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Aberdeen Savings Bank, Union Terrace
178 Aberdeen Savings Bank, Union Terrace, 1894. Aberdeen Savings Bank was established in May 1815 "for receiving such small sums as may be saved from the earnings of tradesmen, mechanics, labourers, servants etc". As the bank became more successful, they moved from premises in the Guestrow to a new building in Exchange Street. By the 1890s, the directors decided that a new site was necessary, especially as the population in the city was moving westwards. This illustration, by the architect William Kelly in 1894, shows the building that was to be constructed at the junction of Union Terrace and Diamond Street at a cost of £11,000. The design is of Renaissance style, with the central entrance leading to an inner porch lined with red and grey granite, then a short flight of steps led to the main telling office. This office had a deeply panelled ceiling and dome partially filled with painted and decorated glass. Coats of Arms of the City and Lord Provosts were also displayed. The counter and desks were made of mahogany and oak with wrought iron and wrought copper grills. In the 1960s, a large extension was built on an adjacent site and, in 1983, the bank became part of the Trustees Savings Bank in Scotland and in 1999 became part of Lloyds TSB. 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. The Aberdeen New Savings Bank
764 The new Aberdeen Savings Bank, Union Terrace. Designed by William Kelly, 1896.
Aberdeen Savings Bank was established in May 1815 'for receiving such small sums as may be saved from the earnings of tradesmen, mechanics, labourers, servants etc'. As the bank became more successful they moved from premises in the Guestrow to a new building on Exchange Street in 1858.
By the 1890s, the directors decided that a new site was necessary, especially as the population in the city was moving westwards.
This photograph shows the building that was constructed at the junction of Union Terrace and Diamond Street at a cost of £11,000. The design is of renaissance style, with the central entrance leading to an inner porch lined with red and grey granite, then a short flight of steps led to the main telling office. This office had a deeply paneled ceiling and dome partially filled with painted and decorated glass. Coats of Arms of the City and Lord Provosts were also displayed. The counter and desks were made of mahogany and oak with wrought iron and wrought copper grills.
In the 1960's a large extension was built on an adjacent site, and in 1983 the bank became part of the Trustee Savings Bank in Scotland, and in 1999 became part of Lloyds TSB. Lord Provost Mearns' Garden Party
1923 Daniel Mearns (1838-12th February 1913) served as Provost of Aberdeen from 1895-1898.
He was the youngest son of a shipmaster in Aberdeen, also called Daniel Mearns, and worked as a ship chandler in the firm of Mr P. Buyers at Regent Quay.
He entered the city council in 1876 and was also a member of the Harbour Board up until his death. He was involved in many schemes to improve the city such as encouraging the Corporation to purchase tramways and the construction of the larger market.
Mearns also served on the Scottish Fishery Board and the Marine Board, was Consul to Argentina and a Governor of Robert Gordon's Technical College.
In this photograph we can see Mearns in the centre of the frame, in a top-hat, hosting a garden party. Sir David Stewart
2029 A portrait of Lord Provost Sir David Stewart (1835 - 1919). He served as Provost of Aberdeen from 1889 to 1894. After graduating from King's College in 1855 he joined his father in the firm Messrs. S. R. Stewart & Co., the largest combmaking business in the world. Stewart was the president of the Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce for 1883-84 and was also a member of the School Board. He entered the Town Council in November 1889. One very significant development during his term as Provost was the Aberdeen Corporation Act of 1891. This extended the boundaries of the city to include Old Aberdeen, Woodside and Torry.
