DD2759 - Papers of Sapper Robert Stephen:
Robert Stephen was born in Peterhead on the 5th July 1894, the son of Robert Stephen and Jessie Stephen nee Keith. His family moved to Aberdeen and were living at 44 Esslemont Avenue in 1901. The family and Robert later moved to Richmond Terrace. Robert served as a sapper in the Royal Engineers during the First World War. He was conscripted in September 1916, but that he joined the army in November 1915. He served with the 1st/2nd Highland Field Company, allocated to the 51st (Highland) Division on the Western Front. He was promoted to Lance Corporal.
The three diaries in this collection, which date 15 Sept 1916 - August 1917, 1918 and 1919 have been transcribed by our volunteer Olivia:
Olivia has also written a blog post on Robert, his diaries, and her experience transcribing these: https://aberdeenarchives.blogspot.com/2023/09/transcribing-first-world-war-diaries-of.html
Mounthooly Smallpox Hospital
In the 1870s Aberdeen was struck by an outbreak of Smallpox. The Aberdeen Royal Infirmary was unequipped to deal with the growing number of patients, so a temporary infectious diseases hospital was instituted in an old factory located at Mounthooly. An 1872-1875 register from the hospital details its patients, their occupation, addresses and the outcome of their treatment. The item can be viewed at our Town House site using reference C/1/D1/R/72. You can view an index for this register here:
A map created by our Archives Assistant Ashleigh Black plots the entries of the small pox register below, or can be viewed in a new tab here: Mounthooly Smallpox Hospital List of Patients 1872 - 1875 map
Map key: the red coloured icons display those who died, the green icons are those who survived and the purple icons are those who were deemed unfit to be admitted into the hospital. In this case ‘unfit’ most likely meant that they were not suffering from smallpox.
Despite the development of a vaccine in the 1790s by Dr Edward Jenner, Smallpox continued to wreak havoc on communities around the world. The most recent outbreak in the UK was recorded in 1978, since then the disease has been eradicated in the British Isles.
Garden of Troup
Garden of Troup: Bundle 89 (reference DD21/1/89) - Petition from the fishermen, fish-curers and inhabitants of Gardenstown and Crovie to Mr. Garden of Troup requesting that the harbour be improved.
Leslie & Russell, Printers
Factory inspection register for Leslie & Russell, printers (reference DD7): this index covers entries in the register of the names of employees between 13 and 18 years of age employed at the factory from 1867 to 1879.
Kincardineshire Prison Board
This Prison Board was established under "An Act to improve prisons and Prison Discipline in Scotland" (2. and 3. Victoria, cap. 42), which required a Prison Board to be appointed in each County to superintend and manage the county's prisons. The board was to be elected by the Commissioners of Supply. The Board resolved to unite with Aberdeen County for the purposes of providing a first class prison. Stonehaven Jail (in the County Buildings) was classified a second class prison, and Inverbervie Jail a third class prison (another jail at Laurencekirk was proposed at an early meeting). A new jail was erected in Inverbervie c. 1841 as part of the Council rooms/hall. Stonehaven jail closed in 1878.
The Kincardineshire Prison Board Minute Books (KPB/1-2) have been researched by our volunteer Matthew and a historical overview provided in the spreadsheets below. This also includes a name index of the Board Members and any named Prisoners (although often only statistical information on the prisoners is given). Events, activities and reports of interest have been detailed, alongside information about specific prisons. Matthew has also written a blog post, available here.
List of men 16 and over in Aberdeen , 1759
The list of all men aged sixteen and above within the burgh of Aberdeen was compiled between 27 and 29 August 1759 as part of the preparations for the defence of the town against an invasion by the French. On 3 August 1759, the Council noted that the town was "defenceless ... for want of cannon, small arms and soldiers", and resolved to arm the Block House (Council Register, Volume 62, folio 258 verso); William Kennedy records that, in addition, a force of 500 defence volunteers was enrolled (Annals of Aberdeen, London, 1818, Volume 1, page 318). Twenty-seven sections of the list survive and have been transcribed:
House of Correction
Aberdeen's House of Correction was located on Correction Wynd: it was in use between 1637 and 1711 (although it seems to have been closed between the late 1640s and the late 1690s). It can be seen on the James Gordon map of Aberdeen of 1661 available on the National Library of Scotland website (the Correction House is marked at L).
It housed 20 people: 10 poor "volunteers" and 10 people sent there as a punishment, either by the Aberdeen Kirk Session, or the Bailies on the Burgh Council. All the inmates worked on manufacturing cloth. William Kennedy’s Annals of Aberdeen states that: “In the year 1636, they [the magistrates] obtained from King Charles I a patent for establishing a house of correction, chiefly with the view of reforming the morals, and of promoting good order and industry among a certain description of the inhabitants, who were to be employed in manufacturing broad cloths, kerseys, seys and other coarse cloths. This being a new and important undertaking, Robert and Nicholas Beaston were brought from Edinburgh to superintend the work, and to direct the magistrates in the proper mode of conducting it.”
In our Aberdeen County collections the Archives holds an Incarceration Book which records the arrival and departure of those placed there forcibly, rather than the voluntary inmates. It covers 1637 - 1641, although two pages are missing, and contains details about 103 individuals, some of whom are repeat offenders. As the Kirk Session were sending many of the inmates, many of the crimes are moral rather than the sort of offences we are familiar with nowadays.
Images and transcriptions of the House of Correction Incarceration Book are available below:
The Dictionary of the Scots Language may help with understanding some of the terms used in the Incarceration Book.
Additional details about cases referred by the Kirk Session can be found in the Kirk Session Minutes which can be accessed online at either branch.
Aberdeen Propinquity Books
The Aberdeen Burgh Propinquity Books (CA/5/10) are a record of testimonials sworn before the baillies of Aberdeen relating to inhabitants of the Burgh who have travelled either outwith the bounds of the County lands or abroad.
The Archives holds four volumes of Propinquity Books covering 1637 - 1797 (an earlier volume covering 1589-1603 is held by the University of Aberdeen Special Collections Centre (MS 1050). An index for the first volume is available to view in our searchroom, and an index to the second volume, compiled by volunteers, is available below.
Aberdeen Enactment Books
The City Enactment Books (CA/5/7) cover the period 1701-1854 and are a fascinating insight into the social history of the burgh. The purpose of these books was to record the oaths and undertakings of individuals, sworn before a Baillie, promising to do certain things or behave in certain ways. Consequently, they shine a light on a fantastic range of people and events - from weights and measures through to the preparation of food, and from ordinances against dung in the streets through to women being permanently banished from the burgh for keeping ‘loose and disorderly company’.
There are 18 volumes of Enactment Books in the collection, and volume 7 (CA/5/7/7) has been indexed by volunteers: