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Flourmill Brae
354 This image shows at the left hand side, a massive stone coffin which stood for many years at the back of tenements at Flourmill Brae. It was brought to the public's attention in 1926 when the area was subject to the Town Council's slum clearance scheme. The coffin consisted of granite slabs blackened and cracked through time. It was 5 and a half feet long, two feet wide and two feet deep. The sides and ends were held together by iron clamps and the lid was cemented on. The belief was that the coffin contained the remains of Mary Bannerman, one of the Bannermans of Elsick and married to George Leslie, Laird of Findrassie, near Elgin who died in 1692. However when the coffin was eventually opened it was empty apart from black earth. It was suggested that the slabs may have protected her coffin at some time and that the actual coffin and her remains had been removed to one of the city's graveyards.
Correspondent Ed Fowler has researched its location using historic maps and suggests that the stone sarcophagus was likely at the end of Quaker's Court near the Friends Meeting House, to the rear of the tenements looking onto Flourmill Brae. Quaker Meeting House
771 A photograph of the the Quaker meeting house that was located between Gallowgate and Sea Mount Place. This image shows the front elevation of the building that faced south east on to Port Hill.
The large scale Ordnance Survey town plan of Aberdeen (sheet LXXV.11.8., surveyed in 1867) indicates that their associated burial ground was located to the west of the building, towards Gallowgate. The plan also states that the meeting house had seating for 350 people.
The Quaker Meeting Houses Heritage Project (link here) states that the group first established their meeting house and burial ground on this site in 1672 and they continued to meet there until moving to a new location in 1800.
This building was later acquired by John Watt & Sons, leather merchants. The upper part had louvre windows which made it suitable for drying leather. Later OS maps suggest the building may have stood as a ruin into the mid-20th century.
At the time of writing in 2022, the site is now an elevated outdoor space surrounded by blocks of flats, to the south of Porthill Court, that go from Gallowgate around Seamount Road
A more recent, late-Victorian Quaker meeting house can be found at 98 Crown Street, Aberdeen.
To find out more about Quakers in Aberdeen, in addition to the above mentioned Quaker Meeting House Heritage Project, there is information on a relevant collection of books held by the University of Aberdeen, including a list of associated publications, here. 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. Treasure 53: An Account of Pedestrianism
228 National Walking Month takes place in May and is promoted by the UK charity Living Streets. Their aim is to encourage people to see walking as a natural choice and they hope to see a reduction in health problems, congestion and pollution, and social isolation while boosting local communities by bringing high streets to life. Specific events such as Walk to School Week and Walk to Work Week are also held during this month.
One of the books in our Local Studies collection describes the exploits of walkers in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1813, Walter Thom published 'Pedestrianism; or, An account of the performances of celebrated pedestrians during the last and present century; with a full narrative of Captain Barclay's public and private matches; and an essay on training.'
Pedestrianism was the term used for competitive walking races which were extremely popular as a spectator sport in the 18th and 19th centuries, both in indoor and outdoor venues, not only in Britain but also in America, Canada and Australia. Large sums of money could be won and betting on the results was prolific.
Walter Thom came from Bervie in Kincardineshire but moved to Aberdeen in the early 1800s where he published The History of Aberdeen in 1811. He then moved to Edinburgh for a short time before travelling to Ireland where he became editor firstly of the Dublin Correspondent and later of The Dublin Journal. He died in Dublin in 1824.
In his preface to Pedestrianism, Thom explains that his choice of subjects treated in the volume will deserve attention of all classes "as exercise conduces so much to the strength and soundness of both body and mind".
He discusses the Olympic Games and gymnastic exercises as practised by the ancient Greeks before moving to "modern pedestrianism" which he claims "affords the best species of exercise, and may be said to include much that is valuable to mankind". He describes feats of pedestrianism from the 1700s and 1800s, which included races over a period of days or those which only lasted one or two hours.
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. City election. At a Meeting of the Committee for the Election of Horatio Ross Esq. Of Rossie
504 This broadside, authored by Henry Lumsden, provides information about the campaign for Horatio Ross (1801-1886) to unseat Whig MP Alexander Bannerman (1788-1864) for the seat of Aberdeen in the 1837 General Election.
The broadside notes that Ross, of Rossie, had recently travelled to continental Europe on urgent family business but was now returning. The broadside announces that he would soon address the Aberdeen electorate.
A letter read out from Ross to the electorate explains his absence and appeals to the 'Protestant Constitution'. Lumsden, chair of the campaign committee, goes on to say that they note the appeal and growing support of the 'Constitution in Church and State'.
Ross was previously a Member of Parliament for the historic constituency of Montrose Burghs between 1832 and 1834. A previous broadside in the collection, available here, indicates that Ross did not like the Tories, but was also less radical than others would like. His voting record, detailed in this broadside, indicates that he voted in favour of the Parliamentary Reform Act of 1832.
The corresponding Scottish Reform Act of 1832 resulted in the creation of the Aberdeen House of Commons seat and the thirteen-fold increase in the Scottish electorate. Ross eventually withdrew from the 1837 election, leaving the incumbent MP Alexander Bannerman unopposed. City Election. At the numerous and highly respectable Meeting of the Burgesses, Heritors, Merchants, and Inhabitants of the City of Aberdeen
508 This broadside likely dates to June or July 1832, as it refers to a city council meeting on 26th June 1832. The meeting was attended by burgesses (a guild of inhabitants of the Burgh), monied people, merchants and general inhabitants of Aberdeen. The meeting was held at the Royal Hotel and regarded the motion of Captain Carmichael. This was likely Robert Carmichael, captain of 42nd regiment, resident of Union Terrace (City of Aberdeen, and its Vicinity, 1831-1832, p. 23).
Alexander Crombie (1762-1840), a highly successful teacher, chaired the meeting. The meeting aimed to pass motions in support of James Hadden, provost of Aberdeen, in anticipation of his election bid for the Aberdeen seat in the House of Commons. This was a new seat, formed after the 1832 Scottish Reform Act.
For the prior three decades, the Hadden family had dominated local Aberdeen politics. However, in the run up to 1832, they were coming under increasing pressure from pro-reform Whigs, notably Alexander Bannerman. Bannerman made a variety of allegations against Hadden regarding his practices in local government. The Tories supported Hadden, but in the end he withdrew from the race, and Bannerman was elected to the new seat unopposed (W. Hamish Fraser and Clive H. Lee, Aberdeen 1800-2000: A New History, pp. 178-180).
The motion of the meeting suggested supporting Hadden, celebrating his work in the local council over the decades. The motion was carried. In his speech after the motion, Hadden professes support for necessary reform of the structure of burghs (constituencies), associated with the forthcoming Scottish Reform Act. The meeting thus formed a committee for arranging Haden's election campaign.
This broadside was printed by J. Davidson & Co. of Aberdeen. |