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St. Mary's Chapel, St. Nicholas Church
366 A photograph of St. Mary's Chapel at St. Nicholas Church in around 1898.
Historic Environment Scotland's listed building information suggests this lower church was built in 1438. It was part of the 15th century expansion of St. Nicholas and located to the east of the then existing building. The main church was subsequently expanded eastwards over it.
Work was completed on the crypt in around 1507 and it was dedicated to the Virgin as Our Lady of Pity, from which derives the various names it has been known over the years; Pity Vault, the Cell of Our Lady of Pity, and St. Mary's Chapel.
The space has served many purposes since its creation and seen a number of renovations. It has been a general storehouse for sundry municipal items, including the gibbet, a plumber's shop, a public soup kitchen, a meeting place of the presbytery of Aberdeen, and a regular church.
More can be read about the chapel in Old Landmarks of Aberdeen (1885) by G. Gordon Burr and Alex. M. Munro, The Story of St. Mary's Chapel: The Ancient "Lower Church" or Crypt of St. Nicholas (1935) by The Rev. J. G. Grant Fleming and in the history section of the St. Nicholas Church website. European Cup Parade
652 Aberdeen Football Club's open top bus parade of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1983. The photograph looks north west across Union Street towards its junction with Union Terrace.
Aberdeen defeated Real Madrid 2-1 in the final held in Gothenburg, Sweden on 11th May 1983.
The conquering heroes landed, cup in hand, at Aberdeen Airport at 14.40 the next day. The team received a rousing reception and were given a celebratory cake on arrival from an offshore catering company.
It was then on to the open top bus for the journey from Dyce to Pittodrie. Grampian Fire Brigade lined-up their engines outside their Anderson Drive headquarters as a unique guard of honour for the team as they headed for the city centre.
As shown here, the city streets were packed with fans of all ages, including some who had travelled back from Gothenburg.
Lord Provost Alex Collie, the Queen Mother and Margaret Thatcher all provided messages of congratulations. Celebrations ended at a teeming Pittodrie.
Aberdeen FC had another triumphant tour through the city centre only 10 days later after they beat Rangers 1-0 in the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden Park. The match was on the Saturday 21st May and the parade in Aberdeen was the next day. 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. Peterculter Parish council
1000 Peterculter Parish Council: Water inspection at Denmill 1909. Back Row: W Thomson. Front Row: F Morrison, Builder; R Benzie, Waterman; John Clark, Clerk; unknown; Mr Skene, Aberdeen. Isaac Benzie's shop, Torry
1104 Isaac Benzie's shop on Victoria Road, Torry. Benzie is better known as being on George Street, or perhaps Union Street, but he also had a branch shop on Victoria Road. This indicates what an important part of town Torry was becoming after the late 19th century. Isaac Benzies' George Street Store
1108 Isaac Benzies. This famous local retailer first started trading from a small shop at 185 George Street in 1894. As business flourished, other outlets were opened in the city. Mr Benzie finally brought his interests together under one roof in these premises on George Street in 1924. In 1955, the store was acquired by the House of Fraser and traded as Arnotts before closing down in 1986. Newhills Bowling Club, Burndale Road
1135 Newhills Bowling Club, Burndale Road - William Mackie, Charles Stephen and Alex Keay. Trinity Lane
1208 Trinity Lane, Aberdeen, c.1975, from Exchange Street.
The Trinity place-name comes from the area once being the site of a Trinitarian Friary.
The building to the right in this photograph was once known as Trinity Chapel, or Trinity Parish Church. It was opened for public worship on Sunday 27th April, 1794.
For a number of years, the chapel was an important centre of religious life and activity. The Disruption of 1843 significantly diminished the congregation. The building was subsequently sold by the Presbytery and became the Alhambra Music Hall.
See Gammie's Churches of Aberdeen (1909) for more information on the history of this congregation and building.
A large part of the exterior still stands and the building currently houses Wagley's public house. In this photograph Alex. McKay, electrical appliance showroom, is in occupation. Newspaper notices indicate that the business moved here, from 41 The Green, in 1966.
The building in the centre of the image is best known, as shown here, as a banana warehouse for Knowles & Sons, fruiterers and later as a restaurant and art gallery. It was originally built as a church for Aberdeen's Catholic Apostolic congregation.
MUSA was a restaurant and art space, with a focus on music, throughout the first two decades of the 21st century. It closed down in October 2018.
