CANADIAN MAN TRACES ROUTES TO SCOTLAND
8th February 2008 A Canadian visitor to the North-east made a recent remarkable and unexpected discovery when he found out that his great grandfather had worked for one of the world’s oldest companies, Aberdeen-based The Shore Porters’ Society.
Richard Beattie – only visiting Aberdeen briefly following a trip to see family and friends in England – unearthed, through a mixture of guesswork and chance, that his great grandfather, John Beattie, was as a highly respected partner at Shore Porters more than one hundred years ago.
While in the Granite City following up on previous research, Richard, who moved to Canada in 1968 after qualifying as a chartered accountant, spotted The Shore Porters’ headquarters on Baltic Place.
Noting that the society was established in 1498, he thought perhaps the organisation might have historical documents and papers which would date back to his great grandfather’s time.
Richard returned to visit Shore Porters where the employees were only too happy to help him in his research. On flicking through a book about the Society, Richard was thrilled when he noticed a chapter dedicated to his great grandfather and was delighted to find out that he had held such a respected position within the company.
He said: “My father’s family didn’t pass on many facts about John Beattie and so I have become the family genealogist, researching our history. I was delighted to discover where my great grandfather had worked, as my visit was an inspired guess on the little information that I had.”
John Beattie, born in 1850, is considered to have played a significant role in modernising Shore Porters after he joined the organisation. He was instrumental in introducing the first telephone to the office in 1881 as well as the installation of a gas engine in 1883 to operate lifts in a bonded warehouse at Weigh-house Square.
Upon his retirement in 1903, Mr Beattie donated a carved oak arm chair to the organisation as a token of appreciation. The highly treasured chair still takes pride of place in Shore Porters’ board room and Richard had the opportunity to have his picture taken with it during his visit.
He said: “I was very proud to discover that my great grandfather had held such a prestigious position within Shore Porters and it was a touching moment to have my picture taken with the chair that he had donated. My family were delighted with my discovery and my mother, aged 94, in particular was very pleased to hear my story.”
Regarded as an intelligent, well read and forward looking man, Shore Porters’ documents describe John Beattie as unquestionably the outstanding man of his generation in the society.
Kevin Brown of The Shore Porters’ Society said: “We are delighted to have been able to help Richard in his search for information about his great grandfather. John Beattie played a pivotal role in Shore Porters’ growth and was an integral catalyst in the firm modernising and becoming the successful company it is today.”
With offices in Aberdeen and Richmond-Upon-Thames, The Shore Porters’ Society has more than 500 years experience, dealing with local, national and international moves in a variety of sectors including domestic, commercial, antiques, fine art and storage. The firm currently employs more than 100 staff.
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