Scotland > 1868, 1878 - Slater's (late Pigot & Co.'s) Royal national commercial directory and topography of Scotland > 1861

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ABERDEEN, &c.
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men, although, according to the usual mode of military
accommodation, it is capable of containing double i his
number; there is an excellent hospital attache) to it
on an adjoining eminence. The town is admirably
paved with granite, well lighted with ga«, plenteously
supplied with excellent water, and the arrangements,
for cleansing the streets and watching the city are fully
efficient.
"Trade and Commerce. — The port of Aberdeen is
admirably adapted for commercial intercourse with the
northern parts of Europe, and it also participates in a
good share of trade with America and the We^t Indies.
! On the north side of the entrance to the harbour a fine
stone pier extends two thousand feet into the *ea, the
: entire composed of granite. Many of the stones of the
j outside walls are upwards of three tons in weight, with
jdressed beds and generally four feet long. The whole
tof this grand piece of masonry forms one solid mass
and is an improvement of the most beneficial ch natter
to the shipping interests of the port. On the opposite
side of the entrance to the harbour is a breakwater,
which projects from the land about eight hundred feet,
rather to the mirth ward; it extends partly across the
channel of the harbour, and is » great protection from
;the violence of storms from the south east. In the
'interior of the harbour, a wharf, nearly a mile in ex-
tent, runs along the north side of the harbour, and a
corresponding wharf on the south side. A fine canal
runs from the quay for a length of eighteen miles to
jlnveriiry: this undertaking was opened in 1807. In
1843 an act was obtained by the harbour commissioners
for making extensive improvements, and the large sum
of £153,341. 5s. lid. was expended thereon. The cost
of the harbour improvements during the last fifty years
amounts to upwaids of £900,000. The Custom-house,
which is a plain building, is situated on the quay, and
.near the bottom of Mariscbal-street. Formerly only a
ipart of the house was required for business, but. owing
'to the increased trade of the place, the whole is found
necessary. The customs' revenue in 1858 amounted to
.£93,399. The imports of Aberdeen consist principally of
Scotch and English coal, lime, bones and guano, cotton,
flax, tow, hemp and wool, wheat and flour, Ameiican
and European wood, salt, iron, tobacco, brandy, and
wines, ihe following exhibit the description and
amount of exports for the year ending Sept. 30,1858 : —
Flax manufacture 41,205 B. B.
Cotton manufacture , 1,47-1 B. B.
Woollen manufacture 3,53t B. B.
Oats, barley and bear 76,lo8 qrs.
Meal 6y,6.5i bolls.
Egns 6.600 B. B.
Salmon 581 B B.
Butter 1,064 cwt.
Pork 15,018 cwt.
Porter 141 lihds.
Scotch fir timber 15,800 loads.
Granite stones 32,422 tons.
Cattle 5,652
H orses 93
Sheep and lambs 6,622
Pigs 1,709
Dogs bo
The registered tonnage of the port, for the year ending
■ September, 1858, was— tonnage inwards, 347.494 ; out
wards, 26,981, and that of vessels wintering in the har-
bour, 19,855 tons. The number of vessels regi tered
at the port was 260, and the tonnage 71,000, of which
there are 14 steamers of 6,511 tons. The number of
i vessels which entered the harbour was 2,468. The
amount of sttore dues on shipping and imports in the
same year amounted to £13,733 13s. 1§I.; the dues on
. goods outward, £5,302. 9>. 6hd.— total amount of shore
dues for the year, £19,036. 2s. 8d. The total revenue
of the harbour in 1858 was £24,755. 18-. 3d. ; the ex-
penditure amounted to £19,649. 16s. 10it.. leaving a
: surplus of £5,100. The Greenland whale fishery was
at one time extensively pursued from this port, hut at
present there are only two vesssels employed here in
this trade. The salmon and wh'te fishing are other
branches in this department of industry. The salmon
that are caught in the Don and Dee have long been
celebrated for their quality and abundance. The white
' fishing consists in the taking of haddock, cod, turbot,
halhbut, &c, of which there is generally an abundant
supply in the market. Much praise is due to the ma-
gistrates of the city for.the encouragement bestowed on
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persons employed in the fishery ; and a town of nioderi
erection, (ailed Koot Dee, mar the mouth of the har-
bour, affords accommodation to the fishermen and their
famil.es. ' ,
The first indication of manufactures was noticed
about th. j end of the sixteenth century, when a Fleming
was permitted to settle and exercise his occupation of
a manufacturer of programs, worsted, and statuinga
[tammies', on condition of taking an apprentice of the
town to he taught the trade. In the seventeenth cen-
tury the manufacture of woollen gi;/)ds became very
prevalent. The chief articles made fur exportation}
were stockings and inks, and woollen plaids — the latter
to a very considerable extent. It is estimated that
twenty thousand persons derive support from the ma--
nufacmre and sale of woollen goods in the county of
Aberdeen. Linen manufactures were introduced ini
1749, and very soon became an important b'anrta.
