96

Honeybrae House. This house stood in the middle of a market garden near Morningfield Hospital about one-and-a-half miles west of Aberdeen City Centre. The lands were part of the old royal hunting forest of Stocket, given to the town of Aberdeen by Robert the Bruce. In the 17th century, it came into the ownership of the Skenes of Rubislaw and, in 1875, it was owned by Aberdeen Land Association. This two-storeyed house is most famous for its connection with the poet Lord Byron. In 1798, as a boy of about 10, he was taken there to spend a summer holiday while he was a pupil at Aberdeen Grammar School. At that time, it was probably a fairly new house, standing in its own grounds in a rural situation. He stayed there with his mother and their maid, Isabella Mitchell, before going to visit his old nurse, Agnes Gray. His room was on the first floor. By the 1830s, it was the home of a Captain John Boyd and later of market gardeners. Above the main door, there was a window whose thirteen small designed panes led it to be called 'the thirteen' window. By the 1920s, it had fallen into disrepair and the house was demolished in November 1928. The site was redeveloped for modern housing.

816

Honeybrae House. This house stood in the middle of a market garden near Morningfield Hospital about one and a half miles west of Aberdeen City Centre. The lands were part of the old royal hunting forest of Stocket, given to the town of Aberdeen by Robert the Bruce. In the 17th century, it came into the ownership of the Skenes of Rubislaw, and in 1875, it was owned by Aberdeen Land Association. This two storeyed house is most famous for its connection with the poet Lord Byron. In 1798, as a boy of about 10, he was taken there to spend a summer holiday while he was a pupil at Aberdeen Grammar School. At that time, it was probably a fairly new house, standing in its own grounds in a rural situation. He stayed there with his mother and their maid Isabella Mitchell, before going to visit his old nurse, Agnes Gray. His room was on the first floor. By the 1830's, it was the home of a Captain John Boyd and later of market gardeners. Above the main door, there was a window whose thirteen small designed panes, led it to be called 'the thirteen' window. By the 1920's, it had fallen into disrepair and the house demolished in November 1928, and the site redeveloped for modern housing.

856

The main entrance to Sandilands Chemical Works from Links Road, with the weighbridge. The two chimneys to the left belong to Sandilands. The left hand one was 150 feet high, the other was 200 feet high. The large building to the right was the new bagging plant.

1042

Cults Primary School was opened in 1897 to replace Cults Endowed School which had opened in 1866. Cults had grown from a small farming community to a residential area with an increasing population, so a larger school was required. It was built of Rubislaw granite on a two acre site beside the North Deeside Road just west of the centre of the village. The building was replaced in 1974 when a new school was opened in the area where the newer housing in Cults had been built. This old school was put up for sale and was converted into flats with more being built in the playgrounds and at either side of the building.

1458

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".

2904

A collated group portrait from 1928 of the staff of Andrew McRobb, a then prominent plumbing and electrician business in Aberdeen. McRobb himself is pictured in the middle at the top. The print features a inscription reading "by the employees, as a mark of esteem on the occasion of his acquiring Central Premises 27, 28, 29 Adelphi." The Aberdeen Post Office directory from 1928-29 indicates that McRobb also had a branch at 103 Market Street and his home address was 24 Murray Terrace. In the directory he is described as a plumber, gasfitter, electrical and sanitation engineer. The print includes a small photograph of the new premises in the Adelphi. In 2018 the shown shopfront is occupied by Asylum, a retailer of comics, graphic novels and roleplaying games. McRobb took an active part in Aberdeen civic life and his profession. In May 1935 he was elected as the president of the Scottish Federation of Plumbers' and Domestic Engineers Association (Press & Journal, 11/05/1935, p. 8). He was also later a councillor for the Ferryhill Ward, a Town Council baillie, and elder and Sunday school superintendent at Trinity Church (Evening Express, 13/03/1952, p. 12). The portraits in this print were taken and compiled by prominent Aberdeen photographer Fred W. Hardie. At the time he had premises at 416 Union Street and 8 Justice Mill Lane. This print was kindly donated to Aberdeen Local Studies by David Parkinson. His grandfather, David Charles Kelly Parkinson, can be seen by counting four portraits to the right from the bottom right and then three up. His portrait is just down and left from a symbol showing two tools of the trade.

