Quick Search
|
Search Results
You searched for: More Like: 'The Robert Gordon Story: Robert Gordon of Straloch, pt...
24 items
items as
Schoolhill from St. Nicholas Churchyard
120 This photograph taken in 1880 from St. Nicholas Churchyard looks north showing a row of houses which stood between it and Schoolhill.
These houses were demolished around 1884 as part of an improvement scheme to widen Schoolhill - named after the old Grammar School which stood nearby.
A dwarf wall with ornamental railings was erected in place of these buildings and a porter's lodge was removed from Robert Gordon's College to form a lodge for the sexton at the entrance to the churchyard.
The book Aberdeen in Byegone Days: Views of Streets and Buildings, etc. with Letterpress Description (1910) by Robert Anderson (page 26) suggests that the building in the centre of this image was the home of Burnett Carr, the grave-digger and assistant to the sexton of St. Nicholas Church.
Newspaper references indicate that Carr, a well known figure, died on 31st May 1844 (Aberdeen Journal, 5th June 1844, page 3, column 2).
This photograph looks north and shows the back of Carr's old house. 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. CONCLUSION
2880 Sadly, my report ends here. It has been a great pleasure researching the relationship between two countries with which I strongly identify. I was born in Poland and moved to Scotland when I was 6 months old along with my family. I can relate to both parts and consider myself a citizen of both countries. I hope you have enjoyed reading this report and are encouraged to research into your own family ancestry. Maybe you'll find some Polish heritage. Who knows? But most of all I hope you have become more knowledgeable on the matter, possibly making our community more aware of racism and prejudice and helping to tackle these very important issues in Aberdeen.
Sources and References
'Scots in Poland, Poles in Scotland' from The Krakow Post
link
Aberdeen Press and Journal, Saturday 27th April 1935
Aberdeen Press and Journal, Friday 13th September 1931
Wikipedia entry for Alexander Czamer
link
'Scotland and Poland' from #ScotlandIsNow
link
'Polish "most targeted group" in prejudice in Aberdeen' from BBC News
link
'Alexander Chalmers, Scottish Mayor of Warsaw' by Ross 'Teddy' Craig
link
'History of Gordon's' from Robert Gordon's College website
link
'Scots Diaspora' by Andrew Elliott
link
'Did you know?' from Mapa Scotland: the Great Polish Map of Scotland
link
'Papers Relating to the Scots in Poland (1576-1798)' from Electric Scotland
link
|