Part One

THE 1820’s and BEYOND
The introduction of steam-power led to huge cotton mills being erected and to cotton spinning was added that of wool and silk. A highly skilled workforce encouraged engineers to set up engine and boiler manufacturing in Anderston, and before long, large tracts of land lying between Stobcross Street and the Clyde were given over for the development of heavy engineering. As production and exports increased so to did the population. Gone forever was the rural village, Anderston was now a thriving industrial town, and the town became a Burgh on the 24th June 1824. To provide some relief from the monotony of work an Annual Fair was established, with the main attractions being staged around the 'Cross' (the junction of Stobcross and Argyle Street).

The crop failure of 1825 resulted in a number of cotton-spinners forming the 'Friendly Bread Association', whose purpose was to provide the villagers of Anderston with bread at cost price. The association operated their first bakehouse in Bishop Street, and business continued for over seventy years, at different premises, until the company was finally assimilated into the 'City Bakeries' chain.

'The Anderston Popular Institute for the Diffusion of Knowledge' was founded on 19th September 1833. Programmes at the meetings included lectures on science, astronomy, history, geography and mechanics. A committee comprising of a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and librarian ran the Institute. Annual membership entitled affiliates to borrow from the Institutes 2,000 volumes of books. The Institute are recorded as having met in the Burgh Halls, in Warroch Street, in 1843, where they originally convened is not known. During the summer and early autumn of 1840 a grand exhibition was held nightly at the Cranstonhill Waterworks. The grounds surrounding Cranstonhill were laid out with paths and decorated with lanterns suspended from the trees. A large-scale model of the City and Bay of Naples was constructed, complete with Vesuvius in full eruption. At the end of each day the entire exhibition was topped-off with a grand fireworks display. The Glasgow Herald of 27th July 1840, reports that on exhibition nights the grounds were visited by 1,500 - 4,000 people while outside, the crowd of onlookers was reported to be in excess of 40,000. John Houldsworth, who had been the last Provost of Anderston, sold Cranstonhill Estate to property developers in 1857. The reservoirs were filled-in and before long tenements and factories were occupying the site.

IMMIGRATION PROBLEMS
Throughout the 1830-40’s the textile industry was still the largest single employer in Anderston, this was also the period when huge numbers of Irish and Highland immigrants began flooding into Glasgow. By the mid-1840’s thousands of Irish settlers were converging annually on Glasgow, creating the city’s first immigration problem. The Irish were forced to leave their native land due to a combination of famine and politics. Few of the migrants brought more than the clothes they stood in. At first there was hostility toward the settlers, mainly caused by their fellow countrymen, who brought with them their ‘baggage’ of the 'Orange and Green'. Immigrants from Ulster were likely to share Presbyterian views and were accordingly more welcome than their counterparts from Southern Ireland, who were viewed with suspicion. By the mid-1840's the population of Anderston had increased to twelve thousand, a quarter of whom, were of Irish descent. At the time of writing, the opinions and resentment expressed by some people today towards asylum seekers and immigrants, will perhaps give us an idea of the misgivings and suspicion with which our ancestors viewed the Irish in-comers. It seems nothing changes!

In an effort to house the growing population, the former mansions of Stobcross, Hydepark and Wellfield were converted and pressed into service to help alleviate the critical housing shortage. Before long, the once fine mansion houses had deteriorated into such a state of disrepair they eventually fell victim to the demolition squads. The effects of living in confined space and in unsanitary conditions helped propagate the typhus and cholera epidemics that raged during 1851-53. Poverty and poor housing conditions were also breeding grounds for illness and crime. The Housing Standards Bill of 1866 forced local authorities to address the atrocious housing conditions. The net result of this Bill being that virtually all the houses of the old village were cleared, and work began on erecting many of the tenements that were familiar to those of us who witnessed the demolition programme of the 1960-1980's.

THE CHANGING FACE of INDUSTRY
By the mid-1800’s it was still possible to earn a modest living from handloom weaving, but in the weaving-mills, mechanisation coupled to fierce competition led to a downturn in business, resulting in falling wages and a reduction in the workforce. The introduction of cheap Irish labour fanned the flames of unrest among the mill-workers, leading to strikes, riots and even murder. Whilst the traditional textile industry was languishing other employers were faring better. Nearly every type of commodity required was being manufactured in Anderston. It was possible to purchase everything from a sewing machine (Kimball & Morton, Bishop Street) to a ship’s propeller (Lancefield Forge). Other industries included ropeworks, locomotive manufacturer, marine-engine and boiler works, clothing manufacture and flour mills. There were a number iron-works, including the Vulcan Foundry and MacFarlane’s Saracen Foundry in Washington Street (1862). The latter company moved to the Possil area of Glasgow in 1872 taking the name Saracen Foundry with them.

