William Gray (1832 – 1902), Banchory Baker

Introduction
William Gray was the 4^th child and 3^rd son of Alexander Gray, who was the village baker in Aboyne between 1828 and 1876.  William followed in his father’s footsteps and entered the baking trade but it is not known if he served his apprenticeship in his father’s establishment or elsewhere. At the Census of 1851, William, described as a confectioner and presumably time-served, was living in lodgings at 115 Gallowgate, a street which runs north from Marischal College in the centre of Aberdeen. He had moved out of the rather crowded family home in rural Aboyne for the big city on the coast, 40 miles away.   William’s landlady was Ellen Anderson, whose lodging house had three other male lodgers in addition to William.  Also at home was Susan, 22-year-old daughter of Ellen, who was probably employed by her mother to support the lodging enterprise.  Susan and William must have been attracted to each other, because they were subsequently married at nearby St Nicholas Church in July 1853.

Bakery established in Banchory  

Between July 1853 and November 1855, when their first child, Andrew, was born in Banchory Ternan (now more usually known simply as “Banchory”) a village on the north bank of the River Dee, about half way between Aberdeen and William’s home village of Aboyne, he appears to have become established in his own baking premises on the south side of Banchory Ternan’s High Street.  He was probably following his father in seeking to run his own bakery, rather than work for others.  Alexander Gray had had a similar start in life, but he had started a new bakery business in Aboyne at the age of 22.  Apparently, the Banchory Ternan business was well-established and had previously been run by a Miss Torry.  William would have been a tenant of the property but would probably have had to buy out the stock, equipment and goodwill of the business.  He may thus have been indebted at this stage of his career.

Bankruptcy and Revival

For some years, until 1863, William’s bakery seems to have been operated successfully.  At the 1861 Census William was employing a baker, George Smart and two domestic servants.  At the same time his family was growing.  Son Alexander (1857) and daughters Margaret (1859), Ann (1861) and Susan (1863) were all born in Banchory Ternan.  But then disaster struck.  In June 1863 William was declared bankrupt.  The reason for his bankruptcy is not known but it can be speculated that he may have been having difficulty servicing debts associated with acquiring the business.  In July 1863 both the property that William was occupying and the bakery business were separately put up for sale.  The property consisted of two cottages with gardens attached, one cottage being occupied by William Gray and the other by Mr Ross, a coachbuilder.  The cottages, to be sold by public roup, were offered at an upset price of £250.  The then current rental of the cottages was £33/year and, as was usual in Scotland, there was a feu duty (ground rent) to pay.  The stock and equipment of the bakery business and household furniture of the Grays was advertised for sale on 6^th August.

This must have been a difficult and very disheartening time for William Gray.  He was about to lose his home, business and many of his possessions.  How would he support his young family of 5, ranging from 8 years down to 2 months?  However, the situation was recovered by some means because in 1871 William was still operating as a baker in Banchory Ternan, apparently from the same premises and seemed to be doing well, since he now employed 4 men and a domestic servant.  His sister, Martha, a 16-year-old scholar, was also in the house.  How was this turn-around achieved?  When Alexander Gray died in 1876 he owned property in Banchory and son William owed rent to his father.   It is likely that Alexander stepped in to the rescue in 1863 by buying the premises from which William was operating, together with the adjacent cottage and renting the bakery back to William.  Alexander may also have settled William’s debts, removing the need for a sale of his possessions.  Circumstantial evidence for this suggestion is that there is no report in the local newspapers of the outcome of the sale and William, unlike other brothers and sisters, was not a beneficiary of his father’s will.  Perhaps he had received his share early?  In subsequent years William had tenants on the parts of the property which he did not occupy.  Mr George Gordon, a house painter, occupied a workshop owned or managed by William Gray at least between 1886 and 1891 and in 1887 William advertised “To carpenters.  To let at Martinmas the long established premises presently occupied by Mr Lumsden, who is leaving owing to other arrangements.  Seldom such an opning occurs.  The stock has been greatly reduced and will be given over to the incoming tenant if wanted”.  In 1894 rents were being collected on his behalf.

Incidents affecting the Bakery

The Baking business run by William Gray suffered a number of dramatic events over the years.  In December 1876, the Banchory area suffered a severe snowstorm followed by two days of heavy rain which caused extensive flooding in the town.  There was a foot of water on the road between the town and the station and the main street was ridged with sand and stones which had been washed off the fields above the village.  Properties, especially on the south side of the main street suffered badly.  William Gray had been storing barrels of flour on the ground floor of the Hall and these were badly damaged, along with a large quantity of leather belonging to Mr Craigmile.

In September 1886 Mary Birse, the wife of James Birse, General Merchant in Banchory was charged with fire-raising at two sites, one being a shed belonging to William Gray, where she was accused of setting light to some straw.  The shed was destroyed and the fire spread to the workshop where George Gordon the house painter stored paints, varnishes and oils.  That building was also destroyed.  The other site affected as a store containing cut firewood belonging to David Russell, General Merchant.  Mrs Birse pleaded not guilty at Stonehaven Jury Court and, since the evidence against her was entirely circumstantial, she was found not guilty.

A burglary was committed against William Gray’s shop in1894.  Thieves managed to gain entry to the bakehouse through a locked door and then broke into the adjacent shop by cutting a hole, big enough for a hand to reach through, in the connecting door.  The key to this door had foolishly been left hanging in the lock.  There was a locked safe in the office which was also entered and £4 in coinage taken.  Interestingly, William detected the forced entry when he went to the bakehouse at 3.30am to start work.

Banchory had its own town gas producer, the Banchory Gas and Light Company.  In 1894 William Gray was a major customer of the Company, presumably using gas to heat his bread ovens.  However, in that year he was sued by the Banchory Gas and Light Company for payment of a gas bill of £10 1s 10d.  William defended his position on the grounds that he had indeed paid the account.  The circumstances under which this dispute arose were unusual and of more than passing legal interest.  A solicitor by the name of Stuart was practising in Banchory at the time and had been engaged by William Gray as his agent to collect rent due from his tenants, which in June 1894 amounted to £12 10s.  Mr Stuart’s clerk informed William that the rents had been collected and, in response, William instructed Mr Stuart, via his clerk, that the gas company account should be settled.  The complication arose from the fact that Mr Stuart also acted as treasurer to Banchory Gas and Light Company.  The clerk passed on William Gray’s instruction to his boss and the message was passed back to William that the matter was being attended to.  He accepted on trust that his instruction had been carried out and did not ask for a receipt.  He only found out that the account was still outstanding when he received a communication from the gas company.  Mr Steuart proved to be a fraudulent member of the legal profession and had been collecting money on behalf of the gas company, not just from William Gray but from others too and not crediting it to the company.  He absconded before the local police could feel his collar.  The judge was left to decide whether, when Mr Stuart absconded with the money he was holding was it in his capacity as agent of William Gray or as treasurer of the gas company.  Sadly, the case went against William Gray, though the judge accepted this decision was hard on him because his “good faith was beyond all suspicion”.  It has not been uncovered whether the long arm of the law finally caught up with Steuart.  The impact of Steuart’s behaviour was even more extreme on the gas company.  They lost £470 and had to resort to calling up 1s 6d per share from their shareholders to cover their debt.

William had another brush with the law in 1882 when he was charged with carrying a gun without having the necessary licence.  He  attended a shooting match at Dee Bank in April 1882.  William owned a gun but had lent it to George Craigmile jr that day.  At the match Craigmile realised that the wrong barrel had been attached to the stock and mentioned this to William Gray.  As a result he picked the gun up to examine it and, on confirming the mistake, made arrangements for the correct barrel to be collected and delivered.  Some eagle-eyed busy-body must have noticed this transient handling of the gun.  William was charged with carrying a gun for which he did not hold an appropriate licence, to which he pleaded “not guilty”.  The JP on the bench clearly realised that the law was in danger of making an ass of itself over this trivial transgression and found William not guilty on the grounds of insufficient evidence.  These incidents show that William was a law-abiding and principled man, ready to stand his ground if he thought he stood on the right side of the law.

Success

After his recovery from bankruptcy, William’s business appears to have been consistently successful.  In 1871 he was employing four men and a domestic servant and there was a similar level of employment in the bakery in 1881.  From 1886 onwards there was a steady stream of advertisements in the local paper for bakery staff at various levels - foreman, haflin, ovensman, journeyman, apprentice, vanman.  The advertisements reached a crescendo towards the end of the 1890s and through to 1902, when William died.  This probably reflects his increasing ill-health and the need to employ more staff with the decline in his capacity for physical work as his kidneys progressively deteriorated.  A second peak in advertisements occurred during WW1, which probably reflected the difficulty of recruiting men during wartime, with so many away on active service.

After their father’s death in 1902, the bakery and shop was run for many years by William’s two unmarried daughters, Susan and Helen, though the trading name “William Gray” was retained.

A gruesome accident
In 1910 the sisters must have suffered a deep shock from the occurrence of a gruesome accident on their premises.  This was a time of growth in the use of telephones, especially by the landed proprietors, the professions and trades.  John Davidson, who took over Alexander Gray’s bakery in Aboyne was one of the first local users of the new technology and sported the telephone number 6.  On 15^th September 1910, George Nicol, a telephone linesman was engaged in relocating telephone lines in Banchory and was working on the roof of the engine house of the William Gray bakery when he fell through the roof onto the engine and was crushed to death between the flywheel and the body of the engine.

Coasting along

With the business being left in the hands of two spinster daughters and son Alexander following a different path, there was no succession plan and the impression given after 1910 was of a business coasting along, probably surviving on its name, reputation and its prominent position in Banchory High Street.  The sisters appear to have been amiable employers.  Alexander Taylor went to work for them in 1903 and was still working there in 1945, so they were able to retain staff.  When the ladies took over from their father in 1902, Susan and Helen were 39 and 38 years old respectively.  It is not clear for how long they went on managing the business.  In 1911 they were living in a house with 6 rooms and each was described as “Proprietrix of Bakery”.  They did not have much public profile in the town and since they were trading under the name of their father, the management of the company was opaque.  When they advertised employment positions they did this under the name of the business.  They even used this personal anonymity in 1932 when one of them lost a purse and then advertised for its return.  Job advertisements for the bakery and shop declined substantially after 1920 and an advertisement for a bookkeeper in 1937 (when the sisters were 74 and 73 respectively) may indicate that the sisters were progressively withdrawing from managing the business.

New ownership
In 1940 the sisters advertised for a baker for scones and cakes, so they were presumably still in control at that time but by 1945 the business had been taken over by one of their competitors, Mr James M Burnett, an active Banchory citizen and businessman, who was Provost of the town at least between 1939 and 1945. Interestingly, the bakery in Aboyne which had been founded by William Gray’s father in 1828 and subsequently managed by Benjamin Gray, his brother, John Davidson, his brother-in-law and William Davidson, his nephew, was taken over in 1945 by a new company, William Gray (Bakers) Ltd, the Bakery, Aboyne, whose directors were James M Burnett and Edith E Burnett.  Edith Burnett managed the Aboyne bakery and, presumably, James Burnett looked after the Banchory operation.  The sisters Susan and Helen did not long survive after their exit from the Banchory bakery.  Susan died at her home “Bona Vista” in the town at the end of 1945 and her sister followed her in 1948.

