Part Three

THE SEAMEN'S BETHEL
The story of the 'Bethel' has it origins when an American ship, the ‘Morning Star’, docked at the Broomielaw on March 7th 1821. The captain of the ship, being a devout Christian, hoisted a blue flag with the word 'Bethel', meaning ‘House of God’ printed thereon. He announced to the general public milling around the harbour that he intended holding Gospel Meetings on the ship each Sunday morning and that they were all cordially invited. In those days the Clyde was heavily congested with ships bringing goods from abroad as well as taking away local produce for export. When Sunday came, not only seamen arrived at the dockside to take part in the service, members of the public, curious to see what was going on came along. The outcome of those meetings was the realisation of the need of a place to which sailors could turn for help, both physically and spiritually.

Archibald Kay, a cabinetmaker, who had premises on Anderston Walk, offered to continue the mission work once the Morning Star had set sail. Recruiting the assistance of some friends, they regularly visited the ships berthed at the Broomielaw, inviting the crews to attend Gospel Meetings in his joinery workshop. Those who attended the Services were seated on planks of wood that would perhaps be made into furniture the next day. From those humble origins, began a chain of events that ultimately led to a meeting, held in the Trades House, Glassford Street, on 13th May 1822. The meeting resolved to form 'The Glasgow Seamen's Friendly Society' (G.S.F.S.). The object of the Society was the promotion of the temporal and spiritual interests of seamen and their families in Glasgow.

The inaugural meeting of the G.S.F.S. was held in a riding school in York Street, later moving to a room in the Old Delftfield Pottery. The Delftfield premises soon proved too small and, accordingly, on 18th May 1823, at the annual meeting of the G.S.F.S. it was resolved to erect a mariner's Chapel near the harbour. Ground was acquired in Brown Street, and by late 1824, work on the new building, with accommodation for six hundred people was completed. The Chapel was officially opened on 27th March 1825 and soon became known throughout the district as 'The Seamen's Bethel' or simply ‘The Bethel’. As well as Sunday Services and mid-week Bible Study the Bethel had an active Sunday school that proved popular with local children. The Seaman’s Bethel is not to be confused with the Sailor’s Home on Broomielaw, opened in 1856, and whose premises were demolished in 1971.

The 'Good Ship Ebenezer', a small clinker-built boat, was built in 1886 to convey the Bethel’s missionaries out to ships anchored in mid-Clyde. At Christmas the vessel was used to distribute gifts to the crews of the ships anchored in the harbour. When the craft became redundant it was presented fully rigged and ready for sea to the 'Bethel'. The Seamen's Bethel, which was the oldest seaman’s mission in the world, retained the original building on the eastern corner of Brown Street and the Broomielaw until it was demolished during the 1970's.
 

The Seamen’s Bethel, Brown Street, 1969
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GRACE STREET MISSION
In 1849 Robert Dunlop, known as the ‘Singing Joiner’ established a Mission School in a cottage, in Stobcross Street, to meet the needs of the locality. Within three years the school was moved to larger premises at Grace Street, Finnieston. In those days Grace Street was a long narrow thoroughfare, running from Stobcross Street, before turning at right angles, down a steep hill into Finnieston Street. The Mission Hall stood mid-way along the west side of the street.

Robert Dunlop was described as being around five feet seven inches in height, of stocky build and bow-legged. He had sharp penetrating eyes, a black beard and, although a strict disciplinarian, he was very fond of children. Mr. Dunlop devised a scheme to provide children with a musical education, and was in fact the first person to introduce the 'Tonic Sol - Fah' system into Glasgow schools.

FINNIESTON CHURCH
In 1854, Dunlop and his band of workers decided, now that they had the children attending the Mission school, they would target the parents. And so, the school was turned into a Mission Church in the evenings. Following a meeting with the elders of Free St. Matthew's in 1856, it was decided to erect a church near the top of Finnieston Street, at the foot of Havelock Street. (Houldsworth Street). The first minister of Finnieston Free was an outstanding preacher of the time, the Rev. Alexander Bonnar. The Rev. Bonnar was mentor to the Rev. Murray McCheyne, as well as a loyal supporter of the American Evangelist D.L. Moody. In 1878, the congregation, retaining the name Finnieston Free, moved to new premises at Derby Street, near Kelvingrove Park. The new building, designed in the classical style, featured above the main door a text from Proverbs Chapter 11 v30, written in Hebrew. The passage translates to “He that winneth souls is wise”. The congregation later changed their designation to Kelvingrove.

Finnieston Church had a tremendous impact on Mission work in Glasgow. Alexander MacKeith, an elder of the church, along with three helpers, formed the ‘Glasgow Foundry Boys’ Religious Society’ in 1865. The first meeting of ‘The Foundry Boys’ was held in Cambridge Street, Cowcaddens, and in due course a night school was also established. As poverty was widespread in the area the boys were often fed and clothed by the organisation. A uniform of cap, belt and haversack, similar to what the BB used to wear, was issued. Mr. MacKeith was also a founder of the world-famous Tent Hall, in the Saltmarket. Another member of Finnieston Church, Robert G. Munsie, established the Artizan’s Gospel Hall at 12 Teviot Street, Kelvinhaugh, in 1891, and here great evangelical work was faithfully carried out until the Mission was forced to close in 1971.

KELVINGROVE:
Over the years a number of congregations united with Finnieston Church finally resulting in its designation being changed to Kelvingrove. The following former charges made up Kelvingrove: College Free; Claremont U.P.; Kelvingrove U.P.; Kelvinhaugh Est.; St. Enoch’s Free; Finnieston Free; St. George’s Free, and St. Peter’s Free. When Kelvingrove Church finally closed in 1978, the congregation united to form part of Anderston Kelvingrove Parish Church.

