| Administrative History | Alexander Thomson came from a family of lawyers with a long association with Marischal College, Aberdeen. He himself graduated AM from there in 1816, the son of Andrew Thomson, and he was enrolled as an advocate in Edinburgh in 1820. Author, antiquary and philanthropist, he made many donations to the College library. In 1826 he returned to Aberdeen to become more closely involved in the College: he was Dean of Faculty in 1826, from 1852 to 1855, and in 1858, and was Rector's Assessor in 1841, 1843, 1846 and 1848. He died in 1868. His very wide-ranging interests, particularly on Victorian social and educational issues, are well represented in his library of c. 1600 books, and 6,000 pamphlets, bequeathed to the Free Church College, Aberdeen, after his death, and now deposited as a named collection in the University Library. |
| Custodial History | Alexander Thomson's library was bequeathed to the Free Church College, Aberdeen, with directions that it be made over to the University should that College cease to be recognised by the Free Church for the training of its ministers. It descended to its successor, Christ's College, by which it was transferred to the custody of the University of Aberdeen around 1960. Manuscript volumes were deposited in the University Archives as MS 3244 in 1986. |
| Description | This collection contains the manuscript volumes from Alexander Thomson's library. It includes tour journals from his travels in Britain and Europe (1818-1863) and a small selection of other personal papers, including commonplace books (1816, 1819 and 1827), notes of sermons (1818-1819), and a catalogue of Banchory House library (July 1864). The minute book of Banchory Farmer Friendly Society (1776-1866), and extracts from Kirk Sessions and other ecclesiastical records of Aberdeen (1562-1622), made in 1696 by Robert Davidson, are also present. |