Camden Street Public School was located on Florence Street, which is located just south of the River Clyde in the Gorbals area. (For more information on this school, see ‘Ballater Occupational Centre‘ on The Glasgow Story website. For information on the Gorbals, see ‘Gorbals, Glasgow. Origins & History‘ on the ScotCities website).

In the School Board of Glasgow’s 1907-1908 prospectus for its evening continuation classes for boys and girls as well as young men and women, a Reading Circle was advertised. The class was to use ‘cheap editions of popular educational works in Romance, Travel, Biography’, and was to be connected with the National Home Reading Union.

The National Home Reading Union was formed in 1889 by John Brown Paton, and was based on the popular Chautauqua movement in North America. Its object was to provide a guided reading programme for all classes, but particularly artisans and young people. (For more information on the history of the National Home Reading Union, see Robert Snape, ‘The National Home Reading Union’, Journal of Victorian Culture, 7 (2002), 86-110).

It is currently unknown how many young men and women did attend the course or what works they read.

Date of Existence

1907-1908?

Source of Information

Departmental Records; Further Education; Evening Classes, Continuation Classes and Further Education; Prospectuses 1907-08, 1908-09

Repository

Glasgow City Archives

Reference Number

D-ED 6/2/1; D-ED 2/2/2

Additional Notes

See also Reading Circle (associated with Napiershall Public School).

Napiershall Public School was located on Napiershall Street, off Great Western Road in the Woodside area in the West End of Glasgow. (For more information about this school, see ‘Napiershall School‘, ‘Napiershall Street School‘, and ‘Napiershall Street Public School‘ on The Glasgow Story website. For more information about the Woodside area, see ‘Glasgow’s West End. Woodside & Firhill‘, on the ScotCities website.)

The School Board of Glasgow’s prospectus for its continuation classes announced the commencement of basic and advanced commercial and science classes in September 1907 for boys and girls, and well as young men and women. In addition, there was to be a special class just for girls and young women: a free reading circle was being started wherein they would read and discuss ‘interesting books’, the aim being to make reading ‘pleasant and profitable’.

It is currently unknown how many women and girls attended this reading circle or what they read.

Date of Existence

1907-?

Source of Information

Departmental Records; Further Education; Evening Classes, Continuation Classes and Further Education; Prospectuses 1907-1908

Repository

Glasgow City Archives

Reference Number

D-ED 6/2/1

Additional Notes

See also Reading Circle (associated with Camden Street Public School).

In the early nineteenth century, the East Campbell Street Old Light congregationalists moved around to different premises before a church was built for them in 1823 on the corner of Renfield Street and Gordon Street. In 1858, a new church was erected at 311 Bath Street (on the corner of Elmbank Street), to the west of the city centre and near Charing Cross. (For a more complete history of this church, see ‘Glasgow — Renfield‘ on the the Ecclegen website. For a brief history of Professor Marcus Dods, one of the ministers of the church during the time when the young men’s society was running, see ‘Marcus Dods‘ on The Glasgow Story website).

At the first meeting, the full name of this group was given as the ‘Renfield Free Church Young men’s society for mutual improvement’. There are 30 members listed on the roll at the start. As per the rules, the young men were either part of the church congregation or of the same denomination. Although most of the them lived in and around the city centre, two members lived in the south side of the city, in the Gorbals and Tradeston areas just south of the River Clyde.

The rules of the group were modeled on those of ‘Dr Buchanan’s congregation’, which possibly refers to Robert Buchanan, D.D., who was minister of the Tron Church in Glasgow between 1843 and 1857. (For more information about the Tron Church, see ‘Glasgow — Tron‘ on the the Ecclegen website.)

The society met every other week on a Tuesday in the church session house at 8pm for the purpose of its members’ intellectual, moral and religious improvement. The annual subscription fee was 2s, which was a bit cheaper than the average in the second half of the century (2s 6d). As per the norm for this type of group, meetings were opened and closed with prayer. At the meetings, papers were read and debates were held. Once a quarter, a devotional meeting was to be held.

The society was dissolved at the end of the meeting held on 18 January 1870. In the last session, there were 10 members on the roll.

In a ‘Report of Committee appointed at meeting of Renfield Association, April 28th 1868’, the members discussed the formation of an Association Magazine to be issued monthly in manuscript (see ‘Additional Notes’ below). There were six magazines produced. Upon the dissolution of the society, the issues were allocated to six society members.

