| Description | Letter book containing copies of letters written to various individuals on behalf of the Society covering the period 1829-1861, although no correspondence written between 1839 and 1858 is included and entries are only recorded up to page 58: the remainder of the volume is blank. Many of the letters request that overdue annual subscriptions are paid. There is an index at the front of the volume. Some letters of particular interest are as follows:
12 November 1830
Letter to Dr. Mair, Sydney, New South Wales, written by Alexander Kilgour. Thanks Dr. Mair for donation of £5 and case of birds, both passed on to Society by Sir James McGrigor.
24 June 1831
Letter to James Hadden, Lord Provost of Aberdeen: 'Dr. Dyce having stated at an extraordinary meeting of the Medical Society held yesterday evening that your Lordship had put a letter which you had received from Mr. Cadenhead, Surgeon on the subject of Cholera into his hands with a request that he would lay it before a meeting of the Society in order to ascertain whether there was any occasion for your Lordship's taking any farther measures than those enforced by Government to prevent the appearance of the disease or to provide for the immediate separation of the sick poor in the event of its breaking out in this city'. Encloses minute of their meeting on this matter.
16 August 1831
Letter to the President and members of the Junior Class of the Society, written by Alexander Kilgour, Secretary, noting ordinary members regret at recent laws passed by the Junior Class and threatening to use powers conferred on them by the Trust Deed if they do not revert back to the 'good old system'.
20 November 1832
Letter to Sir James McGrigor, London, requesting his opinion on the Society's plan to procure a Royal Charter: 'The Society will take no steps without having your opinion and they desired me to request of you to say what your views are with respect to a charter and a widows fund'.
15 November 1833
Letter to the Principal and Professors of Marischal College written on behalf of the junior members detailing their reasons for requesting that medical lectures be held in the morning rather than the evening, partly as they coincide with the meetings of the Medical Society.
14 August 1835
Letter to Ed. Balfour, Royal College of Surgeons, London, regarding granting of diplomas to students from Aberdeen who have not undertaken the required five years of study. [Also see letters dated 12 December 1834 on pages 16-17. Letters to various teaching staff, including Dr. Kilgour, Dr. Cadenhead and Dr. Pirrie follow on pages 20-24 and the Society requests their clarification and assurances of the qualifications stated by 33 students from Aberdeen who had presented themselves as candidates for the diploma of the Royal College of Surgeons in London from 1833-1835. Their replies are recorded on pages 26-29.]
1 October 1835
Letter to E. Balfour, [Royal College of Surgeons, London] enclosing 'observations and proofs of imposition practised on the College by students from this quarter'. [Comments on individual cases are provided on pages 31-34.]
8 April 1859
Letter sent to various individuals noting that their donations of specimens would be presented to Marischal College should they not wish them to be returned to them.
24 May 1859
Letter regarding local fund for forthcoming meeting of British Association in Aberdeen. |