Records of St Andrews Cathedral, Aberdeen

This material is held atUniversity of Aberdeen Collections

Scope and Content

This collection contains records of St Andrew's Cathedral, and its predecessors, St Andrew's Chapel and St Andrew's Church. It also includes some records of its daughter church, St Ninian's, and some early records of the Episcopal Congregation at Old Aberdeen. It should be considered in conjunction with the records of the Scottish Episcopal Church, Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney, 1600 - 1980, deposited by the Diocese in 1988 (GB 231 MS 3320). See Related Units of Description for further details.

St Andrew's Cathedral, Aberdeen

Registers of services, 1881 - 1989; baptisms, 1919 - 1963; marriages, 1927 - 1962; burials, 1936 - 1969; offerings books, 1897 - 1904; trustees minutes, 1924 - 1938; and visitors' books, 1960 - 1984. Printed papers include church circulars, 1891- 1916; The Scottish Standard, (1891 - 1916); prayer books, hymn books and Bibles, 17th c - 19th c. There are additionally, several bundles of papers and correspondence concerning bonds and trusts, appointments and ordinations, accounts, property, miscellaneous parish and diocesan matters, 18th c - 20th c; and a collection of Bishop Jolly's sermons and discourses, 1781 - 1822.

St Andrew's Church, Aberdeen

Registers of baptisms, 1848 - 1927; marriages, 1909 - 1927; burials, 1817 - 1939; offerings books, 1816 - 1854; trustees' minutes, 1858 - 1924; church circulars, 1885 - 1904 (incomplete)

St Andrew's Chapel, Aberdeen

Registers of services, 1872 - 1880; baptisms, 1802 - 1851; marriages, 1817 - 1909; baptisms, marriages and deaths, 1775 - 1816; offerings books, 1818 - 1840; trustees minutes, 1777 - 1857; and seat rent books, 1817 - 1857 (incomplete)

St Ninian's, Seaton, Aberdeen

Register of services, 1947 - 1982

Episcopal Congregation at Old Aberdeen

Register of baptisms, 1730 - 1752

Administrative / Biographical History

St Andrew's Cathedral, Church and Chapel

The Scottish Episcopal congregation of Aberdeen, St Andrew's first gathered in a meeting-house at the back of Aberdeen Tolbooth in 1723, later moving to Concert Close and Guest Row. The meeting-house in Guest Row was burned down in 1746 by the authorities but was later rebuilt. In 1776 the upper floor of Reverend John Skinner's new dwelling-house in Longacre was fitted up as a meeting-house. St Andrew's Chapel was opened next to Skinner's house in Longacre on 13 Sept 1792. This was replaced by a new church in King Street in 1817, which has since been extensively enlarged and remodelled. St Andrew's became the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney in 1914.

St Ninian's Church

Aberdeen St Ninian's first gathered as a Mission in 1935, for the developing area of Seaton and Bridge of Don. St Ninian's Church was built in King Street and dedicated in 1936. It has been served from St Andrew's Cathedral since 1980.

Episcopalian Congregation at Old Aberdeen

The Episcopalians of Old Aberdeen (Old Machar) held St Machar's Cathedral until 1694. A meeting house was later established which was destroyed in 1746. When the last incumbent died in 1754, some of the congregation transferred to St John's chapel in Blairton Lane, Aberdeen, and others to St Andrew's Chapel in Guest Row.

This information has been extracted from David M. Bertie, Scottish Episcopal Clergy 1689-2000 (Edinburgh: Clarke, 2000). Further details about the history of the Diocese and individual churches is contained therein.

Arrangement

Work in process on arrangement by church and record type therein.

Access Information

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

Acquisition Information

Deposited in the University in May 1996, by St Andrew's Cathedral. Additional deposit Feb 1997.

Other Finding Aids

Interim summary list available in the Reading Room, Special Libraries and Archives, University of Aberdeen.

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

Alternative Form Available

No copies known

Conditions Governing Use

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.

Appraisal Information

This material has been appraised in line with normal procedures

Custodial History

The records of the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney and its constituent churches were originally held locally. During the 20th century some - though not all - came to be deposited in the Diocesan Office

Accruals

Occasional accruals anticipated

Related Material

Diocesan and parish records Records of the Scottish Episcopal Church, Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney, 1600 - 1980 (ref. GB231 MS 3320). Comprising diocesan records, records of St Andrew's Cathedral, Aberdeen (ref. GB231 MS 3320/7) and records of 49 local churches in the Diocese.

Aberdeen Diocesan Library manuscript volumes, 1665-1907 (ref. GB 231 MS 3337). This collection includes minutes of the Aberdeen Clerical Association, 1858 - 1907, which bridge a gap in the Association's minutes deposited in GB 231 MS 3320. The Diocesan library from which this collection originates has also been deposited in the University (ref. DL), with related correspondence in the papers of F.C. Eeles, 1911 - 1931 (ref. GB 231 MSU 602).

Lonmay Episcopal Church registers, 1727 - 1854 (transcripts) (ref. GB 231 MS 2748)

Peterhead Episcopal Church baptism registers, 1738 - 1788 (transcripts) (ref. GB 231 MS 2749)

Inventory of St Peter's Episcopal Church, Fraserburgh, c 1963 (ref. GB 231 MS 2450)

Sermons preached at the Scottish Episcopal Churches at Meikelfolla, Macterry, Tillydesk, Chapelhall, Kinharrachy, Old Meldrum, Banff, Portsoy, Ellon, Turriff, Lonmay, Crichy, Parkdargue, 1774-1862 (ref. GB 231 MS 3504).

Photographic printer's blocks of churches, officials and occasions in the Scottish Episcopal Church Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney, with corner stone of ancient altar at Lonmay, undated (ref. GB 231 MS 3533).

Personal papers of individuals associated with the church Personal papers of F. C. Eeles, regarding the Episcopal Church in Scotland, 1862 - 1863 (ref. GB 231 MS 2507)

Personal papers of Reverend James B. Craven (1850 - 1924), Archdeacon of Orkney (ref. GB 231 MS 0894 - 0896; GB 231 MS 2150 - 2156; GB 231 MS 2197). These deposits contain Reverend Craven's antiquarian and genealogical research notes, as well as papers relating to his extensive research and several publications on the history of the Scottish Episcopal Church.

Episcopal Church in Scotland and Dr Henderson: letters and papers by a lay Episcopalian, Aberdeen, 1831 (ref. GB231 MS 2180)

Other records Episcopal Church in Scotland: Canons and Constitutions ecclesiastical (ref. GB 231 MS 904)

Episcopal Church in Scotland: A Shorter Catechism, 1726 (ref. GB 231 MS 2074)

Full reference details available on the Aberdeen University Library Catalogue, accessible online http://www.abdn.ac.uk/diss/library/

Bibliography

No known publications using this material

Additional Information

This material is original