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Preserving the past

An illustration of paper conservation work being carried out on a photograph. A conservator is assisted by a red panda wearing gloves.

The archives of RZSS are now housed as part of the University's Heritage Collections, and a lot of work has gone into making the past accessible today. This page investigates how the archives were discovered, how they were conserved, and how they can be accessed today.

In this video, archivist Fiona Menzies explains more about how we have made the history of RZSS more accessible through cataloguing, conservation, and selective digitisation as well as sharing information on how you can access this archive collection.

Preserving the history of RZSS

Creator Juan Martos Diaz
Date 2025
Place of creation University of Edinburgh

Preserving the photographs of RZSS

A collection of just under 500 glass plate negatives were found in a filing cabinet at Edinburgh Zoo. Over time, the negatives had become stuck together, making viewing the images impossible. Following careful conservation by the RZSS project team at Heritage Collections, they can now be seen for the first time in 100 years.

Click on the images below to find out more.

  • A conservator sits at a bench inspecting a glass plate negative. Further glass plate negatives are neatly arranged in piles next to her.

    First, it was the task of project conservator, Amanda Dodd, to unstick the glass photographs which were incredibly fragile. Through skilful and patient work, Amanda was able to separate the photographs and re-attach any loose parts of the image. She then cleaned every single photograph and rehoused to keep them safe for future generations.

    Title: Careful conservation

  • To help more people understand the context of the photographs, it was the archivist’s task to find out more about who took them and when. Using evidence from across the archive and the images it was found these photographs were taken by Thomas Gillespie and his wife Mary Elizabeth Gamble in the mid-late 1920s. We are lucky to have two photographs of Mrs Gillespie; one where she is taking a photograph and another of her sitting on a bench at Edinburgh Zoo with her camera box.

    Title: Who, how, and when? Investigating the photographs
    Creator Thomas Haining Gillespie
    Date c.1925
    Place of creation Edinburgh Zoo; Edinburgh; Scotland
    Object reference Coll-2099/8/7/3/57

  • Finally, the conserved and catalogued photographs were then passed to photographer George Hodgson who digitally imaged the negatives. Using colour inversion, the negatives were rendered as positives which you can now see today.

    Title: Making a positive of the negatives
    Creator Mr & Mrs Gillespie
    Date c.1925
    Place of creation Edinburgh Zoo; Edinburgh; Scotland
    Object reference Coll-2099/8/7/2/71

How to access the archive

The archive is open to all researchers including staff, students, visiting academics and members of the public. You can view the online catalogue here https://archives.collections.ed.ac.uk/. If there are any items you would like to see in person, please contact Heritage Collections to book an appointment to view them our reading room. We also offer virtual reading room consultations if you cannot make it in person.

You can find out more about our wider collections and how to book an appointment here https://library.ed.ac.uk/heritage-collections

Set up for display and talk in the mansion house

Date February 2025
Place of creation Edinburgh Zoo; Edinburgh; Scotland