He also, somewhat reluctantly, gave his name to Stewart Park. The Woodside amenity was officially opened on the afternoon of Saturday 9th June 1894. The Aberdeen Journal's report of the ceremony has the Provost responding to a toast by stating "he did not know what the park was to be called. It was rather hard lines that he should be put in the position of saying 'No' to the request that had been made, but if he had been properly consulted - he would have advised them not to call it the Stewart Park. He might have possibly been chaffed [chuffed] about it being called the Stewart Park, and taken a good-natured smile, but he did not think he ever gave his consent any way. He felt it would be just as well perhaps if the committee called it 'Hilton' or 'Woodside,' and perhaps they would reconsider it." He left the matter in the hands of the Town Council and the name stood. Provost William Leslie
2051 A portrait of Provost William Leslie (1802-18/02/1879). He served as Provost of Aberdeen from 1869 to 1874.
Leslie was born in New Deer and worked as an architect and builder. Notable projects included the construction of the North Church in Aberdeen to John Smith's designs in 1829-30 and Castle Newe in 1831 to designs by Archibald Simpson.
He also worked as a railway contractor and granite merchant. More information about Leslie can be read on the Dictionary of Scottish Architects website and in Memorials of the Aldermen, Provosts, and Lord Provosts of Aberdeen, 1272-1893 (1897) by Munro. Town House Extension Foundation Stone
2757 The foundation stone of the Aberdeen Town House extension on Broad Street.
As stated on the stone, it was laid by Lord Provost Robert S. Lennox on 17th November 1975.
The city architects responsible for the extension were I. A. Ferguson and T. C. Watson. It was built by Taylor Woodrow Construction (Scotland) Ltd.
The stone also makes reference to a casket buried five metres below the foundations to commemorate the dissolution of the Corporation of the City of Aberdeen as part of local government reform.
The casket ceremony was held on 15th May 1975 shortly after the last meeting of the Aberdeen Town Council which was being replaced by the City of Aberdeen District Council.
The casket ceremony was the final act of John Smith as lord provost. The official switch over of councils was marked by the "Bon-Accord" bell of the West Church of St Nicholas tolling from 11:50pm to midnight on 15th May. Earlier in the day saw a fireworks display at the Queens Links, pipe bands and a special lunch and church service for members and officials of the corporation. See local newspaper coverage from the time for more details on the occasion.
Around 80 people, including councillors, family and Taylor Woodrow employees watched Lord Provost John Smith place 29 items of interest into the copper clad box. Smith joked, "About the year 3048, an unsuspecting archaeological digger may come upon this box and he will no doubt remark on my genius."
Among the buried items were copies of the Press & Journal and the Evening Express, local books, records and cassettes of Scottish music, local government data, sets of coins of the realm and postage stamps, local stones, a phial of North Sea oil and plans for the Town House extension.
The casket was placed on a crane hook by Aberdeen Town House project manager Tom Nisbet and guided into the ground by foreman Andrew Benzies.
The ceremony was reported in local newspapers and the July 1975 issue of the construction company's magazine, Taywood News. CITIZENS OF POLAND WHO WERE FROM ABERDEEN
2877 There are many others who have traveled from Aberdeen to Poland and made successful careers. Some of these people being:
John Burnet (b. 1603)
John Burnet was from Aberdeen. Burnet was made citizen of Krakow in 1617. He had traded 10 Polish florins, a gun, and half a stone of gunpowder in return for citizenship.
Sir George Skene of Rubislaw (1619-1707)
Sir George was a former Danzig merchant who later became the Provost of Aberdeen 1676-1685. George Skene had arrived in Poland with his step-brother and apprenticed him to George Edie in Danzig.
William Forbes (1566-1627)
William Forbes was the founder of Craigevar Family and former merchant. With the riches he had acquired in Poland he bought many estates in Aberdeenshire. He was also known as "Danzig Willie" and "Willie the Merchant".
John Turner
Turner, also a former merchant in Poland, was a benefactor of the Marischal College. In 1688, he left 4 bursaries to Marischal College and his coat of arms can be seen in the historical window in Mitchell Hall.
John Craig (b. 1587)
John Craig was a trader in Krakow. He paid 10 Hungarian Florins to become a citizen of Poland.
George Crukshank (b. 1686)
Crukshank was a merchant in Krakow who paid 100 florins plus an additional 14 florins instead of the usually required gun and gunpowder.
