In 1801 an Act of Parliament allowed Aberdeen to build two new roads – King Street and Union Street. Planning of Union Street had started around 1794, but it was a big project which faced many challenges. These included removal of St Katherine’s Hill and building the stretch from the Adelphi as far as Diamond Street on massive brick arches with Union Bridge over the Denburn linking the two ends together.

The Kirkyard of St Nicholas Kirk had followed a slope down towards the Green. Erecting the brick arches raised the ground level. The Kirkyard was extended southwards in 1819. There was a period when there was open ground onto Union Street, which started being used for events not really fitting for a Kirkyard. To counter this, the City commissioned its City Architect, John Smith, to design and build a colonnade to separate the two in a tasteful manner and to provide an impressive entrance to the Kirk.

John Smith was born in 1781 and trained as an architect in Aberdeen and London. At the age of 26 he was appointed Superintendent of Works for the City (the title was later to be changed to City Architect). He designed many fine buildings still in use today. For the colonnade, Smith took inspiration from the Hyde Park Screen in London which had been built a decade earlier by Decimus Burton.

The photograph shows the colonnade, sometimes referred to as a screen. It has a central wide and high archway flanked by double Ionic columns. To both sides there are six smaller columns mounted on a low wall with iron railings between. At either end are massive pylons which anchor the whole structure. Smith used granite from the Dancing Cairn quarry. The quarry closed in the 1960s and is now largely under the Auchmill Golf Course between Heatheryfold and Bucksburn. The stone is a light grey-silver granite and was also used in making Aberdeen Adamant paving stones. The colonnade was completed in 1829.

Nowadays it is partly hidden by bus shelters and by the trees just behind it in the Kirkyard. However, in 2015 Aberdeen Inspired applied to install lighting on the colonnade. One of their publicity pictures is shown in the second photograph. The new lighting, which is very discrete, was working by 2016.

Lady Elizabeth Crombie Duthie of Ruthrieston was born in 1818 to Alexander Duthie. Her father was a member of the wealthy family of merchants, ship owners and ship builders. She inherited considerable sums from her uncle Walter and brother Alexander Duthie, who had both been in the legal profession. In their memory she was determined to do something to benefit the people of Aberdeen. Therefore, in 1880 she purchased the 44 acre estate of Arthurseat by the banks of the River Dee for £30,000 and gave it to the City of Aberdeen to be developed into a park. The estate, on the north bank of the River Dee, was marshy ground covered with gorse and was traversed by a street, Sycamore Place. In the language of the day it was determined that the park be “available for all classes of citizens, that it should have a broad expanse of grassy sward upon which the young might indulge in innocent frolic and play…”. The work of designing the park was given to William R McKelvie of Dundee. Work progressed quickly with the first sod cut on 27th August 1881. The official opening of Duthie Park on 27th September 1883 was performed by HRH Princess Beatrice, substituting for her mother Queen Victoria who was recovering from an accident. Many of the original features of the park remain today, although they have evolved with time. Perhaps the best loved are the Winter Gardens, now known as the David Welch Winter Gardens. The original glass houses were opened in 1899. Today’s glasshouses were built following severe storm damage in 1969. They house the second largest collection (after the Eden Project) of bromeliads and giant cacti in the UK.

Elizabeth Duthie died on 30th March 1885 at the age of 67. Her substantial memorial in the Kirkyard at the Kirk of St Nicholas is shown in the photograph and has the epitaph “Her best and most enduring memorial is the park she gave to her fellow citizens”. The memorial also records other members of her family. There is a less obvious memorial to her in Duthie Park. In recognition of her contribution to the city, the council erected the ‘Hygeia Statue’, which was unveiled in 1897. The four lions around the plinth of the statue are supposed to represent the strong citizens in the park whilst Hygeia is the Goddess of Health, shown holding a cup from which a snake drinks (a symbol linked with various health related professions). There is a third memorial to Elizabeth Duthie in the city – a plaque outside 34 Maberly Street where she lived. The original house was demolished fairly recently. A portrait of her, painted in the year she died, is owned by Aberdeen Art Gallery.

Recently a diseased tree was removed from just inside the Back Wynd gate into St Nicholas Kirkyard. As a result a number of gravestone have become much more visible than they were previously. An elaborate one on the wall will be shown at a later date, but whilst photographing it, another memorial was noticed almost hidden at ground level, and partly covered by the sawdust from the tree removal. One of the people interred there is a significant person in the life of the city of Aberdeen and, indeed, his town ‘lodgings’ are in the news at the moment as well.

He is Sir George Skene of Fintray and Rubislaw, better known as Provost Skene, whose ‘house’ is being surrounded by the new Marischal Square development, and which is to house a new museum celebrating famous Aberdonians over the centuries. Provost Skene’s House is quite close to the former East Kirk which will complement with the stories of the development of Aberdeen – its buildings and people.

George Skene was born in 1619 at the Mill of Potterton in Aberdeenshire. His father died when he was just 12 years old and his half-brother arranged for him to be apprenticed to George Aedie who had strong trading connections with Danzig (modern day Gdansk, Poland) in the Baltic. Living there, he proved to be a very able trader and became a wealthy man. He returned to Aberdeen in 1665, then aged 36, and the following year purchased the Wester Fintray estate (near Kintore) with some of the money he had made. Three years later, in 1669, he purchased a mansion on Guestrow – now known as Provost Skene’s House. The house had been built in 1545 and has a fascinating history. Not only was George Skene a significant trader, he also became involved in the civic life of the area becoming Provost of Aberdeen in 1676, a position he held until 1685. During this time he used the house on Guestrow as his town ‘lodging’. He was also a benefactor of King’s College and the University of Aberdeen in general. He was knighted in 1861 by James, Duke of York (later James VII of Scotland). After ‘retiring’ as Provost, he bought the house and estate of Rubislaw in 1687 and used this as his main residence. George Skene never married, but supported his brother’s children. However, his nephews disappointed him, so much of his wealth was passed to his niece’s sons and his property to the family of his former employer. When he died on 9^th April in 1707, aged 88 years, he also left 1,000 merks to the Kirk Session of St Nicholas to be used for the poor of the parish. A merk was worth 13 shillings and 4 pence, that is two thirds of a Scots Pound.

