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In 1901, Aberdeen School Board planned to build a new central higher grade school and plans were drawn up by John A. O. Allan for a building on the corner of Schoolhill and Belmont Street. The new school was opened in November 1905. It planned to cater for pupils aged 12 - 15 years coming from all the town's elementary schools, with over 1,000 on the roll initially. In 1954, the school changed name to become Aberdeen Academy, and its intake comprised those pupils who successfully passed their 11+ exams in Primary 7. The school closed in 1969 and the pupils moved to the newly built Hazlehead Academy. The building became a Resources centre for the Department of Education and then in the late 1990s became a shopping centre named "The Academy".

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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.

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In 17th century Poland, business was at its peak. At the time the country had the same population as Russia. The port town of Danzig - now known as Gdansk - was a worldwide trading centre to which many people migrated in order to make their riches. It may be a shock to you, but in 1570 the number of Scottish immigrants in Poland was estimated to be 30,000. This is an immense number of immigrants when compared to the relatively small population of Scotland in the 16th century. One of these migrants was Robert Gordon (1668-1731), later to be the founder of Gordon's Hospital; which is now known as Robert Gordon's College and the Robert Gordon University. Robert Gordon was a merchant trader during his time in Poland and he was successful from early on in his career. With a fortune of £10,000 amassed in Poland he invested in the rebuilding of Marischal College, lent money to estate owners and funded Robert Gordon's School for Boys. In his Founder's Day oration of 1935, former Gordonian, Sir Alexander Roger, described presenting to the Polish government a photograph of the letter Robert Gordon wrote in 1700 from Warsaw to the people of Aberdeen, describing his plans to set-up up his hospital, and the reaction from the recipients: "My Polish audience were more than ordinarily interested to learn what the writer of that letter, with a fortune strenuously acquired from Poland two hundred years ago, had been enabled to found a college in Scotland which today offered inestimable benefit balanced and liberal education to a thousands boys." Aberdeen Press and Journal, 27th April 1935 The image to the left is a reproduction of a painted portrait of Robert Gordon taken from The History of Robert Gordon's Hospital Aberdeen 1729 - 1881 (1896) by Robert Anderson.

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Looking north east from Lilybank Place towards Kittybrewster School in around 1905. The green of Kittybrewster & Woodside Bowling Club is in the foreground. A whale bone arch can also be seen in front of the school. In April 1897, the Aberdeen School Board submitted plans to erect a new school at the Old Boathouse on the west side of Great Northern Road. It was completed at a cost of over £12,000 in time for the commencement of the new school term on 15th August 1899. Built of granite, in the Renaissance style, it consisted of 3 floors, housing 16 classrooms and could accommodate up to 1,200 children. In addition, it was fully equipped with a gymnasium and rooms for cookery, manual instruction and science. The respected headmaster was George F. Duthie, an ex-president of the Educational Institute of Scotland. This image is from a postcard, no. 343, published by George Bow of Aberdeen.

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Mrs Elmslie was one of a number of Victorian philanthropic benefactors sympathetic to the plight of those who were poor, neglected or homeless and on 19 November 1840, she opened the Aberdeen Female Orphan Asylum - known also as Mrs Elmslie's Institution - on 19 Albyn Place. This lithograph shows the building as originally envisaged by architect Archibald Simpson with little gate-houses at either side of the street entrance. Aberdeen City Libraries hold a series of 14 plans of the granite building which have been bound together into a single volume. The collection includes elevations, sections and floor plans dated September 1837. The Orphan Asylum closed its doors on 27 July 1891 and the remaining girls were transferred to the Girls' Home and School of Domestic Economy on King Street. The building was sold to the Aberdeen School Board for £4,500 and, after extensive additions and refurbishment, it became the new home of Aberdeen High School for Girls, renamed as Harlaw Academy in 1970. Find out more about Mrs Elmslie and her Institution, including its rules and regulations, daily meals and class timetables, in the Treasures from our Collections exhibition on touchscreens in Central, Airyhall, Tillydrone and Mastrick libraries.

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Did you know there were once plans to build a Branch Library on the corner of School Road and King Street? In the Library Archive we hold a set of drawings showing the proposed library, prepared by A.B. Gardner, City Architect. In January 1938 the Sub-Committee accepted the proposal for a new library building constructed in white dressed Kemnay granite and referred the scheme for final approval to the Town Council. Unfortunately, due to a shortage of construction workers in the City, the scheme was deferred and the outbreak of World War II further delayed the plans. Linksfield Branch Library did not open until December 1975, several hundred yards south of the original School Road site, within the newly constructed Linksfield Academy. Linksfield Academy closed in 2002 due to falling numbers and its pupils transferred to St Machar Academy. The building was occupied by the public library, community centre and swimming pool, all of which remained open following the school closure. Linksfield Public Library closed on 30 September 2010 after which Linksfield Academy was demolished to make way for the new Aquatics Centre on King Street. View the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition on the touchscreen to find out more about the history of Linksfield Library.

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Morgan tells us that the first schools in Woodside were provided as the population of the village increased by Gordon, Barron & Co. They were a company of cotton spinners and manufacturers with a works at Woodside dating from around 1779. The first large school was funded by public subscription and was opened in 1837 in the building now known as the Burgh Hall. The school shown in the illustration on the left was opened in February 1875 and was known as the Board School. Presumably as it was run by the Old Machar Parish and School Board before being taken over by the Aberdeen Burgh School Board in 1894. At the time Morgan was writing it was the second largest school in Scotland and had nearly 1400 pupils. This building was altered in subsequent years and plans for a major reconstruction were begun in 1901. The architect was J. A. O. Allan of the Aberdeen School Board. The building warrant application and associated plans are available at Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives, as are other historic records related to the school. The proposed reconstruction is detailed in the Aberdeen Daily Journal of 6th August 1902. This enlarged building continues to function today as Woodside Primary School. The dates of 1890 and 1902 can be seen written in the building's stonework. Boards containing the names of all the people to win the Sir John Anderson Dux Award can be found within the school's assembly hall. The nursery can be found in a separate building with its own garden. When Sir John Anderson first gifted 9000 books to the people of Woodside they were kept at Woodside School until the purpose built library was opened on 15th October 1883.

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