William Gray dies    

William Gray died from kidney failure in 1902, though the underlying cause of his illness was not known.  He was interred in the Banchory Ternan churchyard on 10^th January 1903.  As the cortege passed through the village on the way from the house to the burial ground, the shops of the town were closed, as befitted the passing of one so popular in the community.  His wife did not survive him for long.  She died on 9^th January of 1903, one day before her husband’s funeral.  They were reunited on 13^th of that month.  The Grays’ only surviving son, Alexander did not follow his father into the baking business but instead found employment with the Northern Assurance Company in Aberdeen.  Sadly, he suffered an early demise, dying suddenly in 1907.

William Gray - a good citizen

William was often involved in good deeds in the town, either through the Oddfellows (a Friendly Society) or simply as an act of kindness.  In 1875 a fellow trader, Miss Ann Hogg died and William was involved in the winding up of her estate, placing an advertisement in the local paper, asking those indebted to Miss Hogg to make payment to him within 10 days.  Local farmers and their employees frequently held competitive ploughing matches in the winter months.  Traders in the area would often donate prizes for these competitions as a way of saying “thank you” to their customers and of attracting future trade.  Such a match was held at Durris in February 1880 to which William donated a special prize.  The Banchory Ternan Lodge of Oddfellows organised an annual picnic for their members, which, in 1891 was held on the Market Hillock in early July.  There were athletic sports and dancing to the Banchory Brass Band.  William Gray made a handsome donation to the prize fund and served an excellent tea.  In 1895 he donated bread rolls to the Banchory Soup Kitchen.  Banchory was not considered to be in the Highlands but in the late 19^th century, any town with a significant tourist trade, as Banchory had, was almost obliged to include such an event in its programme of summer events.  William Gray was a subscriber to the 4^th Banchory Highland Games in 1901.

The character of William Gray

Being declared bankrupt in 1863 must have been a sobering experience for William and his family.  He must have learned that in business you cannot take anything for granted and that you must plan for the worst, while working for success.  For the rest of his life his focus seems to have been firmly upon his business and, while he was a member of the Freemasons, a member of the town council, an Oddfellow, a sergeant in the Deeside Volunteers, a budgerigar breeder and a founder member of the Banchory Draughts Club, he does not seem to have played a leadership role in any of these organisations, unlike other relatives who were located in Aboyne.  When William died in 1902 his obituary in the local newspaper emphasised his business focus. It was reported that “He started business in the village in the early fifties and carried it on with vigour and success right up to his death” though in the last few years he was restricted to a management role.  “He was a thorough businessman and kept his establishment well up to date.  Twelve years ago he greatly extended his premises and introduced improved plant.  He was a man of sterling honesty and of a very generous spirit and was very popular in the community”.

Don Fox

20141222

donaldpfox@gmail.com

John Davidson (1852 – 1933), Aboyne Baker and Civic Leader

Introduction
John Davidson, a baker by trade, married Martha Mary Gray, the 14^th child and 5^th daughter of Alexander Gray, who had founded the Aboyne bakery in 1828.  In spite of an under-privileged origin and a shotgun marriage John’s diligence and business acumen brought him success in life.  He eventually took over Alexander Gray’s business and became a civic leader in Aboyne, dying there in 1933.  John was a leading member of the trading middle class in that village which, at a level below the big landowners, effectively ran Aboyne society throughout Victorian times and beyond.  This stratum rubbed shoulders with the landed proprietors in the Masonic Lodge, the golf and curling clubs and the Deeside District Committee of Aberdeen County Council.  But, when it came to marriage, they and their children tended to pair up within their own kind.  John Davidson illustrated perfectly the wisdom of working hard and taking your chances in order to overcome a lowly birth status.

Davidson family origins

The Davidson family hailed from Belhelvie, a small agricultural village 9 miles north of Aberdeen.  “Davidson” is an essentially Scottish surname, with a high concentration in Aberdeenshire.   John Davidson’s father was called William and he was born at Belhelvie in 1827.  At the 1851 Census William Davidson was recorded as a pauper and former farm labourer.  By the 1861 Census he had acquired the trade of shoemaker (though he was later described as a gardener) and had moved to Canal Lane in Aberdeen.  He married Robina Spence in 1856 but not before the two of them had produced two children, Sophia, born in 1850 and John born in 1852.  Illegitimacy at that time in Presbyterian Scotland was a real stigma.  Other children followed in 1857 and 1860. 

John Davidson becomes a baker

Nothing is known of John Davidson’s education, other than that he was educated. He would probably have joined the world of work about the age of 12.  Eventually he became a baker and it is likely that he served an apprenticeship in this trade, between the ages of about 12 and 18.  There is no direct evidence relating to how he became acquainted with Martha Mary Gray but circumstantial evidence suggests that the common factor was the baking trade.  About 1873, when John Davidson would have been 21 and a journeyman baker, it is known that he joined the 5^th Volunteer Brigade of the Gordon Highlanders, which was based at Aboyne.  Also about this year he joined the Freemasons.  Lodge 281 of that organisation was also located in the village.  Did John Davidson enter the employment of Alexander Gray in the early 1870s?  It looks at least possible.  Baker Alexander Gray was a prominent member of Lodge 281.

Pregnancy and Marriage

One thing is certain.  In mid-May 1874 John Davidson and Martha Mary Gray conceived a child and on 26 November 1874 the pair was married in Aboyne.  Martha Mary would have been 6 months pregnant at the time and perhaps struggling to disguise her gravid status.  However, John Davidson and his wife did not remain in Aboyne for the birth.  The reason for them moving on can only be guessed but a number of factors may have been significant.  The birth of a child so soon after marriage would have made it obvious to the village that conception had preceded wedlock and the Gray family may have wished to avoid that, given their position in village society.  Impregnating Martha Mary, may have made John Davidson persona non grata in the Gray household and forced the couple to move away.  However, Alexander Gray and his wife Margaret Harley first conceived when Margaret was only 16, precipitating their marriage and they are unlikely to have been greatly concerned, since John and Martha Mary formalised their relationship through marriage before the birth of the child.  Another factor may have played a part.  Alexander Gray died of leukaemia in November 1876 at the age of 70 and he may already have been showing the first signs of illness at the end of 1874.  His wife, Margaret, by then in her late 60s, may have had too much on her hands helping with the bakery to devote much time to a newborn.  Margaret died in 1882 at the age of 72.

At the time of the marriage of John Davidson and Martha Mary Gray, John’s usual address was given as New Maud, New Deer.  It is known that John ran his own bakery business at New Deer for about 8 years from 1874 to 1882, so the conception of his first child and marriage to Martha Mary may have been the events which precipitated his move into business ownership, or was the timing coincidental?  John did well.  By the Census of 1881 he had achieved the status of Master Baker. 

The first child of John and Martha Mary, John Alexander Gray Davidson, was born on 13 February 1875 at 95 Causewayend, Aberdeen, well away from the no doubt curious residents of Aboyne.  This address was close to the home of John Davidson’s parents in 1861.  It is likely that this was the then current residence of John’s mother, Robina (his father was dead by this time) and that she was helping to look after the new arrival while John concentrated on his bakery business in New Deer.  Interestingly, the new baby’s given names, “John”, “Alexander” and “Gray” and the given names of the next born, “Alexander” and “Gray” (born 18 Dec 1876, just after the death of grandfather Alexander Gray) suggest that there was abundant goodwill towards Martha Mary’s parents.  Did John perhaps receive financial support in his venture into commerce from Alexander Gray? Helping to look after this second son of her daughter Martha Mary must have been a welcome distraction for Granny Margaret Harley after the demise of her husband.

The family of John Davidson and Martha Mary grew rapidly.  After two sons in 1875 and 1876, there followed five further sons and then two daughters, William G (1879), Andrew G (1880), Frederick G (1882), Francis J (1885), Charles G (1885), Margaret Robina (1886) and Mary Matilda (1887).  Sons William and Andrew were both born in New Deer, indicating that the family home was, by this time, close to John Davidson’s bakery business.  All subsequent children, starting with Frederick G in 1882 were born in Aboyne.

Alexander Gray's bakery business passes to son, George

After the death of Alexander Gray the Aboyne baker, in 1876, the business was continued by his son, George, who was born in 1846.  George Gray was something of an enigma.  The first newspaper report on George was not flattering.  Along with Peter Davidson, his future brother-in-law, he was found guilty of causing a breach of the peace in the Huntly Arms.  However, he was an able sportsman and played regularly for Aboyne Cricket Club, being elected captain in 1877.  George was also good enough to skip for the Aboyne Curling Club.  In the 1871 Census he was working as a bakery operative, not in his father’s bakery but in London.  By 1875 he was back in Aboyne working as a baker (journeyman), probably in his father’s bakery, since his abode was in Charleston of Aboyne and in this year he married Sarah Thomson, a servant on the Ballogie estate.  At the 1881 Census, George Gray is recorded as a baker living in Charleston of Aboyne and employing one man, one boy and one girl.  It looks as though George’s father Alexander was grooming him to succeed in the bakery.  George joined the Freemasons, probably under the influence of his father and by 1877 he started to be elected as an office-bearer.  However, George may have had a drink problem because in 1880 he was charged with assaulting George Christie in a pub fight in the Bridgend Inn, Aboyne.  He pleaded not guilty but was convicted and fined.  His sporting success and position in the Freemasons continued until 1882 when he suddenly dropped from sight, there being no further reports in the local press of his activities until his untimely death by accidental drowning in far-away Quebec in 1889.  Why George Gray left the bakery and ultimately the country is presently obscure.

John Davidson takes over the Aboyne bakery  

Whatever the nature of George Gray’s personal crisis, it was also an opportunity for John Davidson, already a successful baker in New Deer, to move on to Aboyne and take over the business started by his father-in-law.  Martha Mary, his wife, was no doubt delighted to be returning to the village of her birth where she had many relatives and friends.  John Davidson was in his element.  He had proved himself as a baker and was now the proprietor of a bakery in a large village, with potential for growth, he could resume his activities in the Volunteers and the Masonic Lodge was on his doorstep.  Aboyne also had plenty of sporting opportunities and John was a keen sportsman.  The village of Aboyne was also essentially the commercial and administrative hub of mid-Deeside, a role it assumed when the Deeside railway by-passed Kincardine O’Neill.  John would also find an interest in civic representation in his new domicile.