3415

An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Playhouse at 475 Union Street in January 1959. The venue originally opened on 12th November 1915 as a cinema called the West End. This was the first venture into full-time picture-hall proprietorship by James F. Donald, a key figure in the history of independent cinema exhibition in Aberdeen. Donald was born in Newhills and came to Aberdeen for an apprenticeship with a coachbuilding firm. He had a varied career before coming to prominence as a highly successful dancing teacher. He was the leader of the Gondolier School of Dancing and Deportment. He moved into the cinema business after acquiring the necessary projecting equipment and occupying a former billiard hall above the Aberdeen Dairy at 475 Union Street. Michael Thomson in Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) describes the cinema as a "strictly utilitarian affair", but a successful one at that. It was only heated by stoves, and coupled with being above a diary, it became known as "The Tuppenny Freezer". Donald's lease on the cinema expired in September 1920 and he was immediately followed as proprietor by Bert Gate's Aberdeen Picture Palaces. It was a time of expansion for the incoming company. They had recently purchased The Picturedrome on Skene Terrace and shortly looked to transform the West End. The latter closed on 2nd April and reopened on 14th September 1921 as the 1,000-seater Picture Playhouse. The opening ceremony was attended by Gates, the cinema's architects George Sutherland and Clement George, and various local VIPs. The opening films were A Yankee in the Court of King Arthur, a comedy called Jerry on the Spot, Pathé news, and another short. Thomson states that Aberdeen Picture Palaces were "now the proud possessor of a large, well-situated 'flagship' house, and Union Street now sported a fine up-to-date cinema." The design of the Playhouse was "classical" and up-market, in accordance with its prominent west-end location. As seen here, the Union Street entrance was surrounded by white Sicilian marble facings on a black marble base. The paybox was oval in shape with one end in the vestibule and the other in the front foyer. The main foyer was through the Union Street part of the building and up a 12-feet wide carpeted, marble stairway. This way was a tea room called the Ingleneuk, the manager's office, and the ornately decorated auditorium. The plush new cinema represented competition for the nearby Picture House. Bert Gates, the manager of the Playhouse, was somewhat sceptical of the talkies but fully embraced the new development in February 1930 with the installation of a full Western Electric sound system. The opening of Aberdeen Picture Palace's Capitol down the road in 1933 saw a reduction in ticket prices at the Playhouse. The two partner cinemas were advertised at the time as "Aberdeen's Premier Pair". On 23 May 1941 it was announced that James F. Donald (Aberdeen Cinemas) Ltd. had bought a controlling interest in Aberdeen Picture Palaces. This meant that the Playhouse, along with the other APP venues, were now in the Donald circuit of cinemas. This photograph dates from 1959 shortly before the cinema was relaunched as the Playhouse Continental, showing popular, often more risqué, films from Europe. This only lasted for a couple of years and the cinema reverted to being the Playhouse in 1961. This photograph shows the cinema advertising The Wind Cannot Read with Dirk Bogarde and All for Mary. By 1973 the profitability of the Playhouse was eroded by spiralling costs. The owners of the building, builders James Scott & Son, had moved premises and were looking to dispose of the Union Street property. The cinema's lease was terminated at the end of 1973 and the cinema closed on 9th May 1974. Ownership of the block passed to Devanha Properties Ltd. and after lying empty for a few months the Playhouse was demolished to make way for a new block of shops and offices. [Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson] Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd.

