Members of this association were most likely part of the congregation of the Kelvinside United Free Church (earlier known as the Kelvinside Free Church) which was located at the corner of Byres Road and Great Western Road in the West End of the city (now ÒranMór, an arts and entertainment venue). (For more information on this church, see ‘Glasgow — Kelvinside‘ on the Ecclegen website.) The group met in the Session House of the church.

In D. S. Riddoch’s Kelvinside United Free Church Glasgow: A Record of Fifty Years, 1859-1909, there is a brief history of this association from its founding until its jubilee in 1909. The group had two breaks in its history, but Riddoch nonetheless counted its 44 years of more-or-less continued existence as a marker of the long-standing, established nature of this association in the city. According to Riddoch, the group provided companionship and guidance for young men in regards to citizenship. While ladies were admitted to the meetings as early as the 1873-1874 session, it was only in 1890 that membership was opened up to them. (Interestingly, if ladies did attend, their names are not recorded in the minutes.) In 1907, the fortnightly meetings were changed to monthly ones. The group changed its name in the same year to ‘The Young People’s At Home’.

In 1873, a proposal was put forward to start a society magazine, and the topic was discussed at two subsequent meetings. It is currently unknown if the magazine was ever started (see ‘Additional Notes’ below).

Date of Existence

1865-(at least 1909)

Source of Information

1. Glasgow, Kelvinside, Free Church, U.F., Congregational committee minutes, 1867-8 (GCA, CH3/1012/9);

2. (Handwritten copy of syllabus for 1870-71, author unknown) (MLSC, Glasgow Scrapbooks, No. 21, p. 159);

3. Glasgow, Kelvinside, Free Church, U.F., Literary association minutes, 1871-84 (GCA, CH3/1012/11);

4. Kelvinside United Free Church Year Book 1904; Report and Financial Statement 1903; Lists of Office-Bearers and Agencies, Lists of Members and Adherents (Glasgow: Printed at the University Press by Robert MacLehose and Co. Ltd., 1904), p. 12; pp. 28-9 (ML, Mitchell (GC) 285.241443 KEL 272765);

5. Kelvinside United Free Church Glasgow: A Record of Fifty Years, 1859-1909, ed. by D. S. Riddoch (Glasgow: Printed at the University Press, 1909), pp. 58-60 (MLSC, Mitchell (GC), 285.241443 KEL 499011)

Repository

Mitchell Library (ML)

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC)

Glasgow City Archives (GCA)

Reference Number

(See Source of Information)

Additional Notes

This society is not to be confused with Kelvinside Parish Church Literary Society, which is a Church of Scotland society.

See also Glasgow Western Literary Union.

See also entry for Kelvinside Literary Association magazine (currently unknown if ever produced) on our sister website, Literary Bonds.

Kelvinside is an area in the West End of Glasgow. The information on this group comes from a magazine founded by and for its own members. This was a Church of Scotland society comprised of both young men and women, a trend which became more common at the start of the twentieth century. Meetings were held (monthly?) at 8pm.

According to its Eighth Annual Report, the meetings’ activities for the past session included essay readings, special lectures, a musical and a social. During this session, there were 58 members on the roll, a slight decrease from the previous year (n. 61).

For further information about this society’s magazine, see ‘Additional Notes’ below.

Date of Existence

1895-1926?

Source of Information

Kelvinside Old Parish Church, Kelvinside Parish Church Literary Society Magazine (1903-04)

Repository

Glasgow City Archives

Reference Number

CH2/1149/9/2/2

Additional Notes

This is a Church of Scotland society, not to be confused with Kelvinside Literary Association, which is a Free Church society.

See also entry for Kelvinside Parish Church Literary Society Magazine on our sister website, Literary Bonds.

This society was made up of young men from the congregation of the Kent Road United Presbyterian Church, located near Charing Cross, to the west of the city centre. (For more information on this church, see ‘Kent Road UP Church‘ on The Glasgow Story website.) The group also allowed other young men who were not part of the congregation to join upon agreement with the other members.

