montrave House in Fife. She took up photography after the birth of her seventh and last child around the year 1889 and continued to take photographs until 1912. She became Lady Gilmour in 1897 when her husband had a baronetcy conferred upon him by Queen Victoria as part of the Diamond Jubilee Honours in June 1897. Lady Henrietta Gilmour died at Denbrae, Cupar, Fife on the 2nd of January 1926 just 10 days after the death of her third son at Denbrae, Late Captain Harry Gilmour. They are both buried at Cupar Cemetery in Fife. A commemorative Gilmour family memorial is also located at Largo Cemetery, Fife.

Accruals No further accruals are expected.

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