- and develops it

 Margaret Harley, the widow of Alexander Gray, died on 23 March 1882 and shortly afterwards, on 10 April 1882, John Davidson advertised for a “good steady journeyman baker and an apprentice”, who were wanted immediately.  This proximity of events suggests that the death of Margaret, John’s mother-in-law, precipitated the move of John Davidson to the bakery in Aboyne.  Further positions were advertised in 1884 and 1901.  Originally the Aboyne bakery produced bread products only but towards the latter part of his life, Alexander Gray was described as a baker and confectioner, as too was John Davidson while he still operated in New Deer.  John Davidson, as a master baker, attended a meeting of his peers in Shiprow, Aberdeen in 1904 when a proposal to promote confectionary production , through the holding of instruction classes, was discussed.  By at least 1908 there was competition for Davidson’s bakery from other operators in Aboyne.  As well as offering a wider range of products, the competing bakers also started to deliver bread using horse-drawn vans.  In July, 1908 John Davidson advertised for a “trustworthy, experienced” vanman.  On this occasion he may have been unlucky because one of his employees, James Lyall was convicted in December, 1908 of embezzeling about £10 from his employer.  John Davidson’s business seems to have been going well as judged by the regular insertion of job advertisements in the local paper. 

During WW1 it is clear that John Davidson was finding it increasingly difficult to attract and retain suitable staff, as young men volunteered, or were conscripted for service in the forces.  James Ledingham, one of his competitors seems to have had similar problems and by the end of 1915 had resorted to advertising for girls.  From 1916 John Davidson’s advertisements started to emphasise that men seeking employment should be ineligible for call-up.  Another, amusing, indicator of the scale of John Davidson’s operation was found in an advertisement, in 1915, of about 14 tons of stable manure for sale.  However, by 1916 the bakeries in Aboyne seem to have started using motorised vans on their delivery runs.  Horses and vans were offered for sale and advertisements for drivers started to appear.  John Davidson’s first van was probably a Ford, since he offered one for sale in 1919 “1916 make five lamps, including 2 electric headlights detachable wheels and spare wheel coach-built mahogany panelled body in good running order”.  By 1926 John Davidson was operating a Dodge van.  Employers generally sought to protect their employees by supporting their applications to the Deeside Tribunal on military service for exemption from the call-up.  John Davidson was successful in such ventures for his employee Alex Reid and his son William Gray Davidson.  In 1917 a competing bakery run by Peter Brodie was put up for sale.  It must have been located quite close to the Davidson bakery from its address of “The Village “.  It was described as follows, “Baker’s shop and bakehouse, with up to date ovens and suitable storage.  Also tea and refreshment rooms”.

John Davidson retires from the Aboyne bakery
John Davidson retired from the bakery in about 1919, when he would have been 67 years old.  His 3^rd son, William Gray Davidson, succeeded him, though the bakery continued to trade under John Davidson’s name.  By 1924 the Davidson bakery business was described as follows in an advertisement, “Baker and Confectioner.  Great variety in all kinds of plain and fancy cakes, buscuits, shortbread.  Teas, light refreshments and ices”.  His competitor, now Mr RS Scott, was offering luncheons and catering for outside events.  Another bakery in Banchory was producing biscuits for the tourist trade, “Packed in neat tins 3/2 to 7/6 Post Free”.  This constant enhancement of the offer from competing bakeries continued throughout the 1920s and in 1929 the Davidson bakery was offering, “Catering done for parties of any number.  Bread: Plain toast, Crusty, Wholemeal, Turog, Malt and Youma; also Vienna and Current bread.  Cakes: Scotch Shortbread and Scotch Oatcakes fresh daily.  Dishes covered to order.  All kinds of flour kept in stock.”

Sponsorship

Aboyne was essentially an agricultural area and most working people would have been employed on farms and estates.  They had their own competitive sports and passtimes, which were different from the pursuits of members of the trading middle classes.  Agricultural shows, ploughing and hoeing matches and quoiting formed the main such activities.  John Davidson was a regular contributor to prizes and prize money at such events and it seems likely that this was a form of advertising for his business.  Although the working people had low disposable incomes, they were very numerous and could not be ignored.  The annual Aboyne Championship ploughing match, held in the winter and the Tarland Show, typically held in August, often received John Davidson’s support.

Deeside Volunteers

John Davidson and his sons were strongly inclined towards the military.  He joined the 5^th Volunteer Battalion of the Gordon Highlanders as a young man, probably about 1873 and served for the next 33 years, being awarded the Volunteers long service medal.  He was a frequent sponsor of Volunteer rifle shooting competitions, for example donating a prize for the highest scorer at class firing among recruits in 1885.  Later, when serving as Provost of Aboyne, he frequently turned out to support military events, such as the crossing of the Aboyne suspension bridge by the London Scottish regiment on their route march up Deeside in 1901.  Many people gathered to watch the soldiers, who crossed by companies, breaking step, so as not to set the bridge swinging.  The Territorial Force was set up in 1908 (incorporating the Volunteers) and then ex-Provost Davidson was present at a public meeting advertising the new body held in Aboyne in March of that year.  In 1915 a cinema show was held in Aboyne to raise funds for the Teritorial Force Association.  John Davidson, by now Aboyne’s Provost again presided and made a rousing appeal for volunteers, enticing four recruits to enrol at the close of the meeting.  John Davidson was also a committed supporter of the Boys Brigade, a youth organisation run on decidedly military lines, which regularly held summer camps in the Aboyne vicinity.  He and his wife were regular VIP guests at BB camps.

The Davidson boys and the Military

The first seven children of John Davidson and Martha Mary were all boys.  Of these sons, five (John, Alexander, Andrew, Frederick and Francis) saw active service in South Africa during the Second Boer War (October 1899 – May 1902).  Oldest son, John Alexander Gray was an apprentice draper in 1891 but must have found that calling not to his liking because he went out to South Africa about 1896.  There he volunteered in the South African Army, Imperial Light Infantry (Durban) when the war broke out, reaching the rank of sergeant and seeing active service in many battles, including Spion Kop, where he was wounded.  He was awarded the Queen’s South Africa Medal and the King’s South Africa Medal.  Quite by chance, he arrived back in Aberdeen on 25^th October 1901, the day of his brother William’s marriage to his cousin Susan Maria Gray Smart.  John learned of this event in a chance encounter with an acquaintance in Aberdeen, just as he was about to catch the train to Aboyne.  He did not know the venue of the wedding but resolved to find out and eventually arrived at the County Hotel in time for the event.  He was treated, rightly, as a hero by the wedding party.  Alexander Davidson was a member of the 1^st Battalion, Scots Guards and saw action at Belmont, Modder River, Dreifontein, Belfast and Cape Colony.  Of the seven brothers, five eventually emigrated, with only William and Charles being present in Scotland in 1933 to act as pall-bearers at their father’s funeral.  Both of their sisters became teachers and one of them also emigrated.

With the heavy involvement of his sons in the Boer War conflict, John Davidson must have been keenly following events in South Africa and anxious for hostilities to end.  That news arrived via the morning papers in early June 1902.  Within a few minutes John Davidson had raised a Union Jack on his bakery and others soon followed his example.  The village must have been greatly relieved as there had been involvement in the conflict by other young men from the area, in addition to the Davidson boys.

John Davidson and the WW1 war effort

At the start of WW1, John Davidson, in his role as Provost, chaired the public meeting in Aboyne which initiated the local recruiting campaign.  The platform party was composed largely of military officers.  There was considerable success in attracting volunteers, though the local newspaper was moved to say at the end of 1915 that “The recruiting campaign is closed and Aboyne has done splendidly so far as married men are concerned, but we still have a number of young slackers.” Aboyne was the location of a Red Cross hospital during WW1 which treated wounded soldiers, firstly at a house, Bona Vista and subsequently at Aboyne Castle.  Aboyne was an ideal location for harvesting Sphagnum moss, which was used in the manufacture of wound dressings, because of its capacity to absorb moisture and many residents donated their spare time to clean and bag the moss.  In July 1918, the Aboyne War Dressings Work Party sent1020 Sphagnum moss surgical pads to the depot in Aberdeen for Red Cross week. The villagers were very active in other aspects of the war effort, especially in raising funds, donating food and comforts to the Red Cross hospitals and entertaining the soldiers temporarily located in their midst.  In 1915 the local newspaper noted, “Housewives here are wondering how ends can be met with bread at 9 1/2d and butcher meat daily rising.”  In spite of rising prices, Aboyne folk donated generously and the Davidson family was to the fore in this effort.  Often its donations were, not surprisingly, such bakery and confectionary items as bread, scones, current loaves and cakes.

Freemasonry

About the year 1873 when he would have been in his early twenties, John Davidson joined the Freemasons.  It is speculated above that this move may have been influenced by his future father-in-law, who was an active Freemason all his life.  John was astute and would certainly have realised that Masonry was a route to male conviviality and business contacts, whether or not he was attracted to the ceremonial and mystique of the Brotherhood.  The Aboyne bakery, which John ran from 1882, was located a 5 minute walk from the Masonic Hall on Charleston Road. Within the Aboyne Masonic Hall, two different masonic organisations met, Craft Masonry Lodge 281 and Royal Arch Chapter 57.  However, most Aboyne Freemasons seemed to flit casually between these two organisations.  In the elections at the end of 1883 John Davidson was appointed SD (Senior Deacon).  At the same election his brothers-in-law Alex Gray, a local blacksmith and Rev. Andrew Gray, the village dominie, were appointed RWM (Right Worshipful Master – the leader of the Lodge) and Chaplain respectively. John Davidson was then elected First Sojourner in Royal Arch Chapter 57 the following year.  At some stage soon afterwards he also started to attend the Provincial Grand Lodge for Aberdeenshire West, an overarching organisation for all masonic lodges in the wider area and in 1896 he was elected Steward in that lodge.

In almost every year between 1883 and 1913, John Davidson held an official position in one of the three masonic organisations to which he belonged.  However, he only rarely held positions in two lodges simultaneously.  From 1915 his son William Gray Davidson started to be elected to the same range of positions previously held by his father and John dropped from sight for a while.  John was elected Right Worshipful Master of Lodge 281 in 1897, a position which was subsequently held by his son.  In 1921 John Davidson again took office in Lodge 281 as Bible bearer and held other offices sporadically until 1927.

Curling and the Aboyne Highland Games

John Davidson was a keen sportsman but, while he occasionally represented Aboyne at billiards and golf, his abiding love was curling.  Aboyne was an ideal location to participate in this sport for, being 40 miles from the sea, it tended to have severe winters when solid ice could be expected on the lochs and ponds of the district. However, even in Aboyne, the season was relatively short.  In most years play was confined to the period December to March, with January and February the most suitable months.  Play was usually on the curling pond at Bellwade on the eastern edge of the village, but occasionally on St Catherine’s Loch and the Glentanar Loch.  By 1888 John was playing regularly and in the following year he was appointed a skip in the Aboyne Curling Club, a position he maintained until 1926 when he was 74.   The regional bonspiel was often held at St Catherine’s Loch, Aboyne because of the high likelihood of thick ice and the large curling area available.  Curlers from other clubs mostly arrived by train and a temporary platform was constructed by the side of the loch to allow the visitors to disembark.  John Davidson was selected as a skip for the South of the region in 1892, 1907, 1909, 1912, 1913 and 1914.  Play seems to have been suspended during the War but was reinstated afterwards. 

