| Administrative History | Aberdeen Harbour Board was established by the Aberdeen Harbour Confirmation Act 1960, and amended by the Aberdeen Harbour Order Confirmation Act 1987. It has thirteen members, seven being appointed by Scottish Ministers after nomination by the principal organisations involved in the use of the harbour, and the remainder appointed by Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce, and the Scottish Trades Union Congress.
The present Harbour Board replaces the nineteenth century Aberdeen Harbour Commission, a body which was formally established in 1843 and modified through a series of more than seven Acts of Parliament during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These Acts were concerned variously with developing the constitution of the Commission, making the Commissioners more representative of the Harbour users, and most importantly, granting them powers to raise funds for new harbour developments and extensions.
The main impetus for development came in 1885, with the arrival of the new steam trawling industry to Aberdeen, bringing considerable prosperity to the city, and prompting the development of ancilliary industries in the harbour area. By the early twentieth century a large fishing fleet and commercial trade operated from the harbour, though both industries suffered during the First and Second World Wars, when the harbour was used as a base for naval vessels, and subjected to frequent air attacks. Since this time, fishing and related industries have declined in importance, being replaced to some degree by the offshore oil and gas industries, passenger ferries and the import and export business of wood and paper products.
The Harbour Commission and latterly, the Harbour Board, have been responsible for developing the infrastructure required to support industry operating from Aberdeen Harbour since the mid nineteenth century, and as such, have played an impotrant role in the growth and prosperity of the City of Aberdeen. Further details of their work and the early history of the port, which was first recorded in a royal charter of 1136, can be found in J.R. Turner, 'Scotland's North Sea Gateway' (Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1986). Annual reports and accounts have been published annually since 1891 (for the period 1891 - 1951 'Accounts of the Revenue and Expenditure of Aberdeen Harbour', continued from 1960 as 'Annual Report and Abstract of Accounts'); and since 1961 the new Harbour Board has produced an annual 'Official Handbook ', or 'Guide' , describing its work and providing statistics about the harbour and brief histories for the established companies based there. |
| Custodial History | Photographs were taken by the Commission's engineering staff as a record of port developments and activities in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The glass plate negatives remained in their custody and latterly, the new Harbour Board's, until their deposit in the University in July 1999. They have been placed with the University for a period of 50 years, and financial assistance has been provided, as part of the Board's Millenium celebrations, to preserve and scan the plates. |