Gavin Hadden (1770–1857) was a merchant who served as

Lord Provost of Aberdeen The Lord Provost of Aberdeen is the convener of the Aberdeen City local authority in Scotland. They are elected by the city council and serve not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city. They are equivalent in m ...

for four non-consecutive periods between 1820 and 1833.

Life

He was born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

on 4 May 1770, the son of city bailie Alexander Hadden (1721-1793) and his wife Elspeth Young (1737-1804). His younger brother,

David Hadden David Hadden (October 13, 1773 – June 3, 1856) was a Scottish-American merchant who served as the president of the Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York. Early life Hadden was born at Aberdeen, Scotland on October 13, 1773, and on Sep ...

came to fame in America. His father founded the manufacturing firm of "A Hadden & Sons" specialising in carpets, knitwear, hosiery and yarns of which Gavin became a partner. Their main premises (a five-story warehouse) was on The Green just south of Union Street, Aberdeen (now demolished). In 1796, he collaborated with

Robert Eden Scott Robert Eden Scott (April 23, 1808 – May 3, 1862) was a prominent Virginia planter, lawyer and politician who served many terms in the Virginia General Assembly. He also represented Fauquier County at the Virginia Secession Convention of 186 ...

to create a series of geometrical problems and theorems for the students at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

. Around 1810, Hadden became a city Bailie and was elected Provost for the first time in 1820. His older brother, James Hadden had been Provost from 1813 to 1815. He then spent every two years alternating as Provost, twice followed by Alexander Broewn, and once (1830) by his nephew James Hadden. He stood down in 1833 midway through his final term and was replaced by James Blaikie. From 1821 to 1833 he was an assessor of students at

Marischal College Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has acted as the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. However, the building was constructed for and is on long- ...

. He retired from all active roles in 1833 and died on 12 June 1857 at Union Grove in Old Aberdeen.Aberdeen Post Office Directory 1855 He is buried in the churchyard of the Kirk of St Nicholas in central Aberdeen. The grave lies in the south-east corner of the churchyard.

Family

He was married to Hope Innes (1778-1857) and they had at least nine children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadden, Gavin 1770 births 1857 deaths People from Aberdeen Lord Provosts of Aberdeen