STREETS & FIRMS
A brief glimpse at some of the streets will help provide an idea of the types of industry operating in Anderston during the mid-eighteen hundreds.

Stobcross Street: The Rope Works of Robert & James Jarvie were located between Washington Street and Clyde Street (Clydeferry Street). Ropes were spun in a long lane that ran from Stobcross Street down towards the Clyde. In time the lane became known as Rope Walk. James Jarvie was Provost of Anderston between 1839 and 1841.

Washington Street: Journeying down toward the Clyde, on the east side of the street, stood the Meal-mill of Harvie & McGavin, founded in 1816. Next to the Meal-mill was the Machine Works and the Vulcan Foundry of James & William Napier. On the opposite side of the thoroughfare stood a large Cotton Mill, two Foundries and a Sugarhouse. At the foot of the street stood the Crown Flour Mills, opened in 1862. John Ure, owner of the mill, became Councillor for Anderston in 1865 and was elected Lord Provost of Glasgow in 1880.

Clyde Street: A river ferry was located at the foot of the street. On the left was a wood-yard next to which, stood a large brewery.  Situated on the opposite side of the street was a Chapel of Ease, the forerunner of Anderston & St.Peter's, and further up the street was the Black Bull Tavern. In later years the name Clyde Street was changed to Clydeferry Street.

Piccadilly Street: A burial-ground stretched between Piccadilly Street through into Cheapside Street. Two-storey dwellings lined both side of this thoroughfare.

Warroch Street: The huge boiler and engineering works of Todd & McGregor occupied premises in Warroch Street. Bishop Street: Monteith's Cotton Mill occupied a great deal of this thoroughfare. Halfway up the street stood a row of houses known as 'Beggars Row'. This is reputed to have been the place the poor assembled in olden times in order to beg alms from the Bishops as they made their way from the Cathedral of Glasgow to Partick Castle.

CHARACTERS 1840's
Beggars and street entertainers appear to have been a constant feature throughout history. During the 1840's Anderston had its fair share of such people. Old Malabar was a juggler who roamed the streets offering entertainment for a coin. His repertoire of tricks included throwing a ball high into the air and then catching it in a cup balanced on his forehead. Another trick was to pull yards of coloured ribbon, enough to fill a top hat, from his mouth. Donald Moore, a former soldier in one of the Highland regiments was a well-known worthy. He had lost one of his legs in battle and would proudly show a bullet wound in the other. Donald was always good for a rousing tale of his military adventures. Sandy McKay was another former soldier who would beg money on the strength of the story that he was the youngest corporal to have fought at the Battle of Waterloo.

Around 1840, there was a small tavern on Main Street called 'The Five Alls'. On the exterior of the building hung a sign on which were painted five figures. At the top of the sign was the figure of a king and the words, "I Rule All". Depicted below the king were three more figures, a soldier 'I Fight for All', a lawyer, 'I Plead for All' and a minister 'I Pray for All'. Beneath this was the fifth figure, that of a poor man, with the inscription, 'I Pay for All'. In 1848 the stables of 'The Menzies Omnibus Company' occupied the property on the corner or Argyle Street and North Street. Andrew Menzies was the proprietor of Glasgow's first successful public transport service. His horsedrawn coaches became a familiar feature as they set-off from their terminus at Anderston Cross. As well as providing a mode of transport, the coaches finished in brilliant Menzies tartan, added much-needed colour to the drab streets.

ENGINEERING
The Neilson Locomotive Works commenced operation in Hydepark Street during the 1850's. The company, which also had a foundry in Finnieston, specialised in Locomotive construction. The firm eventually became the major part of the once world-famous 'North British Loco Works' of Springburn. Situated on Cranstonhill, was the firm of James Aitken and Co. specialists in the manufacture of marine boilers. Great excitement was generated whenever one of the enormous boilers required to be transported down to the Clyde. The load was placed on low bogies to which long ropes were secured before being eased slowly downhill by hundreds of workers until it reached the river safely. A historian of the time recalls the fact that the steam-whistles of Aitken's and nearby Chaplain's Engineering Works, coupled to the bells of Saint Mark's Church ensured that all the clocks in the surrounding area were kept at the correct time.

Electric lighting was first introduced during the 1870's and, around this same period, Thomas Lipton set out in business opening the first of his shops, at 101 Stobcross Street. Numerous amusing stories are told of Lipton's advertising promotions. Older residents were able to recall 'Lipton's Orphans' and the men with sandwich boards displaying a thin pig on one side of the board, with the catchphrase 'I going to Lipton's'. The other side of the board depicted a fat pig with the statement, ‘I've been to Lipton's, the best butcher in town!'

