Mrs Rachel Hart
Senior Tutor
Research areas
My current role is Senior Tutor in Palaeography for the School of History. I am a recently retired archivist with 40 years of experience in the archive sector, particularly in university archives in Scotland where I have lived since 1985.
I hold a BA in History from the University of Durham and Master of Archive Administration from the University of Liverpool. I was elected FSAScot in 2023. I retired as Head of Rare Books and Archives in the University's Libraries and Museums unit in August 2023 having previously been Deputy Head of Special Collections at the University of St Andrews Library from 2007, and Senior Archivist (Keeper of Manuscripts and Muniments) here, leading the Archives Team from 2015.
In my earlier archival career I worked on a variety of projects as a cataloguer of family and estate papers, and in the local government and HE archive sectors as well as being a freelance archivist. I am active as a teacher of Palaeogaphy, Codicology and Manuscript Studies at St Andrews and for a decade I tutored the Scots Palaeography module through CAIS at the University of Dundee. Teaching has always been based on original manuscripts and books from the University's Collections which are used in class. I am active as a team-teacher, providing curatorial specialism alongside academic colleagues, with the aim of giving students the opportunity to encounter and engage with original manuscripts and books. I remain an Honorary Curator in University Collections at St Andrews.
Recent research has focussed on a 16th century Scots manuscript and the medieval records of the University. Currently researching the Scottish notarial profession.
Selected publications
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The records of medieval St Andrews in the University of St Andrews Library
Hart, R., 25 Mar 2024, New approaches to the archive in the Middle Ages: collecting, curating, assembling. Savage, E. N. (ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 151-167 17 p. (Studies in medieval history and culture).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Open access
Writing the law in late medieval and early modern Scotland: Regiam maiestatem, the Marchmont manuscript (now St Andrews MS39000), and its scribe, Robert Ewyn, notary
Connolly, M. & Hart, R., 1 Aug 2024, In: Scottish Historical Review. 103, 2, p. 203-235 33 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review