Records of the Spalding Club (1839 - 1869), Aberdeen

GB 231 MS 0604 - 0606 Papers of John Stuart (1813 - 1877), compiled [principally] in his capacity as secretary of the Spalding Club, 1837 - 1885. These papers have not been fully listed, and covering dates suggest that some material may post-date the Spalding Club's existence and/ or relate to the activities of the New Spalding Club. They comprise a printed copy of Ancient Monuments Bill, 1874, with associated correspondence addressed to John Stuart, 1873-75 (GB 231 MS 0604); papers relating to preparation and publication of The Book of Deer (principally extracts of transcriptions and associated correspondence), 1867 (GB 231 MS 0605); and papers relating to Spalding Club publications, 1837 - 1885 (GB 231 MS 0606).

GB 231 MS 0607-0612 Institutional records of the Spalding Club, 1839-73, comprising minute book, 1839 - 1870 (GB 231 MS 0607/1); treasurer's list, 1840 - 1869 (GB 231 MS 0608); letter book no. 1, 1851 - 1872 (GB 231 MS 0609); cash books, 1840 - 1873 (GB 231 MS 0610 - 0612); and correspondence re. the sculptured stones of Scotland, 1858 - 1865 (GB 231 MS 0612/2).

Institutional records of the New Spalding Club, 1886 - 1888, comprising minutes of Topographical and Archaeological Committee, (GB 231 MS 0607/2); minutes of Church Records Committee, 1886 - 1887 (GB 231 MS 607/3); and minutes of Family History Committee, 1886 - 1888 (GB 231 MS 607/4)

GB 231 MS 848 Single volume containing genealogies of the following Scottish families transcribed for the Spalding Club by James D. Haig, c 1845:

The genealogie of the Grants said to be written by Mr James Chapman, minister of Cromdall in anno 1729 (42 p); the genealogie of the name of Forbes composed by Mr Matthew Lumsden of Tillicarno, anno 1580, and carried on from thence to 1667 by William Forbes of Leslie, and continued by a friend of that noble family and name to the year 1706 (149 leaves); a continuation of the genealogie of the noble family of Arbuthnott by Mr Alexander Arbuthnott, minister at the Kirk of Arbuthnott (35 p); from the mss of the House of Forbes by Lumsden, and improved by Mr William Forbes, Professor of Law in the University of Glasgow (35 p); Leslie of Balquhain and Leslie of Findrassie (20 p); Ross of Arnage, Aberdeenshire (4 leaves); Genealogie of the [Campbell] family of Achinbreck, from Duncan an-adh the 26 in Mr Davidson's genealogy of the family of Argyll, 2 Apr 1741 (47 p); memorial of the ancient family of Strachans, more particularly of the House of Thornton (32 p); Seton of Cariston, Fife, by Christopher Seton, 1800 (26 leaves); the pedigree of Andrew Lumsden [of the Lumsden family, Berwick], Edinburgh 4 Mar 1799 (21 leaves)

The genealogies were intended for publication by the Club; though publication details have not yet been established. Correspondence enclosed within the volume from James D. Haig, 48 India St., Edinburgh, and Advocates' Library, to Joseph Robertson (1810 - 1866), Spalding Club, Feb - Jun 1845, discusses progress being made with the transcriptions, and various difficulties encountered therein. A single letter from ?John Jopp, Edinburgh, to Joseph Robertson discusses the account for Haig's work.

GB 231 MS 0973 Correspondence between Joseph Robertson (1810 - 1866), John Stuart (1813 - 1877), and Patrick Chalmers, relating to Spalding Club Publications, 1847 - 1853. Robertson is the principal correspondent.

GB 231 MS 2264 Records of the Spalding Club, 1839-71; and of the New Spalding Club, 1882-90. Records of the Spalding Club, 1839-71; and of the New Spalding Club, 1882-90. Collection of original manuscripts, gathered in part by John Stuart (1813 - 1877), secretary of the Spalding Club, for use in Spalding Club and other publications, mainly concerning the burgh and county of Banff, and persons and places in Northeast Scotland, 1404 - 1858, including Abercromby of Forglen; William Abernethy of Saltoun, sheriffdom of Forfar; Baird of Auchmedden; Lord Deskford and the Earl of Findlater; Duffs of Braco; Lord Macduff and Earl Hay of Echries; Hay of Rannes; Keith, Earl Marischal; Menzies of Pitfodels; Ogilvy of Banff; Rose of Montcoffer; Sir James Sandilands, [? Lord St. John, preceptor of Order of St John of Jerusalem], of Torphichen.

