Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

First Scottish ship bound for America left Aberdeen more than 420 years ago

Picture left to right: Phil Astley (Archivist),Thomas Brochard, an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen, Lord Provost Barney Crockett
Picture left to right: Phil Astley (Archivist),Thomas Brochard, an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen, Lord Provost Barney Crockett

The first Scottish ship to sail across the Atlantic set off from Aberdeen more than 420 years ago- a city historian has found in a surprise discovery.

Thomas Brochard, an honorary research fellow at Aberdeen University, was studying the connections between the north-east and the Highlands and began reading a council register from the late 16th century.

He noticed an entry on a vessel named the “William” of Aberdeen which made a voyage to “new fund land” in 1596. This is understood to refer to modern day Newfoundland on Canada’s eastern seaboard.

Until now, the earliest documented Scottish ship to sail the Atlantic was a Dundee vessel named the “Gift of God”, which had sailed from Portugal in 1600.


>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter


From an earlier reference in the same volume it is known that the “William” had arrived back in Aberdeen in May 1596 from Bordeaux with a cargo of wine, having stopped at Burntisland on route.

The entry in which the ship is mentioned as having crossed the Atlantic relates primarily to debts incurred by Patrick Donaldson younger, a burgess of the town, and burgess William Findlay, the master and skipper of the “William”.

The records reveal that both Patrick and William were involved in the fitting-out and freighting of the vessel between it leaving Aberdeen in July 1596 and its return four years later.

Mr Brochard said: “When I saw the words “new fund land” I knew I had found gold – it was totally by chance.

“It was pretty exciting but I had to check with other archivists that this really was the first reference.

“I’m sure other gems like this are waiting to be discovered in the burg records which are an incredibly rich resource for historians and fully deserve their UNESCO designation as nationally important documentary heritage.”

Phil Astley, a city archivist, said: “Quirky and unusual stories quite often come to light when reading through original records – it’s part of the fun of working in an archive, however, it’s rare to have a find as historically significant as that made by Thomas. It is even more remarkable that we know the names of several crew members.”

Lord Provost Barney Crockett added that the city’s archives were “unparalleled” in Scotland.