The Aboyne Curling Club generally held its AGM in the Huntly Arms in October each year, when office-bearers and skips were elected but the start of the season was marked with another event, the Curlers’ Court and Supper, held in early December.  The Court was a major social event presided over by a senior member of the club in the role of “My Lord”, supported by another individual, “My Lord’s Officer”.  New members of the club were inducted as “Knights of the Broom” and there was much drinking, singing and speech-making.  John Davidson was an accomplished singer and often contributed on these occasions.  John fulfilled the role of “My Lord’s Officer” in 1914 and 1926 and “My Lord” in 1927.  This was to be his swansong at the club, though his son, William, had become an accomplished curler and followed in his father’s footsteps, being elected vice-President in 1934.  

The annual Aboyne Highland Games were instituted in 1867, largely as a result of the enthusiasm of Mr WE Nicol, the Laird of the Ballogie Estate along the south bank of the Dee to the east of Aboyne.  He was supported, not only by other wealthy individuals who sponsored the games but also by a local committee who made sure that all the nuts and bolts of a large and complex event were put in place. John Davidson was a member of the Aboyne Games committee from at least 1904 and appears to have been a constant member until 1928.  Mr Nicol rewarded his fellow committee members for their efforts by holding a dinner in their honour at the Huntly Arms, usually in mid-November.  As was typical of such events in Aboyne, the dinner was accompanied by speeches, toasts, songs, recitations and conversation.  John Davidson was a frequent performer at such events.  For example, at the Games Committee dinner in 1908 he recited “The Whistle” and in 1913 he contributed a song.  His friends Alex Sandison, mine host at the Huntly Arms Hotel and John Troup, the village butcher also served on the committee for many years.

Whist Club

Whist was a popular community game in Aboyne in the latter years of the 19^th century and whist drives were held on an irregular basis, with John Davidson as an enthusiastic and often prize-winning participant.  In 1903 a meeting was held to organise a Whist Club and John was elected as the vice-president.  Whist drives were often followed by a dance, for example in February 1910 when first prize at whist was won by John Davidson paired with Mrs Stewart of Ballaterach.  Matches were also played against nearby villages such as Birse and Kincardine O’Neill.  On one occasion in 1921, some of the Aboyne players had hired a Daimler car to travel to the village of Birkenbush for a match.  On the way home the car sprang a petrol leak and caught fire.  Fortunately they were close to the Ballogie estate and were able to borrow a fire extinguisher.  In his later years John Davidson appears to have limited his participation in whist matches to his representational role as Provost by presenting the prizes.

Charitable work

Charity was a regular feature of Aboyne village life and John Davidson certainly played his part, sometimes individually, sometimes through other organisations, such as the Freemasons and the Town Council.  In 1916 John was admitted as a Life Manager (an honorary position) by Aberdeen Infirmary and Asylum for his contributions to Infirmary funds.  In 1917 he contributed buns to the Aboyne Soup Kitchen. The Town Council organised a regular pre-Christmas treat for the children at the Aboyne Public Schools.  In 1901, while he was in post as Provost, John paid for the hiring of the Village Hall at his own expense.  The Star Cinematography Company of Aberdeen was engaged to put on a show and the children were provided with tea bread and fruit from Council funds.  Another regular event organised by the Town Council was an annual picnic for schoolchildren in July.  On some occasions John Davidson paid for the refreshments from his own pocket.  In the 1920s, John Davidson’s son, William, took over many of his father’s public roles, including charitable efforts.  In mid-summer, 1926, Aboyne villagers organised an outing for 340 crippled people, young and old, from humble homes in Aberdeen.  They were accompanied by Lord Provost Lewis.  William Davidson and Mr RS Scott looked after those visitors whose disabilities rendered them immobile.

A brush with the Law

On only one occasion did John Davidson have a brush with the law and that appeared to have been fuelled by drink.  In November 1889, John Davidson had been travelling by dogcart out of Aboyne when he met his then friend Charles Troup, a farmer and butcher from Boghead, at Runchley Cottage,  travelling in the opposite direction.  According to Charles Troup, John Davidson was driving erratically and was on the wrong side of the road.  Troup shouted at Davidson to return to his own side.  It was admitted by Troup in Court that he had been drinking whisky, so one can imagine that his shout to Davidson was not in polite terms.  John Davidson, whose driving suggested that he too may have been drinking, responded badly to Troup’s admonition.  As the carts passed each other Davidson struck Troup on the cheek with his whip, causing a small injury to his person but a big injury to his dignity.  In Court, John Davidson, perhaps feeling that he had been provoked, pleaded not guilty to assault but was convicted and fined £1.  The altercation seems soon to have been forgotten.

John Davidson and Politics  

John Davidson was a Unionist by political persuasion and supported the string of Unionist candidates for the West Aberdeenshire constituency which presented themselves in his time, though not one was successful in this Liberal stronghold.  He often attended the hustings and was regularly found as a proposer or seconder of the candidature of Unionist politicians.  However, he seems not to have been a particularly eloquent speaker and did not seek to make an impact outside the confines of local representation.  Here he did wield influence on the Aboyne and Glentanar Parish Council, the Deeside District Committee of the County Council and the Aboyne Town Council, though this last body lacked formal power and had a largely ceremonial role. On only one occasion did he seek election to the Aboyne and Glentanar School Board, in 1909.  There were initially 14 candidates for 5 seats.  Even though half the candidates withdrew before the election, John Davidson still failed to be elected.  He then turned his attention elsewhere.

Parish councils came into being in Scotland in 1895, after the creation of a uniform system of county councils and their local district committees in 1890.  John Davidson joined the old Parochial Board, predecessor of the parish councils, in 1890 and then was continuously a member of the Aboyne and Glentanar Parish Council for 33 years from 1895 to the end of 1928.  Parish councils appointed one representative to sit on the local district committee of the county council, in this case the Deeside District Committee of Aberdeen County Council.  John Davidson was the Aboyne representative on the DDC first in 1895 and then continuously from 1900 to 1928.  For much of this period he was also a member of the sub-committee for Special Districts, which covered water supply, sewerage, lighting and scavenging (rubbish collection).  His close friends JohnTroup, Francis Sandison and his son Alex Sandison were regularly colleagues with John Davidson on all these bodies and clearly formed a mutually-supporting cabal. 

John Davidson’s contributions to meetings of the DDC tended to be brief and to the point, such as proposing motions (but more often seconding them).  But he was effective in getting parochial problems onto the agenda for action.  In 1926 the DDC debated a report from the Special Districts sub-committee relating to the water supply in Aboyne.  John Davidson said the pipes in question had been in the ground more than 30 years and were corroded.  There was no water to be got there in the summer.  However, Mr Mearns, the proprietor of Aboyne Castle Estate, disagreed.  He thought that Aboyne had a good water supply and he was opposed to spending money at that time.  The sanitary inspector clarified the issue.  There was a not a problem with water supply in the whole of Aboyne but only in those areas with badly corroded pipes.  The matter was remitted to Messers Davidson and Mearns and the chairman to sort out.  Later the same year John Davidson complained about the accumulation of surface water in some parts of Aboyne after heavy rain and this matter was referred to the road surveyor.  The following year, 1927, he bluntly raised another thorny issue “What about the tinklers’ dump?”  Itinerants of various hues were a constant feature of village life in those days and they inevitably caused problems with their informal commercial activities.  He was assured that the matter would be on the agenda at the next meeting of the DDC.  In the aftermath of WW1 with the return of soldiers a housing shortage developed and was particularly acute in Aboyne.  The DDC was charged with building more houses but the specifications for such dwellings imposed from above caused a problem because DDC members judged that most working men could not afford the rent necessary to service the loans required to build such dwellings.  In 1927 the DDC debated the issue.  John Davidson worried that they would create a pig in a poke. “You will have built the houses for nothing.”  However, agreement was finally reached to build six houses in Aboyne.

Election of members to Aboyne Town Council had first taken place in 1833 and was an annual event.  Although the members had grand-sounding but archaic titles, in reality the organisation was largely ceremonial.  Nonetheless, the role of Provost (the leader of the Council) was one which commanded respect and those who filled the role were expected to take a lead in community matters.  John Davidson had taken over the bakery business, founded by Alexander Gray, in 1882 and in the following year he was elected to the Town Council in the role of Master of Mortifications, along with his brothers-in-law Alexander Gray (Sheriff) and Andrew Gray (Clerk).  In 1885 John Davidson was put up as a candidate against the reigning Provost, Mr Grant, but lost by 11 votes.  John was appointed to the role of 1^st Baillie.  As usual, the members of the newly elected Council then retired to the Huntly Arms for a sumptuous supper and lots of jollity, one of the more obvious rewards for success in the election.  In 1886 John was again elected and took on the role of Master of Mortifications.  However, the following year, 1887, he was elected Provost for the first time.  He was succeeded in the role of Provost (a three year stint) by Francis Sandison, John Troup and then Francis Sandison again before being elected for a second time as Provost in 1901.  From then until 1928 he was continuously re-elected as Provost, with the exception of a 3 year spell in 1908 – 1911 when Alexander Sandison (son of Francis) filled the position.

The Town Council was frequently involved in public celebration or commemoration of national events.  In 1887 on the occasion of the celebration of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee, the Town Council arranged a public picnic on the Green.  Provost Davidson gave free tickets to all the children in the Aboyne public schools and Francis Sandison donated a treat to the poor.  Another royal celebration occurred in 1902 on the coronation of King Edward VII.  A meeting of the inhabitants of Aboyne was called and chaired, appropriately, by the Marquis of Huntly, who had been a close drinking and gambling companion of Edward, Prince of Wales, in his younger days.  On a motion of John Davidson’s a committee of the public was set up and tasked with laying on a suitable celebration in collaboration with the Town Council.  On the occasion of Queen Victoria’s coronation in 1837, a large crowd of citizens gathered around the flagpole on the Green, where a smoking bushel of whisky punch was waiting.  The parish minister presided and proposed the health of Her Majesty after which “the request was heartily complied with and the toast enthusiastically pledged.”  On this occasion a more inclusive and less boozy celebration was planned.  A Coronation picnic was held for the children in the Aboyne Public Schools.  They gathered at Aboyne School, where each child was presented with a commemorative medal before being formed into marching order by Mr Cruickshank prior to making for the Castle.  There the Coronation Committee and the Town Council fed and entertained the children with games and dancing before rain intervened and they were marched back to the Green, where they cheered and sang “God save the King” before being dismissed.  In the evening the adults held a celebratory dance in the Public Hall.

At the turn of the century Aboyne lacked a public drinking fountain and in 1902 the Town Council, under John Davidson’s leadership, decided that it would repair that deficit with the creation of a Victoria Memorial Fountain.  It took some time to bring the project to fruition but in June 1904 Lady Cunliffe Brooks, the widow of Sir William Cunliffe Brooks the former proprietor of Glentanar, inaugurated the granite monument at a ceremony attended by the great and the good of the locality.  Provost John Davidson presiding and spoke briefly about the project, pointing out that funds for its erection had come partly from surpluses generated at the Diamond Jubilee and Coronation celebrations.  He then presented Lady Brooks with a silver key and called on her to turn on the flow of water to the fountain.  In her speech, Lady Brooks eulogised the late monarch and her achievements.  The party then retired to the Public Hall where a cake and wine banquet was served.

On some occasions spontaneous leadership was required of the Provost.  Dinnet House was an imposing mansion in the Scots baronial style which had been built by Mr Charles Wilson the Hull shipping magnate, after he bought the Kinnord and Culblean Estates from the Marquis of Huntly in 1888.  In 1904 the house was occupied by Mr Barclay Harvey, the local MP.  At the end of December in that year a major fire broke out and the Aboyne Fire Brigade was summoned.  John Davidson, then Provost of Aboyne, rushed to the scene and, with the assistance of the Provost of Ballater, directed operations to try to save the building, which was seriously damaged.

The Provost was called upon to play a representational role with inevitable regularity at funerals, retirements, inaugurations of buildings and facilities, concerts, public meetings  and events which generated opportunities to butter-up the local landed proprietors (such as marriages, engagements and returns from periods of absence).  He was also appointed as a trustee of the War Memorial Buildings in Aboyne after they had been erected in 1921.

Disagreement over the "Little Green"

It also fell to the Provost to call “Indignation” meetings of villagers, when some event, or proposed action roused the normally docile populace to anger.  Such an event occurred in 1904 which brutally demonstrated the power that the landed proprietors could still wield in the face of popular feeling and the limitations on the power and influence of both the Provost and the Town Council.   

There was a narrow strip of open ground on the north side of the Ballater Road, about 200 yards long and lying between the Huntly Arms and the Aboyne Castle cattle park wall, which became known as the “Little Green.”  In 1888, when Sir William Cunliffe Brooks became the proprietor of the Aboyne Castle Estate, he decided to clear up the area and, given its central position in the village, turn it over for public use.  This action was typical of Sir William’s generosity towards the village and its inhabitants. WCB arranged for a walk to be constructed, equipped with six seats and for a number of lime trees to be planted.  He then donated the land to the Town Council and his only stipulation was that “you will kindly undertake the annual care of these seats”.  It appears that the Town Council did not reply formally to Sir William acknowledging the gift or the condition attached to it.  On his part, Sir William did not formally assign the land to the Town Council with a stamped deed of gift.  This lack of formalities did not matter while Sir William was alive and there is no doubt that the “Little Green” was extensively used by the public. John Davidson grazed his horse on the grass of the Little Green when it was not required for pulling a cart and itinerants tended to gather there and may have used the furthest reaches of the land for unsavoury purposes.  But the Town Council forgot about its implied undertaking to maintain the area.

Sir William died in 1901 and left his Scottish estates to his grandson Ean Cecil, then under the age of 21.  In 1904 the Aboyne Castle Estate was under the control of the trustees of WCB’s wills, none of whom were local.  They were managing the assets objectively but without much reference to local sensitivities.  The trustees must have been aware of the informal nature of the agreement concerning the “Little Green” and they must have taken a decision to assert their formal ownership of the land and to put it to beneficial use.  In what was probably a calculated move, they wrote to the Town Council, asking them to pay a small annual sum for the public use of the Little Green but the Town Council declined on principle.  It had few funds and it believed that it owned the land anyway.  The trustees then asserted their ownership by sending in workmen to build a wall, so adding about 50 or 60 yards of the Little Green to other estate land which was being feued off for housing. 

This action caused both irritation and anxiety and the villagers were concerned that it could be a prelude to the wholesale dismantling of the Green proper at the other side of the Ballater road.  Provost Davidson called and chaired a meeting to explore what could be done to return the Little Green to public use.  Lady Brooks, the widow of Sir William who lived in the village, was unable to be present at the meeting but wrote a letter of support in which she was quite clear that it had been the intention of Sir William that the Little Green was for public use and acidly pointing out that  “Sir William’s wishes in the matter are perfectly well known to the gentlemen to whom he entrusted the management of his estate and the carrying out of his wishes with regard to it.”  The indignation meeting ended with a resolution to the feu superiors being drawn up and passed unanimously, asking them to reconsider their actions.  The villagers thought that they had right on their side and that the land would be restored to the village.

There then broke out a vicious skirmish in the correspondence columns of the local newspapers, the Aberdeen Journal and the Evening Express, between representatives of both sides of the argument, writing under pseudonyms, though these assumed names gave some clues as to their true identities.  The correspondents were clearly well educated and used Latin phrases. They conducted the debate over the heads of the villagers and their representatives using the sort of tactics that would have been honed in the school or university debating chamber.  It generated more heat than light.

“Mortlich” (the name of a hill on the Aboyne estate which had a monument to the 10^th Marquis of Huntly on its summit) asserted the case on behalf of the trustees.  He started by sneering at the villagers, “Sir I notice in your evening issue of Friday that a few of the residents at Aboyne have been trying to relieve the monotony of the winter evenings by trying to get a little excitement out of a few yards of a small green which is situated alongside of the boundary wall of the castle policies.”  He went on to point out the questionable uses of the area by tramps and other undesirable and by the Provost for grazing his horse.  But some important points were made.  No maintenance on the site had ever been carried out, no action had been taken on this matter when the village first became aware of the proposed feuing of the land and some “village fathers” had suggested the location as a suitable site for the new Post Office.

These patronising tones immediately excited a response from “Craigendinnie” (the name of the home of Lady Brooks’ landed family).  He pointed out that his protagonist had failed to mention Lady Brooks’ letter of support to the public meeting and invited “Mortlich” to agree that the protest movement was reasonable.  But John Davidson’s weak position was also exposed.  Aboyne was not a burgh and the Provost had no formal standing, or powers to exercise. “Mortlich” was quick to reply.  He returned to his haughty dismissal of the Town Council, “The way in which the authorities of Aboyne (if there are any) have treated this Green is proof of their want of interest in it till now”.  Sir William’s intentions were also batted away, “During Sir William’s lifetime he gave many privileges, but it does not follow that he meant them to become perpetual.  Had he meant that, he was a man of business enough to have put it on a different footing”.  Put bluntly, “Mortlich” was saying “we are the legal owners and we’ll do what we choose with the land”.  And they did.  The villagers and their Provost held the moral high ground but the trustees of WCB’s wills held a legally invincible position and cared little for local popular feelings or the patrician role of the traditional Highland laird.

Death of John Davidson

John Davidson died on 3 February 1933 at his home “St Lesmo Tower” in a fashionable part of the village.  He was 81 and had developed adult-onset diabetes.  The cause of death was given as arteriosclerosis and diabetic gangrene of three months’ standing.  A substantial biography appeared in the local newspaper summarising his many achievements, especially in public life.  He was buried in the churchyard of St Machar’s, Aboyne with full Masonic honours, which was appropriate given his long service and dedication to Freemasonry.  The funeral service was conducted by Rev Mackenzie, Church of Scotland minister and Rev TS Gray, Chaplain to Masonic Lodge 281.  The pall-bearers were his two sons still in Britain, William and Andrew, together with J, W and D Frost and Sydney Simmers his nephews, Frank Davidson his grandson and Mr J Alcock. At the base of John Davidson’s headstone is a small masonic plaque.  His grave lies next to the family plot of Alexander Gray, his father-in-law and the founder of the bakery that John did so much to develop over a 37 year stint.  John and Martha Mary celebrated their golden wedding in 1924, an event marked by the local newspaper with photographs of the pair.  Martha Mary outlasted John and died in 1943, at the age of 90, at the bakery where she was born, which was now run by her son, William.  Thus ended the life of a remarkable man, born in impoverished circumstances who, through sheer hard work and diligence, made a financial success of his life but who also did much to serve his adopted community of Aboyne.  His achievements deserve to be remembered.

Don Fox

20141218

donaldpfox@gmail.com

James Melvin (1823 - 1869), Founder of the Aberdeen Choral Society

Early life of James Melvin
James Melvin was born in 1823, the third child and first son of James and Sarah Melvin, in the St Nicholas ward of Aberdeen.  James senior was a Shore Porter, a member of a cooperative of workers who were responsible for transporting goods to and from Aberdeen Harbour, though he is thought  to have died before 1841.  In the Census of that year, Sarah and her children Margaret, Sarah and James were recorded as living in Shiprow, a very old and, then, important street which snaked upwards from the harbour to Castlegate in the heart of the oldest part of the city.  Margaret was recorded as a milliner, Sarah junior as a starchmaker and James, then 18 years old, as a foundry apprentice.  Mother Sarah was living by independent means, possibly an annuity derived from her husband’s membership of the Shore Porters’ Spociety, which also operated a superannuation scheme for its members and their widows.  The Melvins were thus a working family.  Like other working class Scots of the early 19^th century they were probably educated to a level of competence in reading and writing but would have had little opportunity to pursue advanced education or had access to cultural instruction in music or literature.

As a foundry apprentice, James Melvin would have learned the techniques associated with casting objects by pouring molten metal into moulds, typically made of a special kind sand and, after the metal had solidified and cooled, breaking away the material of the mould to free the cast object.  It is likely that James worked with iron as he was later referred to as an iron moulder.  We know very little about James’ early adult life but it does not seem to have been confined to Aberdeen.  In the Census of 1851 James was a visitor in the house of John Craig, a sealing wax manufacturer and commission agent living in the St Enoch parish of Glasgow.  It is unclear why James was visiting John Craig in Glasgow.

James Melvin marries Margaret Gray

In June, 1851, James married Margaret Gray, the 22 year old eldest daughter of Alexander Gray, the Aboyne village baker.  Margaret was born in 1829 in Aberdeen and was christened in Keith some 50 miles north west of the city.  She would soon be living in Aboyne since her father was established in his bakery business in that village from about 1830.  In the Census of 1841 the Gray household in Aboyne was a rather crowded one.  Alexander Gray and his wife Margaret, still only 30, had a family of 8 children, of whom the youngest was 10 months and the eldest was Margaret, still only about 12 years.  By the Census of 1851 the Grays had produced another 4 children.  Margaret was no longer living at home in Aboyne but was living with her brother Alexander, a blacksmith in the adjoining village of Birse, along with her young brother, 2 year old George.  Perhaps this was necessary to relieve pressure on limited space in the house in Aboyne?

James Melvin's musical talents

At the time of his marriage in 1851, James Melvin was 28 years of age and a journeyman iron moulder.  Family rumour recounts that James was also a self-taught musician who had the gift of perfect pitch.  How his musical talents came to be recognised and developed is not known but may well have been the result of church attendance and involvement in church music.  By 1853 he was living in Red Lion Court, Guestrow, opposite Marischal College and was in office as precentor in nearby St Paul Street United Presbyterian Church.  The precentor led the congregation in singing and in Presbyterian churches this was often accomplished using conducting techniques and was sometimes unaccompanied.