STOBCROSS DEVELOPMENT
David Watson, a merchant banker, purchased the Estate of Stobcross from Mathew Orr in 1776. Watson suffered severe financial hardship as a result of the American Wars of Independence. When Watson died in 1783, the Estate passed to John Phillips, another Glasgow merchant who, like his predecessor, also suffered severe financial loss due to the effects of conflict, this time the Napoleonic War. Philips died in 1829 and lies buried in the Ramshorn Kirk Yard (Ingram Street) where his tombstone can be seen. The northern portion of Stobcross was eventually sold for the development of middle-class residential property, the Glasgow Herald of 2nd June 1851, reports:
‘’The Stobcross lands have now been laid out with streets, terraces and crescents, underlaid with common
sewers, which have no connection with any other property, at an expense to the proprietors of £7,000.
Since the operation of forming the lands was begun, a considerable portion of the ground was feued by a
company, and shaped into a beautiful crescent. Last year, buildings to the value of more than £30,000
were erected thereon, and it is expected that an addition to nearly the same amount will be made this year.
In the front of the crescent two acres, enclosed with a highly ornamental railing, have been laid out as
pleasure grounds for the tenants. The architectural style of the crescent is Italian; the heights of the
houses are three storeys, and they are let in flats, varying each from ten rooms and kitchen to five rooms
and kitchen, with, of course, all the modern improvements’’.

Fronting the development, designed by Alexander Kirkland, were gardens, a bowling green and the ‘St. Vincent Loch’, which provided boating in the summer and ice-skating during the winter months. The rents of the new dwellings were quoted as ranging from £40-£70 per annum. The development was called Stobcross Crescent, but for some unaccountable reason the designation was changed to Saint Vincent Crescent. Fortunately most of this highly desirable development, which includes property in Minerva Street, still exists intact.

QUEEN'S DOCK
A syndicate purchased the remainder of Stobcross in 1864, for the then princely sum of £58,246. Almost immediately one third of the land was sold to the Clyde Trust for a figure slightly less than what the syndicate had paid for the entire estate. Not bad business!

Work began converting the green-field site into a new dock, or more correctly, a tidal basin. During construction work in 1876, the  old mansion-house of Stobcross was demolished. Within two years, the new dock, complete with rail-link was ready and, in September 1877, Queen's Dock was officially opened.

One of the present day landmarks defining Stobcross is the Finnieston Crane, erected in 1931. The crane, known locally as ‘Big Bertha’, was used to lift exports such as locomotives onto ships. Following the steady decline of shipping on the Clyde during the 1950-60's, Queen's Dock was considered to be no longer of value. The entire dock was filled-in during the 1970’s, undoing the efforts of the workers of one hundred years earlier. The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, built to supersede the Kelvin Hall, now occupies most of the site. The granite tablet commemorating the opening of Queen’s Dock has been preserved and is mounted as a feature outside the main entrance to the SECC.

SANDYFORD PLACE MURDER
On Friday 4th July 1862, twenty-eight year old Jessie McLachlan spent part of the night drinking in the company of her close friend  Jess McPherson, a servant, who resided at 17 Sandyford Place, Sauchiehall Street. What started out as a social evening in the company of her friend, turned into a nightmare that would haunt McLachlan for the rest of her life.

Most of the Fleming family, owners of the property at 17 Sandyford Place, had gone away for the weekend, leaving only the eighty-seven year old father, James, known as ‘Old Fleming’ in the care of the servant. ‘Old Fleming’ was an Anderston weaver and an elder in Anderston U. P. Church (Heddle Place) but, despite his seemingly respectable credentials, he was in fact a known heavy drinker and womaniser, having been responsible for fathering an illegitimate child by a domestic servant. Jessie McLachlan, having been a servant at Sandyford Place, was well known to ‘Old Fleming’ who, on occasion, had called at her house at 182 Broomielaw.

On the afternoon of Monday, 7th July, the Fleming family returned from their weekend retreat and found the body of Jess McPherson hacked to death in her bedroom. The police were called and a murder investigation followed. A pawnbroker, reading of the incident, recognised the description of a silver plate missing from the scene of the crime that had come to him via Jessie McLachlan. Police visited McLachlan’s Broomielaw home and arrested her on suspicion of murder. At the trial, based largely on the fact that she had been in possession of the silver plate so soon after the crime, McLachlan was convicted of murder and sentenced to hang.

It was obvious to everyone who followed the case, except the jury and the presiding judge, Lord Deas, that McLachlan was innocent and that the real perpetrator of the crime was in fact ‘Old Fleming’. Petitions to delay the sentence flooded-in, eventually leading to McLachlan being reprieved, however, she spent the next fifteen years in Perth prison. Soon after her release McLachlan left for America where she spent the rest of her days. ‘Old Fleming’ was never brought to book; he spent much of his time at the family weekend retreat, Avondale, near Dunoon. Upon his demise he was buried in Anderston Kirk Yard (Heddle Place).