8th March 2019 saw the opening of a new bar in the building called The Hop & Anchor, specialising in craft beer. It is owned by a company called the Draft House and this is their first pub outside London. The Draft House is owned by Brewdog, the North East beer company. Memorial to Ann Allardyce
1290 Memorial to Ann Allardyce in the West Church of St. Nicholas. The inscription reads, "Sacred to the memory of Ann the wife of Alexander Allardyce of Dunnottar and daughter of Alexander Baxter of Glassel. She was married the 7 August 1786, gave birth to her son Alex Baxter Allardyce the 28th of July and departed this life at Aberdeen the 1st of August 1787 aged 28 years. As a tribute justly due to the Eminent Virtues, Gentle Manners and Personal Accomplishments of a most amiable Woman her disconsolate husband dedicates this monument". John Bacon, London, sculptor 1791. Group Portrait at Stoneywood Paper Mills
1989 A group portrait of William Ford and the workers from Stoneywood Paper Mills' counting house. Ford managed this part of the works.
The building in the background is the mill's canteen. The company who owned the mill, Alex. Pirie & Sons, also provided a school and library for their employees. Alexander Pirie II
2049 A portrait of Doctor Alexander Pirie II (1812 - 1875). The son of Alexander Pirie I (1778 - 1860), both were important figures in the development of Stoneywood Papermills and the Alex. Pirie & Sons company. Alexander II had Stoneywood House built in 1849-50, it was designed by James Matthews. He died in 1875 during a short trip to Dresden and his funeral took place at St. Peter's. Edward Hall
2389 In March 1885, the City Librarian, A.W. Robertson, reported to the Free Public Library Committee that he had examined all the volumes that were to be transferred from the Mechanics' Institution, "and a note taken of any injury or imperfections, or both, that may have been found therein". He discovered that, while many were unsuitable due to their poor condition, others required repairs including fixing leaves and plates, re-attaching books to their covers and mending corners, and believed that this work "could be done most economically and conveniently on the library premises".
Edward Hall worked for the William Jackson bookbinders at the time and was sent by the company to carry out this work, including all the gilt lettering.
After the first six months of the new public library, and the wear and tear on the books "being already large and accumulating from day to day", the library committee were considering the appointment of a library binder to maintain the stock and repair minor faults before the volumes needed total rebinding. In August 1886, Mr Hall was appointed at a wage of twenty-three shillings weekly. Although other binding work was still undertaken by local firms William Jackson and John Avery, the Librarian was pleased to note in his annual report for 1885-86 that "The results of the experiment so far have been satisfactory, justifying the expectation that it would effect a saving both of time and of cost of rebinding".
The library bookbinders' wages and working hours were regulated by agreement with their trade union and in the 1890-91 Library Committee Minutes, it is noted that the Bookbinders and Machine Rulers' Consolidated Union had agreed a reduction in the bookbinders' working week from 54 to 51 hours.
After the Town Council made a resolution that all staff should retire when they reached the age of 65 years, the Library Committee had to ask Mr Hall to retire in May 1935. At this time his wages were £3.15. 6 per week.
In an interview with the People's Journal reporter, he expressed his disappointment that he was unable to complete his 50 years' service, even though he was then 72 years old. The Library Committee agreed that he would receive a weekly allowance of 16/8 (sixteen shillings and eight pence) in recognition of his long and efficient service.
At his retiral presentation, he was presented by the City Librarian, G.M. Fraser, with "a beautiful chiming clock with Westminster and the new Jubilee chimes". Crathes Castle
2548 A photograph of Crathes Castle. It is featured in 123 Views of "Royal Deeside" by Alex Inkson McConnochie. 122-130 Union Street
3103 The Ocean Accident and Guarantee Corporation, Ltd., at 124, Alex. Martin, gunmaker, at 128 and Knight's, confectioners, at 130 Union Street in 1937. Aberdeen Cinemas: Picture House / Gaumont
3405 This image from the collection of the Aberdeen Journals Archive shows the staff of The Gaumont dressed in Tudor costume on the day of the Scottish premiere of the Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn drama, Anne of a Thousand Days.
The national premiere of the Richard Burton and Geneviève Bujold picture took place at the cinema on 25th May 1970. The couple in evening wear are Lord Provost James Lamont and his wife. Along from them, also in evening wear, is the cinema's manager Alex Greig.
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Alex Scott & Co.
