| Administrative History | The Spalding Club (1839 - 1869) was established in Aberdeen by Joseph Robertson (1810 - 1866) and John Stuart (1813-77), LL D, for the publication of the historical, genealogical, topographical and literary remains of the North-eastern counties of Scotland (printed notice of intention to establish the Club, published in Aberdeen newspapers, 5 Dec 1839). Together they were responsible for many of the Club's early, and most enduring, publications, including Collections for a History of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff , ed. by Joseph Robertson (Aberdeen: Spalding Club, 1843); Fasti Aberdonensis , ed. by Joseph Robertson (Aberdeen: Spalding Club, 1854); Sculptured Stones of Scotland , ed. by John Stuart, 2 vols (Aberdeen, Spalding Club, 1856-67); The Book of Deer , ed. by John Stuart (Edinburgh: Spalding Club, 1869); and The Miscellany of the Spalding Club, ed. by John Stuart, 5 vols (Aberdeen: Spalding Club, 1841-52). Robertson later became Curator of the Historical Department, Register House, Edinburgh, c 1858, and Stuart was appointed Principal Keeper of the Register of Deeds, Edinburgh, in 1773.
The work of two other individuals also contributed to the early success of the Club. Cosmo Innes (1798 - 1874), a member of, and already experienced editor with, the Bannatyne Club, Edinburgh, edited Fasti Aberdonenses. Selections from the Records of the University and King's College of Aberdeen, 1494-1854 (Aberdeen: Spalding Club, 1854) and sponsored Registrum Episcopatus Aberdonensis. Ecclesie Cathedralis Aberdonensis Regesta que extant in unum collecta , 2 vols (Edinburgh: Spalding Club, 1845) and A Genealogical Deduction of the Family of Rose of Kilravock; with illustrative documents from the family papers, and notes (Edinburgh: Spalding Club, 1848). George Grub (1812 - 1892), Professor of Law at Marischal College and Aberdeen University, 1843 - 1891, and author of An Ecclesiastical History of Scotland from the Introduction of Christianity to the Present Time , 4 vols (Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1861), edited History of Scots Affairs from MDCXXXVII to MDCXLI, by James Gordon, Parson of Rothiemay 3 vols (Aberdeen: Spalding Club, 1841) and Thomas Innes' The Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scotland, AD LXXX - DCCCXVIII (Aberdeen: Spalding Club, 1853).
At the height of its popularity, in March 1850, the Club had attracted a membership of 500, but by December 1869, numbers had fallen to 227, and the decision, first mooted in December 1866, was formally made to dissolve the Club at this time. During its 30-year history, it published 38 volumes. For bibliographical details see David Stevenson and Wendy B. Stevenson, Scottish Texts and Calendars. an Analytical Guide to Serial Publications (London: Royal Historical Society; Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1987).
For further details see W. Douglas Simpson, The Three Spalding Clubs: a Century in Retrospect, in Third Spalding Club Miscellany , vol. 2 (Aberdeen: Third Spalding Club, 1940), pp. xiii-xxxii; and Donald J. Witherington, Aberdeen Antiquaries: the Founding of the Spalding Club in 1839 , Aberdeen University Review , 44 (1971 - 1972), 42 - 55. |