3430

An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Astoria in around 1943. This super-cinema in Kittybrewster was opened in 1934 and was located at the end of Powis Terrace, at the start of Clifton Road and at its junction with Great Northern Road. This photograph looks towards Clifton Road from this location. The film being shown at the time is Air Force with John Garfield. The premises of Birrell, confectioners, and George A. Davidson, provision merchant, can also be seen in the image. Michael Thomson in Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) tells the story of the cinema. The Astoria was primarily the brainchild of Bert Darley who had quit Poole's, proprietors of the Palace and Regent, and started up a new company called the Aberdeen Astoria Cinema Ltd. with various local businessmen and financial backers. The giant cinema, designed by Thomas Scott Sutherland, was intended to serve the growing population of Kittybrewster, Powis, Woodside and Hilton. Construction on the £45,000 building proceeded quickly and it was opened on 8th December 1934 with screenings of a film called I Give My Love. Thomson states that the Astoria's emphasis was on "spaciousness, relying upon simplicity of form to create a pleasing impression of clean-lined functionality." The space of the site allowed Scott Sutherland to enlarge on ideas first used at the Regent. The concept was again a tall central section, incorporating three main windows, with smaller side portions on either side. The Astoria, along with the Capitol, was one of only two Aberdeen cinemas with a theatre organ. Both were equipped with top-of-the-line Compton organs at the time of their opening. In March 1936 James F. Donald (Aberdeen Cinemas) Ltd. acquired a controlling share interest in the Aberdeen Astoria Cinema company. Richard Donald replaced Bert Darley as the manager at the Kittybrewster venue. The programmes of the Astoria and the Kingsway on King Street were regularly linked, both being Donald cinemas. In the 1950s they showed Cinemascope films such as King of the Khyber Rifles and Beneath the Ten Mile Reef. The cinema's last film was The Moving Target, with Paul Newman and Lauren Becall, shown on 13th August 1966. On the 29th of that month the venue reopened as a bingo hall. This was at the height of the game's popularity, however not even it could save the Astoria. At the end of the year the Donalds the site for redevelopment as a shopping complex. Demolition on the cinema was begun in April 1967. Michael Thomson explains that all removable fittings and materials were salvaged. Additionally, the Compton organ was transferred to the school hall of Powis Academy. It served the school well for many years before unfortunately being destroyed in a fire during the night of 20th November 1982. [Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson] Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd.

4448

A photograph by Roddy Millar, taken 21/07/2024, from a series surveying the architecture of the north side of Union Street. The 3 storey and attic building to the left of Starbucks at 208-210 is 212-216 Union Street. Historic Environment Scotland's listed building information suggests this building was erected circa 1841 and that its upper storey and attic were added in the late 19th century. The 'New Buildings in Aberdeen' column in the Aberdeen Daily Journal suggests that the above mentioned alterations and additions were undertaken in 1901 to a design by architects Messrs Jenkins and Marr for Messrs William Coutts and Son, a firm of painters (ADJ, 03/09/1901 p. 7). George Gordon Jenkins (1848-1923) and George Marr (1846-1899) went into partnership in 1878. Following the death of the later, Harbourne Maclennan became a significant architect in the firm and he became the sole partner in 1921 after the retirement of Jenkins. The five bays of 2nd floor windows are decorated with keystoned architraves. The building culminates in twin, highly decorated, curving gables at its attic level. Diane Morgan in The Granite Mile (2008) indicates that this building was previously known as the Central Chambers and was home to George Watt & Stewart, architects, and W. Balfour Robb, advocates (p. 137). From the early 1990s to the mid 2000s, the first two floors were occupied by Paull & Williamson, estate agency. The building was known as New Investment House during this period and had a decorative façade featuring a fountain pen nib, the logo of Paull & Williamson, above its entrance. Paull & Williamson merged with Edinburgh and Glasgow based firm Burness to become Burness Paull in 2012. Since about 2014, this building has been occupied by serviced office businesses. First i2 and from around 2019, Centrum, as shown in this image. The smaller building to the left is 218 Union Street. Historic Environment Scotland indicate that this 2 bay, 2 storey and attic building was also built around 1841. No. 218 was constructed in 1841 as new, purpose built premises for the West-End Academy, an elementary school for boys and girls, which had opened the previous year in 1840 (P&J, 22/04/1940 p. 2 and P&J, 11/09/1941, p. 2). Aberdeen post office directories suggest that the school, which was initially at 201 Union Street West, operated from 216 Union Street until about 1875. A for sale notice for the property can be found in the Aberdeen Journal of 08/03/1876 on p. 4. Morgan suggests one notable 20th century occupant of nos. 216-218 was William Garden, a gunsmith and fishing-tackle maker, who had an impressive array of weaponry in their front window (p. 137). From circa 1993 to 2009, the ground floor premises were occupied by a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland (Evening Express, 18/10/1993, p. 13). By 2012, this was replaced by Smile Dental Care, shown in this 2024 photograph.