3853 A photograph from around 1986 showing the premises of Alex Scott & Co., tailors and highland outfitters, at 103-105 George Street. A small part of a branch of the Fine Fare supermarket can be seen to the right.
These buildings are located on the west side of George Street between Loch Street and St. Andrew Street. George Street
3854 A photograph from around 1986 showing Alex Scott & Co., Fine Fare, House Proud, the Central Bakery building, and the old Isaac Benzies premises. The junction on the far right is with St. Andrew Street. Union Works
4399 A mid-20th century photograph of the Union Works in central Aberdeen. This images looks south east across College Street from a high vantage point and has railway tracks, Poyernook and the hills of Torry in the background.
The factory likely dates from around 1862. A notice from the Aberdeen Herald newspaper of 17th May 1862, page 4, records Alexander Pirie & Sons moving from the Adelphi to their new premises of Union Works, Poyernook.
From the 1860s onwards, the works were owned and operated by Alexander Pirie & Sons, then Pirie, Appleton & Co. and finally Wiggins Teape (Stationery), Ltd.
At the time of this photograph, the works were likely operated by Pirie, Appleton & Co. This image may been sourced from a promotional brochure for the company. In addition to the Union Works, they also had factories at Chadwell Heath in East London and in Dublin, Johannesburg and Cape Town.
As with many significant local enterprises, the operation of Pirie, Appleton & Co. is described in mid-20th century Official Handbooks created for the Corporation of the City of Aberdeen. The volume from 1954 states that the company specialised in manufacturing commercial envelopes, including their successful "River Series."
The company had also recently introduced a quality note-paper to their range called "Mitre Club," which is described as a brand of social stationery. They additionally manufactured different types of account and manuscript books, including a system of loose leaf binding known as "Swing-o-Ring." Other products include "printers' cards, paper collars, commerial heading, filing folders, and record cards." (pages 166-167).
In this image, a large sign can be seen on the north side of the factory building that reads "The mark of good stationery" with an Aberdeen terrier. This black Scottie dog, closely associated with the city, was adopted as a trade-mark of the company in the mid-20th century.
Wiggins Teape and Co. had amalgamated with Alexander Pirie & Sons in 1922 (see Aberdeen Daily Journal, 30th March 1922, page 4). Alex. Pirie & Sons and Pirie, Appleton & Co. were subsidiary companies of Wiggins Teape.
The Union Works site closed down not long after 1969 when Wiggins Teape began construction of a replacement factory at Dyce (see Evening Express, 4th September 1969, page 7).
The site was sold and the works were demolished to make way for the multi-storey office block, St. Machar House. Built by Sir Robert Alpine & Sons for Neale House Properties (Aberdeen) Limited, to a design by architects Mackie, Ramsay & Taylor, construction was well under way by Autumn 1975 (Evening Express, 2nd August 1975, 'Business Bureau' page 6).
Below the southern end of St. Machar House, the rest of the old Union Works site is occupied by the College Street Car Park, built by Arup and Partners (Scotland), with consulting architects Baxter, Clark & Paul, and opened on 4th July 1991. Memorial to Ann Allardyce
116 Memorial to Ann Allardyce in the West Church of St. Nicholas. The inscription reads, "Sacred to the memory of Ann the wife of Alexander Allardyce of Dunnottar and daughter of Alexander Baxter of Glassel. She was married the 7 August 1786, gave birth to her son Alex Baxter Allardyce the 28th of July and departed this life at Aberdeen the 1st of August 1787 aged 28 years. As a tribute justly due to the Eminent Virtues, Gentle Manners and Personal Accomplishments of a most amiable Woman her disconsolate husband dedicates this monument". John Bacon, London, sculptor 1791. Treasure 38: The J. T. McIntosh Collection
207 J. T. McIntosh was a pen name of James Murdoch Macgregor (1925-2007). Born in Paisley, MacGregor moved to Aberdeen with his family at the age of 7 and stayed in the city for the rest of his life. He studied at Aberdeen Grammar School and graduated from the University of Aberdeen with an honours degree in English and literature.
After leaving education he taught music and English at Aberdeen Grammar School and became a journalist for the Bon Accord Magazine and sub-editor of the Press and Journal newspaper. MacGregor was a prolific writer from a young age and developed his skills producing many early short stories.
After finding success submitting stories to science fiction magazines on both sides of the Atlantic, MacGregor became a full time writer in 1952. He borrowed the pseudonym J. T. McIntosh from an old school friend and from September 1951 this became his most common pen name.
