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The Castlegate
16 Engraving of the Castlegate, c. 1850. The statue of the last Duke of Gordon, erected in 1844, was removed in the 1950s to Golden Square. Published by G. Shepherd, Broad Street, Aberdeen Gordon's Hospital
101 Gordon's Hospital from 1731, designed by William Adam, was a school for the education of orphaned boys, endowed by Robert Gordon. His statue, by John Cheere, is seen above the doorway. Although completed by 1739, it was not occupied by pupils until 1750. John Smith remodelled and extended the building in 1833. It became Robert Gordon's College in the 1880s. Doorway of Provost Skene's House
283 Doorway of Provost Skene's House with the coat of arms of Provost George Skene. He was Provost of the City from 1676 - 1685, although the house dates from around 1545. The motto above the doorway reads "Gratis a Deo duta", which means "Thanks be given to God". The doorway is surrounded by thistles and roses to commemorate the restoration of Charles II. Gala and Heather Day in the Duthie Park
395 This Adelphi Series postcard shows the Gala Day taking place in Duthie Park on 21st August 1915.
The Gala in Duthie Park and the accompanying Heather Day were both organised to raise funds for the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
The Gala Day is one of largest events ever to take place at the park. It was estimated that between 25,000 and 26,000 people attended. Tickets cost 6 pence (6d) for general admission and 2s 6d for carriages or motor cars.
Within the park there was an elaborate programme of entertainment and refreshments organised. Details of the programme were published in a 32 page booklet prior to the event. Upwards of 1,300 people took part in the programme.
Gates to the park opened at 3pm and the event officially commence at 3pm with a grand military parade. Lieut-Colonel A. H. Leith of Glenkindie, Garrison Commander, and Lord Provost James Taggart "took the salute" opposite the Hygiea statue.
The Gala and Heather Day were organised by a distinct committee; Taggart was its president and Alexander Findlay, Superintendent of Cleansing, was its chairman. Councillor H. J. Gray was the secretary and treasurer and Mr John Lints was his assistant. There were also conveners and secretaries for various sub-committees concerned with aspects like entertainment and refreshments.
There was a wide range of entertainment organised for within the park including singing, dancing, gymnastic displays, musical drill, motor cycle gymkhana and bayonet fighting. Various platforms saw performances from acts such as a company lead by D. M. Kinghorn, pierrots directed by Minnie Mearns, Dan Williams, and W. A. Craig's operatic choir. Charles Soutar lead a 500 strong choir of children from the city's public schools.
Practically all naval and military units present in the city were represented at the event and individuals from many of them took part in the sporting competitions. The day also included a 5-a-side football and tug of war competition. Preliminary matches for these took place prior to the day at Pittodrie Park.
The Gala Day was filmed and this was later shown as part of a special programme at the Picture House on Union Street from the 25th of the month.
Over £500 was taken at the gates for the event. Entertainment and refreshments within further increased the figure raised.
Heather Day itself generated another £474. This involved over 1,500 vendors going around all parts of the city selling sprigs of the plant. The sale started on the afternoon of the Friday and continued all through Saturday. Entertainment venues throughout the city were also visited.
The vendors were primarily young women and members of organisations like the boys brigade. Stores present in all areas of the city were replenished from a central depot at 173a Union Street. This in turn was supplied by the cleansing department buildings in Poynernook Road, where the preceding week had seen 200,000 sprigs prepared for sale. Peterhead, Inverurie, Ellon and Banchory organised their own Heather Days for the same fund.
The sum taken from both the Gala and the Heather Day was estimated at considerably over £1,000.
