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Milk from the Kirkhill Dairy
2236 Milk being delivered by two milk boys on Victoria Road, Torry. The milk came from the Kirkhill Dairy, Balnagask. The photograph shows a horse drawn cart.
Ian Smith has kindly been in touch to inform us that the man behind the cart is his grandfather, Albert Corbett. He ran Kirkhill Farm for much of his life.
The golden anniversary of Albert and Georgina Corbett (née Todd) was reported in the Press & Journal of 9th September 1970, page 18. The article explains that the couple had left South Kirkhill Farm, where Albert had farmed for 47 years, the previous year, moving to 28 Leggart Terrace.
They met when Georgia, an Aberdonian, moved to Fraserburgh. Albert worked on his family's nearby farm, called Watermill, and delivered milk to Georgina's landlady.
After marriage, and before moving to Balnagask, the couple lived in Strichen and ran a diary there. The article concludes stating, both aged 71, Albert and his wife had two daughters, named Mrs Irene Smith and Mrs Ethel Douglas, and three sons, Bert, James and Alistair. They also had nine grandchildren.
A family notice from the 10th January 1978 issue of the same newspaper states that Albert B. D. Corbett had died after a short illness, aged 79, the day before. A service was held for him on the 12th of that month at the Aberdeen Crematorium, Hazlehead (West Chapel).
Ian also checked with family members and informs us that the boy on the right in this photograph is Andy Cowe, who later moved to Seattle, USA, and on the left is Jocky Milne.
The Ordnance Survey, 25 inch to the mile, map of Balnagask published in 1899 indicates that there was once three houses called Kirkhill in the area; North, South and East.
South Kirkhill was located on the south side of Balnagask Road, a bit to the east of Balnagask House and Mains. East Kirkhill was not far to the east, on the other side of St. Fittick's Road and North Kirkhill was up towards Greyhope Road.
Later maps tell us that the original South Kirkhill was demolished by the early 20th century and by the 1950s East Kirkhill had taken its name. None of the residences remain today, the area of North Kirkhill is now part of Balnagask Golf Club and St. Fittick's Community Garden is now roughly where East (later South) Kirkhill once stood. North Kirkhill used to be the home of the greenkeeper of the golf course.
The use of the name Kirkhill likely refers to the nearby old St. Fittick's Church and the hilly terrain of Balnagask and Torry. Stop 1: Marion Douglas, Lady Drum (1577-1633) and Katherine Forbes, Lady Rothiemay (1583-1652), The Town House
2300 On the ground floor of the Town House on each side of the walls hang the mortification boards. These boards form a public record of the mortifications or legacies given by wealthy citizens to Aberdeen Town Council for various charitable purposes. Many of the donors are women and two are of particular interest - Lady Drum and Lady Rothiemay. They were early philanthropists, aware of older women and girls living in circumstances locally much less favourable than themselves.
Lady Drum left money to provide a home for poor widows and aged virgins. This home known as "Lady Drum's Hospital" was built c1677 in what became known as Drum's Lane, just off Upperkirkgate and today a plaque marks its site. Lady Rothiemay had a turbulent life. Her husband and son were killed in a feud with a neighbouring family and she attempted to avenge their deaths. She was imprisoned in Edinburgh. Once released she lived in Aberdeen and founded Lady Rothiemay's School for Girls, in which she took a personal interest. The school moved several times, from Guestrow finally to Littlejohn Street. It was closed in 1873 when School Boards were set up to oversee primary education for the under twelves, following the Education Act of 1872
Stop 2: Katherine Humphrey (died 1830), the Gibbetstane, on road outside the Tolbooth, Castlegate
2301 The rectangular set of cobblestones or cassies outside the Tolbooth on Castle Street marks the site of the gallows in the Castlegate. It was on this spot that Kate Humphrey was the last woman to be publicly hanged in 1830 for murdering her husband James. Kate ran a public house with him in the nearby Bool Road and warned the magistrates of the 'evils of drink' in her final moments of life before she 'looked doon Marischal Street' - the local term for being hanged. Her body was sent to Dr Alexander Munro's Dissecting Rooms in Edinburgh. Kate believed she had been cursed when she was struck on the breat by the knot of the hangman's rope while witnessing Jean Craig's execution in 1784. Stop 4: Health Services for Women and Children - Agnes Thomson (1880-1952) Clementina Esslemont OBE (1864-1958) Fenella Paton (1901-1945) and Mary Esslemont (1891-1984)
2303 The first sick children's hospital on site of former Naval Surgeon's Dr Blaikie surgery on 6-8 Castle Terrace in 1877 extended to take in Castle Brae Chapel. An unsung heroine that worked on this site is Dr Agnes Thomson (nee Baxter) a graduate from Aberdeen University who served as an anaesthetist at the Sick Children's and Maternity Hospitals during the First World War. Agnes Thomson was instrumental in founding the Aberdeen Mother and Baby Home and volunteered her services to the Mother and Child Welfare Association, which was established to address the shockingly high death rate of babies and toddlers in the east end of Aberdeen.
