Aberdeenshire Collections: Acquisitions Recap 2023

We had a number of fantastic records added to our collections in 2023 and wanted to recap on those related to Aberdeenshire.

You'll likely remember the Aberdeenshire burial plans we collected from Woodhill House in February 2023. It was a struggle to get these into the car, but we managed, and they're a brilliant collection that we hope will be well utilised in the future!

[Acc3298]

Collecting and collating school records from across the Shire has been another big bit of ongoing work for the team. We collected records from the following schools last year:

• Logie Coldstone - 1 volume, 2 bankers boxes, 1 oversize archive box, 1 archive box. [Acc3294]
• Alehousewells Primary School, Kemnay - 4 volumes, 1 envelope and some loose papers [Acc3373]
• Kintore Primary School - 6 bankers boxes [Acc3374]
• Redmyre School, Laurencekirk - 7 volumes, 3 folders, 2 photographs [Acc3374]
• Luthermuir School, Laurencekirk - 2 bankers boxes, 7 volumes [Acc3378]
• Strichen Primary School - 8 volumes and some loose papers [Acc3383]
• Oyne Primary School - 6 bankers boxes and some loose papers [Acc3390]
• Banchory Academy - 5 volumes, 2 archive boxes [Acc3391]

As with the burial plans, it was a bit of a squeeze fitting some of this material into the car in one trip!

Two folders of material were gifted to us which provide an insight into the work of the Roads Department of the Grampian Regional Council [Acc3299] in the late 20th Century. We particularly like the photos of some of the bridges:

Two photo albums of Cruden Bay are a personal favourite of one of our Archivists, who arranged for the transfer of material and supervised our volunteer Olivia as she listed each individual photograph (the list can be viewed on our catalogue here). More information about the material and the chemist who commissioned the photographs can be seen on the blog written by Olivia here: https://aberdeenarchives.blogspot.com/2023/08/cruden-bay-photo-albums.html. The first image shows one of the rather jazzy album covers! [Acc3325]

This Minute Book of the Managers of the Town of Stonehaven dates from 1753-1786 [Acc3332]. The volume is not in the best condition, so we will be looking to get it treated by a conservator soon.

As we've said previously, some of our deposits can be pretty small! Acc3372 consists of 19 legal documents relating to 58 Bogie Street, Huntly. They were deposited by a former owner of the property and show the property's transfers and inventories as far back as the 1700s.

Catalogued by one of our volunteers, Acc3346 was a deposit of records of Grampian Television. These include staff information with introduction to the company, reports and accounts 1985, annual reports and accounts c. 1990s and a script for the Grampian Sheepdog trials of 1997!

Acc3333 is a letter from Bombardier Archibald Matthews at Balaklava (Crimea) to John Morgan, a Blacksmith in Stonehaven. A transcript of this document is available on our catalogue: DD3333

The following records that relate to the area of Stonehaven were deposited by the Stonehaven Heritage Society in October [Acc3380]. The deposit consisted of 18 volumes and 3 files and includes records from a variety of sources:

• Stonehaven Heritage Society Minute Books 1987-2019 - 1 volume, 1 file - DD1813/14
• Kincardineshire Plate Glass Company Policy Book 1885-1957 - 1 volume DD1813/15
• Gourdon Fishermen's Association 1950-1993 Minute Book and Register of Shareholders - 2 volumes DD1813/16
• Stonehaven Sea Cadets Minutes 1956-2003 - 3 volumes + 1 folder of papers DD1813/17
• Lieutenancy of Kincardineshire Minutes 1864-1944 - 1 volume - link to AS/Kstn/20/2, DD1813/18
• Arduthie Estate Chartulary 1922-1978 - 2 volumes - DD1813/19
• Margaret Wood Trust Sederunt Book, 1913-1977 - 1 volume - DD1813/20/1
• Robert Shepherd Trust Sederunt Book 1916-1957 - 1 volume - DD1813/20/2
• Mrs Marjory Ford Trust Sederunt Book 1935-1983 - 1 volume - DD1813/20/3
• Stonehaven Pavilion Association Minute Book 1992-1993 - 1 volume - DD1813/21
• Kincardineshire Farmers Club Minute Book 1950-1964 and papers - 1 volume  + 1 envelope - DD601/1/2

Some of the patterns on the exterior of the volumes are lovely!

We receive accessions in a digital format as well. In 2023, digital records from Aberdeenshire Council's Humanitarian Assistance Centre (HAC) were transferred to us for safe keeping. These records were time consuming to appraise, but of great value as information and evidence about the council's processes during the Covid-19 epidemic. [Acc3300]

We'll finish with our final accession into the Aberdeenshire collections for the year 2023 - this lovely Sederunt Book, which belonged to Charles Grassick of Tillypronie, Tarland [Acc3397, reference DD3397/1].

This volume was rescued from a charity shop and kindly gifted to our service as our collections cover the geographic area it relates to. In this volume, we can learn about the businesses of Charles Grassick, who was a farmer, banker and cattle dealer.

You can view these records at our Old Aberdeen House site. We recommend you email us at archives@aberdeencity.gov.uk to make an appointment. Please note that some of the school records are restricted due to data protection legislation.

Kimberley Smith, Archivist