Bannermill

Alexander Bannerman (1788-1865) was educated at Marischal College before becoming a partner in the family firm. He later joined the Town Council before being elected as a member of Parliament between 1842 and 1847, followed by appointments as Governor of Prince Edward Island, the Bahamas and finally Newfoundland.

Alexander and his brother Thomas were both subscribing owners in the Aberdeen built ship Arkwright in 1830, which was used for the South American cotton trade. In July 1832, the Aberdeen Journal reported that the Arkwright had arrived in Aberdeen after an uncommonly quick passage of 29 days from the southern US port of Savannah, Georgia. Georgian cotton plantations at that time relied on the labour of enslaved people. Although we have no conclusive evidence, it seems likely that cotton imported on the Arkwright would have been used in the family mill.

Robinson, Crum and Co. certainly did source at least some of its cotton from the United States prior to the Civil War and therefore will have profited from slavery. For example, a report in the Aberdeen Journal of 30 January 1861 records a social meeting of workers of the Bannermill and an address by Hardy Robinson, one of the managing directors of the factory. Robinson refers to the ongoing the secession of the Southern states from the Union and prospective disruption to the cotton supply through either withholding for diplomatic purposes or interruption by war.

This fairly firmly suggests that the Bannermill at the time of the construction of Cotton Street had been importing cotton from growers in the Southern states who had been using slave labour.