| Collection | GB 0231 University of Aberdeen, Special Collections |
| Level | Fonds |
| Ref No | MS 2626 |
| Title | Records of F.A. MacDonald and Partners, engineers and surveyors (incorporating earlier practices): papers |
| Date | 1732 - 1952 |
| Extent | 134 boxes and 4 volumes: 45 linear metres |
| Administrative History | Records amassed by Aberdeen firms of engineers and surveyors in the course of their duties in Aberdeen and the north of Scotland.
Walker & Beattie: c.1825 - c.1839
Walker & Smith: c. 1839- c. 1846
James F. Beattie & Sons: c.1874 - c.1877
Walker & Beattie: 1877 - 1888/1889
Walker & Duncan: 1891 - 1957
F.A. MacDonald and Partners, engineers and surveyors, Glasgow (now called Fairhurst): 1902 - current. The Aberdeen office opened after incorporation of Walker & Duncan, 1956.
For more information see:
Bailey, Rebecca M. Scottish Architects’ Papers : A Source Book. Rutland, 1996
Barnett, Muriel J. F. “Early Map-Makers and Nineteenth-Century Surveyors of Aberdeen.” Scottish Geographical Magazine, vol. 79, no. 2, 1963, pp. 114–17
Steer, Francis W., et al. Dictionary of Land Surveyors and Local Map-makers of Great Britain and Ireland 1530-1850. 2nd edition. 2 vols. British Library, 1997. |
| Source | Deposited in the University in 1961, by F.A MacDonald and Partners, engineers and surveyors, Aberdeen and transferred from the Department of Geography in 1967. The material was sorted and arranged by Professor Andrew O'Dell, Department of Geography, University of Aberdeen, prior to deposit. MS 2626/18 was transferred to the Library following conservation, in 2002. |
| Description | The collection includes surveyors' and valuators' reports; particulars of sales of properties; miscellaneous legal and estate papers; factorial accounts; leases and rentals; company reports; minutes; copies of local and private Bills, Acts and Provisional Orders, Petitions, etc.; together with miscellaneous papers and pamphlets connected with the business of the firm and the personal activities of its partners. The reports and valuations concern estates, farms, districts, towns and villages throughout Scotland, but particularly Aberdeen City and County, and the historic counties of Kincardineshire, Banffshire, Moray and Nairn, Angus and Perthshire. The bulk of the material relates to Aberdeen City (26 boxes) and county (68 boxes). Of this, 18 boxes relate to the City of Aberdeen Land Association (now CALA), c 1848 - 1920; 4 boxes relate to Ballogie estate, 1736 - 1942; 2 boxes to Cromar estate (then belonging to Lord Aberdeen), 1732 - 1919; 3 boxes to Blelack and Deskrie estates, 1858 - 1925; 4 boxes to Haddo House estate (belonging to Lord Aberdeen), 1865 - 1919; 1 box to Parkhill estate (including Dyce and Pitlurg), 1857 - 1927; 1 box to fisheries, 1834 - 1947; and 2 boxes to the Espuela Land and Cattle Company Ltd. and to the Espuela Syndicate (a company with Aberdeen connections, concerned with ranch and land in Texas), 1884 - 1912.
The material deposited dates from 1732 - 1952, but the bulk concerns the latter half of the 19th and first decade of the 20th centuries. |
| Arrangement | Section 1: Surveyors' valuations and reports, particulars of sales. Includes activities of the City of Aberdeen Land Association
Sections 2 - 5: bound volumes (includes activities of the City of Aberdeen Land Association)
Section 6: Printed copies of articles/leases, miscellaneous papers and typewritten materials
Section 7: Memoranda and Speeches
Section 8: Miscellenaeous legal material: Walker & Beattie
Section 9: Memoranda, circulars and reports: North of Scotland College of Agriculture
Section 10: Aberdeen Corporation: Acts, bills, petitions and provisional orders
Section 11: Aberdeen Town Council: miscellaneous printed pamphlets
Section 12: Printed articles of various companies in Aberdeen and North East Scotland
Section 13: Printed prospectuses of a non-local nature
Section 14: Non-Governmental and non-local pamphlets
Section 15: Parliamentary Command papers
Section 16: H.M.S.O. publications |
| Access Status | Open |
| Access Conditions | The records are available subject to the signed acceptance of the Department's access conditions. |
| Copyright | Subject to the condition of the original, copies may be supplied for private research use only on receipt of a signed undertaking to comply with current copyright legislation. Permission to make any published use of material from the collection must be sought in advance from the University Archivist and, where appropriate, from the copyright owner. Where possible, assistance will be given in identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material. |
| Language | English |
| Physical Description | No physical conditions affecting use of collection. |
| Related Material | MS 3860: Records of F.A. MacDonald and Partners, engineers and surveyors (incorporating Walker & Duncan, Aberdeen): maps and plans collection |
| Finding Aids | In addition to this summary catalogue there are two paper slip catalogues available in the Reading Room. |
| Related Record | MS 3860 |