Grace Street Mission continued to operate under the patronage of Finnieston Church and remained active in the district right up until the building was demolished in 1958, as part of the Anderston Redevelopment Plan. Even in those final days, Sunday school attendance was in the region of around one hundred children. Immediately after the Mission was demolished, Mrs. McDonald, the hall-keeper, opened her home for evening meetings, until a shop at 64, Grace Street was acquired and turned into a temporary Mission Hall. Due to the large membership, Mr. Arlow, Superintendent of the Mission, approached the education authorities seeking permission to hold Church Services and Sunday School in Finnieston School. Permission was granted and meetings continued there until around 1962, by which time most members had been re-housed outside the locality.

Former members of Grace Street Mission, still resident in the area, began attending services in The Foundry Boys’ Mission when shop premises were acquired at 8 Minerva Street. At the time of writing, the former Foundry Boys’ Minerva Street Mission is still functioning under the auspices of Finnieston Evangelical Church.

Argyle Street at Finnieston Cross,
looking west towards Minerva Street,
January 2004.

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LOCAL SCHOOLS
A school was opened in Anderston in 1810 but, unfortunately, it closed within a few years, due to lack of finance. The premises stood in a courtyard that could be accessed from either, 425 Argyle Street or, 82 McAlpine Street. Very little is known of the school, however, it is reasonable to assume that it was the building referred to as ‘The Academy' on a map of 1826 which shows a thoroughfare listed as 'College Street’ (now Crimea Street).

The Academy had separate entrances for male and female pupils and on the front of the building, in large bold letters, was the inscription, 'New British System of Education'. A Bible passage was read during morning assembly; indeed, the Bible was widely used for teaching purposes. Pupils were seated at long narrow wooden desks, each of which, had a trough filled with fine-grained sand, on which the scholars practised their writing and arithmetic. Once the teacher had inspected the work, the sand was smoothed over. On occasion, the desks were pressed into service as a tool for corporal punishment. The teacher would ring a bell, read out the sentence, lay the miscreant across the desk then administer a few strokes of the Scots Tawse. School hours were from 10am until 3pm with a break for lunch between noon and 1pm. The school also met on Saturdays between the hours of ten and twelve.

Factory Schools
A number of benevolent factory-owners sponsored schools for their workers. The Glasgow Herald of 5th November 1810 carries a report informing the public that, ‘The West School will be opened on 6th Nov. inst., by Mr. William Boyd in a room connected with Mr. Houldsworth’s Cotton Mill, Anderston. The accommodation has been granted until a proper School House can be built and finished’. A few years later, a new school based on the ‘Lancasterian System’ was erected, between Brown Street and James Watt Street. Introduced by Joseph Lancaster, a Quaker (1778-1838), the ‘Lancasterian System’ enabled large numbers of pupils to be taught at relatively little cost. What became of the school is unclear, however, the building survived until the 1960’s.

Church Schools
In the aftermath of the Reformation it was the responsibility of every parish church to establish a school in the local community. Near the beginning of the 1800’s the ministers of the three Anderston churches agreed to set up a parochial school in North Street where the children of indigent parents could be taught to read.

The congregation of Wellington Street Church sponsored a school in Bishop Street, in 1805, for the 'common education of the children of the poor and dependent'. The same congregation opened a second school in 1807, in Piccadilly Street, erected at a cost of £1,470. Brownfield Established Church opened a school adjoining their Brown Street property in 1838. The original Church (Anderston Relief) opened a day school in Church Place in 1859, which became known locally as ‘Alexander's School', named after the first schoolmaster.

Older residents will no doubt remember the Anderston Clinic and Nursery in William Street, which was located in premises originally opened in 1844 as St. Mathew's School. The old property was demolished during the late 1990's, and a new purpose-built clinic was erected close to the site of the original building. Bearing in mind the various church factions it is important to note that there was a clear distinction between St. Matthew’s Est. in William Street (1837), St. Matthew’s Free (1844) Kent Road, and St. Mathew’s Free Mission (1853) Main Street.

St. Mathew’s Free opened a Mission School on the north side of Main Street in 1847, which, in time, formed the nucleus of Cranstonhill Free Church (1873) Hill Street (later Guest Street). The Parish Churches of St. Marks, and Anderston, combined to sponsor a school in Catherine Street. The Burgh School, in School Wynd, was started by, or at least, sponsored by, the Provost, Bailies and Magistrates of Anderston.

All Burgh and Parish Schools were brought under State control when the Education Act was introduced in 1872, making school compulsory for all children of between five and thirteen years of age.

R.C. Schools
The first Roman Catholic school was held in the room of a tenement in Clyde Street in 1842. For over thirteen years this was the sole venue available to Catholic parents for the education of their children. Ground was feued at Cranstonhill in 1856 and the 'school' was transferred to Lancefield Street. Under the guidance of Father John Dwyer, the school was once again transferred in 1872, this time to the recently vacated 'Mitchell’s Church' in Cheapside Street where the premises served as both Chapel and school. The old ‘Mitchell’ building, sandwiched between tenement property and St. Marks, became known as St. Brides, and latterly was often referred to as ‘The Polish Chapel’.

A new Roman Catholic School was opened in Bishop Street in 1927 and continued to serve the area until the building was demolished forty years later. At one time St. Pat’s School in Bishop Street could boast a pipe band and a very healthy violin class. Jean Roberts, one-time Lord Provost of Glasgow, taught at Bishop Street School during the 1920's, this being her first appointment on leaving teacher training college.

The Girl’s School attached to St. Patrick's Church was consumed by fire in 1959. A replacement primary, the present St. Patrick’s School, was opened in 1965 on North Street. Sandyford Nursery now shares part of the property.

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