Sir Tom Devine is the first Scots historian to win parliamentary award

Scotland's pre-eminent historian Sir Tom Devine has been honoured by a parliamentary group.

Sir Tom Devine, with his wife Catherine, receives the award from Nick Thomas-Symonds MP

The committee of the (UK) All Party Parliamentary Group on Archives and History awarded Sir Tom and archivist Bruce Jackson with its annual Lifetime Achievement Awards.

The winners received their certificates formally at a special lunch in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

Sir Tom who is Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh, is the first Scottish historian to win the award – Scottish archivist George Mackenzie is a previous recipient.

Sir Tom has written and published on all aspects of Scottish history, from the middle ages through to the modern day.

He is a frequent media commentator and active campaigner on issues as diverse as Scottish independence, protection of battlefield sites, Brexit, Scotland’s diaspora, and much more.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, MP, principal chair of the group, said: “Sir Tom has long been a top authority on the history of Scotland and expert at weaving a deep understanding of Scotland’s past into the debates that will shape its present and future. I am delighted that he is the first Scottish historian to receive the All-Party Parliamentary Group’s Lifetime Achievement Award and that his wife Catherine is able to join us in accepting it.”

The (UK) All Party Parliamentary Group on Archives and History has around 80 members and is a cross-party, non-partisan body that aims to support the record-keeping sector and promote the study of history.

The group was established in 2010 under the chairmanship of the (now-retired) Dr Hywel Francis, MP.

It has been co-chaired since the autumn of 2016 by Nick Thomas-Symonds, MP and Lord Clark of Windermere, PC, who said: “I am delighted that the All-Party Group has chosen to recognise Bruce Jackson’s contribution to the recordkeeping sector, notably – and I declare a personal passion here! – to the rich heritage of north-west England.”