Because of its position, it is very difficult to photograph George Skene’s tombstone properly, and it has many other people listed on it. The two photographs show the whole stone (just inside the Kirkyard to the Union Street side the Back Wynd gate) and a closer view of the part of the inscription about George Skene taken when there was a low morning sun.

There are several large memorials along the wall of the Kirk of St Nicholas Kirkyard which backs onto Back Wynd. One of these is for George Davidson of Pettens. Pettens was a farm just north of Balmedie, but George Davidson acquired a large estate covering the area near modern day Kingswells, Newhills and Bucksburn.

It is not known when he was born, nor who his parents were. He never married and was probably illiterate. Despite this he was a burgess of the city of Aberdeen and amassed a substantial amount of wealth, part of which he used to extend the estate. However, most of his wealth was used to fund projects for the benefit of others. Travelling home from Aberdeen one day he saw a man nearly drown in attempting to cross the Buxburne (the modern day Bucksburn, which flows through the Aberdeen suburb of Bucksburn to join the River Don). This moved him to have a stone bridge built, including the provision of money for its upkeep. In addition, he repaired the bridge at Inche (Insch), built the chapel at Newhills and the walls around St Clement’s Church in Aberdeen, where there is a memorial plaque to mark his generosity. Apart from this type of beneficence he also left endowments to the ministers of both St Nicholas and St Clement’s Churches.

As can be seen in the photograph, the central part of the memorial is a Latin inscription. The following is a translation, taken from ‘Collection of Epitaphs and Monumental Inscriptions: Chiefly in Scotland’ published in 1834, which indicates the wide range of good works which George Davidson did before his death in 1663.

“To the eternal memory of George Davidson of Pettens, a man truly notable for the integrity of his life, and profuse liberality towards the poor, and for his piety towards God, and who deserved very well from the church and all the commonwealth, and from this city of Aberdeen. This man, beside many donations for the perpetual help of the poor and publick uses, caused the bridge of Inche to be repaired, and the bridge of Buxburne to be built of a notable structure. He gifted to the church of Aberdeen the lands of Pettens and Bogfairlie, with certain sums of money, for the perpetual use of a preacher of God’s word there; he also caused build the church of Newhills, and, for the more increase of the kingdom of God, by a singular example and preparative, he dedicated and mortified the saids lands of Newhills also, for the maintenance of the ministers of the gospel thereat. He died in the year 1663.”

William Dyce was born in Aberdeen in 1806. His father was a doctor of some renown. William was a gifted scholar, graduating with an MA from Marischal College at the age of 16. Rather than entering one of the ‘learned professions’ as would have been normal, he opted to follow his interest and ability in art, firstly at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh and then at the Royal Academy in London. After a few months in Rome he returned to London and produced, at the age of 20, several paintings. His early professional work were mainly portraits, but he later widened his scope considerably concentrating on mythical and religious subjects. Some of his finest work are the frescos in the Queen’s Robing Room in the newly built House of Lords. Commissioned in 1847, these are based on the Arthurian Legends and use allegory to depict virtues such as mercy, hospitality and courtesy. Those of courage and fidelity were not started before his death. However, William Dyce had many other interests. He was very influential in developing art education, he was a fine organist and composed a number of works, he won a prize for some work on electromagnetism in animals and was involved in founding the Motett Society to study early church music.

Most of his life was spent in London where he died in 1864 and is buried at St Leonard’s Church, Streatham. However, he is not forgotten in his native Aberdeen. Apart from the large collection of his works in Aberdeen Art Gallery (temporarily closed for major renovation) he is remembered on a grave structure in the Kirk of St Nicholas Kirkyard. As the photograph shows, the structure is showing signs of ageing. To find the memorial go up the main path from Union Street almost up to the front door of the Kirk. On the right is a tree a few yards from the path. The memorial is ‘behind’ the tree.

The high four-pillared monument, the most prominent in the Kirkyard, which stands near the Union Street Gate, commemorates Robert Hamilton (1743-1829).  Made of granite, it was erected in 1843 by public subscription and was designed by the City Architect, John Smith, who some years previously, had designed the nearby screen and gateway.

Robert Hamilton had an interesting life having a variety of employments. Initially this was in banking, then industrial management, followed by school-mastering. In 1777 Robert Hamilton was appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy in Marischal College and later became Professor of Mathematics.  He wrote widely, including an influential work on the National Debt. This no doubt included references to his interest in the economic consequences of slavery, as well as the moral awareness which then played a larger part in economic argument than it does today. He made significant  contributions to the anti-slavery movement and was the first President of the Aberdeen Abolition Society a position he held until his death. He is still recognised in the City in the name of Hamilton Place.

The first picture, above, was taken by our architect about 10 years ago when the memorial was in much better condition. The second shows it as it is today with the central urn missing – it can just be seen to the bottom left unturned behind the memorial to ‘William Allen of Mileend’, and some weeds growing. The inscription to Robert Hamilton is in Latin. The contrast between the photographs shows the need to undertake regular maintenance of these old structures, because decay can quickly set in.