| Collection | GB 0231 University of Aberdeen, Special Collections |
| Level | Fonds |
| Ref No | MS 3859 |
| Title | William Kelly, architect: collection of photographs, plans, prints and sketches |
| Date | 19th century - 20th century |
| Extent | 4 large boxes: 4 linear meters |
| Creator Name | Kelly; William (1861 - 1944); architect |
| Administrative History | William Kelly was born in Aberdeen on the 22nd December 1861, to Francis Bonnyman Kelly, a tailor, and his wife Jane Tough. After schooling at William Rattray's school, Kelly studied maths and natural philosophy at King's College (1876 - 1878). He was articled to the local firm of William and John Smith and when his period of articles was finished in 1883, he moved to London. His career in London is relatively undocumented; in 1886, he returned to Aberdeen, setting up an independent practice on Belmont Street. A year later, he entered into partnership with William Smith but this partnership was dissolved in the early 1890s and in 1893, he married Mary Carmichael, thus becoming the brother-in-law of Aberdeen architects Charles and Duncan Carmichael. Kelly won a prestigious commission to be the architect of Aberdeen Savings Bank on Union Terrace in 1896. He was elected ARSA in 1911 and was awarded the LLD by Aberdeen University in 1919, in recognition of his work at King's College Chapel. He also held the newly created post of Aberdeen Corporation Director of Housing from 1918-1923. One of his most popular architectural works was his design of the leopards on Union Bridge, known as 'Kelly's Cats'. After his retirement in 1928, he maintained a consultancy role for landed clients and pursued his lifelong antiquarian interests by assisting with the publications of his historian friend and University Librarian, Dr William Douglas Simpson. He died on the 10th March 1944.
See - Dr William Douglas Simpson, 'A tribute offered by the University of Aberdeen to the memory of William Kelly, LL.D, A.R.S.A' (Aberdeen University Press: 1949). |
| Custodial History | The custodial history of this collection is not recorded with the original deposit files. The collections of William Douglas Simpson (MS 3759) and William Kelly are heavily connected, due to their close friendship and shared research interests. It is likely that Kelly gifted a large amount of material to Simpson during his life time which explains the large amount of Kelly material found in the Simpson collection.
There are two mentions of the William Kelly plan collections in the University of Aberdeen Court Minutes in Volume XVIII. The first: "A letter of the 3rd of September, 1951, was submitted from the family of the late Dr William Kelly, offering to the University Dr Kelly's original drawings, sketches, plans and photographs of local architectural and antiquarian interest, much of which is related to King's Chapel and other University Buildings." The second is dated 13th of October 1956 "The series of plans bequeathed to the library by the widow of the late Dr William Kelly have now been arranged and shelved in portfolios".
It can be presumed that this deposit of Kelly material is the collection that is referred to as being gifted by Kelly's family. The collection was then held with the Simpson collection but kept in separate boxes, which had the prefix M1, M2, M3 (M refers to Miscellaneous) and WK. These letters simply refer to the box, there did not appear to be any organization within each box. The collection has now been separately catalogued to allow clearer access for researchers, alterative referencing have been recorded for each item. |
| Description | A collection of Aberdeen Architect William Kelly's research photographs, sketches, plans and prints relating to architectural projects in which Kelly is involved. As the vast majority of works undertaken by Kelly are in the North-East of Scotland, the locations featured in this collection are predominantly local views of Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire. The largest series of materials relate to the architecture of St Machar Cathedral, St Ninian's Church and The Aberdeen Savings Bank. In addition the collection includes items from England and international locations.
During his international travel Kelly collected research materials relating to architecture. His trips included destinations in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, with a particular interest in sites in Amboise, Antwerp, Barcelona and Cologne.
This research material forms a subsection of the collection, which is predominantly Kelly's architectural projects, at various stages of development and completion. The material ranges from drafts and concepts through to photographs of finished projects.
The collection has an emphasis in the architecture of Castles and Churches. Kelly captures both the architectural features of these buildings such as doorways to their full exteriors. In addition to buildings Kelly's work includes many designs for memorials. His memorials vary from gravestones, tombs and World War One memorials. His work on memorials led Kelly to experiment with letterings styles and pattern, taking inspiration from Pictish Stones and Celtic knots, examples of which are contained within the collection. Kelly's interest in design is reflected in the many sketches of furniture, metalwork and tapestries. The collection has a small number of landscapes, letters, and portraiture.
The dates of material are predominantly from Kelly's working life, from his time as an apprentice starting in 1878 until his death in 1944. However, a large proportion of the material is undated and can only be assigned a general time frame of Kelly's career. The collection contains a small group of research material, from the early 19th century, which predates Kelly's lifetime. |
| Accruals | None expected. |
| Arrangement | The arrangement of this collection has been inherited from the companion collection of William Douglas Simpson (MS 3789), which includes a large number of William Kelly works. As these two collections are heavily interconnected, for the benefit of researchers, the arrangements are the same. The arrangement of the Simpson collection is geographically by location rather than by form with A = Aberdeen, B - Banff and Buchan etc. The Simpson collection was originally referenced as A1 - D1 and formed the Research Room maps and plans collection. As a large proportion of the Kelly collection is not clearly from a particular location, a series has been created which groups material by subject matter. Groups of material, such as memorials are spilt between known locations and the general heading memorials. Some material had been previously been stored and or organised together in envelopes. These envelopes have been retained.
For further information on the arrangement please see the custodial history field.
Arrangement -
England - Architecture research material
Scotland - Architecture research material and architectural design
International - Architecture research material
Architectural drawing, research material, drawing and design |
| Access Status | Open |
| Physical Description | Supports: Tracing paper, typing paper, writing paper, ruled and woven papers, blue architectural linens, blueprints, dyelines, textile backings, photographs (albumen and gelatine).
Media: inks, colour washes, gouache, graphite, photomechanical printing, type written and coloured crayon. |
| Related Material | It is likely that Kelly gifted a large amount of material to Simpson during his life time which form the Kelly material in the Simpson collection MS 3759.
The items in the Simpson collection which were originally catalogued A3 - A8 have since been extracted as UNIVERSITY 1494 - plans of King's College Chapel and Marischal College.
Plans of King's College, UNIVERSITY 1494, 1855 - 1964
William Kelly Sketchbooks, 1805 - 1944, MS 2380
William Kelly: Glenbuchat Castle notes, with letters to J.M. Bulloch, early 20th century, MS 2195
Charles Carmichael: plans and drawings, Late 19th century, MS 3059
Papers relating to Aberdeen architects: Smith, Kelly and Simpson, 1841 - 1961, MS 2393
William Douglas Simpson collection of archaeological, monumental and architectural plans, 19th century - 20th century, 19th century - 20th century, MS 3759
Papers of William Douglas Simpson (1896-1968) historian and archaeologist, 20th century, MS 2229, MS 2230, MS 2285, MS 2398, MS 2498, MS 2729, MS 2818, MS 2968, MS 3042 & MS 3442, |
| Publication Note | A tribute offered by the University of Aberdeen to the memory of William Kelly, LL.D, A.R.S.A, Aberdeen University Press, 1949, Aberdeen University Studies. |