Aberdeen Harbour Board
The Archives hold the records of the Aberdeen Harbour Commissioners (later Aberdeen Harbour Board and know known as the Port of Aberdeen).
Aberdeen's harbour has a long and illustrious history, dating back to 1136 when a charter was granted by King David I. The harbour was originally controlled by the Town Council and Magistrates of Aberdeen, until an act of parliament established a Harbour Commission in 1810. The composition of the Harbour Commission changed throughout the 19th century but included Town Councillors until 1960, when the Commissioners were replaced by an independent Harbour Board.
Please click this link to access the full catalogue for this collection, which was catalogued with the support of the Port of Aberdeen and Archives Revealed. Archives Revealed is funded by The National Archives, The Pilgrim Trust and The Wolfson Foundation. We are very grateful to the assistance of many volunteers in completing the cataloguing work on this collection.
Highlights of the collection include:
- Arrivals and Sailing registers, recording ships entering and leaving the port between the 1820s and 1950s;
- Salmon sales registers, recording the sales of salmon at Aberdeen Fish Market between 1881 and 1986;
- Records relating to those working at the Harbour (including applications for posts, pay lists, pilots certificates and pension records);
- Plans for buildings constructed on the Harbour estate, providing an important record of the businesses flourishing around the Harbour in the late 19th and 20th centuries;
- Photographs of both the Harbour and locations around Scotland and Europe.
There are also records in the Aberdeen City collection relating to the Harbour and its operations, including:
- CA/14: Harbour Commissioners signed minute books (1810 – 1959, 102 volumes), Harbour Trustee minutes (1802 – 1828, 3 volumes) and Harbour Commissioners’ incoming (1844 -1935, 42 volumes) and outgoing letter books (1841 – 1935, 17 volumes).
- CA/6/4: Shore Works Accounts, 1596 - 1810.
Transcriptions of Arrival Registers for 1914-1920
These transcriptions were produced by volunteers and staff remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Aberdeenshire Harbours
The Archives also hold historical records relating to the management of the following harbours in the North East:
- Banff
- Fraserburgh
- Peterhead (additional material held by Aberdeenshire Libraries and Aberdeenshire Museums).
- Macduff
- Pennan
- Portsoy
- Rosehearty
- Stonehaven
- Gardenstown/Gamrie (within Garden of Troup collection, including this 1889 petition): further records relating to the harbour are held by Gardenstown Heritage Centre.
Shipping Registers
Deposited with us by the National Records of Scotland, the Aberdeen Outport and District Records include the following records:
- CE87/11/1-22, Registers of Shipping, 1824-1927
- CE87/11/23-24, Indexes to Registers of Shipping
- CE87/11/25-29, Register of transactions relating to ships registered, 1855-1929
- CE87/11/30, Abstract of Ships Registered at Aberdeen, 1844-1857
- CE87/11/31, Appropriation Book for official numbers of British Registered Ships, 1853-1977
- CE87/11/32-44, Register of Sea Fishing Vessels, 1818-1964
- CE87/11/45-46, Annual Return of Fishing Boats, 1953-1982
- CE87/11/47-51, Register of Sea Fishing Boats, Port of Aberdeen, 1930-1989
- CE87/4/38-40, Fees and Deeds Book, 1944-1984
- CE87/4/41, Register of Wreck Depositions and Casualty Returns 1930-1973
- CE87/4/42-44, Schedule Book of Receipt on account of wreck and salvage and fees, 1887-1973
- CE87/4/45 Register of Casualties Reported and Papers Received, 1945-1973
These registers record title and property rights in ships built in Aberdeen Outport and District, and the descent and passage of that property from the date a ship is built until its registration is closed. Click this link to access the catalogue for this collection.
Other Aberdeen Outport and District records have been retained by the National Records of Scotland.
Hall Russell
We also hold the archives of Alexander Hall and the Hall Russel Shipbuilding Company (click this link to access the catalogue for this collection).
An index to Hall Russell & Co: Shipyard Apprentice Book, 1869 - 1922 (reference HR-2-2-1) is available here:
Fishing records
Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives hold the following collections relating to the fishing industry:
- DD3223 Aberdeen Steam Fishers Provident Society (Old Aberdeen House)
- DD3295 Aberdeen Steam Fishing Vessels Owners' Association Ltd, including the Scottish Trawlers' Federation (Old Aberdeen House)
- DD70 Scottish Salmon and White Fish Company Ltd (Scot Sal), Aberdeen (Town House)
- PD3/2 Nairn Fishing Co. Ltd (Old Aberdeen House)
- PD59 Sellars, salmon fishers, Macduff (Old Aberdeen House)
- DD2865 Richard Irvin & Sons Ltd, trawler owners and fish salesmen (Old Aberdeen House)
Records held elsewhere
- Aberdeen Maritime Museum's Aberdeen Built Ships resource.
- Aberdeenshire Museums' collections include material relating to whaling and harbours.
- Maggie Law Maritime Museum
- Photographs of Aberdeen Harbour Board at the University of Aberdeen Special Collections. The university also hold material relating to Aberdeen Steam Navigation Co. (MS 2479) and P&O Scottish Ferries Ltd (and its predecessors which include Aberdeen Leith and Clyde Shipping Company, North of Scotland, Orkney & Shetland Shipping Company Ltd, and the Aberdeen Steam Navigation Company Ltd) (MS 3697).
- The Gardenstown Heritage Centre hold records relating to Gardenstown Harbour.
- National Maritime Museum at Greenwich: holdings include Lloyd's Marine, Royal Navy and Merchant Navy records (the latter include crew lists, muster rolls and master-mariner certificates).
- The UK National Archives have a wide range of records about the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy: their research guides are a good place to start exploring their holdings.
- Maritime History Archive, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada: their holdings include 75% of surviving crew lists and log books for British registered vessels.
- Scottish Maritime Museum.