Treasures of the Charter Room
June 2009
Charter granted by William I granting Free Guild to burgesses of Aberdeen, Moray, and north of the Mounth, c.1179
by Ruaridh Wishart
Look up at the east end of Union Street and the corner of Broad Street and you will see a familiar landmark – the Town House, headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. From its construction (1867 to 1873) until the extensions on Broad Street were built in the late 1960s, these were the sole administrative offices for the council and its staff, and meeting rooms for the council and its committees.
One of the lesser-known rooms within the Town House had a different function. The Charter Room, pictured below, was built in 1873 to house the historical records of the council, the earliest surviving document being a charter granted in 1179 by King William the Lion.
This room has changed little since it was built. The original wooden panelling still covers the presses lining each naturally-vented wall – which allow air to circulate freely amongst the documents.
The original marks noting the contents of each press give a true indication of the room’s importance: council minutes (going back to 1398 in a practically unbroken run), Registers of Sasines (title deeds for city properties spanning 1484-1809), and council Letterbooks (dating back to 1552) to name just a few. This Charter Room was built to preserve the legal memory of the council.
Nowadays the emphasis is more historical, as the Charter Room has become one of the major store rooms of Aberdeen City Archives. Since their creation in 1980 Archives have served a dual role, preserving and providing public access to the collections, which have expanded to include records from businesses, charities, families and clubs as well as council departments.
But don’t be fooled by the name. Aberdeen City Archives care for the records of Aberdeenshire Council, too, and have done so since 1996. Held at Old Aberdeen House, in the grounds of St Peter’s Primary School in Dunbar Street, the archives of Aberdeenshire are equally impressive. They include records of the Commissioners of Supply (the first administrators of the counties) for Aberdeenshire, Banffshire and Kincardineshire; 19 of the Aberdeenshire burghs (including Banff, Inverurie and Stonehaven); one of the most comprehensive collections of Poor Relief records in Scotland and papers of the Garden of Troup family.
Robert the Bruce and the Freedom Lands
It will come as no surprise that the collections contain some incredible stories. Some are well known – like that of the foundation of the City’s Freedom Lands and Common Good Fund through Robert Bruce’s charter of 1319, granting the use of the Forest of Stocket to the City in gratitude for its support during the Wars of Independence.
Others are not so well known. How many people have heard of Margaret Morice, whose name appears several times as a baker in an apprenticeship register of 1784 despite a ruling from the Incorporated Trades that no woman be allowed to pursue that occupation.
Regardless, she was clearly training apprentices and also running premises in the Castlegate, which are marked on a feuing plan of 1798. How she managed to avoid being closed down is unclear, but perhaps her location near the townhouses of Aberdeenshire nobility helped. Maybe the quality of her bread was enough to ensure her protection.
Another picture tells a thousand words. To all intents and purposes it shows a machine gun placement on top of a building in the vicinity of the old Ferryhill Parish Church on Ferryhill Terrace. The writing on a makeshift plaque tells that this object was used during the General Strike in 1926, and that its constituent parts included cardboard and cable.
It is possible to work out that the picture was taken from the top of the old Corporation Electricity Works building. The ‘use’ must have been psychological since this ‘machine gun’ was clearly unable to fire bullets and had presumably been placed there to discourage strikers from attacking the building and cutting off the city’s electricity supply.
The poor of Peterhead and Maud
Poor relief records are a great source of stories, and the Archives service has an impressive collection of these for Aberdeenshire, Banffshire and Kincardineshire from about 1845 to 1930. These cover the poor and destitute of society for whom we would otherwise have little or no record.
In some cases the records contain a lot of detail about their situations, since this was relevant to their case for claiming money. So we see orphans, abandoned mothers, ‘lunatics’, disabled whalers, terminally ill soldiers, vagrants, etc., making these records a wonderful source for family historians.
They are of great social interest in that the Poor Inspectors’ notes and the minutes of the Parochial Boards give clues to the attitudes that governed the system.
Peterhead Parochial Board, for example, made this statement in June 1893 on how to assign people to its own poorhouse and to the one at Maud:
“…besides being a source of saving to the Board it is a blessing to many poor persons whom it would be harsh to send to a distant Poor House, and it affords a ready means of seasoning somewhat cold and formal charity with a strain of practical sympathy towards the more necessitous poor. Care is taken to admit only the deserving and especially such as find themselves in their old age homeless, friendless and helpless. The undeserving are amply provided for at Maud Poorhouse but their reluctance to go there and their haste to get out again show little appreciation of the Board’s generosity.”
Popular sources for research are the school log books, which provide a wealth of local information. Take these extracts from a range of schools in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire:
“Spent some time in enquiring into the beginning of a smoking habit that several boys had begun to form. Took the Boys into the Board Room and spoke to them relative to the habit they were acquiring in such a way as to show its evil. The boys forfeited their pipes and promised to give up the practice.” –*Kintore School Log Book, 25 October 1876*
“Attendance very irregular during the past week owing to potato lifting.” – Clatt School Log Book, 26 October 1906
“The School was closed today on the instruction of the chairman of the School Board owing to an outbreak of Influenza. About half the pupils were absent.” – Aberchirder School Log Book, 21 October 1918
“War declared at 11am. 100 children, mothers etc arrived today from Glasgow.” –*Kildrummy School Log Book, 3 September 1939*
“On Friday about noon an enemy bomber dropped bombs on the town and machine gunned people in the streets.” – Fraserburgh Central School Log Book, 7 February 1941
“The Carol Service was held in Torry Parish Church at 11am. It was quite a success, despite a poor attendance by parents (although better than previous years I am assured). ‘Mary’ broke her arm yesterday but managed both the plaster and baby Jesus. The ‘innkeeper’ fainted but recovered fairly quickly. So all in all, it was an eventful service.”_ – Victoria Road School Log Book, 20 December 1989
The archives are a busy place, but it is surprising how many people are unaware of their existence and the large area they cover. It may also surprise people to know that the archives are open to the public, and that it is possible to look at original material at both the Town House and Old Aberdeen House.
Perhaps you have a local history question for which you need an answer, or an old family tale that you want to confirm. Maybe the Archives can help, so why not get in touch.
Information about Aberdeen City Archives and stories of the Document of the Month can be found at www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/archives
Ruaraidh Wishart is the Senior Archivist at Aberdeen City Archives with special responsibility for the Aberdeenshire Archives at Old Aberdeen House.
This is an article from the June 2009 edition of Leopard Magazine. To read much more like this every month, see our subscription details.