Collection 08-012 - David Macmillan collection. 2008 additions

45 cm of textual records (2 boxes)

Trent University Archives received this material in 1990 from the estates of Dr. David S. Macmillan and his wife. Both Macmillan and his wife were deceased at the time, and the Archives believed Macmillan rightfully owned the materials, as he was a known collector of postal collections and historical documents.

Since then, Trent University Archives has learned that some of the material held by Macmillan did not rightfully belong to him. Since receiving this news, we have worked closely with archivists at the National Records of Scotland (NRS) to identify and return more than 3,000 documents from the Macmillan collections, which belong in archival repositories and private collections across the UK, including NRS collections.

The items returned to date do not represent the entirety of the Macmillian collection in the Trent University Archives. We continue to review the materials described in the Macmillan finding aids and do our due diligence to identify and return materials to their rightful owner.

If repositories review these descriptions and believe that material may have come from their collections, or can provide any insights into provenance, they are invited to email archives@trentu.ca.

Collection consists of disparate materials collected by Professor Macmillan who was a philatelist. The correspondence and documents pertain to writers in Great Britain and the British Empire. The subject matter ranges from military campaigns between the British and the French, mutiny in the West Indies and India and the sugar and slave trade in the West Indies. Subjects of letters include: battles in India, trade routes in West Indies and Asia; wars with France, Spain, and Austria.