According to the printed ‘Rules’ affixed in the front of the first minute book, the object of the group was its members’ improvement, which included intellectual, religious and moral. The subscription fee was one shilling per year, which was cheaper than the average fee for these societies (2s 6d), which means that this group’s members were probably from the working classes.

The yearly session ran from October until April. Meetings were held weekly on Thursday nights at 8.15pm at the Church Hall, located under the church. The ‘Rules’ state that the meetings were to include debates and the reading of essays and other papers written by the members, which was to be followed by conversation.

The subjects of the debates and essays had to be pre-approved by the Committee of Management consisting of the office bearers and directors. This prior selection of subjects was similar to the procedures of the St. Columba Literary Association, wherein the Directors set the society’s agenda.

There are 46 named individuals next to their attendance records in the back of the minute book for the 1869-1870 session. Six names have been scored through, however, as it appears five members stopped attending the meetings and one member ‘Left Glasgow’.

Members of this group produced a manuscript magazine in April 1872, and there are known to be at least two issues that were produced prior to this date (see ‘Additional Notes’ below).

Date of Existence

1 November 1865-?

Source of Information

1. Kent Road, UP Church, UF, and C of S, Young Men’s Institute Minutes, 1865-74 (GCA, CH3/1443/34);

2. Kent Road Quarterly, issued by Kent Road U.P. Church Young Men’s Institute, Vol. 3, No. 2, 1 April 1872 (MLSC, Mitchell (AL), 725431);

Kingston is an area just to the south of the River Clyde and site of the Kingston Dock. (For more information on this area, see the entry for ‘Kingston Dock‘ on The Glasgow Story website). The Kingston Burns Club met at the Wheat Sheaf Tea Rooms, located at 263 Paisley Road at 8pm on the second Thursday of the month between October and March. In 1915, it had about 80 members.

According to the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, the club’s object was ‘[t]o commemorate the genius of Robert Burns and foster a love for his writings and to encourage the taste of Scottish literature and music generally; to celebrate his birthday on the 25th January, or as near thereto as possible.’

(‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1914’, in Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XXIII (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1914), p. 229)

Date of Existence

November 1912-?

Source of Information

1. (Mentioned in Minutes of Glasgow and District Burns Club: Minute entry, 27 March 1913, Glasgow and District Burns Club, Minutes, 12 September 1912-30 April 1919, p. 15 (MLSC, 891709));

2. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1914’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XXIII (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1914), p. 229

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC) (Minutes, and  Annual Burns Chronicle)

National Library of Scotland (Annual Burns Chronicle)

Reference Number

891709 (MLSC) (Minutes)

BNS19BUR (MLSC) (Annual Burns Chronicle)

General Reading Room (stored offsite), Y.233, available no. 1-34 25th Jan. 1892-Jan. 1925 (NLS) (Annual Burns Chronicle)

Additional Notes

See also Glasgow and District Burns Club.

‘BC‘ refers to the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, which was published yearly since 1892. Hard copies are available at the Mitchell Library Special Collections and the National Library of Scotland. Many of them have been digitised and are available through the Robert Burns World Federation website: http://www.rbwf.org.uk/digitised-chronicles/.

This list of Burns chronicles as sources of information gives the first year the club was included in the chronicle, and thereafter only for the years where the information is different from the previous year’s listing. In keeping with the scope of this study (1800-1914), only the chronicles published between 1892 and 1914 are included.

Kinning Park is an area in the south side of Glasgow. (For more information on this area, see W. Hamish Fraser’s article, ‘Neighbourhoods. Kinning Park‘ on The Glasgow Story website). In 1908, the Kinning Park Burns Club met at 8pm on the second Wednesday of the month at the Masonic Hall on Rutland Crescent. By 1913, this changed to monthly meetings.

The object of this club was listed in the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory as:

‘The annual celebration of the birthday of Robert Burns, occasional meetings for the cultivation of social and intellectual intercourse, and the encouragement of Scottish literature amongst the members and friends.’

(‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1908’, in Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XVII (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1908), p. 149)

The next year, this was extended to include ‘[c]ompetition amongst school children for singing and reciting works of Scottish poets’ (‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1909’, in Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, ed by D. M’Naught, No. XVIII (Kilmarnock, Burns Federation, January 1909), p. 178).

Date of Existence

1881-1913?

Source of Information

1. (Mentioned in Minutes of the Glasgow and District Burns Club: Minute entry, 3 September 1910, Glasgow and District Burns Club, Minutes, 8 November 1907-5 September 1912);

2. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1908’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XVII (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1908), p. 149;

3. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1909’, in BC, ed by D. M’Naught, No. XVIII (Kilmarnock, Burns Federation, January 1909), p. 178;

4. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1913’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XXII (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1913), p. 202

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC) (Minutes, and Annual Burns Chronicle)

National Library of Scotland (NLS) (Annual Burns Chronicle)

Reference Number

891709 (MLSC) (Minutes)

BNS19BUR (MLSC) (Annual Burns Chronicle)

General Reading Room (stored offsite), Y.233, available no. 1-34 25th Jan. 1892-Jan. 1925 (NLS) (Annual Burns Chronicle)

Additional Notes

See also Glasgow and District Burns Club.

‘BC‘ refers to the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, which was published yearly since 1892. Hard copies are available at the Mitchell Library Special Collections and the National Library of Scotland. Many of them have been digitised and are available through the Robert Burns World Federation website: http://www.rbwf.org.uk/digitised-chronicles/.

This list of Burns chronicles as sources of information gives the first year the club was included in the chronicle, and thereafter only for the years where the information is different from the previous year’s listing. In keeping with the scope of this study (1800-1914), only the chronicles published between 1892 and 1914 are included.

Kintyre is a peninsula on the west coast of Scotland. This society is a type of nineteenth-century county association. In the stricter sense, county associations were groups whose members (or whose parents) were former residents of counties across Scotland who had moved to Glasgow. This type of group incorporated elements of a benevolent society in that they could offer a combination of accommodation, advice, referrals, and general assistance to newcomers in the city when they arrived, while also offering aid to widows, unemployed members, or members undergoing financial hardship. In addition, they might offer to provide for the education of their members’ children, or money to support their higher education.

The association was formed of young men that were either born in Kintyre or had formerly resided therein but now lived in Glasgow. The object of the Kintyre Young Men’s Literary Association was its members’ moral and intellectual improvement, which was to be brought about by the reading of original essays and any other means they determined suitable.

Members met in the Religious Institutions Rooms (75 St. George’s Place, off the west side of Buchanan Street, in the city centre) at 8pm on Wednesdays during the session. The subscription fee was 2s 6p, which was the average fee for literary societies at this time. There are 35 names on the ‘Roll of Members’ for the 1862-63 session, with seven names written in pencil thereafter. The last meeting of this group was on 23 December 1863.

The group was revived in 1867 as the Kintyre Literary Association. At at meeting held on November 1st at the Religious Institution Rooms to discuss the formation of a new society, 25 young men discussed the particulars and elected the officer bearers for their group. Under its Constitution, the object of the society was also its members’ moral and intellectual improvement .

The group would continue to meet at the Religious Institution Rooms at 8pm every other Tuesday for the rest of November and December 1867, and then changed to weekly meetings for the remainder of the session and thereafter. The subscription fee was 2 shillings. The group wound up on 21 October 1879.

Date of Existence

9 September 1862-23 December 1863; 1 November 1867-21 October 1879

Source of Information

1. Kintyre Young Men’s Literary Association, Minute Book No. I, 1862-63 (ABCA, DR1/104);

2. Kintyre Literary Association, Minute Book No. I, 1867-72 (ABCA, DR1/105/1);

3. Kintyre Literary Association, Minute Book No. 2, 1872-1879 (ABCA, DR1/105/2)

Repository

Argyll and Bute Council Archives (ABCA)

Reference Number

(See Source of Information)

Additional Notes

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