| Description | Comprises profit and loss accounts, 1920/21 - 1948/49; vendors account, 1921; agreements, 1899, 1931; catalogues and price lists, 1885 - 1894; gardening tips, not dated; copy minute of extraordinary general meeting of Aberdeen Corn Exchange Company, 1901; and Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce journal, 1967 |
| Administrative History | W Smith & Son was founded in 1842 by William Smith, a grain merchant in Kintore, supplying farm and garden seeds. Originally situated at 35 Market Street, a new warehouse was acquired on the corner of Hadden Street and Exchange Street, home also to the Aberdeen Corn Market, and there were nurseries located at Kintore and Polmuir. The company moved to Hazlehead in 1927 and in 1962 a Garden Centre, the second in Scotland, was opened there.
When William Smith and his son died within a few years of each other, trustees carried on the firm until it was sold to Alexander Robson, William Wyllie and Alexander Begg, all employees of the firm, who carried on as co-partners, trading under the original name. In 1921 it was formed into a private limited company and in the 1960s a new company, W Smith & Son (Wholesale Seedsmen) Limited was formed to act as distributors to the trade. In 1966 a Dundee company, Garden City Tested Seeds was acquired and its outlets merged with Smith's.
This collection comprises mainly catalogues produced by the firm. |