Quick Search
|
Search Results
You searched for: More Like: 'Tenants grant scheme improvements'
6 items
items as
Portland Street at the junction with Wellington Road
1533 A photograph showing the house that was located at the junction of Portland Street and Wellington Road. It can be seen on the Ordnance Survey 1867 Aberdeen town plan, sheet LXXV.15.3.
This image looks north and gives a good view of the building that is thought to have once been the home of Provost George Auldjo of Portlethen (1756-1806). He followed his father, John Auldjo, in running the brick and tiles works in the Clayworks, located to the rear of this house.
The brick and tile works exploited the large amount of clay in the area. By the late 1860s the clay pits were ceasing to be worked. The Clayhills area was consequently leased out for yards and works of various kinds.
The building visible on the right is likely the preserved provision works which was active for only one or two years before moving to South Mount Street.
This house was demolished, and the area radically altered, with the road and railway improvement scheme that finished in 1904. This was carried out by the railway companies as part of the Joint Station extension scheme.
The improvements saw the construction of the lower part of South College Street, which would run through the Clayhills area.
For more details on the Clayhills brick and tile works and the roadworks see G. M. Fraser's article 'Affleck Street and the Clayhills' in The Press and Journal, 16th July 1926, page 4 and the article 'Ferryhill Street Improvements' in The Aberdeen Daily Journal, 24th October 1904, page 4. James Tulloch
1914 A portrait of Baillie James Tulloch (30th September 1830 - 16th November 1925). Upon his death, at home at 5 Devonshire Road, The Press and Journal wrote that "Aberdeen has lost one of its oldest citizens and certainly one of the most public spirited it has possessed in the course of the last half-century."
Tulloch was the second son of a ship-master who hailed from Shetland. He was a "Fittie Boy", having been born at 14 Clement Street. His primary business was supplying emigrant boats with groceries and other supplies. He was one of the founders of the Party of Progress and entered the council in 1869.
He was instrumental in the construction of Victoria Bridge after the Torry ferryboat disaster. He was also associated with the Riverside Road scheme, Ferryhill, Union Terrace improvements and the Public Library movement. Tulloch was also involved in infrastructural improvements to mail delivery, railway and the telegraph. Furthermore, he played a crucial role in the extension of the university. Baillie Rust
2063 A photographic portrait of Baillie John Rust (1853-1919). He was the son of John Rust and Margaret Henderson. His father founded the well-known timber merchants John Rust & Son in 1845.
John Rust junior was an architect and local politician. He served his architectural apprenticeship with John Russell McKenzie before going into business for himself with offices on Union Street, latterly number 224.
Rust was highly active in local life. He was elected to the Council in 1886 representing the Rubislaw Ward. He was re-elected in 1889 and promoted to the position of Third Ballie in 1890.
On the death of the incumbent, William Smith, Rust was a successful applicant for the post of city architect. On his appointment in March 1892 he retired his place on the Council. He served as city architect until his death in 1919.
Along with Sir Alexander Lyon and John Morgan, the builder, Rust was considered a moving spirit in the local government regime known as the "Young Party".
His Aberdeen Journal obituary highlights his involvement in the Beach Bathing Station scheme and the Union Terrace improvements. Also that he was a justice of the peace for Aberdeen City and Kincardineshire.
Moreover he was a significant property owner and was involved in local political, civic, military and church groups.
He died suddenly while on his way to work from his residence of Hawkshill, Milltimber. He was buried in Nellfield Cemetery. His Aberdeen Journal obituary can be found in the issue for 12th September 1919, page 6.
An entry for John Rust can also be found on the Dictionary of Scottish Architects website. Aberdeen Sailors' Mission and Home
2751 The granite facade of the Aberdeen Sailors' Mission and Home building, built in 1893-95, that has been retained and incorporated into a large residential development on Mearns Street. This appears to be all that remains of the building.
The eastern elevation we can see here was part of a three block extension to the institute designed by architect James Souttar. There was also an entrance to the building on James Street. A preview of the opening of the building, with a detailed description of it, can be read in the Aberdeen Journal of 26th September 1895, page 7.
Queen Elizabeth II's first solo opening ceremony was the Aberdeen Sailors' Home, after it was reconstructed, on 3rd October 1944.
Also of local interest in this image is a car from the well-known firm Panda Rosa Metals. This family business specialise in ferrous and non-ferrous metal recycling and have been operating in Aberdeen for many decades.
Mearns Street, originally running from Regent Quay to Virginia Street, was constructed on the site of a previous thoroughfare called Pork Lane. This was described as a narrow lane of congested tenements and had a reputation for ill-health and crime.
Post Office directories indicate that Pork Lane was demolished in around 1885-86 and that Mearns Street was established by 1887-88. This development was part of a programme called the Shorelands Scheme of Improvements.
In October 1886, the Improvement Committee of Aberdeen Town Council recommended the name of the new street in compliment to the master of shore works who had initiated the improvement scheme, Daniel Mearns (Aberdeen Weekly Journal, 23rd October 1886, page 4).
Mearns (1838-1913) was a shipping merchant, councillor for the St. Clements Ward, active in the Aberdeen Harbour Board and went on to serve as Aberdeen's Lord Provost between 1895 and 1898. Treasure 9: Sketch of Proposed Denburn Gardens
179 The future of Union Terrace Gardens has been the subject of much debate over the years and its original development also led to much discussion in Town Council meetings and in the local newspapers.
In 1868, the architect James Matthews suggested that the area of Union Terrace should be turned into a pleasure ground for the people and the following year this "Sketch of the Proposed Denburn Gardens", drawn by the land surveyor James Forbes Beattie, was published. It includes the area between Belmont Street to Union Terrace and from Union Street to the Royal Infirmary, Woolmanhill.
The gardens are shown laid out with paths and shrubbery but Beattie has also depicted the buildings in the surrounding streets, including the recently completed Belmont Street Congregational Church. Further to the north can be seen the spire and complex of the three churches built for the West, South and East Free Church congregations in 1843-44. The buildings which remain are currently known as the Triple Kirks.
A pedestrian bridge crosses the railway towards Union Terrace and the row of houses known as Denburn Terrace. These were demolished under the City Improvements Scheme of 1883 which eventually led to the construction of Rosemount Viaduct and would have stood on the site of the ornamental plot opposite the Central Library.
This plan acts as a snapshot of the area and provides an interesting comparison with the modern layout of the streets surrounding the Gardens.
After much discussion and negotiation with neighbouring proprietors, the Town Council sanctioned work on laying out the Gardens on the land between the wooded bank at Union Terrace and the railway. Work began in November 1877 and, when the gates were finally opened to the public on 11 August 1879, the band of Gordon's Hospital (forerunner of Robert Gordon's College) played a "selection of pleasing airs" prior the opening ceremony. The official name was now Union Terrace Gardens but it was more popularly known to generations of visitors as the "Trainie Park". |