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Born in Bergamo, Italy, in 1779, Giacomo Costantino Beltrami rose through the ranks of the Napoleonic judicial system at an unusually quick pace, becoming at the young age of 29 Giudice della Corte del Dipartamento del Musone in 1809. Along the way, he gathered not only a sizable fortune, but also a liberalized view of European politics and decidedly independence-minded beliefs about his native Italy, a hitherto splintered nation bandied about by a succession of empires (including Napoleon himself). With the final fall of Napoleon in 1815, he withdrew from his life as judge and turned to his farm and estate in Le Marche, the Azienda Agricola Beltrami. But Beltrami's activities in the French government administration and his liberal leanings had attracted the attention of the papal government in Rome -- who had newly reacquired Le Marche in 1815 -- and the former judge found himself on the other side of the docket, accused of being a member of the Carbonari, a group of independence seekers grown from Masonic ties which Beltrami himself held dear. For the next two years he fought to clear his name, bringing to bear in his defense not only his legal skills, but also his formidable social connections.

Inaugurated in 1921, the McCord Stewart Museum (formerly the McCord Museum of Canadian History) embodies the vision of a passionate collector, David Ross McCord, whose abiding wish was to shed light on the history and cultures of his country and thus bring its people together.In 1878, David Ross McCord began adding to the already considerable collection assembled by his family since their arrival in Canada. Sparing neither time nor money, he combed the length and breadth of the country in search of the finest and most historically significant objects. Gradually, a plan began to take shape in his mind: that of founding a national history museum in Montreal, then Canada's metropolis. On October 13, 1921, the McCord National Museum opened its doors, housed in a building provided by McGill University. Both its collection and its reputation grew rapidly.

Contact the museum directly for copyright permission.

The San Diego Museum of Us was formerly called the San Diego Museum of Man (SDMM).

Blair Castle is the ancestral estate of the Earls and Dukes of Atholl. It remains a private home, but is open to the public

GRASAC received permission to include Great Lakes items in the collection of the Duke of Atholl in the GKS through archivist Jane Anderson in April 2009. No MoU was required.

Blair Castle is the home of the Murray family, who hold the title of Duke of Atholl, though the current (11th) Duke, John Murray, (born 1929) lives in South Africa.

The Castle is said to have been started in 1269 by John I Comyn, Lord of Badenoch. It commands a strategic position on the main route through the Central Scottish Highlands. Lowland Clan Agnew held Blair Castle, seat of the Duke of Atholl, against the Jacobites who laid siege to the castle during the Jacobite uprising of 1745-1746.

Members of the Murray family  served in the British army and navy in North America during the Seven Years War, and the small but important Great Lakes collection now on display at Blair Castle was made by these men. A sister of the Duke of Atholl married the Laird of Invercauld during around this time, linking the Murray and Farquharson families.  There is documentation in the Blair Castle archives showing that at least one of the collectors of the Blair Castle items also sent things to the Lady Sinclair, wife of the Laird of Invercauld.