Museum blog

Discover what to see in the sky during March 2020, including the full moon supermoon.

In 1909, naval seaman Thomas Bouttell risked his own life to save a passenger who was fleeing a ship that was ablaze off the coast of Malta. For his bravery, he was awarded with the Royal Humane Society’s Stanhope Gold medal, which was donated to the National Maritime Museum some 60 years later. The accompanying certificate is part of the Caird Library’s manuscript collection (RMG ID: MSS/68/136).   

William Schaw Lindsay (or W.S. Lindsay) was British merchant and ship owner. He was a liberal MP for Tynemouth and North Shields, as well as Sunderland.Many of his papers and correspondences were purchased by the National Maritime Museum in 1988. The collection consists of nearly all of the papers Lindsay left to him family.

In March 2016 I released a Call for Participation asking Royal Navy personnel to share their stories of shipboard entertainment. One naval theatrical tradition I wanted to learn more about was 'Crossing the Line'

As long as there have been military campaigns there has been espionage. Here we look at some examples of written intelligence from spies which can be found in the Caird Library and Archive

December is busy for everyone with Christmas parties in full force. In the events world, it is usually the busiest time of the year as we race towards the Christmas break and find ourselves surrounded by all things festive. By January, most people are usually fed up with any mention of Christmas - but every good event planner knows that it pays to think ahead. Many companies like to get a head start on their Christmas party booking before all the key dates go. In 2020, these are set to be the 10th, 11th, 17th and 18th December.