Foundation of the Aberdeen Choral Society
James’s love of music also found expression in his establishment of the Aberdeen Choral Society in 1853.  This musical society, amazingly, catered to working lads and lasses and James was also the Society’s first conductor. The fees of the Aberdeen Choral Society were low and the members sang part-songs, glees and the more capable individuals performed solos.  Their concerts were called “Open Rehearsals” and were held in the Mechanics’ Hall located in George Street, where the audience seemed to consist mainly of “friends and family”.  What the singers may have lacked in sophistication they made up for with hearty and tuneful music-making.  Two commentators of that time both remarked that, in spite of being self-taught, James Melvin was sound in musical theory but that his tastes were “unpretentious” and may have lacked “refinement”.  The following extracts from the Aberdeen Journal show that this child of the working classes was mostly received with approbation.  7^th July 1858. “The Aberdeen Choral Society gave, in the Mechanics’ Institution Hall, on Friday evening, a semi-public concert to their friends.  The programme was long and varied, and the singing, in the majority of pieces, drew forth hearty applause from an audience that filled the hall.  The choralists form a numerous body, conducted by Mr James Melvin…..”.  5^th October 1859.  “On Friday evening, the Aberdeen Choral Society gave another of their pleasing private concerts in the Mechanics’ Hall, under, as formerly, the competent leadership of Mr Melvin.  The programme contained an excellent selection of glees, madrigals, part-songs, and choruses, all of which were rendered by the choir, which numbers over 40 members, in a manner that won warm and ready applause.  Miss Wilson presided at the piano, giving ably (besides accompanying the choral pieces) a solo; and with her sister a duet.  The whole performance gave much delight to a large and most respectable audience.” 

Other musical societies sprang up in Aberdeen during the 1850s.  Aberdeen was a wealthy and intellectually prominent city, having two separate universities, King’s College and Marischal College, until their merger in 1860 and there was an enthusiasm for musical culture.  Towards the end of 1852 the Aberdeen Musical Association came into being.  Its original membership of about 20 gentlemen were mostly from professional callings and prominent in the city.  They could afford to appoint Mr Richard Latter, an Englishman living in Aberdeen, as their first conductor.  Latter was formally trained and later left Aberdeen to join the staff of the Guildhall School of Music in London.  The Aberdeen Choral Society and the Aberdeen Musical Association formed the extremes of a spread of about half a dozen musical societies which co-existed in the 1850s.

The revival of Psalmody and the initiation of the Aberdeen Music Hall project

Eighteen fifty four saw the start of a revival in psalmody, the singing of psalms as part of services of religious worship in Britain.  In that year the cross-denominational Aberdeen General Association for the Improvement of Psalmody was established.  Perhaps reflecting his involvement in this revival in psalmody, James Melvin now took on the title of Leader of Psalmody at St Paul’s Street UP Church.  The General Association created a choir of 160 voices drawn from different congregations and staged a number of public performances.  Fifty pounds from the proceeds of the third such event on 9^th April 1856, held in the East Church, were devoted to the establishment of a fund to pay for the construction of a large music hall in the Granite City, a facility which it then lacked.  The initiative caught the attention of a wealthy music supporter in the county who made a donation of £100 for the same purpose.  Late in 1856 a public meeting was held to further the aims of the music hall project and a committee was established for this purpose.  It was agreed that the music hall needed to have accommodation for about 2,500.  Two possible means of achieving this aim were proposed. The first was to construct an entirely new building, possibly on Union Street, in front of Union Row and the second was to adapt and extend the City’s Assembly Rooms.  This building was opened in 1822 and constructed to a design by the Aberdeen architect, Archibald Simpson.  The latter alternative was eventually pursued.  At the end of 1856 the General Psalmody Association proposed that its large choir be constituted into a permanent Choral Union for the city.

The British Association for the Advancement of Science plans to visit Aberdeen
There was a gradual progression towards the aim of building a music hall and by the end of 1857 a proposal was made at a public meeting, chaired by the Lord Provost, to establish a joint stock company with a capital of £5000, the anticipated cost of the new building and subscriptions for stock were solicited at the meeting.  The city grandees had also realised that there was another and quite pressing reason to build a venue for large meetings, in addition for the need for a concert hall.  The British Association for the Advancement of Science was due to meet in Aberdeen in 1859 under the presidency of Albert, the Prince Consort.  It would not do to have the BAAS programme, with its royal patron, spread around the city in cramped and inappropriate accommodation.  By early 1858 the sum of £4,358 had been raised and the Aberdeen Music Hall Company was established.  One of the subscribers (£10) was Professor James Clerk Maxwell of Marischal College, the subsequently famous physicist.  Sadly for Aberdeen, Clerk Maxwell was given the heave-ho in 1860 on the merger of Aberdeen’s two universities.  There was no room for two professors of Natural Philosophy in the new University of Aberdeen and Clerk Maxwell departed for King’s College, London.  Another subscriber was a “Mr JM” (£5).  Is it possible that this was James Melvin, modestly hiding his identity in august company?

In May 1858 the Aberdeen Music Hall Company announced that they had acquired the County Rooms, which would be available for let until the new Music Hall was completed.  The first meeting of the Aberdeen Choral Union was held on 10^th November 1858.  The minutes of that first meeting ran as follows.  “At Aberdeen, and within the Music Hall Buildings there, on Wednesday, the 10^th day of November, 1858, at a meeting held immediately after a conference of the conductors and secretaries of the various musical societies in Aberdeen with the Music Hall Company, at which a basis for the formation of a Choral Union in Aberdeen in connection with the Music Hall Company had been agreed on….”  James Melvin was one of the attendees and subsequently became a member of the committee of the Aberdeen Choral Union.  The directors of the Music Hall Company were instrumental in promoting the success of the Aberdeen Choral Union by offering generous terms.  The actual stated purpose of the Choral Union was the “study and practice of choral music with a special view to performances in the Music Hall”.  The Choral Union could use the Music Hall buildings for meetings and practice and the Aberdeen Music Hall Company would meet the costs (and appoint) a conductor and an organist.  Richard Latter (who had been with the Aberdeen Musical Association) and Mr RH Baker, another formally trained musician, were appointed as conductor and organist respectively.  Membership of the Aberdeen Choral Union was open to both men and women at the differential subscription of 2s 6d for men and 1s for the fairer sex.  In effect, the Aberdeen Music Hall Company was ensuring that it had a competent resident choir capable of performing sophisticated choral music.

The Music Hall, designed by James Matthew, was finally completed, including the installation of an organ from Willis of London at a cost of £1000, early in September 1859, just in time for Prince Albert to open it  formally in his role as President of the BAAS.  The Aberdeen Journal was moved to say the following week,   “The past week has been the most brilliant that Aberdeen ever witnessed.  The city has teemed with strangers of rank and eminence from all parts of the country….”  Thus did Aberdeen gain its Music Hall.  The revival in psalmody in 1854 promoted cooperation between the different congregations in the city to create a joint choir, which, by its size, focussed attention on the lack of a large concert venue.  In turn the Aberdeen General Association for the Improvement of Psalmody addressed this deficit by making the founding donation to a fund to build a music hall and by proposing the incorporation of their choir as a Choral Union for the city.  These actions caught the attention and enthusiasm of the public, resulting both in the building of the music hall and the creation of the Aberdeen Choral Union.  The extent of James Melvin’s involvement in these momentous events is not clear.  He was prominent in church music in the city and, as conductor of the Aberdeen Choral Society, he was a joint founder of the Aberdeen Choral Union and a member of its committee from 1864 to 1867 but his status as a working man without formal musical training, within a rigid social hierarchy, probably precluded him playing a leadership role.

The Aberdeen Choral Society continues 

The formation of the Aberdeen Choral Union in 1858 did not bring about the demise of the Aberdeen Choral Society, unlike some other musical societies in the city.  The Union’s  annual membership fee of 2s 6d for men (equivalent to about £12 in 2013 money) may well have acted as a deterrent to the young working class people of the Choral Society and they may also have been deterred by the different social strata to be found in the new choir.  The Choral Society continued as before and regularly attained a membership of 40 to 50.

James Melvin and the Temperance Movement

At that time the consumption of alcohol was rife in Aberdeen.  In 1837 it had a population of about 60,000 but had 870 public houses.  Excess alcohol consumption, especially by the working classes caused a great deal of social distress.  Interestingly, James Melvin was a member of the Temperance Society, which, among other events, held an annual soiree at Methlick.  At the soiree of mid-December 1859 “Mr James Melvin, of St Paul Street UP Church and friends ably conducted the music.  Presentations were made by the Society to Mr James Morrison, of Shakespeare’s Works and Jamieson’s Scottish Dictionary; and “My Schools and Schoolmasters”, and Walker’s English Dictionary, to Mr James Melvin, as a recognition of the valuable assistance rendered to the Society by those gentlemen.”  In December 1863 - “Mr James Melvin, and a select choir of admirable voices from the city, delighted the meeting with sweet music.  There was a large attendance, and the whole proceedings were instructive and entertaining.”  It appears that James may have carried over his temperance principles to events organised by the Aberdeen Choral Society, which each year held an annual assembly.  In March 1862 “The annual assembly of the Choral Society took place on Friday evening in Mr Alexander’s Dancing Academy, Diamond Street; and a very happy and pleasant meeting it was.  An excellent tea having been discussed, the members of the Society sang pleasantly a number of pieces, such as “We fly by night”, and Broomfield’s “The pretty little heart”, after which dancing began; and, with good heart and humour, continued, interspersed with songs by some of the ladies and others, and supplies of fruit, far into the morning.  The ladies were sprightly and nimble; and everybody seemed pleased.”

James Melvin's last concert

James Melvin’s last concert as conductor of the Aberdeen Choral Society took place in April 1869 and the report in the Aberdeen Journal was expansive and summed up the achievements of this remarkable man.  “This Society gave an open rehearsal for the entertainment of their friends, in the Mechanics’ Hall on Friday evening last.  The audience, which was highly respectable, quite filled the place, and listened with evident relish to the varied selection of pieces contained in the programme.  Miss Moir, a promising young soprano, and Mr Fleming, each sung a song, and performed the solos in the Macbeth music, which was altogether a very creditable performance.  The accompanyments were given by a small but efficient band led by Mr Shanks.  The remainder of the programme was made up of glees and part-songs, including “Hail, Sweet Spring” (Dalgleish); “Summer Time” (Mendelsohn); “The Land o’ the Leal”; “Maidens Fair of Padua’s City” (Gastoldi); The Chough and Crow” (Bishop); “Sweet and Low” (Barnby); “The Sailor’s Serenade” (Hatton); “The Dawn of Day” (Reay); and “Serene and Mild” (Webbe).  Without entering into a criticism of the rendering of the various pieces, we may state that, while the selections were very creditably performed for an amateur society.  The Choral Society is the oldest musical association existing in Aberdeen.  It started in 1853, when a number of similar societies came into existence.  They all did good service in their time to the cause of music, and we have no hesitation in saying that the kind of glees and madrigals practised were of a more sterling kind than those used by minor societies now.  The Glee and Madrigal Union, the Philharmonic Society, the Concordia, and others, had each a flourishing existence; and to them doubtless, the Choral Union owes not a little of its prestige, for it was chiefly on account of the absorption of these societies in the Union that they ceased to exist as separate associations.  Mr Melvin, who has been conductor of the Choral Society from the first, has done yeoman service in the cause of music, and the fact that he can still gather around him fifty choiristers, and give such an entertainment as that of Friday night, without any extraneous aid, shows that he still applies himself, with the old loving devotion, to the work of “filling the isle with sweet sounds.”  We hope to see the Choral Society in existence, and hear it, for many years to come, awaking the echoes of bygone years in the sweet strains of the old glees and madrigals.”