4549

One of four images showing Udny Academy, or its former site, that featured in Progress Report of the Education Committee for the Years 1952, 1953, 1954 (1955) by the Council of the County of Aberdeen. This photograph looks north west and shows the eastern, front elevation of the now demolished school building. It was located on the western side of Udny Green. The following information accompanies the four images in the abovementioned publication on page 40: "At Udny a temporary building had been erected some years ago on the school site, and very little playground space remained. To extend the playground it was proposed to take in an adjoining piece of ground on which stood a dilapidated building which had been offered free of charge to the Committee by Lord Belhaven and Stenton. The proposal to demolish this building proved unexpectedly controversial. It had no particular architectural merit, but some thought it a notable feature of the village and others wished it to be preserved because of its historical associations, as it was formerly the building of Udny Academy. It was found impossible to reconstruct the old building at reasonable cost either for school use or for housing, and after much debate it was demolished. The first two photographs show back and front views of the building, and well illustrate its derelict condition. The third shows the general untidiness of the site, the old building obscuring most of the present school behind it. The fourth shows the site from almost the same angle, but after the building had been removed, the area tarmacadamised, the trees felled, the wall rebuilt and the railings restored. "A historical note on the Academy is perhaps appropriate here. George Bisset was appointed in 1784 schoolmaster of the parish of Udny and in 1786 he added to the school a boarding establishment which he called the 'Udny Academy.' It became an important school and attracted to it many of the sons of the county gentlemen in the north of Scotland. George Bisset died in 1812 and was succeeded by his son James, then not quite 17 years old. In spite of his youth he ran the school successfully till 1826 when he became parish minister of Bourtie. Marischal College conferred on him the degree of D.D. in 1850 and he was chosen Moderator of the General Assembly in 1862, the year in which he died. From 1826 the Academy was continued with success for some time by James's younger brother, Udny Bisset, but his health failing, the Academy was given up in 1834 or 1835. "The Academy seems to have been efficiently conducted during almost the whole of its fifty years of existence. The author of the New Statistical Account of the parish, writing in 1840, says, 'The Academy was the means of giving better education to the parishioners than any of their neighbours had an opportunity of obtaining. Many of the younger farmers belonging to the parish, who received their education at Udny Academy, attended several sessions at the Aberdeen Universities. Some of the parishioners' sons became professional men, who, had it not been for the Academy, would have been in humble life'. He adds, 'There is not a person in the parish above fifteen years of age who cannot read and write'." The 1955 County Council publication goes on to state that "several men of note received their education at the Academy" and gives Sir James Outram (1803-1863), an army officer in the East India Company noted for his actions against the Indian Rebellion of 1857, as being the most famous. It has been suggested the journalist and historian Joseph Robertson (1810-1866) also attended the Academy (Evening Express, 20th February 1953, page 5).

4550

One of four images showing Udny Academy, or its former site, that featured in Progress Report of the Education Committee for the Years 1952, 1953, 1954 (1955) by the Council of the County of Aberdeen. As noted in the publication's errata, the caption visible here is missing the word "demolished" after "which was". This photograph looks north east and shows the western, rear elevation of the now demolished school building. It was located on the western side of Udny Green. The following information accompanies the four images in the abovementioned publication on page 40: "At Udny a temporary building had been erected some years ago on the school site, and very little playground space remained. To extend the playground it was proposed to take in an adjoining piece of ground on which stood a dilapidated building which had been offered free of charge to the Committee by Lord Belhaven and Stenton. The proposal to demolish this building proved unexpectedly controversial. It had no particular architectural merit, but some thought it a notable feature of the village and others wished it to be preserved because of its historical associations, as it was formerly the building of Udny Academy. It was found impossible to reconstruct the old building at reasonable cost either for school use or for housing, and after much debate it was demolished. The first two photographs show back and front views of the building, and well illustrate its derelict condition. The third shows the general untidiness of the site, the old building obscuring most of the present school behind it. The fourth shows the site from almost the same angle, but after the building had been removed, the area tarmacadamised, the trees felled, the wall rebuilt and the railings restored. "A historical note on the Academy is perhaps appropriate here. George Bisset was appointed in 1784 schoolmaster of the parish of Udny and in 1786 he added to the school a boarding establishment which he called the 'Udny Academy.' It became an important school and attracted to it many of the sons of the county gentlemen in the north of Scotland. George Bisset died in 1812 and was succeeded by his son James, then not quite 17 years old. In spite of his youth he ran the school successfully till 1826 when he became parish minister of Bourtie. Marischal College conferred on him the degree of D.D. in 1850 and he was chosen Moderator of the General Assembly in 1862, the year in which he died. From 1826 the Academy was continued with success for some time by James's younger brother, Udny Bisset, but his health failing, the Academy was given up in 1834 or 1835. "The Academy seems to have been efficiently conducted during almost the whole of its fifty years of existence. The author of the New Statistical Account of the parish, writing in 1840, says, 'The Academy was the means of giving better education to the parishioners than any of their neighbours had an opportunity of obtaining. Many of the younger farmers belonging to the parish, who received their education at Udny Academy, attended several sessions at the Aberdeen Universities. Some of the parishioners' sons became professional men, who, had it not been for the Academy, would have been in humble life'. He adds, 'There is not a person in the parish above fifteen years of age who cannot read and write'." The 1955 County Council publication goes on to state that "several men of note received their education at the Academy" and gives Sir James Outram (1803-1863), an army officer in the East India Company noted for his actions against the Indian Rebellion of 1857, as being the most famous. It has been suggested the journalist and historian Joseph Robertson (1810-1866) also attended the Academy (Evening Express, 20th February 1953, page 5).