Date of Existence

26 February 1851-18 January 1870

Source of Information

Glasgow, Renfield Free Church, U.F., Young Men’s Society minutes, 1851-69

(Note: in the back of this minute book are various loose correspondence, annual and financial reports in manuscript, in addition to a printed ‘Programme’ (i.e. syllabus) for the 1869-1870 session,

Repository

Glasgow City Archives

Reference Number

CH3/1166/13

Additional Notes

See also entry for [Manuscript magazine of the Renfield Free Church Young Men’s Society] on our sister website, Literary Bonds.

The congregation of this church was known as the Southern Reformed Presbyterian Congregation and their church was located on Salisbury Street, located in the south side of the city in the Laurieston area. (For more information on this area, see ‘Gorbals, Glasgow. Laurieston Guide‘ on the ScotCities website). The City Union Railway bought the building in 1868 and a new church was built on nearby Cumberland Street. Eight years later they joined the Free Church. (For more information on the history of this congregation, see ‘Glasgow — Renwick‘ on the Ecclegen website.)

The 1885-1888 minute book records the first meeting and the admission of this group of young men as a branch of the Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association (G.U.Y.M.C.A.). A Literary Association was already running in the First Southern Section of the  G.U.Y.M.C.A. (‘Boundaries – On the North, the River Clyde. On the West, Eglinton Street’) since 1877 at least. This larger group met in the Class Room on 67 Cumberland Street (the G.U.Y.M.C.A. had sectional rooms at this address), just down the street from Renwick Free Church (27 Cumberland Street).

The group met weekly on Sunday evenings from September until the end of June to hear essays read, which were discussed afterwards. The meetings were closed with prayer and a collection was taken. In the late nineteenth century, there were about 50 members, which fell to 11 members in 1914. At a meeting held in September 1914, it was agreed to suspend the society for a year due to the fall in attendance. It does not appear that it was ever revived.

Interestingly, this society had a Strangers’ Committee as well as a Canvassing Scheme from at least 1887 that were started to induce the young men in the congregation to come to the meetings. Their efforts were reported to be very successful.

The association also had its own library. In the December 1887, it was reported that there were at least 150 volumes in the collection.

About the same time that the Renwick Free Church Branch was in operation, a Youths Reading and Recreation Club club was also running under the auspices of the Glasgow Foundry Boys Religious Society, South Cumberland Street Branch, which also met at the Renwick Free Church.

The decision to form the Renwick Free Church Literary Association (9 November 1889 – 1913?) was raised at a meeting of the Renwick Y.M.C.A. held on 20 October 1889 (‘Proceedings relative to formation of Renwick Free Church Literary Association, Saturday Evening 26th Octr. 1889’, Renwick Free Church Literary Association, Literary Association minutes, 1889-1892, p. 1).

Date of Existence

4 October 1885-7 September 1914

Source of Information

1. Renwick Church of Scotland, Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Associations, Renwick Branch, minutes, 1885-88, 1888-90, 1890-93, 1895-97, 1897-1914 (GCA, TD396/35/1-5);

2. Robertson, John Macmillan, The rise and progress of the Southern Reformed Presbyterian Congregation: now called the Renwick Free Church; two lectures (Glasgow: James C. Erskine, 1887) (MLSC, Mitchell (GC) 285.241443 REN 159322)

Repository

Glasgow City Archives (GCA)

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC)

Reference Number

(See Source of Information)

Additional Notes

See also Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association and the Glasgow Foundry Boys’ Religious Society, Wellington Palace Branch.

The congregation of this church was known as the Southern Reformed Presbyterian Congregation and their church was located on Salisbury Street, in the south side of the city in the Laurieston area. (For more information on this area, see ‘Gorbals, Glasgow. Laurieston Guide‘ on the ScotCities website). The City Union Railway bought the building in 1868 and a new church was built on nearby Cumberland Street. Eight years later they joined the Free Church. (For more information on the history of this congregation, see ‘Glasgow — Renwick‘ on the Ecclegen website.)

An ‘intimation’ to form this literary association was made at a meeting of the Renwick Y.M.C.A. held on 20 October 1889 (‘Proceedings relative to formation of Renwick Free Church Literary Association, Saturday Evening 26th Octr. 1889’, Renwick Free Church Literary Association, Literary Association minutes, 1889-1892, p. 1). The first meeting was held on 9 November 1889 when 18 young men met to listen to a talk by Hugh Hamilton, the President, on ‘Self-Development’. They would continue to meet every other Saturday evening. From the very beginning, the group was determined to found its own manuscript magazine and one James McGilvery was appointed as its editor. To date, it is unknown if this magazine has survived (see ‘Additional Notes’ below).