See the report in the Aberdeen Journal, Monday 23rd August 1915 page 8, for further details about the occasion. Castlegate, Aberdeen
506 The Castlegate. The Town House is centre with the Spire of the Tolbooth at the right. The large building on the right was the headquarters of the North of Scotland Bank. Note the statue of General Gordon and the cannon at his left. Castlegate
519 The Castlegate, Aberdeen showing the statue of the last Duke of Gordon in the foreground. The buildings in the background include the Record Office which was to be demolished in the 1890's for the construction of the Salvation Army Citadel (1896). The double gables on the right belonged to Rolland's Lodging - the town house of this family whose estate was at Disblair. This building was demolished in the 1930's and the site was later occupied by Voluntary Service Aberdeen. The Castlegate
574 The Castlegate, Aberdeen. The Town House is in the centre of the photograph with the spire of the Tolbooth to the right. The Athenaeum Building is on the left and behind the statue of the Duke of Gordon is the headquarters of the North of Scotland Bank. Note the cannon to the left of the Market Cross.
In his Annals of Aberdeen (1818) William Kennedy states "In the year 1394, King Robert III granted to the burgesses and community a charter, dated 20th of October, by which he permitted them to build a tolbooth and court house, eighty feet in length, and thirty feet in breath, in any part of the town except in the middle of the market place. This edifice was accordingly soon afterwards erected on the north side of the Castlegate, on the site of the present town house." (page 403)
In 1615 a new prison replaced the one on this site and it stood for many years. It was largely replaced or subsumed by the new town house development in the 1870s, however the old Tolbooth spire can still be seen - as in this photograph (the right most spire). The Castlegate
628 The Castlegate with the statue of the Duke of Gordon in the foreground and the Market Cross behind. The buildings in the background were to be demolished in the 1890s for the building of the Salvation Army Citadel. The shop to the right is James Esson's. The Castlegate, Aberdeen
671 The Castlegate, Aberdeen with the statue of the Duke of Gordon in the foreground. The Market Cross is in the background with the Record Office on the far left, which would be demolished in the 1890s for the building of the Salvation Army Citadel. The caption on the statue says, "George, Fifth and Last Duke of Gordon, born 1770, died 1836. First Colonel 92nd Gordon Highlanders". Culter
876 This image was taken around 1909 from a hill at the west end of Culter - 7 miles west from Aberdeen looking down on the North Deeside Road towards Banchory. The image shows the cottages known as Clayhills with the houses of Malcolm Road beyond. Hidden in the trees at the right hand side is the statue of Rob Roy overlooking the Leuchar Burn which runs through the wooded valley. Stoneywood Works Home Guard
943 Stoneywood Works Home Guard.
Back Row: Unknown, Unknown, Charlie Thomson, Hector Emslie, Unknown, Bill Irvine, Ed Coutts, John Reid, Jim Smith, Alick Duncan (engineer), Dick Grant, A. Kilgour.
3rd Row: Ralph Davidson, Bob Lawrence, Arthur Smart, Ed McDonald, John Menzies, Bill Kane, Alfred McPherson, Harry Duncan, A. Baigrie, Tom Mitchell, Bill Davidson, Alex Robb, Jim McLean, Bill Denholm, George Sangster (sawmiller).
2nd Row: Gordon Wilson, Jim Davidson, Jim Ross, Unknown, Andy Lawson, Charles Esson, Frank Rundle, Bill Bartlett, Alick Duncan (cutting & rolling), Neil Littlejohn, Bert Campbell, Willie Robbie, Bill Forbes, David Findlater.
Front Row: Bill Thomson, Val Michie, Bill Ross, Jack Beveridge, Bill Kitson, Harry Jordan, Jim Murray, Cozens Hardy, Jack Stewart, Jim Duncan, Bert Spence, Bill Pirie, John Sutherland, Alick Davidson, Bill Wright. General Charles Gordon statue
1075 Statue of General Charles Gordon, of Khartoum fame, in front of the entrance to Robert Gordon's College. George Street
1193 This 1987 photo of the west side of George Street shows nos. 29 and 31 in their last days of trading before closing prior to their demolition for the shopping development to be known as the Bon Accord Centre.