The death of James Melvin

After their marriage in June 1851, James and Margaret Melvin rapidly produced a young family.  Children Margaret (1852), Alexander Gray (1853), James (1856), John (1858), Ann (1861), Frederick (1863), Sarah Donald (1865) and Andrew Gray (1866) arrived in quick succession.  But in October 1869, with 46 year old James at the height of his achievements, tragedy overtook the family.  The Aberdeen Journal about this time reported regular outbreaks of infectious diseases which, in those pre- antibiotic days, all too often proved fatal.  In February of that year it recorded “diseases such as….typhus and typhoid are beginning to make their appearance” and in March “We are sorry to learn that many cases of fever of the typhoid kind have lately been reported in the town”.  It was also admitted that Aberdeen had poor sewage disposal and that this was causing disease.  On 10^th October 1869, James Melvin died of typhus of 11 days’ standing.  The person who registered James’ death was Frederick Melvin, Margaret’s brother, a baker in Aberdeen at the time, who was present when James died.  James’ wife Margaret was pregnant and gave birth to daughter Helen Mary the following year.  This must have been a very difficult time for Margaret, with nine children, aged 18 years down to the newly-born baby.  Both James’ parents were already dead and most of Margaret’s close relatives lived 40 miles away in Aboyne.  But the Grays were a strong and close family and help was soon organised.  At the time of the next Census in 1871, two of her children were living with Margaret’s parents in Aboyne.  Fifteen year old James was an apprentice baker and 8 year old Frederick was a scholar, presumably being educated at Aboyne Public School, where another of Margaret’s brothers, Andrew, was the headmaster.

Very soon after the announcement of the death of James Melvin the Aberdeen Choral Society organised a memorial concert, under the patronage of several local notables.  The clear proceeds were to be donated to his wife, Margaret and her young family.  It took place on 18^th November in the Aberdeen Music Hall, which was "crowded to the door" with many prominent local musicians and singers contributing their services free.  Ticket prices varied from 6d to 1s 6d (approximately £2 to £6 in 2013 money).  The Aberdeen Journal  contained an approving editorial, “The friends and acquaintances of the late Mr James Melvin will, we are sure read with pleasure the announcement in another column of a concert to be given on Thursday next, as an expression of respect to his memory, and a means of benefitting those who more immediately suffer through his death.  The spontaneous readiness with which the best local musical talent has been placed at the services of the Committee, augers well alike for a good entertainment and a numerous audience.”  In fact the concert realised a net profit of just over £75 (about £7,200 in 2013 money).

After the death of James Melvin the Aberdeen Choral Society continued under the baton, firstly of Mr James Wilson and subsequently Mr John Watson but it struggled to maintain the popularity it achieved under its founder.  There was a measure of revival under Mr John Murray in the late 1870s but the Society finally expired quietly in the mid-1880s.  The name was resurrected in 1946 and the Aberdeen Choral Society is today an integral part of the Aberdeen musical scene, but the Society is not a lineal descendant of James Melvin’s choir.

Obituary

James’ status in the musical fraternity of Aberdeen resulted in an obituary appearing on 13^th October 1869 in the local newspaper.  His passing would not even have attracted a mention had he been simply an iron moulder.  “The Late Mr James Melvin.  It may be that not a very large number of our readers were familiar with the name and doings of James Melvin, a townsman, who died of fever at his residence here on Monday afternoon.  Among his class, however, and particularly those of that class partial to music, he was well known, and by whomsoever known, esteemed and respected; for while in manner deceased was most gentle and kindly, he has for nearly a score of years been an earnest and successful worker in imparting a love of part singing to all who, in good spirit, sought his aid.  James Melvin was by trade an iron-moulder, and consequently, not much in the eye of the general public; but as precentor of St Paul’s Street UP Church, and, more specially, as conductor of the Aberdeen Choral Society, he has been recognised and valued by our promoters of Psalmody and Oratorio, as one of the most zealous and faithful labourers in the whole city.  His Choral Society, composed of working young men and women, is the oldest associated body of singers in Aberdeen, and undoubtedly has been the means  of doing an immensity of good service in making genuine part music popular amongst a class  that otherwise might not have enjoyed its refining influence.  So much and true duty fulfilled and fulfilling, may well awaken keen regret that the hand and voice of the labourer are still and silent; for surely there is not a little of the higher nobility of nature about men like James Melvin who, incessantly toiling for bread from early morning till nightfall, at hard wasting manual labour, yet find time to cultivate a fine science for their own delight and to imbue a large number of humble followers with a knowledge and love of its masterpieces.  By many the memory of James Melvin will be fondly cherished, and his services long remembered; while present sorrow for his comparatively early departure must be deepened by the circumstance that he leaves a widow and a numerous young family.” 

Although by the standards of today, this obituary may seem patronising and a bit snobbish, it would be a mistake to reach such a conclusion.  Taken in the social context of the 1860s, this is a fulsome and generous tribute to a man of modest origins who rose above his social and educational disadvantages and accomplished much.  James Melvin deserves to be remembered.

Don Fox

20141124

donaldpfox@gmail.com

The Family History of Alexander Gray (1806 - 1876), Aboyne Baker

Readers of this blog may wonder why I have a fascination with 19^th Century Aboyne.  It started with my research into Alexander Gray, a direct relative of my late wife, indeed one of her ggg grandfathers.  Alexander became the village baker in Aboyne, occupying this position probably for 44 years, from 1832 to 1876.  Alexander and his wife Margaret were highly fecund and over a period of 31 years had at least 15 children several of whom (or their spouses) became successful or noteworthy themselves. 

My research on Aboyne began as an attempt to understand the social environment in which Alexander lived.  Quite by chance I have unearthed other personalities and issues which I deemed worth researching in their own right and several of these stories have already been published on my blog.

In turning to Alexander Gray and his large family I realised that a single essay on the topic would be too lengthy for easy comprehension, so I have broken the subject up into concise items which can stand in their own right, or can be viewed as part of the larger story of Alexander Gray. 

Don Fox

20141104

donaldpfox@gmail.com

The Loss of the ss Collynie – A Gray Family Tragedy

ss Collynie, an Aberdeen Steam Collier
In the late 19^th Century, at the height of the Industrial Revolution, coal was the fuel of choice for most industries.  It was mined extensively in Scotland and the North of England and there was a substantial export trade from the ports of the Tyne and Wear and, in Scotland, especially from Methil in Fife, which at the height of the trade exported more than 3 million tons per year.  Originally coal was carried in collier sailing brigs but in 1852 the first iron steam collier was developed.  Although more expensive to build and run than its wind-powered predecessor, its independence of wind conditions and ability to take on water ballast led to much higher productivity.  Steam colliers were constructed by the hundred to transport coal both across the North Sea and up and down the coasts of England and Scotland.

One such steam collier was the ss Collynie which was steel-built at Hall Russell’s shipyard at Footdee, Aberdeen in 1892.  The name of the ship appears to have been taken from the name of a farm near Methlick, north of the Granite City.  Miss Edith Moffatt, daughter of the ship’s owner Mr Todd Moffatt, performed the naming ceremony on 7^th June 1892.  After the ceremony the company removed to an adjoining loft where they enjoyed a banquet of cake and wine and toasted the success of the new vessel.  Two weeks later the Collynie was ready for her sea trial and achieved 11 ½ knots in Aberdeen Bay.  The same day she left for Methil on her first commercial trip under the command of Captain Pirie.

This first trip was typical of the unglamourous life of the Collynie and her crew over the next seven years.  She ran up and down the North Sea wherever she could gain a contract.  Usually her cargo was coal but she occasionally carried other materials, such as cement.  By the start of 1897 the Collynie was under the command of Captain Lawie and in the first four months of that year she called at 16 different ports, the most frequent being Sunderland (15), Aberdeen, her home port (9), Dundee (6) and London (4).  Lawie had held a certificate of competency for 7 years but his maritime career had not been without incident.  He had been master of the Aberdeen steam collier Paradox when she was grounded near Sunderland in fog in 1895, becoming a total wreck.

Coal from Methil to Aberdeen

On 1^st May 1897 the Collynie left Dundee in ballast for Methil, Fife, where she loaded 250 tons of coal bound for Aberdeen.  On board was a crew of 9, including Captain Lawie and 3 passengers, Mrs Jemima Lawie, the captain’s wife and his two sons, John and George.  The remaining crew consisted of the Mate, the Boatswain, the Chief Engineer, the Second Engineer, two firemen, the Cook and a seaman.  The cook was William Smart, a 53 year old Aberdonian, husband of Helen Maria Gray, daughter of the late Alexander Gray, the Aboyne village baker.  William Smart himself had been a baker in Old Deer, Aberdeenshire, following in the footsteps of his father who had been a master baker.  William jun. subsequently pursued a life as a sailor.  Up to a month prior to joining the Collynie, William had been a steward on the Craigisla of Liverpool but, as that vessel was currently in port discharging her cargo, he was out of work, though he was due to rejoin his old ship.  This was his first voyage on the Collynie and, tragically, his last.  The Second Engineer was another Aberdonian, 25 year old John Davidson, a nephew of William Smart.  John’s father, Peter Davidson, was a gamekeeper with the 11^th Marquis of Huntly in Aboyne and was married to Jane Gray, a sister of William Smart’s wife.  John Davidson had only joined the Collynie as Second Engineer about a month before William Smart, having previously served an engineering apprenticeship with Clyne, Mitchell & Co, a marine engine builder in Aberdeen.  It seems likely that John had alerted his uncle to the crew vacancy on the Collynie.

The Collynie must have started her journey from Methil in the early afternoon of 3^rd May after taking on her cargo of 250 tons of coal.  As a result she would have been low in the water.  She travelled at full speed, about 9 ½ knots in this condition and was approaching Aberdeen at 10pm in calm, clear weather on a course north by west.  The crew were called up on deck as was usual at this time as the Collynie rounded Girdleness, with its prominent lighthouse, just south of the entrance to Aberdeen harbour.  Captain Lawie was in charge on the bridge and the boatswain was at the helm.  No one was separately on lookout, which was normal practice.  At 10.10pm the captain called for half speed.  He noticed another vessel at this time about 3 points on his starboard bow with all lights clearly visible.  This other vessel later proved to be the ss Girnigoe, whose master was Captain William Taylor.  The Girnigoe was also a steam collier owned by the John O’Groats Steam Shipping Company.  Her normal area of operations, like the Collynie, was up and down the east coast, though she did also travel to the Baltic in the summer months.  On this occasion she was outward bound from Wick, in ballast, travelling at 10 – 12 knots and steering south and west on a course for Sunderland, where she was to take on coal.  Because she was in ballast the Girnigoe was riding much higher in the water than the Collynie.

Collynie collides with another collier, the Girnigoe

At 10.30pm the Collynie was heading straight for Aberdeen and the Girnigoe was maintaining her course and speed.  The vessels were closing on each other rapidly and about 2 minutes before the ensuing collision Captain Lawie on the Collynie heard one long whistle blast from the Girnigoe, a signal he did not understand but replied in kind.  Immediately afterwards he gave two short blasts to signal that he was starboarding his helm (turning to the left) and then ordered full speed ahead to get clear of the Girnigoe but that vessel ported her helm (turned to the right) and continued to do so, keeping her on course for a collision. The Collynie was struck amidships by the bow of the Girnigoe with both ships probably still travelling at full speed.

