Provost Skene's House

October 29, 2021

Provost Skene's House

Located on Guestrow, Provost Skene’s House has a remarkable and fascinating history. It dates from 1545 and is the oldest town house in Aberdeen. The building is named after one of its owners, Sir George Skene (1619-1708), a wealthy merchant who was Provost of Aberdeen from 1676 to 1685.

Read on to learn more about the different faces of this incredible building!

Provost Skene's House, 2021

Painted Gallery

Married couple Matthew Lumsden and Elisabeth Aberdour lived in the house in the early seventeenth century and were responsible for building the section of Provost Skene’s House containing the painted gallery, one of the most stand-out features of the property. Lumsden, a merchant who traded with the continent, came from a prominent Catholic family, but it is thought that he later radically changed his views to become a Protestant Covenanter. The room provides evidence of his early beliefs and although sections of the paintings have been lost over time, it is still clear that they depict different episodes in the life of Christ.

Painted Gallery, Provost Skene's House

At the time the room was painted Scotland had experienced the convulsions associated with the Protest Reformation, when Roman Catholic worship and religious imagery of the type that features in the gallery was outlawed. It is likely that Matthew and Elisabeth privately practised Catholicism, using this room to worship in secret. In one corner of the room there is even a door hidden in the timber panelling which once provided a secret route to the floor below.

The paintings were only discovered in the 1950s, having been boarded over for some 300 years.

By 1639 Matthew’s religious beliefs appear to have drastically changed, as he became a fervent Covenanter and supporter of the Church of Scotland. That same year he was held hostage when the house was used to accommodate government troops. In 1644 Matthew fought on the side of the Covenanters and died at the Battle of Justice Mills. Elisabeth died three years later and is buried, together with their four infant children, in the city’s St. Nicholas Kirkyard.

St Nicholas Kirkyard, 1978 view

Jacobite Rebellion

The 1745 Jacobite rebellion was one of the most difficult and traumatic periods in the history of Aberdeen and Provost Skene’s House was at the centre of the action.

Following the interrupted election of September 1745, Aberdeen’s Council was run by Jacobite rebels who took the city by force and remained in control until the 26^th of February 1746. On the 27^th of February, the army of the Duke of Cumberland entered Aberdeen, occupying it until the march to Culloden. The government army made camp at the Grammar School, fortifying most of Schoolhill, while its officers imposed themselves on the hospitality of some of the residents. The Duke of Cumberland, in command of the army, chose Provost Skene’s House as his home for almost two months during the occupation of the City.

G&W map detail, showing the area around Provost Skene's House, 1746

Cumberland was granted the Freedom of the City. On the same day, every burgess admitted under the rebel administration was struck from the roll. These two entries are on facing pages of the burgess register, now part of the City Archive.

Burgess Register

After four months of administration by a group of governors appointed by Cumberland, the council – eager to return to civic rather than military rule – gifted Cumberland with a fine copy of his ‘burgess ticket’, held in a personally-crafted gold box.

The army were not entirely welcome in the city: Cumberland’s aide, James Wolfe, was the subject of complaints. He had “confiscated” cutlery, crockery, and even a mattress from his hosts next door to Provost Skene’s House. In August, a riot by government soldiers in Aberdeen resulted in broken windows in the streets around the Castlegate and the town’s poorer neighbourhoods. Magistrates complained that the army would arrest and detain people in the Tolbooth without offering any charges or trial. This resentment and anger at the town’s mistreatment by the army was to ensure that Provost Skene’s House would be unofficially known as “Cumberland House” or “Cumberland’s Lodging” until the 20^th Century.

Victoria Lodging House

On 5^th August 1885, an article appeared in the Aberdeen Evening Express regarding the sale of Provost Skene’s House for the princely sum of £1200, the house being the property of the late Miss Duthie of Ruthriestone at this time. There was a recognition by the newspaper that Provost Skene’s House was of significant historical importance although its status had declined in recent decades, with the report stating that, “This old house commenced its career as a dwelling of a member of the aristocracy, but ends its existence as a common lodging house”.

The chequered history of Provost Skene’s House is one of the reasons why it is such a charismatic building. Now that it is open to the public again following its refurbishment, visitors have a chance to take-in the fascinating exhibitions relating to the “great and the good” connected with Aberdeen in the “Hall of Heroes”. As they do so, I hope they will also spare a thought for the many individuals who used the house as a place of refuge during the period when it was known as the “Victoria Lodging House”, between roughly 1864 and 1885, a time when the Guestrow was a less than salubrious address. A small fee secured a bed, or in many cases a share of a bed, for the night.

Victoria Lodging House – sketch by Robert Douglas Strachan (courtesy of Aberdeen City Libraries)

When originally instituted in 1849, the Victoria Lodging House was located on Exchequer Row. It offered accommodation for those who were not eligible to stay at the poorhouse but who did not have the means to afford private lodgings. During its first year of operation over 12,500 individuals passed through its doors. Following its move to Provost Skene’s House in the mid-1860s, public opinion appears to have been divided about its reputation. In 1869, Bailie John Urquhart described it as a “notoriously bad place” while others saw its utility in providing shelter to those who would otherwise be homeless.

Regrettably, no records relating to the day-to-day running of the house survive from that time. However, we do know the faces of some of those that stayed at the house during the 1870s from the “Register of Returned Convicts for Aberdeen”. These include Ann McGovern and Mary Barclay, where they were noted as staying at “45 Guestrow”, the address of the Victoria Lodging House when located at Provost Skene’s House.