C T Clough’s notebooks uncovered

Earlier this year an out of the blue contact from Rosslyn MacPhail (author of “From Fighting Napoleon to the Scottish Military Academy: The Life of Captain John Orr”) has uncovered a connection with C T Clough.  It came to light that Rossyln’s mother had helped a neighbour by the name of Flossie, who was Clough’s eldest daughter. In return for this help provided in later life, Flossie gifted the notebooks to Rosslyn’s mother.

They contain little sketches done in the field, while Clough was working in Scotland around 1895.  Now Rosslyn has asked if she could donate these sketchbooks to the Edinburgh Geological Society. Some examples of the beautiful illustrations are shown here.  They are mainly of Highland scenes and are believed to cover the period 1895-97.

This is not first time that the Edinburgh Geological Society (EGS) has seen such illustrations, as the British Geological Survey archives also contain other sketches done by Clough around this time. You can view some of these here.

EGS is extremely honoured to receive these documents and is currently looking into the best way to preserve them. It is our intention to ensure that the diaries are scanned and a digital format is available through the EGS website and potentially other sites.

We would like to thank Rosslyn, for her foresight in wanting these sketch books to be shared as widely as possible.