Tbeie are very many important establishments in the
town and its vicinity, as la>ge cotion mills, linen andj
woollen manufactories, extensive thread and tape
works, and bleach works, paper mills, iron foundries,!
ship yards, breweiies, quani. s, &c. A new application 1
of the power of steam has been discovered by Mr.;
M'Donald, of King-street, by which the granite raised'
in the ueighboinhood is made to bear a polish equal to
marble. It will be seen by the Directory that there
are no fewer than eight banking establishments in the
city, three of which are pareut offices ; and there is also
a savings' bank. Aberdeen is the head station for two
highly respectable insurance companies, uamelv, the
' Aberdeen,' established in in 1825, and the l Northern,*
in 1836; and there are, besides, numerous agencies of
other offices. Many very excellent inns afford accom-
modation to various giades and travellers — the com- '
mercia] man, the tourist, or the family Dassing through,
will find a domicile suited to their respective desires,'
and their means. Amongst the principal may be men-
tioned with confidence in their general perfeet arrange-
ments, ' Robertson's Royal Hotel, in Union- street;
' Duffus's Queen's Hotel.' also in Union-street; and
'Douglas's Hotel,' in Market-street. Although the
commerce of this city has been subjected to incidental
fluctuations, yet, on the whole, it has greatly increased
of late years, and is still being extended.
A regular communication is maintained with London,
Edinburgh, Newcastle, Inverness, and the Orkneys, by
steam packets, a species of conveyance which hasdone
moie to lay open ihe north-east shore of Scotland to
improvements from the south than any other means.
In addition to the above, there exists the means of
rapid transit on laud by the S(ottish, Nonh Eastern,
and Scottish Central railways, and by the Dundee and
Arbroath lines to all parts south of Abetdeen; and
access is given to the north by the Great North of
Scotland railway, opened to Inverness. The Dee Side
line to Banchory was opened in 1853, and is now in
course of extension to Ahuyne. Of othei conveyances
the Directory furnishes full information : this includes
co-iehes to many places yet unapproached by the rail,
and carriers to the numerous towns and villages simi-
larly excluded.
'1 he Municipal HnvERNiviENT.-Theburghal consti-
tution of Aberdeen has undergone various alterations
since its first establishment. Ihe o'iginal magistracy
consisted of an alderman, four baillies, and a common
council, chosen by the inhabitants; subsequently this
arrangement gave »ay before the grrtdu^l and peifect
introduction of a self-electing system. From the year
1817 until 1826, the city revenues were gathered by
and dispensed under the control of trustees, for behoof
of creditors. Tin- credit of the burgh may now be con-
sidered as good as that of any other in the kingdom.
In 1855 its revenues produced a surplus of £2.964.,
being a larger sum than the entire_revenue thirty-five
years before. The go* eminent of the city is now regu-
lated by the Municipal Reform Act, and the corporate
body consists of a provost, four baillies, a dean of gtiiid,
and a treasurer, with a council of seven deacons of the
incorporated trades. The police establishment consists
of a board of eighteen commissioners, of which the
provost, the dean of guild, the treasurer of the cii v and
the convenor of the trades arecominissjfiners ed'-ogiciis.
The circuit court of justiciary for the cMiUties of Aber-
deep, Banff and Kincardine is held in Aberdeen in the
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