| Administrative History | Aberdeen was created a royal burgh by David I (1124-1153), when it had markets for wool, hides, meal and dried salted fish. Merchant burgesses, made wealthy by trade with Europe, ruled the town in the early 17th century, and by the 1680s it had a population of between 10,000 and 12,000 (it increased by a third again in the next century). Nearby Old Aberdeen (the name derives from a corrupted form of Aulton or Alton) was created a burgh of barony in 1498, and both were created Police Burghs under the terms of the General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act, 1862 (25 & 26 Vict c.101). Burgh administration was carried out by police commissioners who were responsible for the cleansing, lighting, policing and public health of the burghs. After the two burghs were united in 1891 Aberdeen's expansion, which had been to the north, began to move west, the main industries by then including granite quarrying and ship building, though from the 1960s the production of oil and gas from the North Sea has dominated the city. Under the terms of the Town Councils (Scotland) Act, 1900 (63 & 64 Vict c.49) Aberdeen Town Council was established. This was abolished in 1975 under the terms of the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1973 (c.65). Its powers were assumed by Grampian Regional Council and Aberdeen District Council. These in turn were replaced by Aberdeen City Council in 1996 under the terms of the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1994 (c.39). |
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