Borrowers’ Register

Innerpeffray has one of Europe’s oldest surviving examples of a library borrowers’ register, dating from 1747 to 1968. Local people who visited Innerpeffray are recorded here, often in their own handwriting, and giving their address and occupation, as well as their choice of book.

Meet some of our Borrowers and read their Stories in our blog.

Browse a sample of pages of the register by clicking on the image of the entry.

An extract from the Borrowers’ Register dated 1793

Research

We are delighted to be working with the University of Stirling on research into the Register, supporting two PhD candidates to explore this unique record of book-borrowing. These researchers form part of a larger cohort of researchers working on historical Scottish libraries on the AHRC-funded project ‘Books and Borrowing 1750-1830: An Analysis of Scottish Borrowers’ project, of which Dr Katie Halsey of the Division of Literature of Languages, Faculty of Arts and Humanities is the Principal Investigator.

Dr Jill Dye completed her thesis on ‘Books and their Borrowers at the Library of Innerpeffray c. 1680-1855’ in 2018, and it can be read here.

In 2020, Isla Macfarlane began her research into both the Borrowers’ Register and Visitors’ Book for her thesis, currently titled ‘Books, Borrowers and Visitors at the Library of Innerpeffray, 1855-1897’. Elements of her research into visitors also feature as a series of ‘Visitor Vignettes’ in our blog.

Stirling University
www.stir.ac.uk/arts-humanities/

Is your family here?

Is your family here?  Are you searching for your family history in Strathearn, Perthshire or near Crieff?  If your family lived locally we can search the register and find out whether they ever borrowed a book. If you visit the Library and a record is located, we will also be able to show you the book (or books) they borrowed, and let you hold them of course!

More family history and ancestry information is available through the Local and Family History Department at Perth & Kinross Council.  Their friendly and helpful team will help answer you queries – find out more here: http://www.pkc.gov.uk/localstudies

Do you have an Innerpeffray Story?

Do you have an Innerpeffray Story?  We are always looking for stories, memories and reminiscences of time at Innerpeffray, whether of the Library, the School or just a prior visit.  Please contact us if you woudl be willing to share your story with us.