4551

One of four images showing Udny Academy, or its former site, that featured in Progress Report of the Education Committee for the Years 1952, 1953, 1954 (1955) by the Council of the County of Aberdeen. This photograph looks south west and shows the now demolished school building on the far left. It was located on the western side of Udny Green. The following information accompanies the four images in the abovementioned publication on page 40: "At Udny a temporary building had been erected some years ago on the school site, and very little playground space remained. To extend the playground it was proposed to take in an adjoining piece of ground on which stood a dilapidated building which had been offered free of charge to the Committee by Lord Belhaven and Stenton. The proposal to demolish this building proved unexpectedly controversial. It had no particular architectural merit, but some thought it a notable feature of the village and others wished it to be preserved because of its historical associations, as it was formerly the building of Udny Academy. It was found impossible to reconstruct the old building at reasonable cost either for school use or for housing, and after much debate it was demolished. The first two photographs show back and front views of the building, and well illustrate its derelict condition. The third shows the general untidiness of the site, the old building obscuring most of the present school behind it. The fourth shows the site from almost the same angle, but after the building had been removed, the area tarmacadamised, the trees felled, the wall rebuilt and the railings restored. "A historical note on the Academy is perhaps appropriate here. George Bisset was appointed in 1784 schoolmaster of the parish of Udny and in 1786 he added to the school a boarding establishment which he called the 'Udny Academy.' It became an important school and attracted to it many of the sons of the county gentlemen in the north of Scotland. George Bisset died in 1812 and was succeeded by his son James, then not quite 17 years old. In spite of his youth he ran the school successfully till 1826 when he became parish minister of Bourtie. Marischal College conferred on him the degree of D.D. in 1850 and he was chosen Moderator of the General Assembly in 1862, the year in which he died. From 1826 the Academy was continued with success for some time by James's younger brother, Udny Bisset, but his health failing, the Academy was given up in 1834 or 1835. "The Academy seems to have been efficiently conducted during almost the whole of its fifty years of existence. The author of the New Statistical Account of the parish, writing in 1840, says, 'The Academy was the means of giving better education to the parishioners than any of their neighbours had an opportunity of obtaining. Many of the younger farmers belonging to the parish, who received their education at Udny Academy, attended several sessions at the Aberdeen Universities. Some of the parishioners' sons became professional men, who, had it not been for the Academy, would have been in humble life'. He adds, 'There is not a person in the parish above fifteen years of age who cannot read and write'." The 1955 County Council publication goes on to state that "several men of note received their education at the Academy" and gives Sir James Outram (1803-1863), an army officer in the East India Company noted for his actions against the Indian Rebellion of 1857, as being the most famous. It has been suggested the journalist and historian Joseph Robertson (1810-1866) also attended the Academy (Evening Express, 20th February 1953, page 5).