John Martin, butcher, had been in business here for nearly 100 years. The original John Martin opened this shop after having been manager in the butchery department of the Northern Co-operative Society. He retired in 1932 and the business was carried on in the same name by his two sons. On the door was the sign: "Redevelopment closure - this shop will cease trading Saturday 11 April 1987".
Sometime prior to the demolition of the building, the flats above these shops had been renovated as accommodation for students at Robert Gordon's Institute of Technology (now The Robert Gordon University). The Marquess of Huntly
1915 Charles Gordon, 11th Marquess of Huntly (5th March 1847 - 20th February 1937). Huntly was a Liberal politician and Lord Rector of the University of Aberdeen between 1890 and 1896. Schoolhill
2269 The facade of Aberdeen Art Gallery and Gray's School of Art on Schoolhill. The Arts School was founded by John Gray, engineer, 'to promote education in drawing, painting, modelling, and all branches of art' and was built in 1885 next door to the Art Gallery and on the site of the old Grammar School. The architects were Matthews and Mackenzie who used a mixture of pink granite from Corrennie Quarry and sparkling white Kemnay Granite.
The gateway leads to Robert Gordon's College, founded by Robert Gordon, a Danzig merchant, and opened in 1750. It is now a co-educational private school. Gray's School of Art became part of the Robert Gordon University, and was re-sited to the Garthdee area in 1965. The statue in the foreground is that of General Charles Gordon who was killed at Khartoum. The statue was sculpted by T. Stuart Burnett, ARSA. This Gordon was unrelated to Robert Gordon. Union Street
2313 A photograph of Union Street looking west from up high in the Salvation Army Citadel. The statue of the Duke of Gordon is in the foreground. The Athenaeum is on the left of the image and Town House buildings and the North of Scotland Bank are on the right. Treasure 31: Hays' Isometrical View of Aberdeen 1850
2586 In September 1850 an advert appeared in the local papers of Aberdeen for "Hays' Isometrical View of Aberdeen, giving a Distinct and Correct View of the Whole City and Environs". We hold copy of the plan from 1850 in our Local Studies collection.
The plan was available to purchase for 3s. 6d. and measured 34 inches by 19 inches. Carvers and gilders, J. & J. Hays, had premises at 2 Market Street where they also sold prints and optical instruments. At the bottom left of the image we see the words George Wilson, Delt. (abbreviation of delineator, i.e. the artist). George Wilson was to find fame a few years later as George Washington Wilson when he became one of Scotland's premier photographers.
George Washington Wilson
George Washington Wilson was born in 1823 at Waulkmill of Carnousie in Banffshire and left school at 12 years of age to be an apprentice carpenter. He practised his artistic skills by drawing portraits of friends and neighbours and, after training at art schools in Edinburgh and London, he returned to Aberdeen to become an art teacher and portrait painter.
By the late 1840's Wilson was attracted by the work of Fox Talbot in the new art of photography and after initial experiments with a homemade camera, he advertised a business offering photographic portraits before eventually expanding into landscape photography.
A Bird's Eye View of History
Wilson created this panoramic view of the city by making numerous sketches from the roofs of high buildings and then merging them into one comprehensive drawing. We are looking north across the city from the harbour with Union Street running horizontally across the centre and Old Aberdeen in the far distance. We can see how small the city actually was at this time - open fields are visible just to the north of the west end of Union Street.
A key to the most prominent buildings was provided and it is interesting to see which buildings have survived until today, often with additions, and which had yet to be built. Robert Gordon's Hospital (now College), Marischal College, and various churches including the Triple Kirks and St Nicholas East and West are all still standing but the West Prison, Castlehill Barracks and the Poorhouse have been demolished.
Bird's Eye View 1889
In December 1889, the Aberdeen Free Press offered its readers an updated version of the Bird's Eye View as a supplement to their newspaper. Numerous changes to the landscape of the city had taken place since Wilson's view. Scenes at Proclamation, Aberdeen
2710 An Adelphi Real Photograph Series postcard showing the proclamation of King George V at the Castlegate on 10 May 1910.
