Correspondence, research papers, photographs and audio tapes, 1904-1994, of Dr. Alice Gilmore Vines (1923-2009) relating to her PhD thesis on Margaret Ethel Gladstone MacDonald (1870-1911) and Ishbel MacDonald (1903-1982), James Ramsay MacDonald’s wife and daughter.

Dr. Vines collected this material in the course of her research for an intended biography of the two women. Over a number of summers she visited Ishbel in Lossiemouth and corresponded with her. Unfortunately, she had not finished the text when Ishbel died in 1982 and thereafter failed to find a publisher for it. Dr Vines lectured in British history at the University of Dayton, Ohio, in the USA. A great enthusiast for Britain, she spent almost every summer in the UK and retired to St. Andrews, Fife, where she lived for twenty years.

The collection includes letters from Ishbel to Dr. Vines and also from other members of the MacDonald family. Of particular significance are the manuscript notes of Ishbel MacDonald containing many recollections about her life and relationship with her parents. In addition, the 15 audio tapes are also significant as they contain interviews with Ishbel and read out extracts from her personal journals. The collection also includes some photographs and transparencies.