In April 1914 Dundee Corporation agreed to accept James Key Caird's offer of £100,000 to pay for the new City Hall they had planned. Although the plans needed to be altered, reviewed and approved by the Council, Caird arranged for the laying of the foundation stone for the building in July that year. By this... Continue Reading →
In our latest Caird Hall related blogs we take a look at the two men called James who were instrumental in the inception and building of the Hall.
In our latest Caird Hall related blogs we take a look at the two men called James who were instrumental in the inception and building of the Hall.
In the 1900s Dundee was an up and coming place. It had just been made a city a few decades earlier and business was good - Juteopolis was thriving. Since the 1870s the Council (including the Police Commissioners) had been working through various improvement schemes to remove insanitary homes, widen streets and make Dundee a... Continue Reading →
Unfortunately staff pay records are often a rare type of document, especially in the early 19th century. That is why I was a little surprised to come across these two volumes. They are weekly pay lists for the Cleansing Department covering 1851/2-1855. One is marked being the "East Division Pay Book", the other has no... Continue Reading →
We are starting a mini blog series to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Caird Hall being officially opened in 1923. In this first blog we take a look at one of the areas that was demolished to make way for the new City Hall in 1914. Today the Greenmarket is a street just off... Continue Reading →
For those of you who were around in Dundee in the 1960s and 1970s, if I was to mention the "Theatre Royal", you might think of the cinema that was behind the Queens Hotel. It was previously called the People's Palace and burnt down in 1977. But if I mentioned it to someone who had... Continue Reading →
Dens Works Fire Brigade Report Book 1883-1907 (Ref: GD/Mus/106/1) To day when we think of the emergency services such as ambulances, the police and the fire brigade, we think of these as public services funded by the Government. Of course everyone knows that before 1948 there was no public health service, but the other emergency... Continue Reading →
Last year we were offered a picture of a woman in a uniform (Ref: GD/X1542). At first the depositor thought this could have been Jean Thomson, Dundee's first policewoman, but after a little digging we realised that she was in fact a conductor on the Trams. Sadly we don't know this lady's name. But I... Continue Reading →
We take a look at one of our largest series of documents and possibly one of our most frequently used. What is a valuation roll and how could you use them in your research.
The Dundee City Archives Blog 