Aberdeen trades hospitals facts for kids
Long ago, in Aberdeen, special places called Aberdeen trades hospitals were built. These weren't hospitals like we know today, where you go when you're sick. Instead, they were more like homes or shelters. They helped people who were poor, elderly, or needed support. Merchants and different trade groups in Aberdeen (both "New" and Old Aberdeen) built these places from the 1500s to the 1800s. Before this, churches usually built such places.
Besides helping the poor and elderly, some of these "hospitals" were also schools. For example, Robert Gordon's College started as one in 1731. In Aberdeen, groups of craftsmen formed associations called "incorporated trades." These groups looked after their members. Similar groups existed in other Scottish towns like Edinburgh and Glasgow.
There were also "correction houses" and workhouses, which were places for people who broke rules or were very poor.
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Early Hospitals (Before 1560)
From the early 1100s, churches across Europe built hospitals. These places helped the poor, the elderly, and people with illnesses like leprosy. Most of these early hospitals focused on "spiritual health," meaning they cared for people's souls. After the Reformation (around 1560), the focus shifted more to "physical health."
Some church hospitals in Aberdeen before 1560 included:
- Aberdeen Leper House (1363-1573)
- St Peters (1179-1427)
- St Thomas the Martyr (1459-unknown)
- St Mary's Old Aberdeen (1531-2013)
As trade groups grew, they started offering their own ways to care for their members and their families.
Changes After the Reformation
Trinitarian Monastery and Its New Purpose
A Trinitarian Monastery and Hospital was first built in Aberdeen around 1181. It was located near what is now Market Street and Guild Street. During the Reformation, the buildings were destroyed. Later, in 1632, a man named William Guild bought the land. He wanted to create a new hospital for the Incorporated Trades.
St Thomas the Martyr Hospital's Story
The Hospital of St Thomas the Martyr was founded in 1459. A church leader named John Clatt started it to help the poor and sick. The people living there were called "Bedesmen." They were supposed to live a quiet, religious life, praying and reading. They wore special russet gowns and badges. They also received new clothes every year and were not allowed to beg outside the hospital.
This hospital was probably located north of Union Street. For a while, it seemed to work well. However, problems started between the merchants and the craftsmen. The merchants began to take over the hospital, making it hard for craftsmen to get a place.
In 1609, the Aberdeen Council made a rule that only merchants could be admitted to the hospital. This decision upset the craftsmen. It is believed that this unfair rule led Dr. William Guild to create his own hospital for the tradesmen in 1632.
William Guild's Gift: The Trades Hospital
In 1632, Dr. William Guild (1586–1657) gave money and land to start the Trades Hospital. King Charles I approved this in 1633. Guild was a wealthy man whose father was an armourer. He gave part of the old Trinity Monastery land and buildings to the Incorporated Trades. This gift helped members of specific trades: the Hammermen, Bakers, Wrights and Coopers, Shoemakers, and Tailors. The people who lived there were called "Beidmen" and were "decayed craftsmen," meaning they were older or no longer able to work.
Guild had very strict rules for the Beidmen:
- They had to attend church services and daily prayers.
- Someone would read from the Bible in their own chapel twice a day.
- If they missed prayers without being sick, they would be warned, then punished, and could even be removed from the hospital.
- No women were allowed to live or even visit in the hospital.
- The Beidmen were not allowed to wander around town.
- They had to wear simple, decent gowns.
- They had to be honest, godly, and peaceful.
- One of the Beidmen would be the janitor each week, opening and closing the gates and ringing a bell for prayers.
The hospital had a Master who managed it and a Patron (William Guild was the first). It also had a Catechist to teach the residents about their faith.
Over time, the Beidmen found Guild's rules too strict. By the late 1700s, the Incorporated Trades found it hard to keep the hospital running as a home. In 1803, a court in Edinburgh agreed to a new plan. Instead of living in the hospital, the "Beidmen" would receive money (called stipends) to live in their own homes in the community. This meant the hospital building was used less and less as a place to live.
The meeting house, Trinity Hall, continued to be the headquarters for the Incorporated Trades. However, around 1844, it had to move because of the new railway coming to Aberdeen. Trinity Hall moved again in 1965 to its current location.
Today, the Seven Incorporated Trades of Aberdeen still help older and "decayed" craftsmen. They pay money to retired members, widows, and families. They also do charity and educational work, especially for crafts and trades.
Lady Drum Hospital for Women
In 1664, Lady Drum gave £2000 to start a hospital for widows and unmarried women (spinsters) of burgesses (important citizens). This hospital helped fill a need for women in Aberdeen, especially after the nunneries closed.
The rules for who could live there were clear:
- They had to be widows of Aberdeen burgesses.
- They had to have lived a good life, free from public scandal.
- Or, they could be older unmarried women born in Aberdeen who had lived a good life.
This hospital was built off the Gallowgate, in what is now Drum Lane, around 1664-1667. It is thought that a house was used as a refuge for these women until about 1798. They received about £27 a year to help with their needs. From 1721, daughters of burgesses could also live there.
Litsters Hospital for Dyers
There is some information that suggests another hospital existed for "distressed women" connected to the Litsters Guild. This was the dyers' guild, which was not part of the main Seven Incorporated Trades.
The Trades Hospital in Old Aberdeen
In the early 1700s, Old Aberdeen, which was a separate town from "New" Aberdeen, also started its own hospital. In 1708, the Incorporated Trades in Old Aberdeen began to collect money for a hospital for their elderly members' widows and orphans.
At first, progress was slow. In 1710, they decided to find a "discreet gentleman" to be the Patron and manage the hospital. By 1711, they had a plan to build a two-story house with three rooms on each floor. The five trades in Old Aberdeen agreed to help pay for it.
In 1712, the building was finished. The Trades Council visited to decide which trade would get which room for their widows. The Fleshers trade got a room by default because they didn't show up that day!
A record from 1725 mentions that the hospital was for ten poor widows. It was built with donations, and the women received a small allowance. They also got some charity from people in the town. In 1725, there were eight women living there, each receiving a small amount of money every three months. They even had small gardens.
However, keeping the hospital funded was a big problem. There were also disagreements among the trades about who could place women in the hospital. Finally, in 1792, the trades decided to sell the building for fifty pounds sterling.
It's not fully clear why the hospital closed. It's unlikely that there was no longer a need for it. Perhaps the strict rules were too much, or maybe people preferred to live with their families in the community. Later, a new way to support families of trades members came from David Mitchell, a graduate from Marischal College.
See also
- Aberdeen charitable trusts
- Scottish Bedesmen
- Bishop Dunbar's Hospital
- Mitchell's Hospital Old Aberdeen
- Cowane's Hospital
- Kincardine O'Neil Hospital, Aberdeenshire
- Hospitals in medieval Scotland
- Aberdeen poorhouses
- Hospital chantry
