EARLY TIMES
Our journey back through history takes us to the early 1700's when we begin our journey from where the present Central Station now stands. Instead of the station, in its place we would find the small village of Grahamston. We continue our journey westward along Argyle Street or, more correctly, the 'Highway to Dumbarton' (later to be named Anderston Walk)

To our left would be Smithfield (which lay between Oswald Street and York Street) followed by Brownfield (lying between Brown Street and McAlpine Street). At this time those areas were more or less as their designation implies, simply, large fields. On the north side of the main highway stood the Lands of Blythswood, part of a large estate.

In ancient times the entire area now referred to as Anderston was covered by thick woodland known as the Bishop’s Forest, and it was here that the Bishops of Glasgow came to hunt wild boar and deer. A Charter of James II, dated 20th April 1450, records that the Bishop’s Forest was granted to William Turnbull, Lord of Provan, Bishop of Glasgow and founder of the University there. In the aftermath of the Reformation much of the forest was cleared and the area became known as the Great Western Common.

STOBCROSS
The earliest known reference to Stobcross is to be found on a document dated 1136, where we learn that King David I gifted the Lands of Stobcross to the Cathedral of Glasgow. Throughout the following centuries a number of references regarding the area appear in the Diocesan Registers. The Dutch cartographer Bleau features Stobcross as a landmark on his Map of  Clydesdale, published in 1654, suggesting that it must have been a place of some importance.

Present day Anderston owes its name and origin to the one-time owner of the Estate of Stobcross, James Anderson of Dovehill. The Anderson family appear to have been in possession of at least part of Stobcross as early as the midsixteenth century. A document dating from 1547 refers to "James Anderson as having settled in 'Furty's Ferm on the land of Stob Crose'. As well as the office of Lord Provost of Glasgow, the Andersons occupied prominent positions in the Guilds of the City for well over seventy years. At some point between the years 1630 and 1703 the Anderson family managed to procure the entire Estate of Stobcross, comprising sixty-four acres in total.Unfortunately, historians provide no particulars of how, or for what price, the Andersons gained possession of such a large portion of the Great Western Common.

A description of Stobcross written in 1696 records, "James Anderson of Stobcross hath there a convenient house, sited upon ane eminence above the river, with suitable gardens, and avenue to the water". The Mansion of Stobcross was removed in 1876 when construction work began on the former Queen's Dock, which in turn has given way to the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) opened 1985.

The Estate of Stobcross was more or less bordered in the north by the main highway to Dumbarton (Argyle Street), whilst the western boundary extended to Pointhouse. The Blythswood Burn, located near McAlpine Street, marked the eastern boundary; the burn still exists, although of course, it is covered over.

PARSON’S HAUGH
To the east of Stobcross Estate stood a twelve-acre farmland known as Parson's Haugh, sometimes erroneously referred to as Parson's Croft, or Rankin's Haugh. Being situated in an area that once formed part of the ancient Bishop’s Forrest, the designation 'Parson's Haugh' is undoubtedly attributable to the property having been part of church lands prior to the Reformation.

A smallholding known as the ‘Gushet Farm’ bounded Parson’s Haugh in the west. Blythswood Holm (Holm Street) was the northern extent, whilst the Grahamston Burn, just beyond Wellington Street, marked the eastern border. The boundary to the south was the Clyde.

Reference is made to Parson’s Haugh in a document dated 15th January 1591, which reads, "King James VI gave to John Andrew, Clerk to the Secret Council and his wyffe, Janet Miller, Parson’s Haugh and other lands near Glasgow". Anderson’s brother, Alexander, inherited Parson's Haugh in 1605 and, five years later, sold the land to Thomas Brown. The Brown family retained one third of the property, selling the remaining eight acres to James Robeson in 1623. Robeson bequeathed his portion of Parson’s Haugh to Janet Hoggisyard, his granddaughter, who inherited the property in 1655.

Janet Hoggisyard’s inheritance was divided into two segments in 1663, named appropriately, Eastern and Western Parson's Haugh. The western portion was subdivided between Janet Hoggisyard, her husband James Lawson, and Patrick Bell a wealthy Glasgow merchant and a relative of Lawson. Western Parson’s Haugh was later sold, in 1709, to John Leckie of Mye. The eastern section was sold to John Wilson, a lawyer, who, in 1671, sold his portion of Parson’s Haugh to George Bogle, a prominent Glasgow merchant who, two years later, donated his purchase of the Haugh to the Incorporation of Tailors on condition that it was used for charitable purposes.

ANDERSTON VILLAGE
Adjacent to the western portion of Parson's Haugh stood the Gushet Farm. Although of French origin, the word 'Gushet' in Scots refers to a ‘Y’ Junction, which accurately described the setting of the farm wedged between the main highway and the farm-track leading to the mansion-house of Stobcross. The Gushet Farm was largely marshy and unsuitable for farming, so, James Anderson, owner of Stobcross, decided to cut his losses and develop the farm into a village. He laid out a number of cottages along either side of the main highway in 1725 and named the new settlement after himself, Anderson Toun, or Anderstoun. In later years the road on which the cottages were laid out became known as Main Street, eventually becoming Argyle Street.

Whilst the village of Anderstoun was not laid out until 1725, the first dwelling to be built on the site was in fact erected in 1721 by John Stobo, a linen and woollen draper. Stobo's house was demolished in 1892 to make way for tenement buildings erected on the corner of Argyle Street and North Street.