BAKERIES
J.B. Stevenson's Cranstonhill Bakery was the first 'steam-powered' bakery in Scotland. Prior to the establishment of this company, local bakers made bread by hand. ‘Stevenson's Machine Bread’ was first produced in 1865, claiming that the product, untouched by human hand, was produced entirely by machine. Later, premises built of red brick and designed in the Italian style, were erected on a prominent site on Cranston Street. When the property was taken over by 'Beattie’s Bakery' in the 1950’s the bakery was converted into a biscuit factory. The building, which stood opposite Anderston Kelvingrove Church, was finally demolished during the summer of 1969.

Bilsland
Construction work on Bilsland's Bakery in Hydepark Street began in 1881, with bakery production commencing the following May. Bilsland's was a family concern, run by four brothers, and a most successful business it proved to be. All the brothers were actively engaged in the public life of the city. William, was Councillor for Anderston Ward in 1886, and was elected Lord Provost of Glasgow in 1905. He was later knighted. At the height of their business prowess, as well as their bakery in Hydepark Street and their shop in Elderslie Street, Bilsland's operated several shops throughout Glasgow. The very mention of Bilsland was a guarantee of quality and value. Like so many other long established businesses, Bilsland ceased operation during the ‘Thatcher Years’ (1980's). At the time of writing, the name ‘Bilsland’ can still be seen clearly emblazoned on the former bakery, which currently serves as the Expressway Business Centre.

QUEEN MARGARET SETTLEMENT
Conscious of their social responsibility, members of the Queen Margaret Union, a student association connected with the University of Glasgow, decided to take an active interest in community work, with particular regard to the welfare of the poor and sick. In order to offer practical help, the group undertook to establish a ‘Settlement’ in an area of deprivation. Acknowledging the high rates of alcoholism among the men of the working classes, the students consciously focused their efforts on ‘promoting the welfare of the poorer people, chiefly of women and children…”  Being in close proximity to the University and recognising the pressing social needs that families living in unhealthy congested areas had to contend with, Anderston was chosen as a suitable location for the project. A ‘Settlement’ was established on the east side of Port Street and was opened on 14th May 1897. The first nursery in Glasgow, opened in 1914, was also accommodated at this address (74 Port Street). The University Settlement, as it became known, true to their motto “Action not Words’ continued to provide sterling service within the community until the project was forced to leave the district in the 1970’s due to redevelopment work.

1880-1900
The 1880's evidenced the birth of The Boys' Brigade. The BB, as it is popularly known, is a voluntary youth organisation that began life on 4th October 1883 in a Mission Hall at North Woodside Road, Glasgow. This Christian based organisation found great momentum in Anderston. Of the first ten companies formed in Glasgow between 1883-85, three were formed locally. The 2nd Company met in a Mission Hall in Richard Street, the 7th met in the Mission Hall in Warroch Street and the 9th met in Allan’s Halls, Stobcross Street. Over a period of time a total of twenty-eight Boys' Brigade companies operated within the square mile that made up Anderston.

The International Exhibition of 1888, held in Kelvingrove Park, was the first of three such successful events, the others following in 1901 and 1911. David Carlaw opened his Printing Works in 1879 on Finnieston Street, at the foot of Houldsworth Street. In the years that followed, Carlaw established an envelope works, an engineering shop and a motor vehicle garage. Whilst on the subject of motor vehicles, I am sure many will be surprised to learn that the birthplace of Scotland's longest surviving motor manufacturer began life in Finnieston. The name of the company - Albion Motors. Although the Anderston motor industry lasted for only a decade (1889-1910) the area saw the birth of no fewer than four motor vehicle manufacturing companies, the aforementioned Albion, The Glasgow Motor Lorry Co., the Kelvin, and the Saint Vincent.

In 1889, Robert Service the internationally renowned poet and author of the often quoted, but seldom completed epic poem set in the Klondike ‘The Shooting of Dangerous Dan McGrew’, worked as a bank clerk in the Stobcross Branch of the Commercial Bank of Scotland, situated at 994 Argyle Street, on the corner of Minerva Street.

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
During the early 1900’s the Circus paraded annually along Main Street (Argyle Street) and a great attraction it proved to be. Other entertainments in the district included the 'Show Pend' that stood on Argyle Street and, as the name suggests, that is exactly what it was. For the cost of one penny you could visit the 'Penny Geggie' and watch a ghost show or the numerous attractions on offer. The 'Show Pend' occupied the site at 724 Argyle Street, on which the Salvation Army erected their Citadel in 1904. Throughout the winter months a carnival was held on the site, and during the summer months a huge Gospel Tent occupied the location. Open-air Gospel Meetings were held on most street corners each Saturday evening and, in spite of the large number of Public Houses and inebriated men, the Gospel Meetings were seldom interrupted.