James Logan

This document comes from the Society of Advocates collection held by Aberdeen City Archives.  The Society of Advocates in Aberdeen deposited their records with the City Archives for safe keeping, and it gives us great pleasure to show an item from their collection. 

Alongside the minute books, letter books, and registers of members for the Society, there are a number of antiquarian items, left with the Society by James Stuart LL. D. (1813 – 1877) a local author and editor of the Spalding Club.  Included in these items are works by James Logan.

Logan has been described as an artist and writer.  He was born around 1794 and was educated at the Grammar School and later Marischal College.  Graduating with a degree in Arts, he looked set for a career in law before a head injury prevented him from doing so.  Instead, he began a practice of making notes and drawings about local buildings and churches, and the featured image is from his notes on St Nicholas Church in Aberdeen.

The notebook the selected image comes from is full of drawings and descriptions of the interior of the church, including coats of arms on pews, plaques on the walls, and other interesting features.  The image shown is of a pencil drawing of the inside of the church, with an interesting note below – “Of this I made a finished Watercolour Drawing, which was considered pretty good – Lost”.  At least this smaller version still survives.

Another of Logan’s notebooks, on St Machar Cathedral is also held by Aberdeen City Archives, and both this and the featured work can be viewed at our Town House office.  Please contact us for further information on the Society of Advocates collection.

Further information on James Logan can be found in the published volume “Logan’s Collections”, edited by James Cruickshank and published by the Third Spalding Club in 1941.

[Originally published as a Document of the Month in May 2009]