4552

One of four images showing Udny Academy, or its former site, that featured in Progress Report of the Education Committee for the Years 1952, 1953, 1954 (1955) by the Council of the County of Aberdeen. This photograph looks south west and shows the site of the now demolished school building. It was located on the western side of Udny Green. The building shown in the background here is then current Udny Green School, which has since also been demolished. A new building, located north east across the Green, opened in 1965. The following information accompanies the four images in the abovementioned publication on page 40: "At Udny a temporary building had been erected some years ago on the school site, and very little playground space remained. To extend the playground it was proposed to take in an adjoining piece of ground on which stood a dilapidated building which had been offered free of charge to the Committee by Lord Belhaven and Stenton. The proposal to demolish this building proved unexpectedly controversial. It had no particular architectural merit, but some thought it a notable feature of the village and others wished it to be preserved because of its historical associations, as it was formerly the building of Udny Academy. It was found impossible to reconstruct the old building at reasonable cost either for school use or for housing, and after much debate it was demolished. The first two photographs show back and front views of the building, and well illustrate its derelict condition. The third shows the general untidiness of the site, the old building obscuring most of the present school behind it. The fourth shows the site from almost the same angle, but after the building had been removed, the area tarmacadamised, the trees felled, the wall rebuilt and the railings restored. "A historical note on the Academy is perhaps appropriate here. George Bisset was appointed in 1784 schoolmaster of the parish of Udny and in 1786 he added to the school a boarding establishment which he called the 'Udny Academy.' It became an important school and attracted to it many of the sons of the county gentlemen in the north of Scotland. George Bisset died in 1812 and was succeeded by his son James, then not quite 17 years old. In spite of his youth he ran the school successfully till 1826 when he became parish minister of Bourtie. Marischal College conferred on him the degree of D.D. in 1850 and he was chosen Moderator of the General Assembly in 1862, the year in which he died. From 1826 the Academy was continued with success for some time by James's younger brother, Udny Bisset, but his health failing, the Academy was given up in 1834 or 1835. "The Academy seems to have been efficiently conducted during almost the whole of its fifty years of existence. The author of the New Statistical Account of the parish, writing in 1840, says, 'The Academy was the means of giving better education to the parishioners than any of their neighbours had an opportunity of obtaining. Many of the younger farmers belonging to the parish, who received their education at Udny Academy, attended several sessions at the Aberdeen Universities. Some of the parishioners' sons became professional men, who, had it not been for the Academy, would have been in humble life'. He adds, 'There is not a person in the parish above fifteen years of age who cannot read and write'." The 1955 County Council publication goes on to state that "several men of note received their education at the Academy" and gives Sir James Outram (1803-1863), an army officer in the East India Company noted for his actions against the Indian Rebellion of 1857, as being the most famous. It has been suggested the journalist and historian Joseph Robertson (1810-1866) also attended the Academy (Evening Express, 20th February 1953, page 5).

4563

A photograph showing principal teacher of drawing and painting at Gray's School of Art, Mr. Robert Sivell (1888-1958), with two of his students standing in front of murals created for a San Francisco cocktail bar. The image accompanies an article titled 'City Art Students Decorate Cocktail Bar' from the Bon-Accord and Northern Pictorial newspaper of 7th July 1938, page 9. The accompanying article explains that Sivell and four of his post-diploma students were commissioned to paint seven wall murals for a new Scottish themed cocktail bar in the US city of San Francisco. Three of the seven paintings were full-sized panels standing nine feet high. These depicted Rob Roy, Prince Charles Edward and Balmoral Castle. Four other panels were smaller and showed Tantallon Castle, a Highland scene, Sligachan and Sgurr nan Gillean on Skye, and Loch Tay. The article lists Mr. Sivell's students as Isobel Mackie, Alberto Morocco, James Hillocks and Taylor Bremner. Referring to his students and the murals, Sivell stated "This is their first commercial work, and it's well done." The commission for the paintings came through local tailors, Messrs Meldrum, Ltd., George Street, who were well known in America for supplying tartans, kilts, and Scots tweeds. Having dispatched a consignment of Stuart tartan for the bar, they were also approached concerning decorative paintings. Mr Meldrum queried the request with Mr J. Taylor of Taylor's Art Saloon, who then went to Robert Sivell. The work was carried out in Aberdeen, taking roughly a week, and the finished murals were due to be sent to America on 4th July 1938. (P&J, 04/07/1938, p. 8). These Scottish themed murals can be seen as a precursory to those Sivell and his students would soon create for the new Students' Union buildings on the Gallowgate.

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).

446

This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy. The book describes the scene as follows: "Belmont Street, which leads from Union Street to Schoolhill, is a mixture of the old and the new, and has undergone many changes in recent years. Almost a third of the left-hand side in now occupied by the Central Secondary School and its hall, which was formerly a church. There are still two churches in this short street, with the other two round the Schoolhill corner - which also houses a cinema, the British Broadcasting Corporation's studios, the Aberdeen Trades' Council and Boy Scout headquarters. But the history of the street is largely ecclesiastical, and dates back only about a century and a half."