The group seems to have dissolved in 1892. In 1908, it was revived as the Renwick United Free Church Literary Society. Members met every other Thursday evening at 8pm in the Session Room of the church. There were 17 members on the roll in the 1908-09 session, which included Reverend William Simpson, Reverend W. F. Young, and four unmarried women. The minute book also records three ‘Occasional [male] Visitors’. In the following year, the group grew to 23 members, seven of whom were unmarried women. This was only ever a small group that did not exceed 25 members in its history.

The minutes record that the group held ‘Magazine Nights’, at which the Editor read aloud the contributions from the association (see ‘Additional Notes’ below). These included original essays, poems, a correspondence column and letters to the Editor. According to the minutes, the group did have at least the first two volumes bound. To date, we have not found any trace of them in the local archives.

Date of Existence

9 November 1889-1892; 9 January 1908-1913?

Source of Information

Renwick Church of Scotland [from GCA folder: ‘from 1876 Renwick Free Church’], Literary Association, minutes, 1889-1892; 1908-1913

(Note: these records are listed under different reference numbers in the Glasgow City Archives (GCA) black reference binder, and in the National Records of Scotland (NRS) online catalogue. Both are listed here: (GCA folder:) GCA, TD396/30/1-2; (NRS cat.:) GCA, CH3/1650/9/3/1-2)

Repository

Glasgow City Archives (GCA)

Reference Number

(See Source of Information)

Additional Notes

The Literary Society was different from the Renwick Book Club (instituted 28 January 1859), but it appears that they both belonged to the same church. Book clubs were different than most literary societies, in that the members solicited titles (usually rare or out of print books) for the year, which they would then have printed and auction off.

This society should not be confused with the Renwick Free Church Branch Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association, which was a separate organisation in the same church.

See also Literary Society of St. Ninian’s Parish Church, with whom this society had a joint debate on 1 December 1890.

See also Renwick Free Church Literary Association (Magazine Evening: Magazine Later Bound) on our sister website, Literary Bonds.

This was a fairly large Burns club, with 94 members on the roll in 1893, and it nearly doubled its size in 1902, with 180 members reported. The group met from September until April on Tuesdays at 8pm (later at 7.45pm). In 1914, this was changed to monthly meetings on the first Tuesday of the month. The venue for the meetings also changed over the years: in 1892, the club met at the Bath Hotel (8 Hope Street, just to the west of the city centre); in 1895 at the Cobden Hotel (87 Argyle Street); in 1903 at the Bank Restaurant (Queen Street); in 1905 at the Alexandra Hotel (Bath Street); in 1908 at the Prince of Wales Restaurant (Ferguson & Forrester, Limited) (Buchanan Street); then back to the Alexandra Hotel from 1911 until 1914 (at least).

The club met to hear lectures during the winter on Scottish literature, and, of course, to celebrate the works of the Bard on Burns night with a supper. In addition, it held junior and senior competitions in singing and reciting Scottish songs and poems for children and young adults. The group was keen to emphasise the ‘seriousness’ of its endeavours: in the ‘Club Notes’ of the Annual Burns Chronicle and Directory issued in 1905, following a report of that year’s competition, Mr Pollock, the president, wrote:

‘”I am glad to see that some other Clubs are following the example of the Rosebery. To my mind, if a Club can only organize a dinner on the 25th and a smoking concert or two, when drinking is the main food, intellectually and physically, of the guests, it had better not have been born. To foster the preservation of Scottish dialect in literature and song is a worthy task for a Burns Club. When Bacchanalians, who miscall themselves Burnsites, meet merely to eat and drink, they disgrace the name they profess to worship.”’

(‘Club Notes’, ‘Rosebery Burns Club, Glasgow’, in Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XIV (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1905), pp. 107-110 (p. 110))

The club published the lectures that were given to the club from at least 1898, copies of which were available from ‘Messrs Holmes & Co., Booksellers, Dunlop Street, Glasgow; and others’. In 1906, it published a history of the group. In 1913, in association with the Carlton Burns Club, the Rosebery club announced it would be producing six volumes  of Burns’s poems in braille which were to be sold for £1 for the set.

Around 1902, the group began to host ‘inter-visitation[s] of brother Burns Clubs’. During the 1913-14 session, the invited visitors included members of the Albany, Bridgeton, Carlton, Greenock, and Sandyford Clubs (see ‘Additional Notes’).

In 1913, life membership was £30, which: ‘entitle[d] Members to all the advantages of the Club, including the privilege of bringing two friends to the Lectures and Musical Evenings of the Club’ (‘Club Notes’, ‘Rosebery Burns Club’, in Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XXII (Kilmarnock: The Burns Federation, January 1913), p. 145).

