PUBLIC RECORDS (SCOTLAND) BILL. [H.L.] (Hansard, 11 February 1937)

§ LORD MACMILLAN

My Lords, before this stage of the Bill is completed, may venture to offer a word or two of comment upon it generally? Counting myself, as I am able to do, one who is deeply interested in the history, particularly on the legal side, of Scotland, I welcome the measure which has been put forward, but I should like to say this, that we can only accept it as an instalment of good things to come. When I notice, as I do, that the documents that are to be restored to Scotland as enumerated in the Schedule are nine in number, and that those nine documents are going to be handed back to Scotland in fulfilment of the Treaty of Northampton of 1328, I am impelled to say that it is tardy justice which gives us back one and a half Scottish documents from England per century, and offers very little consolation to those of us who desire to have back in Edinburgh the very large number of documents relating to the history of Scotland that are still here.

122 I have in my hand a long enumeration of documents of great interest applicable to Scottish matters which are still exiled in England, in unhappy exile in the Public Record Office here, longing, no doubt, like every Scotsman, to get back to their home in Edinburgh. These documents are not enumerated in the Schedule to this Bill, but I am happy to see, and I welcome it, the provision which is made in Clause 4 which says: It shall be lawful for any Government Department, board of trustees, or other body or person having the custody of any records belonging to His Majesty and relating exclusively or mainly to Scotland (other than the documents specified in Section three of this Act) to transmit such records to the Keeper. That is the Keeper of the Register House in Scotland. The authority of the Master of the Rolls is required to this effect, and knowing as I do how very broad minded the Master of the Rolls is in these matters, I am more than hopeful that he will interpret his powers generously. The process of restoration has been going on for some time, though very slowly, and I should like to take this opportunity, an opportunity I have not had before, of thanking the noble and learned Lord Chancellor in his previous more militant capacity as Minister for War for enabling, with the co-operation of the late Lord Hanworth, the very valuable series of the old Scottish fortifications which were in the War Office here to be restored to Scotland, where they are now available for those who desire to pursue that form of research. I do hope, therefore, that this measure, which it is a pleasure to commend, may be regarded as an instalment, as a bringing forth of fruits for repentance.

I would add, in conclusion, that in Scotland we are becoming, I hope, more alive to the value of our national documents and records. There is a vast amount of material lying in the Register House in Edinburgh unexplored, much of it of very great interest, a great part of it uncatalogued and unindexed and, therefore, really inaccessible to scholars. I rather lament that this Bill does not contain any provision relating to that matter. I hope it will be possible to do administratively what needs to be done, and that we shall have a very valuable piece of national work taken in hand, so that our Register House may show something of what I venture to call the perfection of the 123 English system of records, where all documents are so admirably and beautifully kept in the Record Office here which we have the privilege of seeing from time to time. Scotland, unfortunately, is not in that position. Not only are many Scottish documents here in England, but also those we have already in Scotland, those that have never left Scotland, have never been adequately handled or adequately safeguarded. Interest is being greatly aroused in Scotland in our historical matters. We have recently established a society in Scotland which is especially developing the legal history of Scotland, and which has been called after our greatest lawyer, Viscount Stair. I very much hope that this matter will not be left with this Bill on the footing that the Bill has, so to speak, completed the good work. There is still a great deal to be done before we in Scotland will be content with the position of our records. As I have said, I am very glad indeed that this much has been done, but I should not like the Bill to pass without saying how very much more there is still to do.