Aberdeen Local Studies has collected copies of many of his better known works, including editions from around the world. His science fictions novels from the 1950s are his best remembered: World Out of Mind (1953), Born Leader (1954), One in Three Hundred (1954) and The Fittest (1955). He published regularly until the late 1970s.
To accompany our wide selection of J. T. McIntosh works we have a collection of material on the author assembled by pupils and teachers from Torry Academy. The above biography has drawn heavily on their excellent work. We also hold a copy of a fascinating interview from 1986 in which MacGregor discusses his life and work. The National Library of Scotland has a significant collection of his written works too and in 2010 acquired his literary papers and correspondence.
MacGregor remains a neglected figure, awaiting the recognition deserving of this prolific Aberdeen author. Treasure 119: Aberdeen shops
342 The Local Studies collections in Aberdeen City Libraries include a number of interesting booklets about some of the city's shops such as Esslemont & Mackintosh; Falconer's; The Rubber Shop; and Collie's, which were once so well-known to local customers. The information and illustrations contained in them is enhanced by advertisements which appeared in guidebooks and other publications.
One such booklet was produced by John E. Esslemont Ltd. in 1964 to mark the centenary of their business in King Street. It contains a detailed description of the history and development of the company with photographs of the directors, the staff, and the machinery involved in tea blending and in the manufacture of sweets, which were their specialities. The remainder of the booklet gives their wholesale trade list of teas, sweets and other items. These shops are only a selection of those which once lined Aberdeen's streets. Many other names are now only an historical memory - Isaac Benzie (Arnotts), Reid and Pearson, Watt and Grant, Watt and Milne, Equitable, McMillan's, Strathdee, Mitchell and Muil, A. B. Hutchison, Kennaway, Pegler, Bruce Miller, Northern Co-operative Society (Co-opie), Woolworths, Wilburns, Shirras Laing. Everybody had their own favourites.
Did you work in any of these shops? Do you have memories or printed items you'd like to share? The Local Studies department at the Central Library would love to hear from you!
To learn more about the interesting history of our local shops, have a browse in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition. Cotton Street Electricity Works
387 John S. Reid in the third chapter of his excellent book, Mechanical Aberdeen (1990) explains that there were two technological developments during the 1880s that made electricity a far more useful source of power; the evolution of dynamos, key to electricity stations, and the development of the vacuum pump, which made the electric light bulb possible.
Aberdeen Town Council soon realised the potential benefits of electricity as a public utility and 1894 saw the opening of a municipal generating station at Cotton Street. It was built on gasworks ground, cost £21,500 and was primarily the work of Alex Smith, who had served as City Gas Engineer for around 25 years. The electrification of Aberdeen saw admirable and crucial co-operation between gas and electricity departments of the Town Council.
Reid tells us that the opening ceremony for the Cotton Street station saw the activation of Aberdeen's first electric public lighting. On 28 February, 1894, a large crowd gathered in Union Street and Castle Street to watch Lady Provost Stewart throw the switch to light up 10 arc lamps. This was the first stage of a plan that would see lighting extend up the rest of Union Street and branch off down the main streets. The venture made Aberdeen only the second corporation in Scotland to introduce electric street lamps (after Glasgow) and the first to construct their own generating station. The initial capacity of Cotton Street was 300 kilowatts. Aberdeen Cable Subway
389 A plate of various plans from the from Minutes of Proceedings of the Aberdeen Association of Civil Engineers for the years 1900-1906. Vol. VI that accompanied an article called 'The Aberdeen Electrical Cable Subway' by David Benzie. The subterranean structure was constructed as part of the Dee Village Electricity Works and, as shown in the document, runs from there all the way to Holburn Street. Alex. Bannerman, Esq. Dean of Guild, in the chair
469 A broadside listing the resolutions taken at a general meeting of the Burgesses of the Guild in 1818. We think that this document might refer to the hostile relationship between Aberdeen's old ruling group and their opponents in the years 1817-19. The Dean of the Guild was Sir Alexander Bannerman (1788-1864), a moderate reformer who joined the council in 1811. He attacked the town council in regard to the application of a burgh reform which would have granted the burgesses a more adequate representation of their interests. The dispute would eventually end in 1832 when, as a result of the passing of the Reform Act, Bannerman became the first parliament member representative of Aberdeen. |