Aberdeen, 1800-2000: A New History

Abstract

"Aberdeen, 1800-2000: A New History" edited by W. Hamish Fraser and Clive H. Lee is reviewed.

RR 2001/349 Aberdeen, 1800-2000: A New History Edited by W. Hamish Fraser and Clive H. Lee Tuckwell Press East Linton 2000 xx + 524 pp. ISBN 186232 175 2; 186232 108 6 (paperback) L25.00; L14.99 (paperback) Keywords Scotland, History

A great deal of money has been spent, not always wisely, on commemorating the millennium. Aberdeen Council, for a relatively modest sum, has now produced one of the most worthwhile commemorations in the form of a substantial new history of the city, of which this forms the second volume. The division between the two represents not just a round chronological figure, but the date when the Town Council, in a characteristically far-sighted manner, decided to give the city its present shape by building Union Street and King Street. The book is thematic in form, each topic having been covered by a different author. Not surprisingly, the majority are academics from Aberdeen University - at the beginning of the period covered, the city could still pride itself on having as many universities as the whole of England. Chapters are devoted to the growth of the city and its population, the economy, the social and working lives both of ordinary citizens and the ruling class, politics at local and parliamentary level, housing, health and welfare, education, religion, leisure, culture and the press, all being brought up to 1999. The well-known broadcaster James Naughtie provides a general introduction musing on the personality of the city, and an epilogue speculates on its future prospects.

Many of the chapters are the fruits of original research rather than just summaries of earlier work. They are enhanced where necessary by graphs, which often illustrate their topics more vividly than words could do, as when showing the quantities of fish landed in the Harbour (with a catastrophic decline) or of passengers arriving at Dyce Airport (with an equally dramatic increase). The text, which demands careful reading, is broken up both by frequent thumbnail sketches of the lives of prominent Aberdonians, including some still living (surely a hostage to fortune?) and by numerous illustrations ranging from well reproduced topographical photographs, mostly by the famous firm of George Washington Wilson (which, we learn, once employed such an exotic figure as Frederick Rolfe) to the official portraits, in colour, of several Lord Provosts, at least one of whom, in his red robes, might be taken for a Renaissance cardinal. Some detailed maps are provided, but, oddly, not a good general one. In such a complex book, some more attention might have been given to proof-- reading: the late Marquis of Aberdeen and Temair would not have been amused to find himself described as "of Aberdeen and Tremor". Every chapter is fully footnoted, but, somewhat surprisingly, there is no general bibliography, though there are substantial indexes of persons and subjects.

In the short space of a review, it would be fruitless to attempt to summarise the conclusions of such a monumental work. It suffices to say that "All Aberdonian life is there", from the Old Bridge of Dee to the Girdle Ness Lighthouse, and from the Rubislaw granite quarry to the harbour thronged once with trawlers and nowadays with oil rig supply ships. This definitive volume will be invaluable both to Aberdonians and to those wishing to learn more about what was our northernmost city until, the other week, Inverness took that title. Let us hope that other city councils will look on it as an example.