Date of Existence

1885-1913? Federated 1887

Source of Information

1. Anniversary meeting in the Bath Hotel on Wednesday, 25th Jan. 93, at 6.45p. m., Rosebery Burns Club (MLSC, Mitchell (AL) 557560);

2. Rosebery Burns Club, Minutes, 27 November 1894-1905 (MLSC, 907884);

3. Opening of session 1897-98 (1898) (MLSC, Mitchell (AL) 13 ROS 154844);

4. Address given to the Rosebery Burns Club, Glasgow: with special reference to the centenary Burns of W. E. Henley: January 25, 1898 (MLSC, Mitchell (AL) 6 BEG 209616);

5. Begg, F. Faithfull, Rosebery Burns Club, Glasgow, January 25th, 1898: speech…in proposing the toast of Caledonia and Caledonia’s bard (MLSC, Mitchell (AL) 6 BEG 907881a);

6. Poems [Rosebery Burns Club] (1898) (ML, Mitchell (GC) 154844);

7. Glasgow Contemporaries at the Dawn of the XXth Century (Glasgow: The Photo-Biographical Publishing Co., [1901]), p. 159 (ML, Mitchell (GC) 920.04 GLA 499009);

8. Muir, Pearson M’Adam, Robert Burns : his genius and influence: address delivered to the Rosebery Burns Club, 24th January, 1902 (ML, Mitchell (AL) 6 MUI 209662);

9. (Newspaper clipping:) ‘Rosebery Burns Club’, (annotated:) ‘Citizen. 15 March 1905’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 1, [p. 32]);

10. Cross, Alexander, The Immortal Memory: a speech to the members of the Rosebery Burns Club, January 24, 1906 (MLSC, Mitchell (AL) 15 CRO 889859);

11. Angus, James, The Rosebery Burns Club, Glasgow: a short sketch of its origin and growth (Glasgow: W.&R. Holmes; Stirling: E. Mackay, 1906) (NLS, General Reading Room, 1958.22);

12. ‘Rosebery Burns Club. Gold Medal Competition for Amateurs’, 28 March 1907 (MLSC, Glasgow Scrapbooks, No. 23, p. 217);

13. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies for 1893’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. II (Kilmarnock: D. Brown & Co., Glasgow and Edinburgh: J. Menzies & Co., January 1893), p. 190;

14. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1894’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. III (Kilmarnock: D. Brown & Co., February 1894), p. 194;

15. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1895’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. IV (Kilmarnock: D. Brown & Co., January 1895), p. 176;

16. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1896’, in BC,ed. by D. M’Naught, No. V (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1896), p. 132;

17. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1897’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. VI (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1897), p. 151;

18. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1898′, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. VII (Kilmarnock: Burn Federation, January 1898), p. 138;

19. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1902’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XI (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1902), p. 136;

20. ‘Club Notes’, and ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1905’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XIV (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1905), pp. 107-110, p. 149;

21. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1908′, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XIX (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1908), p. 132;

22. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1911’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XX (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1911), p. 161;

There is little currently known about this club. The evidence is limited to the record of a joint meeting that appears in another literary society’s minute book (the New Holyrood Club) (see ‘Additional Notes’ below).

According to the minute entry for 15 November 1911, on that evening, a joint meeting of the Round Table Club and the New Holyrood Club was held at the residence of Dr John Barlow, 4 Somerset Place (located in the Sandyford area, just to the west of Charing Cross), wherein the Round Table Club acted as hosts for the evening. At the meeting, a paper entitled, ‘Journal of a walk from Glasgow to London’ was read. Following the paper and a vote of thanks, all members joined for tea. The last hour was devoted to conversation and recitations.

In addition, in the same minute book, there is affixed the Round Table Club’s syllabus for the 1911-1912 session (October through April), which includes a list of the office bearers. According to the syllabus, the group met once and sometimes twice a month. After the Opening Address at the start, the session was to include: an essay on Thackeray; a debate on the ‘Nationalisation of Railways’; the joint meeting described above; a debate on ‘Should Education be purely Secular?’; an essay on the ‘Work of Lister’; an essay on ‘Man and the Brute’; a debate on ‘Theosophy’; another (unassigned) joint meeting; an essay entitled, ‘Ideal of a National Church’; which also included a Social Evening, and ended with the annual Business Meeting.

Date of Existence

1911?-?

Source of Information

(Mentioned in Minute Book of New Holyrood Club: Minute entry, 15 November 1911, Minute Book of New Holyrood Club, Volume 4, 14 January 1905-29 March 1913;)

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC)

Reference Number

(Records of Holyrood Club (891047))

Additional Notes

See New Holyrood Club (formerly the Holyrood Literary Society), and New Literary Club, with whom this club had joint meetings.