The image on the left is a reproduction of a portrait of George Skene by George Jamieson. It is from Alexander Munro's Memorials of the Aldermen, Provosts, and Lord Provosts of Aberdeen, 1272-1895 (1897). Aberdeen Savings Bank, Union Terrace
46 Aberdeen Savings Bank, Union Terrace, 1894. Aberdeen Savings Bank was established in May 1815 "for receiving such small sums as may be saved from the earnings of tradesmen, mechanics, labourers, servants etc". As the bank became more successful, they moved from premises in the Guestrow to a new building in Exchange Street. By the 1890s, the directors decided that a new site was necessary, especially as the population in the city was moving westwards. This illustration, by the architect William Kelly in 1894, shows the building that was to be constructed at the junction of Union Terrace and Diamond Street at a cost of £11,000. The design is of Renaissance style, with the central entrance leading to an inner porch lined with red and grey granite, then a short flight of steps led to the main telling office. This office had a deeply panelled ceiling and dome partially filled with painted and decorated glass. Coats of Arms of the City and Lord Provosts were also displayed. The counter and desks were made of mahogany and oak with wrought iron and wrought copper grills. In the 1960s, a large extension was built on an adjacent site and, in 1983, the bank became part of the Trustees Savings Bank in Scotland and in 1999 became part of Lloyds TSB. Treasure 48: Tuberculosis Exhibition Poster
219 In March 1912 an exhibition on the infectious disease tuberculosis was held in the Music Hall on Union Street. This striking poster, with the headline 'War on consumption', advertised the six day event and the accompanying series of lectures.
The exhibition was organised by the Town Council of Aberdeen and the National Association for the Prevention of Consumption. The majority of the exhibition was brought to the city by the latter party with local additions from the Aberdeen Public Health Department, the pathological and public health laboratories of the University of Aberdeen and the Aberdeen Mothers' and Babies' Club.
The exhibition arrived in Aberdeen on the 16 March from Dundee where it had been visited by 30,000 people. It had also toured Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Hull.
The exhibits were arranged in the Music Hall's Ball Room and Square Room by Mr Haughton, the organising secretary, with assistance by officials of the Public Health Department. The exhibition included two full sized model rooms. Living conditions such as good ventilation, fresh air and sunlight were considered vital in combating the disease. A "bad room" was modelled on a real property in the East End of London.
Tuberculosis was a grave health concern at the time. The poster states that "During the past Ten Years in Aberdeen 1997 persons died from Consumption, and 1039 from other forms of Tuberculosis." In a preview of the exhibition from 19 March, the Aberdeen Journal wrote "The object of the exhibition is to draw attention to the enormous wastage of life and work caused by tuberculosis in its various forms; to show how the disease is caused and spread; and to illustrate the methods of cure and the precautions for its prevention."
The importance of the exhibition was further stressed in a later article which stated: "There is no single disease that causes among civilian communities so many deaths and manifests itself in such various forms, and nothing can be more desirable than to bring home to the masses of people how the deadly scourge can best be prevented or checked. In Aberdeen alone the number of deaths yearly from all forms of tuberculosis is about 270, and of these about two-thirds, or 180, are due to pulmonary tuberculosis. The disease usually lasts long, and the number of definite diseases attributable to it at any one time in the city is probably not less than four or even five times as large as the deaths."
The exhibition was opened by the Principal of the University of Aberdeen, George Adam Smith, and was accompanied by a series of daily public lectures by experts on the disease. Each day's lecture was followed by cinematograph presentations illustrating the precautions taken in connection to tuberculosis. The lectures were held next-door to the Music Hall in the Aberdeen Y.M.C.A. Hall.
At the close of the "six day crusade against tuberculosis", Lord Provost Maitland described the exhibition and lecture series as "Magnificent" and the Journal stated that the success of the event, "judged by popularity, is beyond all doubt." In total 39,960 attended over the six days, placing Aberdeen behind only Hull which was open for an extra day. Approximately 20,000 health pamphlets were disseminated around the city, including 15,000 catalogues freely distributed by the Public Health Committee. A copy of this catalogue, which includes an instructive article from Hay, is kept in the collection of Aberdeen Local Studies. Voters for Mr. Bannerman!