There is also a collection of correspondence and offprints relating to the activities of the New Spalding Club, its secretary, P.J. Anderson, and the Ancient Monuments Commission, 1882 - 1890, including details of the Club's involvement in preservation and scheduling of sculptured stones at Dyce, Aberdeenshire, 1889 - 1890.

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.

None observed - listing in progress.

Open, subject to signature accepting conditions of use at reader registration sheet

GB 231 MS 0604 - 0606: date and source not recorded. Probably gifted to the University in 1912; GB 231 MS 0604 - 0606: date and source not recorded. Probably gifted to the University in 1912; GB 231 MS 0607-0612: gifted to the University in 1912. See Aberdeen University Library Bulletin, 1 (1912), pp 415; GB 231 MS 0607-0612: gifted to the University in 1912. See Aberdeen University Library Bulletin, 1 (1912), pp 415; GB 231 MS 848: purchased by the University in 1929, with assistance from the Carnegie Fund; GB 231 MS 848: purchased by the University in 1929, with assistance from the Carnegie Fund; GB 231 MS 973: date and source not recorded GB 231 MS 973: date and source not recorded GB 231 MS 2264: date and source not recorded. Deposited in the University before 1969

Very brief collection level description available on Aberdeen University Library Catalogue, accessible online http://www.abdn.ac.uk/diss/library/

No copies known

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 Head of Special Libraries and Archives (e-mail: speclib@abdn.ac.uk) 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.

This material has been appraised in line with normal procedures

No accruals expected

Papers of the New Spalding Club (1886 - 1928), Aberdeen. A separate collection level description is available on the Archives Hub.

Papers of the Third Spalding Club (1928 - 1956), Aberdeen. A separate collection level description is available o the Archives Hub.

Personal papers of members of the Spalding Club, relating to the work of the Club Papers of Joseph Robertson (1810 - 1866) (GB 231 MS 0525 - 0530; MS 0973; and MS 2397). These papers include Robertson's (unpublished) pre-Spalding Club research on a Biographia Aberdonensis, 1833 - 1837 (GB 231 MA 0525 - 0530) (6 volumes). A separate collection level description is available on the Archives Hub.

Original papers published by the Spalding Club James Gordon's History of Scots affairs from the year 1637 to the year 1641 transcribed by Professor Thomas Gordon, Robert Gordon and others, 1788 (GB 231 MS 0018) (1 volume: 510 p). Published as History of Scots Affairs from MDCXXXVII to MDCXLI, by James Gordon, Parson of Rothiemay, ed. by George Grub, 3 vols (Aberdeen: Spalding Club, 1841)

John Spalding's Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland especially of Aberdeenshire from 1624 to 1644, transcribed by James Dalgarno, 1778 - 1779 (GB 231 MS 0019) (1 volume:1036 p). Published as Memorials of the Trubles in Scotland and England. AD 1624 - ad 1645, by John Spalding, ed. by John Stuart, 2 vols (Aberdeen: Spalding Club, 1850 - 1851)

John Spalding's History of the Troubles and Memorable Transactions in Scotland, from 1624 to 1645, transcribed by James Dalgarno, 1778 - 1779 (GB 231 MS 0020) (1 volume:1036 p). Published as Memorials of the Trubles in Scotland and England. AD 1624 - ad 1645, by John Spalding, ed. by John Stuart, 2 vols (Aberdeen: Spalding Club, 1850 - 1851)

Original manuscript of John Spalding's History of the Troubles and Memorable Transactions in Scotland, 1624-25, n.d., c 1650. Known as Skene Manuscript (GB 231 MS 2466) (1 volume: 690 leaves). Published as Memorials of the Trubles in Scotland and England. AD 1624 - ad 1645, by John Spalding, ed. by John Stuart, 2 vols (Aberdeen: Spalding Club, 1850 - 1851)

William Mitchell, Diary of Visit to London, William Mitchell (1670-1727), Minister of St Giles Church, Edinburgh, 1717 (GB 231 MS 0146) (1 volume: 16 leaves) Published in Miscellany of the Spalding Club, vol.1 (Aberdeen: Spalding Club, 1841), pp. 225-253.

19th c transcript of Breviarium Aberdonense: Pars Aestivalis (GB 231 MS 0515-0516) (2 volumes) and Breviarium Aberdonense: Pars Hyemalis (GB 231 MS 0517) (1 volume) [copied for the Spalding Club]. Original work prepared under the personal superintendence of William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen, edited by William Blew (1510). Published by the Spalding Club, the Bannatyne Club and the Maitland Club (London and Aberdeen, 1854)

The Book of Deer, ed. by John Stuart (Edinburgh: Spalding Club, 1869).

This material is original