The statue of the Duke of Gordon can be seen in its original position. Photographers are within the statue's fenced off area. A small public fountain is located in front of the statue.
The scene at the junction of Union Street and King Street is very busy. A procession of dignitaries files past ranks of soldiers. Two dogs can also be seen milling around. Schoolhill
3137 A photograph showing Aberdeen Art Gallery and the gateway to Robert Gordon's College in October 2019. It shows the renovation of the former nearing completion. The statue of Charles George Gordon is also visible.
This photograph was submitted to the Silver City Vault by Alison Murray, a member of staff at Airyhall Library. Treasure 54: On the Planting of Trees in Towns
229 Aberdeen was something of a pioneer when it came to the planting of street trees in Scotland. An article on the subject in the Aberdeen Journal from 1905 states: "As is constantly remarked by visitors, Aberdeen has great reason to be proud of its trees. In some respects, it can, in this direction, show the way to other Scottish cities."
Alongside St. Andrews, Aberdeen led the way in the extensive and effective planting of trees on city streets. This was largely due to the work of Aberdeen's first park superintendent, Robert Walker. The 1905 article states: "To those who know Mr Walker only as the busy man in charge of Victoria and Westburn Parks, the Union Terrace Gardens, the Links, and the grounds of Robert Gordon's College, the fact of his being an author may be new, but it is something to which Mr Walker can look back with pride, because the publication of 'On the Planting of Trees in Towns' was the means of stimulating the movement for tree-planting, not only in Aberdeen, but also in a good many more places in Scotland."
Walker's book, printed in 1890 at the University of Aberdeen, consists of two papers read before The North of Scotland Horticultural Association in 1889. The volume was issued by the two Aberdeen members of Mr Ruskin's Guild of Saint George after a strong request to publish was made by those unable to attend Walker's lectures. The book argues that trees should be planted not just in parks, but in city streets too: "The slight good effected by fine parks placed here or there towards the outskirts of a city is as nothing to what might be carried out by so planning and planting streets and roads, that the air might be comparatively pure and free, and the eye refreshed with green at almost every point."
The Aberdeen Journal states that the value of the book is "very much materially enhanced by illustrations of a number of our best-known trees from drawings from Sir George Reid, lithographed by Messrs Thomson and Duncan." George Reid (1841-1913) was a nationally renowned Aberdeen-born painter. A year after the publication of the book, in 1891, he was elected as the president of the Royal Scottish Academy and knighted by Queen Victoria. In 1905 he played a significant role in the extension of Aberdeen Art Gallery, determining the layout and contents of the building. He died at his home in Somerset in 1913 and was buried in St Peter's Cemetery, Aberdeen.
On the publication of Walker's book a copy was send to keen arboriculturist and habitual Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone. The 1905 Aberdeen Journal article reports that, in his acknowledgement of the gift, Gladstone wrote that "he would read the book with the greatest pleasure, the subject being one in which he took a special interest." At the time, the post card with acknowledgment could still be seen framed in Mr Walker's house. The Journal article also states that the book has been unobtainable for a long time but that a copy is available to view at the Reference Department of the Public Library. Over a hundred years later this is still correct and the item now sits in our Local Studies collection.
"Trees not only afford shade and shelter," states Walker's book "but adorn the landscape and purify the air. They improve the heart as well as the taste; they refresh the body and enlighten the spirit. And the more refined the taste is, the more exquisite is the gratification that may be enjoyed from every leaf-building tree." The Highland and Agricultural Society's Show
405 The inside 2 pages of a 4-page Evening Gazette supplement about the large Highland and Agricultural Society Show that took place in Aberdeen on 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th July 1894.
