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You searched for: More Like: 'Aberdeen Mechanics' Institute - Courses of lectures'
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Aberdeen Market: before and after demolition 6
4365 The before image looks east towards the western elevation of Aberdeen Market. A cabin with seating for the restaurant Cafe 52 is in the foreground on the left. Taken on 01/09/2021.
The after image shows a now clear view over to Market Street. The distinctive façade of Rox Hotel, previously the Mechanics' Institute and Bon Accord Hotel, is in the distance. Taken on 05/09/2023.
This composite image is part of a series by Roddy Millar showing Aberdeen Market and its surrounds before and after it was demolished.
George Walker
4371 A photographic portrait by George Washington Wilson of Baillie George Walker (1821-1910). It comes from an album of photographs by Wilson of the Aberdeen Town Council of 1883. This is held in the collection of Aberdeen Local Studies at Aberdeen Central Library.
Walker, a good friend of Wilson, was a well-known bookseller, councillor and local cultural figure. He hailed from Huntly before moving to the Granite City.
At a meeting at the Music Hall on on 25th March 1884 Walker seconded the motion of Professor Alexander Bain (1818-1903), a philosopher, early psychologist and independent thinker, for the adoption of the Public Libraries Act by the Town Council. The motion passed with 891 voters in favour and 264 against.
Walker was one of a number of speakers at the opening of Aberdeen's first free public lending library in March 1886, then located in the Mechanics' Institute on Market Street. Praising the preparatory work done by the town's first librarian, Andrew W. Robertson, Walker stated that Robertson had "turned night into day in his efforts and that it was absolutely necessary that he takes a well-deserved holiday during the summer."
Walker remained a champion of the library service for the rest of his life. He donated his extensive 21 volume journal to the library and these remain in the Local Studies collection. These idiosyncratic volumes are a unique cornucopia of local history and culture. John Duguid Milne
4372 A photographic portrait of John Duguid Milne (1822-1889), an Aberdeen advocate.
On 20th March 1883 Milne read a paper titled The success of free public libraries in industrial towns, and the necessity for a free public library in Aberdeen to the Philosophical Society of Aberdeen. The paper was also published by the society as a pamphlet shortly afterwards. A copy of this paper is held by Aberdeen Local Studies.
Milne draws together the experiences of free public libraries from England and around Scotland. He also points to the example and popularity of John Anderson's library in Woodside, which had opened in 1881.
In the section 'Who should move for a free library?' Milne writes:
"The Free Library is not especially for the wealthy, nor even for the well-to-do, but for the people, for the industrial classes; and it is for the industrial classes themselves to say if they want it. They have also the power in their hands, as they form a majority of the ratepayers." (page 17).
Milne was the director and legal advisor of Aberdeen's Mechanics' Institute. He ends his paper by stating that should the Public Libraries Act be adopted by Aberdeen, the Mechanics' Institute was prepared to hand over to the Free Public Library their whole stock of books and their substantial premises on Market Street.
Milne's paper, and the offer within, was likely a determining factor in the initiation, and ultimate success, of Professor Alexander Bain (1818-1903) and Baillie George Walker (1821-1910) putting forward a motion for the adoption of the Public Libraries Act at a meeting in the Music Hall on 25th March 1884. This meeting took place around a year after the first reading of Milne's paper.
Opening in March 1886, the Mechanics' Institute building did become the first location of Aberdeen's new Free Public Library and its collection of books formed the core of its stock. If you look at some of the older items in the collection of Aberdeen City Libraries today, stamp marks for the Mechanics' Institute can still be seen. Bust of Professor Alexander Bain
4373 A photograph of a 1891 bust of Professor Alexander Bain (1818-1903) by sculptor Henry Bain Smith (1857-1893).
Alexander Bain was a philosopher, educationalist, early psychologist and free thinker. At a public meeting on 25th March 1884, he put forward the successful motion for Aberdeen to adopt the Public Libraries Act and create a Free Public Library. This noble enterprise would first open in the old Mechanics' Institute building on Market Street in March 1886.
Bain was an autodidact from an impoverished family. He had studied at the Mechanics' Institute prior to entering Marischal College so he knew well the importance and potential of libraries and public education.
A new purpose built Public Library for Aberdeen, now known as the Central Library, opened on Rosemount Viaduct on 5th July 1892. Two months after first being open to the public, with a Lending Department and Reading Room, a Reference Department opened on the second floor on 29th August.
Three days before this addition, the Library was presented with the first of a number of marble busts which would grace the Reference Department until the 1960s.