Throughout her life, Clementina Esslemont OBE was a champion of liberal ideas and good causes and well known for her no-nonsense approach to social service provision. One of her principal achievements was the foundation of the Aberdeen Mother and Child Welfare Association in 1909, which played an important role in social service and public health provision in the City of Aberdeen until the creation of the Public Health Department in 1949. She was also involved in the establishment of a model block of tenements on the Spital, Aberdeen, in the formation of Aberdeen Lads' Club, St Katherine's Club, and the nursery school movement.
Dr Mary Esslemont, one of Clementina Esslemont's daughters, worked as a Gynaecologist at the hospital. Mary did much to improve the care and wellbeing for mothers and babies with her determination and hard work. As well as being the Gynaecologist she also ran prenatal and family planning clinics. Mary was an advocate of women's rights, health education and family planning. She was the first female president of the Student University Council and the first woman to be president of Aberdeen Liberal Association in 1954. Awarded the CBE in 1955, Aberdeen City Council bestowed the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen in 1981.
Aberdeen has also led the way in family planning with a remarkable woman at the forefront of fertility control. Pioneer Fenella Paton opened Aberdeen's first family planning clinic in 1926 at Gerrard street. The clinic, the first of its kind in Scotland, moved to new premises in Castle Street in 1948. But prior to these clinics and innovations in family planning there were large families and mothers that needed to go out to work and at our next stop an initiative was put in place to help these working women.
Memories:
Norma Michie speaking about Mary Esslemont
Audrey's memories of the Family Planning Clinic
Denise's memory of the Family Planning Clinic
Heather's memories of Ina Lawrence and the Children's Hospital
Alma Duncan's memories of Cocky Hunters Stop 7: Miss Bella Walker (1887-1962) and Miss Elsie Moffat (1894-1985) St Katherine's club, West North Street, (now Lemon Tree building)
2306 The next stop is the building now known as the Lemon Tree but this was built especially for St Katherine's Club as is still known affectionately by the older generation as St Kay's.
St Katherine's Club was originally set up in October 1917 for working class girls to have a comfortable meeting place away from the crowded and dismal conditions of their homes during WW1. Held in two rooms in a tenement in the Shiprow, the club was founded by Miss Bella Walker and Miss Elsie Moffat and they provided an environment which was at once domestic, educational and recreational. There were classes in home craft, art and craft, drama and literature, and physical education. The club grew to a membership of over 500 until it moved to the purpose-built YWCA building at 5 West North Street in 1937. It continued to grow and evolved as the needs arose. In the 1960s there was a greater awareness of adolescent, social and personal issues and the 'Open Club' was set up. In 1990 with the money from the sale of the building, the St Katherine's Trust was established and has met twice yearly to make financial donations to local organisations and groups.
Aberdeen Women's Centre, Shoe Lane (1989-2006)
In the former Caretaker's flat of the St Katherine's Club, Aberdeen Women's Centre offered a women-only space for women's groups and classes to meet. With urban aid funding came staff which included the city's first Minority Ethnic Development Worker for women.