The Collynie must have been badly holed below the waterline (she was low in the water) and immediately began to sink.  Captain Lawie, recognising the dire situation, immediately ordered three hands forward to put the dingy overboard, ordered the engines to be stopped and all hands up from the engine room.  Lawie raced below to get life belts for his wife and two children and managed to get them on deck and the boys into life belts. The crew, who had reacted calmly were ordered into the port lifeboat but there was no time to complete the action and the Collynie sank not more than two minutes after the collision.  Captain Lawie tried to hold on to his wife (who had no flotation aid) and children as the boat went down by the head (bow first) but he was struck by some of the funnel gear and lost contact with his family.  When he returned to the surface he managed to grab hold of a floating hatch cover and was picked up by a boat from the Girnigoe in an unconscious condition.  He was the only survivor, all the other crew, his wife and two sons perishing.

The Girnigoe was holed and her bow crushed but she was not in danger.  She stood by at the scene of the collision for some time but found neither survivors nor significant floating wreckage.  Captain Lawie was landed on the Girnigoe and later claimed that Captain Taylor had said to him “I was wrong and I suppose I shall get into trouble.”  Taylor later denied he made this statement, though the judge at the subsequent hearing in the Admiralty Court doubted his veracity.  The accident was witnessed by three other ships. Of these, the Faerder, a Norwegian steamer was approaching Aberdeen harbour at the time and saw two green lights rapidly converging.  One of the lights went out suddenly and he heard shouts from that direction but mistook the significance of the events, believing the shouts to be communication with a pilot.  The St Clair was about half a mile from the collision, saw what had happened and launched a boat.  On the way to the scene the boat’s crew heard the cries of those thrown into the water but when it arrived at the location of the collision no one was found.  When the St Clair’s boat returned, Captain Masson took his ship into port and hove to opposite the Captain Pilot’s office to give the news. Immediately the tug William Finlay was despatched to the scene and Captain Lawie was brought ashore on the tug and comforted by fellow mariners, having suffered the loss not only of his ship and crew but also his immediate family.  The newspaper reports of the accident gave prominence to the tragedy that had befallen Captain Lawie but the remainder of crew, who drowned, left at least seven widows and thirty one orphaned children behind.   Several wives of the crew had gathered at the quayside to await the expected return of the Collynie and the news of the loss of the vessel so close to her home port caused great shock and distress.  The news of the collision spread rapidly in the town and others hurried down to the harbour hoping to hear that there had been survivors.  Their hopes were to be disappointed.

The William Finlay was sent out again the following morning to look for bodies but found none.  Indeed, of the eleven who perished, only one body that of William Smart, was recovered.  He was found floating about 2 ½ miles offshore by the crew of a Portlethen fishing boat the day after the collision, 4^th May, having drifted about 5 miles from the position of the collision.  William Smart was identified later that day by two of his sons, who travelled down to Portlethen and his bodywas taken back to Aberdeen.  William’s sleeves were rolled up and it appears that he was preparing to swim (he was known to be a strong swimmer).  William was buried the following Saturday at Trinity Cemetery, Aberdeen.

Fatal Accident Inquiry

An Inquiry under the Fatal Accidents Act was held at Stonehaven on 12^th May 1897 before a jury.  Each captain blamed the other for causing the accident.  Captain Lawie gave the opinion that the Girnigoe had been at fault for porting her helm (turning right) and continuing to do so, which maintained her on a collision course with the Collynie.  Captain Taylor claimed that the accident was the fault of the Collynie for failing to port her helm when Girnigoe whistled her to do so (Captain Lawie said he did not understand that signal – it should have been one short blast but he interpreted it as one long blast).  Had Girnigoe done so, the collision would have been avoided.  Captain Taylor admitted he could have kept clear of the Collynie but did not know the other vessel’s instructions.  The following day the jury at the Inquiry found that the accident was due to the combined actions of the two captains, though it was not required to apportion blame.  However, a knowledgeable witness had given a different opinion, that the collision was entirely the fault of the Girnigoe for turning to the right when not requested by the Collynie.  Had she maintained her course the accident would have been avoided.  A separate hearing into the cause of the accident was heard in the Admiralty Court in London on 30^th June 1897.  In this much more knowledgeable court, the Captain of the Girnigoe was found entirely to blame and the accuracy of the ship’s log and the truthfulness of Captain Taylor’s testimony called into question.

On 8^th May 1897 the owners, Master and crew of the Collynie instituted an action in the Admiralty Court against the owners of the Girnigoe for the recovery of damages.  The Girnigoe owners made a counter-claim for the cost of damage to their vessel.  However, the finding that the Girnigoe was entirely to blame for the accident caused the John O’Groats Steam Shipping Company to change tack.  They subsequently admitted responsibility but sought to limit their total liability for damages, under the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act, to £15/ton of the Girnigoe’s registered tonnage.  The Admiralty Court granted the plea of the plaintiffs and ordered them to pay into court £2268 14s 6d in respect of the loss of the ship (equivalent to £8/ton) and give bail for £1985 2s 8d in respect of life claimants (equivalent to £7/ton).  It is not clear when this money eventually reached the families of the deceased or how it was broken down between the different claimants.  It would have been equivalent to about £250,000 in 2013 money.

Impact on the families of the dead men

How did the two families cope with the loss of their husbands? 

Helen Maria Gray was the 11^th child and 4^th daughter of Alexander Gray and was thus born into a rather crowded household next to the bakery in Aboyne, in August 1849.  Her brother Andrew, the intellectual in the family, was appointed as headmaster of the Aboyne Public School in 1855.  As part of the remuneration for the job he had the use of the schoolmaster’s house on Charleston Road.  Andrew never married and the house was far bigger than necessary for his personal needs.  Various sisters and other relatives lived with him from time to time and in 1861 his sisters Helen Maria and Ann were lodging there.  By 1871 Helen Maria had moved back to the house of her parents.  In 1873 she married William Smart at Aboyne.  It is not known how she met William but the fact that both her father and William’s father were bakers may have been responsible in some way for the growth of the friendship.

At the time of his marriage, William Smart jun. was described as both a steward on a merchantman and a baker.  He spent the rest of his life alternating between these two careers.  William and Helen Maria’s first child, Susan Maria Gray, was born in September 1875 in Aberdeen and, at the registration of the birth, William was described as a ship’s steward.  The subsequent children arrived in 1878 (William Harley), 1879 (Andrew Gray), 1880 (Albert Alexander) and 1881 (Helen Jane).  The latter four children were all born in Old Deer.  This appears to have been a phase when William Smart was baking for a living and his status as a master baker was confirmed at the 1881 Census.  No further children were born after these five, who had arrived in quick succession.  In 1891 William Smart was absent from home, 93 Park Street but, his wife Helen Maria was at home, along with the four youngest children, all described as scholars.  These circumstances suggest that husband William gave up baking to return to the sea in or soon after 1881.  Perhaps economic circumstances compelled him to change course.  William Smart’s return to the sea left Helen Maria at home to raise a family five, then aged 6, 3, 2, 1 and a few months.  Helen Maria thus had a very hard task.  At least when the tragic accident to the Collynie occurred in 1897 the family had essentially grown up, with the youngest then 16.

Curiously, Susan Maria Gray Smart, the first child of William and Helen, has not been found in either the 1881 Census (when she would have been 5 or 6) or in the 1891 Census (when she would have been 10 or 11).  In 1901 Susan Maria Gray Smart reappeared in the Census working as a domestic tablemaid at the Deeside Hydropathic Institution at Murtle, near Peterculter in the Dee valley.  On 23^rd October 1901 she married her first cousin, William Gray Davidson, a journeyman baker from the village of Aboyne, about 20 miles west of Murtle.  His father, John, had married another daughter of Alexander Gray, Martha Mary and had himself become the village baker of Aboyne in succession to her late father.  Presumably John Davidson’s son William was working in the family business.  This marriage suggests that Susan Maria Gray Smart had kept in touch with her Aboyne-based relatives.  Susan and William settled down in Aboyne and eventually Susan’s mother Helen Maria moved in with them at Annaville, Aboyne, dying there in the village of her birth in 1918.

John Davidson (not related to John Davidson the baker), the other Gray family victim of the Collynie disaster, had married Ruth Findlay in September 1894, less than three years before his tragic early death.  They were 20 and 19 respectively.  At the time of marriage the usual address for each of them was given as 93 Park Street, Aberdeen, Ruth’s parental home.  Her father, George Findlay, was a seaman and it seems likely that John Davidson was a lodger in the Findlays’ house, which was close to the harbour, where John was pursuing his engineering apprenticeship with Clyne, Mitchell & Co.  In April 1896, Ruth’s widowed mother, Helen, died.  Ruth was pregnant at the time and she gave birth to a son, John Andrew Gray Davidson in September of that year.  When the sinking of the Collynie occurred the following May, baby John was less than a year old.  Ruth Davidson thus found herself in a very difficult situation.  Both her parents and her husband of three years were now dead.  Not only did she have to cope with the loss of an income, but she probably had no home and no one close by in her immediate family to help with raising the baby.

At the 1901 Census John AG Davidson, then four years old, was a visitor at the house of Mansfield Ross, a plumber who lived at 10 Union Grove, Aberdeen.  Mansfield Ross had married Annie Davidson, sister of John Davidson.  Jane and Peter Davidson, the parents of Annie and John, were visiting their daughter because she has given birth three days previously to her first child, a girl and they had taken two of their own children, plus grandson John, with them.  It is likely that John AG Davidson was living with his Davidson grandparents on an extended basis to allow his mother Ruth to seek work.  In 1901 she was far from Aberdeen working as a domestic nurse for James Paterson and his family in Dumfriesshire.  James Paterson was, in fact, a well-known artist.  His parents were from a wealthy Glasgow textile family and, though he started in the family business, his interests lay in art.  He attended Glasgow School of Art in the evenings and became a founding member of “The Glasgow Boys” school of painters.  After marrying, he set up home in a cottage in the village of Moniaive, where he lived between 1879 and 1903.  He became famous for portraying the surrounding countryside.  Ruth Davidson worked for the Patersons in Moniaive around the turn of the century and eventually married a local man, John McCheyne.  In 1911 the McCheynes were living in High Street, Moniaive, where John McCheyne had a cycle dealership.  Happily, by this time, John AG Davidson was again living with his mother and step-father.

It was a characteristic of the wider Gray family that they looked after their own and, on other occasions when circumstances overwhelmed a family member, they rallied round to share the burden, often by taking in one or more children.  This happened in the case John AG Davidson, son of the late John Davidson and may also have happened in the case of Susan Maria Gray Smart, who “disappeared” from the census records of 1881 and 1891. Although there is no direct evidence that she was informally adopted by part of the extended Gray family, the circumstances make this a plausible hypothesis.

Don Fox

20141111

donaldpfox@gmail.com