These pages show illustrated portraits of various prominent individuals involved in the Society and the show:
A. M. Gordon of Newton
Walter George Hepburne-Scott (9th Lord Polwarth)
F. H. Forbes of Irvine of Drum
Arthur James Balfour (then an M.P., later to be Prime Minister between 1902 and 1905)
George V (then the Duke of York)
Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox (6th Duke of Richmond, 6th Duke of Lennox, and 1st Duke of Gordon)
Dr Alexander Profeit (Royal doctor at Balmoral from 1874)
James Macdonald (Secretary of the Highland and Agricultural Society from 1893 to 1912)
Baillie Daniel Mearns (later Provost of Aberdeen from 1895-1898)
J. Campbell of Old Cullen
George Bruce (Secretary of the Royal Northern Agricultural Society)
J. Sleigh of Strichen
W. H. Lumsden of Balmedie
Sir George Macpherson-Grant
Colonel Smith of Midmore
J. Marr of Cairnbrogie
Sir Arthur Henry Grant (9th Baronet of Monymusk)
P. M. Turnbull of Smithston The Dying Confessions of William Gordon and Robert McIntosh
479 Five days before his execution, having murdered his wife, William Gordon recounts his crime. He recalls the evening of the murder. Both intoxicated, he and his wife went out. They had an amicable time. Gordon does not recall much from their return home, bar that he went for his pipe. He later discovered his wife dead. He declares having had no recollection of her death. Three weeks later, Gordon remembers having shoved her to the floor, to which she shouted 'Murder!'. Gordon also remembered having scissors in his hand, which leads him to believe that to have been the murder weapon.
This confession begins by citing the book of Hosea from the Christian Bible. Gordon then articulates the nature of his sin, confessing it to be the 'sin of drunkenness'. He compares the severity of his sin to the eternality of God's omnipotence. His confession warns its readers against sinning as he has. He does not apologise for the murder of his wife, instead expressing regret for becoming intoxicated. This marks the text particularly interesting for understanding perceptions of alcoholism and alcohol related crimes in nineteenth-century Scotland. Fascinatingly, though facing death, Gordon still devotes two paragraphs to acknowledging various people that supported him during his incarceration. Gordon concludes the main body of the text by imploring his audience to take up Christianity.
The confession is reprinted in Aberdeen's Journal, on 5th June 1822, five days after Gordon's execution. The paper confirms that Gordon authored this text, saying it was distributed by the Reverend Thom. The confession is well written and articulate, revealing the author's profound knowledge of Christian scripture. Gordon himself was from the parish of Cabrach, made a livelihood selling fishing tackle, and was aged around forty-five at the time of the murder.
The accompanying editorial declares that many had come to believe that the murder 'had been perpetrated by the unhappy man while under the influence of that most baneful of human vices, and, of course, a prey to all the evil passions which it naturally engenders.' The view that the death was caused by excessively drinking, and that the defendant had not consciously decided to murder her, was prevalent. Remarkably, 'many Gentlemen (including several of the Jury who tried him)' lobbied King George IV to commute Gordon's sentence. The judge, however, refused to capitulate.
Accompanying Gordon's confession is that of the twenty-two-year-old Robert McIntosh, on 29th May 1822. McIntosh describes the conditions of his imprisonment in the dungeon, expresses regret for the repercussions of his crime and prostrates himself before God. The Journal reports that McIntosh had murdered the forty-year-old Elizabeth Anderson of Crathie. The paper continues that McIntosh had slit Anderson's throat. At the time, Anderson had been promised marriage by him and was pregnant with his child.
The Journal reports the day of their execution. In the Old Court Room, Psalm 51 was sung. Gordon joined in loudly. As they went to the scaffold, both prayed. The paper reports McIntosh's nerves getting the better of him, and him being brought a glass of water. After Gordon finished praying, at twenty minutes past three, they were hung. Gordon passed very quickly. McIntosh, on the other hand, 'struggled considerably, and was convulsed for several minutes', due to the rope being improperly set up. The Journal reports that countless thousands witnessed their hanging, the first of its kind in seventy-years. |