| Administrative History | From internal evidence within the notebooks, it is presumed that the author of two of the books is John Duncan who attended Marischal College between 1854 and 1857. Duncan was born in Aberdeen in 1839, son of John Duncan, advocate. He studied law and banking in Aberdeen before setting himself up as a merchant in Ceylon, later settling in New Zealand.
For more information on the class, see: 'Records of the Arts Class, 1854-58, Marischal College and University' (Aberdeen, 3 volumes, revised up to 1897). Also UNIVERSITY 634, papers extracted from the 1854 - 1858 class album relating to class dinners. The class album contains photographs of the students as well. |
| Custodial History | Former owner was Stephen Robertson, lawyer, entertainer with Scotland The What? and former Rector. The books had originally been discovered in a drawer in a desk at the offices of the legal firm C. & P.H. Chalmers, Golden Square, Aberdeen by staff member Ian Edward when he joined that firm as a legal assistant in 1963. It is believed that the desk had belonged to Royston John Milne when he was partner of the firm from 1956 - 1964. Steve Robertson served a legal apprecticeship with D.M.C. Donald & Co. and shared a room there with Royston John Milne. When Milne died, Ian Edward, knowing the friendship between Robertson and Milne, gave the notebooks to Robertson (above notes on the custodial history provided by Graham Hunter, former laywer with Edmonds & Ledingham, and friend of Steve Robertson).
How the volume came to be in the offices of the lawyers is unknown, yet, there is a possible link, due to the fact that Patrick Henderson Chalmers of said firm C. & P.H. Chalmers, was a classmate of presumed creator John Duncan. |