It was this bust of Alexander Bain, the professor of logic, who had been an early champion of Aberdeen's public library. The bust, funded by public subscription, was work of the sculptor Henry Bain-Smith. Bain-Smith was also the artist of the Burns Statue on Union Terrace.
The bust of Professor Bain is now in the collection of the Aberdeen Archives, Gallery and Museums (AAGM), having been gifted by the Libraries in 1999. The entry for the bust on their online catalogue contains further details on Bain's life and work. Aberdeen Mechanics' Institute
149 In the early years, the Mechanics' Institute established its premises in various places across the city until 1834 when it was decided to build a permanent building for the institution. The Institute was able to erect its very own building to accommodate all its various activities including classes, the library and public lectures.
By 1845-46, sufficient funds were raised to allow the construction of a dedicated building in Market Street, opposite the New Market which opened a few years before. Its front elevation was designed by the Aberdonian Archibald Simpson and plans were proposed by his pupil, Mr William Ramage. It was the last public building in the city to be designed by the famous architect as he died not long afterwards. Rules and Regulations of the Mutual Instruction Class of the Aberdeen Mechanics' Institution
150 Aberdeen Mechanics' Institute was founded in 1824 to satisfy the public's thirst of knowledge. Courses of lectures were offered on philosophical, scientific, technical and art subjects.
This document, written by Al. Russell, Secretary, the 11th May 1836, gives the rules of the Mutual instruction class which was created.
Aberdeen Mechanics' Institute - Annual Public meeting
151 "Aberdeen Mechanics' Institution. The annual public meeting of the members and friends of this institution will be held in Machray's Hall (instead of Meston's Hall, as formerly advertised) on Friday evening first, at 8 o'clock".
Aberdeen, 1st November 1837 Aberdeen Mechanics' Institution - Orrery
152 Founded to satisfy the public's thirst of knowledge, the Mechanics' Institute aimed to deliver courses and lectures on philosophical, scientific, technical and art subjects. Courses were provided on a regular basis and, over the years, the Institute was visited by some of the keenest British minds of the 19th century.
Professional lecturers were keen to deliver talks on scientific and philosophical subjects. Astronomy was a popular topic and many lectures about "Orrery" were organised as part of the Institute's programme. The word "Orrery" comes from the name of Charles Boyle, fourth Earl of Orrery (1676-1731) and means "a mechanical model, usually clockwork, devised to represent the motions of the earth and moon (and sometimes also the planets) around the sun" (Oxford English dictionary). Aberdeen Mechanics' Institute
153 "The committee have resolved, as a stimulus to the Genius and Industry of the Members, to award the silver Medal of the Institution for the best Models of each of the following Machines that shall be presented to the Committee previous to the end of March 1827". Gratis lecture at Aberdeen Mechanics' Institution
154 Founded to satisfy the public's thirst of knowledge, the Mechanics' Institute aimed to deliver courses and lectures on philosophical, scientific, technical and art subjects. Courses were provided on a regular basis and, over the years, the Institute was visited by some of the keenest British minds of the 19th century. Aberdeen Mechanics' Institute - Winter session
155 By 1832, the usefulness of the institution was widened by the starting of evening classes bearing on the subject of lectures.
The Mechanics' Institute delivered classes on drawing, arithmetic, mathematics, English grammar, French, Philosophy and "Mutual instruction". Aberdeen Mechanics' Institute - Astronomical lectures
158 The following article, extracted from the Aberdeen Journal, shows the popularity of the Mechanics Institute and its courses:
"There is not a more efficient educational institution in the city, with the same limited means, than the Mechanics' Institute; and to extand and enlarge its means is the object of these lectures. We can assure those who have not yet visited Morison's Hall, that nowhere will they find so much amusement blended with so great an amount of useful instruction, so much to delight the eye and ravish the ear, with so much to enlighten the understanding and improve the heart".
Aberdeen Journal, May 10, 1837.
Article cited in Aberdeen Journal, May 15, 1937 ("One hundred years ago"). Treasure 24: Aberdeen Mechanics Institute
195 2015 marks 170 years since the founding stone of Aberdeen Mechanics' Institute was laid. The history of this well-known building in Aberdeen's landscape has however often been forgotten. We hold a small collection of posters and flyers relating to the Institute and its courses and lectures in our Local Studies collection.