486 A broadside from 10th August 1832 inviting the eligible of Aberdeen to register as electors and to support Mr. Bannerman.
Alexander M. Munro in Memorials of the Aldermen, Provosts, and Lord Provosts of Aberdeen (1897) states that Sir Alex Bannerman of Elsick (1788-1864) won the elections in December 1832 after his opponent James Hadden retired from the contest.
Bannerman became the first M.P. for Aberdeen after the Reform Bill enactment passed in July 1832. This allowed the city to elect its own representative in the Parliament instead of voting for a member as part of a larger group of burghs.
The Aberdeen Journal explained that this act also prescribed that all eligible electors would receive a printed blank claim or schedule when applying for voting, as this historical document also states.
This broadside, printed at the Aberdeen Herald Office by G. Cornwall, indicates that the registration office was located at 27 Adelphi. City of Aberdeen. At Aberdeen, the 21st day of February, 1817 years (1 of 2)
511 This is the front page of a two-sided broadside style pamphlet. The back page can be seen here.
This broadside refers to a meeting on 21st February 1817 of Aberdeen's bureaucrats. Attending the meeting were creditors - individuals and organisations providing loans - and their debtors, the treasurers of Aberdeen. The meeting had been called by a letter dated to the 8th February. The Lord Provost, Alexander Fraser (1775-1840), chaired the meeting. The Lord Provost reiterated the contents of the letter, that the treasurers felt bound to provide a detailed statement of their accounts to the creditors. They also iterated their desire to establish an independent committee to assist in the auditing of their accounts.
The treasurers felt it necessary to reassure the attending creditors. The treasurers had previously borrowed money from the creditors to fund the formation of Union Street and King Street. For some years in the run up to this meeting, the treasurers had been unable to pay the creditors the required five-per-cent interest on the money borrowed for this project. (Alexander Munro, Memorials of the Alderman, Provosts, and Lord Provosts of Aberdeen, 1272-1893 (1897), 265-267).
Thus, presumably, the creditors were nervous over the security of their debts. A lack of trust between the creditors and debtors exists. The Lord Provost, speaking on behalf of the debtors, sought to rectify this through making the treasurers scrutable. A motion was moved by a Mr Crombie to give the independent committee (of trustees) the power to sell property belonging to the treasurers in order to pay the treasurers' debts. This motion was unanimously approved by the meeting. The broadside concludes by listing the trustees as treasurers in order to pay the treasurers' debts. City of Aberdeen. At Aberdeen, the 21st day of February, 1817 years (2 of 2)
512 This is the back page of a two-sided broadside style pamphlet. The front page can be seen here.
This broadside refers to a meeting on 21st February 1817 of Aberdeen's bureaucrats. Attending the meeting were creditors - individuals and organisations providing loans - and their debtors, the treasurers of Aberdeen. The meeting had been called by a letter dated to the 8th February. The Lord Provost, Alexander Fraser (1775-1840), chaired the meeting. The Lord Provost reiterated the contents of the letter, that the treasurers felt bound to provide a detailed statement of their accounts to the creditors. They also iterated their desire to establish an independent committee to assist in the auditing of their accounts.
The treasurers felt it necessary to reassure the attending creditors. The treasurers had previously borrowed money from the creditors to fund the formation of Union Street and King Street. For some years in the run up to this meeting, the treasurers had been unable to pay the creditors the required five-per-cent interest on the money borrowed for this project. (Alexander Munro, Memorials of the Alderman, Provosts, and Lord Provosts of Aberdeen, 1272-1893 (1897), 265-267).
Thus, presumably, the creditors were nervous over the security of their debts. A lack of trust between the creditors and debtors exists. The Lord Provost, speaking on behalf of the debtors, sought to rectify this through making the treasurers scrutable. A motion was moved by a Mr Crombie to give the independent committee (of trustees) the power to sell property belonging to the treasurers in order to pay the treasurers' debts. This motion was unanimously approved by the meeting. The broadside concludes by listing the trustees as treasurers in order to pay the treasurers' debts. |