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Archiver > ABERDEEN > 2004-07 > 1089463172


From: Gavin Bell <>
Subject: Re:[ABERDEEN] Robert Gordon's Hospital
Date: Sat, 10 Jul 2004 13:39:32 +0100


Barbara wrote:

> Does anyone know of the establishment, the Robert Gordon's Hospital?
> I found it when I was searching the 1841 census for an ancestor in
> Aberdeen . I'm curious that it was called a hospital, when from the
> inmates it appears to be a boys school. Maybe someone can provide
> further information.

You have been misled by a change in the meaning of the word "hospital".
Up until the 19th century, the term was regularly used for places
which took care of the poor, rather than the sick, including some which
we would call residential schools. If you were ill, the place you went
to was the "infirmary".

As "Robert Gordon's College" it continues in existence as a school,
although (in common with many other such institutions) it has changed
from being a residential establishment for poor boys to being a
coeducational day school for those of Aberdeen's youth whose parents can
afford its substantial fees.

It also, in the later 19th century, spawned a separate institution,
which I remember as "The Tech" (Robert Gordon's Technical College", and
following a brief interlude as "Robert Gordon's Institute of
Technology", it is now "The Robert Gordon University".


Gavin Bell


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