Memories:
Memories of the St Katherine's Club 1
Memories of the St Katherine's Club 2 Aberdeen Women's Alliance: Bella Walker and Elsie Moffat
2339 A photograph of St Katherine's Club founders Bella Walker and Elsie Moffat. Aberdeen Women's Alliance: St Katherine's Club / Lemon Tree Foundation Stone
2340 The foundation stone of the Lemon Tree building on West North Street. The inscription reads "This corner stone was laid by Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal on 15th May 1936." Aberdeen Women's Alliance: Aberdeen Women's Centre
2341 A photograph of the building on Shoe Lane, at the rear of the Lemon Tree, that housed the Aberdeen Women's Centre. It was previously the caretaker's flat for the St Katherine's Club. The building later housed Aberdeen Childcare Services. Aberdeen Women's Alliance: Memories of Mary Esslemont
2353 Norma Michie speaking about Dr Mary Esslemont. Including her involvement in the Aberdeen Soroptimist Club. Aberdeen Women's Alliance: Memories of the St Katherine's Club 2
2358 Members of the St Katherine's Club give their memories. Aberdeen Women's Alliance: Memories of the St Katherine's Club 1
2360 Members of the St Katherine's Club give their memories. Acknowledgments
2364 How Aberdeen Women's Alliance City Centre Heritage Walk developed:
Following the group's involvement with Women of Scotland's Mapping Memorials to Women website (http://www.womenofscotland.org.uk/), with our partners at Glasgow Women's Library (http://www.womenslibrary.org.uk/),
at the Central Library in February 2013, we felt there was a number of women in Aberdeen who have made an important and significant contribution to the life of our city that we rarely ever hear about.
This inspired a group of volunteers to develop the Aberdeen City Centre Women's Heritage Walk.
By creating this virtual version of the walk we aim to share the many stories of these wonderful women and their achievements with as many people as possible. We also aimed to enrich the account of these women by recording, and making available, the fascinating memories of members from community members.
How to get involved:
Aberdeen women's history is still largely unwritten and not visible to the public. There are many ways women can get involved with us to address this. You are welcome help us with research or join our tour guide teams. If you have information that can be added to this walk, suggestions of how it can be improved, or memories you would like to share - we want to hear from you!
How to contact us:
Email: awainfo@btinternet.com
Postal address:
Aberdeen Women's Alliance
c/o Equalities team
Aberdeen City Council
Marischal College
Broad Street
Aberdeen
AB10 1AB
Many thanks to our virtual tour partners:
Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeen City Libraries
And special thanks to:
Aberdeen Local Studies Elim Pentecostal Church
2756 This building at 50 Marischal Street was first used as a church as part of a scheme to reconstitute the then dissolved Trinity Parish. Its congregation had been based at the church on Exchange Street that became the Alhambra music hall.
The Marischal Street building was the Theatre Royal before being remodeled to serve as a church in the 1870s. The parish's first minister was Rev. James Park. See Alexander Gammie's Churches of Aberdeen (1909) for more information on this congregation.
The Trinity Parish Church was put on the market around 1934 and was purchased by a member of the Aberdeen branch of the Elim Four-Square Gospel Alliance, Mrs Isabella Gordon, and presented to this organisation.
The Aberdeen branch opened in 1932 and had previously held meetings in the Music Hall, the Aberdeen Business Women's Club on East Craibstone Street, and the Balmoral Hall on Gray Street.
The Elim Tabernacle on Marischal Street was officially opened on Saturday 25th August 1934. A report of the opening can be read in the Press & Journal of Monday 27 August 1934. Aberdeen Women's Alliance: The Cost of Killing "Witches"
222 This extract from the accounts of the Burgh of Aberdeen 1596/97 was published in the Miscellany of the Spalding Club and details the costs involved in the killing of two women, Janet Wishart and Isobel Cocker, who were accused of being witches. |