| Description | The collection contains the following series of documents:
1. Council Minutes, 1840 - 1975
2. Burgh Court Books, 1881 - 1943
3. Harbour Board, 1801 - 1961
4. Abstracts of Accounts, 1959 - 1974
5. Assessment Rolls, 1871 - 1950
6. Valuation Rolls, 1864 - 1953
7. Burgh Ledgers, 1870 - 1970
8. Register of Bonds, 1894 - 1969
9. Licensing Court, 1963 - 1975
10. Declarations and Oaths, 1893 - 1974
11. Lifeboat Disaster Fund Administrative Records, 1953 - 1971 |
| Administrative History | Fraserburgh developed from a fishing village called Faithlie and was made a Burgh of Barony by Mary, Queen of Scots (1542 - 1567), in favour of Alexander Fraser, 7th of Philorth, in 1546, and in 1601 was raised a Burgh of Regality in favour of his grandson, Sir Alexander Fraser, 8th of Philorth, who was granted powers to found a University there; the institution survived until 1605. A burgh of barony was presided over by a feudal superior - the Frasers of Philorth - who were who had authority from the Crown to administer justice and to hold barony courts dealing with crimes and matters of good neighbourhood up to 1747 and thereafter solely matters of good neighbourhood. Alexander Fraser a cousin as Lord Saltoun in 1669, and the title has remained in the Fraser family.
Fraserburgh was created a police burgh in 1840 under the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. IV, c.46), a creation confirmed under the General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict., c. 101). Burgh administration was carried out by police commissioners who were responsible for the cleansing, lighting, policing and public health of the burgh. The main industries in the town were fishing, particularly for herring, fish-processing and machine tooling. Under the Town Councils (Scotland) Act 1900 (63 & 64 Vict., c. 49) the police commissioners were replaced by Fraserburgh Town Council in January 1901.
Fraserburgh Town Council was abolished in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65). Its powers were assumed by Grampian Regional Council and Banff and Buchan District Council. These in turn were replaced by Aberdeenshire Council in 1996 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39). |