Towns > Aberdeen > 1853-1854 - Cornwall's new Aberdeen directory

ABERDEEN.
XI. — Tirade, Commerce, &c.
The following facta and figures come appropri-
ately under this head.
1. Imports. — The Imports into the Harbour of
Aberdeen for the year ending 30th Sept, 1852, were
as follows :— Coals (English and Scotch), 457,993
bolls ; Lime, 56,543 do. ; Cotton, 250 tons ; Flax and
Tow, 1662 do. ; Hemp, 308 do. ; Wool, 331 do. ;
Wood : American, 5825 loads — European, 5036 ;
Wheat, 18,757 qrs. ; Flour, 11,764 sacks ; Salt
967 tons ; Iron, 3861 tons ; Bones, 5508 do, ; G\i-
ano, 5034 do. Besides a large amount of miscella-
neous goods, which yielded of shoredues, £2645 8s.
9d. ; the total amount of import dues being £7022
0s. 5d.
2. Exports. — The chief exports for the same pe-
riod were — Flax Manufactures, barrel bulk,18,839 ;
Cotton, bb. 4356 ; Woollen, bb. 2333 ; Oats, Bar-
ley, and Bear, 56,132 qrs.; Meal, 46,051 bolls;
Cattle, 8048 ; Sheep and Lambs, 5240 ; Pigs, 1111 ;
Butter, 2568 cwt. ; Eggs, 7273, barrel bulk ; Pork,
6950 cwt. ; Porter, 162 hhds. ; Stones (granite),
38,595 tons; Salmon, 1014, barrel bulk; Scotch
Fir Timber, 11,210 loads. And a large amount of
miscellaneous goods, paying one-third of the whole
shoredues on exports. The whole amount of shore-
dues in the above year was — for Shipping and Goods
inwards, £11,061 0s. 9d. ; for Goods outwards,
£4175 13s. 10'd.
3. Harbour Revenue. — The revenue of the Har-
bour of Aberdeen amounted, in 1818, to £8850 ;
in 1830, to £12,347 ; in 1840, it was £17,874 3s.
5d. ; and, in 1852, the amount was £19,953. The
total amount of Harbour expenditure, from 1810
up to 30th Sept., 1852, was £880,000 . ; a large pro-
portion of which was spent on the extensive Har-
bour works.
4. Customs. — The following is a statement of the
number of vessels cleared coastwise, exclusive of
vessels laden with stones, railway sleepers, and
lime, for the year ending 5th January, 1853 : —
INWARDS.
1481 vessels— 211,600 tons-
OUTWARDS.
.946 vessels— ] 77,872 tons.
The vessels reported inwards with cargoes from fo-
reign ports were —
TOTAL.
Vessels. Tons.
172 -720,21
cargoes, 12 British,
BRITISH. FOREIGN.
Vessels. Tons. Vessels. Tons.
84 14,014 88 6,707
Vessels cleared outwards
3172 tonnage; in ballast, 64 British vessels, 12,514
tons ; foreign, 14 vessels, 1459 tons. The registered
vessels belonging to the port were, at the above
date, 253 of 50,684 tons ; in 1830, 217 of 32,492 tons ;
in 1760, 98 of 5020 tons. The Customs Duties (ex-
clusive of casual and miscellaneous receipts) were
— in 1817 (including, it is believed, those of Peter-
head, &c), £17,913 ; in 1851-2 (for the port of
Aberdeen alone), £83,820 12s. 4d. ; in 1852-3,
£87,667 lis. 8d.
5. Ship-building.— The port of Aberdeen has,
particularly of late year3, achieved for itself a high
place for the point of excellence to which it has
carried the art of Ship-building. The name of the
city has, indeed, become associated with a model
of build very remarkable for a combination of sym-
metrical beauty with extraordinary sailing qualities
and carrying capacity. A large number of artisans
are employed in this branch of trade at the port.
In the year 1852, 10 splendid vessels were built of
the aggregate of 5678 tons new, and about 6800
tons old measurement. During the first six months
of 1853, 6 vessels were launched of 3216 tons,
N.M., about 4000 O.M. One firm alone has during
these six months, built as large an amount of ton-
nage as there was launched at the port in the year
1818, the style of building requiring greatly more
work, and being every way vastly superior.
6. Railwajt Traffic. — It might have been
stated above that the exports and imports at the
Harbour have of late years showed a slight decline,
which, however, is more than accounted for by the
traffic on the Aberdeen Eailway. The extent of
this traffic is shown by the following table made up
from the Railway reports : —
passenger traffic.
Half-year Half-year
ending ending Total for
July31,1852. Jan. 31, 1853. year.
First class - 14,428*- 17,288 31,716*
Second do - 52,9964 — — 50,161 103,157*
Third do 100,324*— 111,635*. — 211,960
Parliamentary ~ 59,929* — — 70,868 130,7974
227,679 — — 249,952* 477,631*
revenue.
£ S. D. £ S. D. £ S- B.
Passenger 17,14816 3t~19,36S19 8-36,51715113
Goods, Miner- )
als, & Par- [-18,516 10 10*^19,551 8 5-38,06719 3*
eels—— , )
Livestock 1,50211 8*~ 1,09715 0-2,600 6 8*
This is exclusive of revenue from mails, and mis-
cellaneous, which for the year amounted to £6057
19s. lgd. The total revenue for the year ending as
above^was £83,244 Is. l|d. The traffic on the
Aberdeen Railway, large and increasing as it is,
promises soon to be greatly augmented by the
completion of the Deeside Railway from Aberdeen
to Banchory-Ternan, and of the Great North of
Scotland line from Aberdeen to Huntly, and sub-
sequently to Keith and Inverness. The former
line will be opened in about two months, and the
latter a3 far as Huntly some twelve months hence.
7. Cattle Trade. — The county and district of
which Aberdeen is the centre has become celebrated
for the number and excellence of the cattle raised
and fattened for the southern markets. In 1840,
the number of cattle (exclusive of sheep, &c.) ex-
ported from the Harbour was 6422. For the year
ending 30th September, 1852, the number of cattle
carried by rail and sea was 21,575, whilst during
the six months succeeding it was 16,409 — exclusive
of large quantities of dead meat, amounting, in the
above periods respectively, to — for the year, 1580
tons ; half-year, 990 tons.
8. Trade, &c. Taxed in Cur. — The following
table is an extension of the figures quoted above as
to the city rental. It shows the amount of heritage,
trade, and casual profits within the burgh and free-
dom of Aberdeen taxed and stented by the Board
of Taxers for the years undernoted ; —
Year. Estimated Rental. Trade. Casual Profits.
1821 £74,869 £1,061,500 £69,715
1830 92,207 1,375,500 - — 82,020
1840 — 105,720 2,093,600 159,020
1850 127,715 2,445,400 230,625
1852 134,480 — 2,712,500 - — 233,217
Thus, during the last thirty years, whilst theesti-i
mated rental has nearly doubled, the valuation |
under the head "Trade" has greatly more than
doubled, and " Casual Profits" have increased con-
siderably more than three-fold. It will be under-
stood that these sums do not represent anything;
like the actual amount of rental, trade, and profits,
respectively, in the city ; but the principle oi
taxation and the mode of imposition having beer
uniform, they are of value as exhibiting the pro-
gress of the town and its trade.