Trades
The Seven Incorporated Trades of Aberdeen (which comprises the Hammermen, Bakers, Wrights, Tailors, Shoemakers, Weavers and Fleshers) maintain their own archive.
The records of the Aberdeen Dyers or Litster's Society are held by the NRS in Edinburgh under the reference E870/4.
The Town House archives hold record for the Hammermen, Weaver and Tailor, Glover and Flesher Trades of Old Aberdeen (reference DD71).
The Old Aberdeen House archives hold records for the Banff Incorporation of Shoemakers (reference DD2880).
Those practicing a craft or trade in a royal burgh would usually have had to become burgesses of that burgh, so Burgess records can also be explored.
For Aberdeen we have a registers of indentures of apprentices, which record those apprenticed to either merchants or craftsmen between 1622 and 1878. An index is available online here: Aberdeen Burgh Registers of Apprentices Indexes.
Businesses
Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire Archives holds the records of a number of local businesses: key collections are listed below. Please consult our online catalogue for more details about these collections (either via the link in the catalogue reference column, or by using the advanced search and enter the catalogue reference given below in the RefNo field to find the collection level description: add a * to bring up all the entries for the collection). Please contact us to arrange to view any records of interest.
| Catalogue Reference | Business | Office |
|---|---|---|
| AHB | Aberdeen Harbour Board | Old Aberdeen House |
| HR | Hall Russell and Alexander Hall & Co Ltd, shipbuilders, Aberdeen | Town House |
| NORCO | Northern Co-operative Society Ltd, Aberdeen | Held off site, a week's notice needed for access |
| DM | Duncan & Munro, architects, Turriff | Old Aberdeen House |
| GBM | George Bennett Mitchell & Son, architects, Aberdeen | Old Aberdeen House |
| DD31 | John Blaikie, plumber, Aberdeen | Town House |
| DD41, DD69, DD786 | Aberdeen Market Company | Town House |
| DD49 | Lewis Smith & Son, booksellers, printers and stationers, Aberdeen | Town House |
| DD56 | George Donald & Sons Ltd, glass, paint and wallpaper merchants, Aberdeen | Held off site, a week's notice needed for access |
| DD57 | John Fyfe, quarry and granite mechants, Aberdeen (including records of Rubislaw Granite Co Ltd, quarry proprietors and merchants, Aberdeen) | Town House |
| DD70 | Scottish Salmon and White Fish Company Ltd (Scot Sal), Aberdeen | Town House |
| DD93 | Banchory Gas Company | Town House |
| DD97 | William Smith & Son Ltd, seed merchants, Hazlehead | Town House |
| DD163 | Aberdeen New Gas Light Company | Town House |
| DD286 | Aberdeen Property Investment Building Society | Old Aberdeen House |
| DD414 | Macqueen & Findlater, solicitors, Aberdeen | Old Aberdeen Houes |
| DD527 | WJC Reed & Sons, solicitors Laurencekirk, including records of Laurencekirk Lighting Society Limited | Old Aberdeen House |
| DD896 | Berrywell Stores, grocers, Dyce | Old Aberdeen House |
| DD1066 | North Eastern Agricultural Co-operative Society, later North Eastern Farmers | Old Aberdeen House |
| DD1066A | Northern Agricultural and Lime Co. Ltd. and predecessors, Aberdeen | Old Aberdeen House |
| DD1189 | Glegg & Thomson Ltd, ironmongers and steel stockholders, Aberdeen | Old Aberdeen House |
| DD1231 | Esslemont & Macintosh Ltd, retail and wholesale drapers and warehousemen | Town House |
| DD1462 |
Huntly Property Investment & Building Society, Huntly |
Old Aberdeen House |
| DD1514 | John Shirras, traction engine owner, Auchinblae | Old Aberdeen House |
| DD1551 | Lawson, Turnbull & Co Ltd, plumbers' merchants and electrical factors, Aberdeen | Town House |
| DD1744 | Richards Ltd, flax spinners and manufacturers, Broadford Works, Aberdeen | Old Aberdeen House |
| DD1745 | Donside Paper Company Ltd, paper manufacturers, Aberdeen | Town House |
| DD1837 | John Robertson (Canisters) Ltd, Aberdeen | Town House |
| DD1905 | Aberdeen Combworks Co. Ltd, comb manufacturers | Town House |
| DD1917 | John Fleming & Co. Ltd, sawmill and timber merchant, Aberdeen | Town House |
| DD2865 | Richard Irvin & Sons Limited, trawler owners and fish salesmen, Aberdeen, Peterhead and North Shields | Old Aberdeen House |
| DD3295 | Aberdeen Steam Fishing Vessels Owners' Association Ltd | Old Aberdeen House |
| PD2 | Gray & Gray, solicitors, Peterhead (includes records of James Sutherland (Peterhead) Limited, bus operators) | Old Aberdeen House |
| PD3/2 | Allan, Buckley, Allan & Co, solicitors, Aberdeen, including Nairn Fishing Co. Ltd, Nairn | Old Aberdeen House |
| PD20 | William Spence (Huntly) Ltd, knitwear manufacturers, Huntly | Old Aberdeen House |
| PD59 | Sellers, salmon fishers, Macduff | Old Aberdeen House |
| PD68 | Buckie Gas Light Company | Old Aberdeen House |
| uncatalogued | Kincardineshire Auction Mart Ltd, cattle dealers, Laurencekirk | Held off site, a week's notice needed for access |
| uncatalogued | Brookes Limited, granite merchants, Pittodrie | Town House |
| uncatalogued |
Edward Copland, painter, decorator and stained glass window maker, Aberdeen |
Town Hoes |
| uncatalogued |
McCombie & Mennie, architects, Inverurie |
Old Aberdeen House |
| uncatalogued | Farquhar & Gill, paint, oil and wallpaper manufacturers, Aberdeen | Held off site, a week's notice needed for access |
| uncatalogued |
William L Gavin Ltd, grain millers, Peterculter |
Old Aberdeen House |
| uncatalogued | Allenvale Granite Works, Aberdeen | Old Aberdeen House |
| uncatalogued |
Joseph Brown, stonemason, Banff |
Old Aberdeen House |
| uncatalogued | John M Henderson (Machines) Ltd, engineers, Aberdeen | Old Aberdeen House |
The University of Aberdeen Special Collections Centre also hold many collections for North East businesses. You can also check on the UK National Archives Discovery (use the Advanced Search/Record Creator option) or the National Register of Archives for Scotland to find records held in other record offices around the UK. Historic Post Office Directories may provide you with some basic information about a business and are available to view online on the National Library of Scotland's website.