The School of Arts of Edinburgh, established in 1821, was the world's first Mechanics' Institute. Two years later, the Aberdeen Mechanics' Institute was established "for the purpose of affording to Mechanics, and others employed during the day, the means of acquiring such knowledge as may be of practical utility to them in their several professions, or which may be useful for cultivating their minds by extending their acquaintance with the phenomena of nature and the arts of life" (A. Yeats, Secretary. Aberdeen Journal, 14 February 1844).
The Mechanics' Institute soon became a very important educational force in the city. It also provided educational advantages for those who otherwise would never have had the opportunity or the means of acquiring them.
Initially a place of entertainment, the Mechanics' Institute subsequently became a public library on the adoption of the Public Libraries Act (1884). The Library was the most valuable asset of the institution and was viewed as a necessity, providing significant educational opportunities to its members.
For a period of nearly 60 years, the Mechanics Institute played a major role in influencing the culture and education of the people of Aberdeen.
See the whole digital exhibition (the link will open in a new browser window). Aberdeen Mechanics' Institute
197 "The proposed building consists of a Hall calculated to contain 1000 persons, a Lecture-room seated for 180, a Library, a Museum, nine Rooms, to be used as Class and Committee Rooms, &c., and Lodgings for the Porter. Under these, it is proposed to have two large and commodious Shops, with extensive Cellarage; and, behind the Shops, a suite of Rooms, which would be well adapted for a Coffee Room (...)" (Al. Yeats, Aberdeen, January 22, 1844. Aberdeen Journal, February 14, 1844).
The foundation stone of the building, which cost over £4000, was laid in August 1845 by the Lord Provost. Almost all public organisations in Aberdeen took part in the proceedings.
The building in Market Street soon proved to be inadequate and in 1889 an Appeal Fund for a new Central Library was launched. This building later became the Bon-Accord Hotel.
Mechanics' Institute - Library
198 Initially a place of entertainment, the Mechanics' Institute subsequently became a public library on the adoption of the Public Libraries Act (1884).
The Library was the most valuable asset of the institution and was viewed as a necessity, providing significant educational opportunities to its members.
Many of the books within the initial library were donated by members and friends of the institution, such as the booksellers Angus & Co., and the well-known architect Archibald Simpson who provided technical books.
The first Catalogue of books in the library of the Aberdeen Mechanics Institute was published in 1825, with some additions were added the following year. Originally, 800 copies of the catalogue were printed. We hold both the first catalogue and its additions in our collections.
In 1837, the library consisted of over 11,000 volumes of works, mainly relating to science and the arts. It was primarily a library of scientific and technical books but, after just a few years, the Committee discussed the possibility of extending its collections to adult fiction.
The library grew steadily over the following years and, owing to the advantage of a new building and a good library, people joined the classes in larger numbers. When the institute was disbanded, the library's contents were donated to the new public library in Rosemount Viaduct - now Aberdeen Central Library.
Treasure 39: Aberdeen Ladies' Educational Association Minute Books, 1877-1886
208 There were a number of initiatives in 19th Century Scotland aiming to improve education for women including university local examination schemes, courses of lectures by university professors, and the formation of Ladies' Educational Associations.
Aberdeen Local Studies holds a Minute Book recording the relatively short-lived Aberdeen Association founded in 1877 to provide higher education for women. The volume also contains documents including the initial prospectus, six printed annual reports and a selection of newspaper advertisements for the lectures offered by the Association.
The Association ran courses for seven years which included 13 different subjects - physiology and the laws of health appeared in the 1881-82 session while German language and literature, along with physical geography and geology, were offered in the 1882-3 session.
However, the number of women attending the courses dropped during the 1882-83 session. Classes were discontinued in Spring 1884, and the Association was wound up in July 1886.
In 1892 the University of Aberdeen began to admit women to its degree courses.
St. Machar's Cathedral
353 An etching of St. Machar's Cathedral in Old Aberdeen by James G. Murray, A.R.E. (1863-1906).
Murray was the son of an Aberdeen house carpenter and was educated at the city's Free East Church School. After leaving school he attended classes at the Mechanics Institute and Gray's School of Art. He also taught at the latter for some time.
While in Aberdeen Murray undertook a large number of well received, black and white etchings. He later moved to Glasgow and worked as a lithographic print designer. He specialised in book illustration and poster work.
He was elected an associate of the Royal Painter-Etcher Society and contributed to their exhibitions. He also regularly exhibited work in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Stirling.
He was just over 40 years old when he died. For a more detailed account of his life and work please see his obituary in the Peterhead Sentinel and Buchan Observer (18 August 1906, p5).
This framed etching was kindly donated to the library in 2016. |