This group began as the Glasgow Philosophical Society and later became the Philosophical Society of Glasgow. A Royal Charter was granted in 1901. The Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow’s website offers an excellent summary of the long history of this group:

‘A short history of the Society
On 9th Nov. 1802, in response to an invitation, twenty-two citizens met in the Prince of Wales Tavern, Glasgow where they set up a committee to outline the principles for a Society ‘for the improvement of the Arts and Sciences’ in Glasgow. An important consideration was the establishment of a select library of scientific books. A week later a meeting was held in the Assembly Rooms at which sixty persons subscribed to the setting up of the Glasgow Philosophical Society. On 8th Dec the Regulations were approved and a Council was elected. The first President was a Professor of Astronomy and the Vice-President was an ironfounder, thus representing the joint interests of science and industry. From the beginning it was intended that meetings would be held weekly in the winter and fortnightly in the summer and that the members would present papers on experiments and exhibit models or artefacts.

[…] The Society has had many eminent members and became a Royal Society in 1901 when Lord Blythswood was President.’

(‘History’, ‘A Short History of the Society’, The Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow <http://royalphil.org/history/> [accessed 31 March 2018])

For a more complete history, see No Mean Society, 1802-2002: 200 years of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow (2003).

Date of Existence

29 November 1802-present

Source of Information

1. Papers of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow, 1802-2000 (UGSC, MS Gen 1756) (From the University of Glasgow Special Collections online catalogue: ‘Content: Records created by the Society, including Minutes, publications and photographs, illustrating the Society’s founding, growth and activities.’)

2. ‘Glasgow Literary & Scientific Institutions’, The Western Luminary, or Glasgow Literary & Scientific Gazette, Vol. I, No. 3, 17 January 1824, p. 19 (UGSC, Sp Coll Mu60-f.31, Sp Coll Bh12-e.12);

3. ‘Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow’, ‘Educational and Scientific Institutions’, Glasgow Post-Office Annual Directory for 1854-1855… (Glasgow: William Mackenzie, 1854), p. 132;

4. (See also various Glasgow Post Office directories from 1855 onwards);

5. Terry, Charles Sanford, A Catalogue of the Publications of Scottish Historical and Kindred Clubs and Societies…1780-1908 (Glasgow: James MacLehose and Sons, 1909) (UGSC, History Bibliog DV300 1909-T 1780-1908);

6. No Mean Society, 1802-2002: 200 years of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow (Glasgow:  Royal Philosopical Society of Glasgow, 2003) (available as a downloadable PDF on The Royal Philosophical Society website on its ‘History’ page: http://royalphil.org/history/)

7. The Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow Homepage: http://royalphil.org/

Repository

Mitchell Library (Glasgow Post Office directories)

National Library of Scotland (Glasgow Post Office directories)

University of Glasgow Special Collections (UGSC)

Reference Number

(See Source of Information)

Additional Notes

The full title for The Western Luminary is as follows: The western luminary, or, Glasgow literary and scientific gazette, embracing, Reviews of all new and interesting publications — Discussions of all important matters connected with the West of Scotland — Biographical memoirs of such living and dead individuals as possess peculiar claims on our sympathy or regard — Original essays upon men and manners, institutions and priciples — Poetry, written and selected for the work — Anecdotes and extracts — Arts and science — Truth and fiction, conducted by the Writers of the Free Press, and other literary gentlemen of Glasgow and the West of Scotland.

From the Mitchell Library online catalogue on this magazine:

‘Notes: Additional information: 1 v (208p.); 28cm[,] Bound with: Select views of Glasgow and its environs / engraved by Joseph Swan … Glasgow : Joseph Swan, 1828, in a volume with spine title The western luminary, Andrew Bain Memorial, Lacks nos. 14-16, no.18’ [accessed 31 January 2018].

The Glasgow Post Office directories are available at the Mitchell Library and the National Library of Scotland. Digitised copies are available through the NLS website: https://www.nls.uk/family-history/directories/post-office/index.cfm?place=Glasgow

According to the club’s website, this Burns club was formed by a few Glasgow Publicans in 1882. Various issues of the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory published at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries provide more details. The group had a membership of moderate size at the end of the nineteenth century, with between 60 and 65 members on the rolls between 1894 and 1897. By 1900, the group had grown to more than double its size (n. 170).

Members met on the last Thursday of the month from October until the end of March. The venue for the meetings would change over the years: in 1882, the club met at a pub in Hope Street (the name is currently unknown); in 1893 at the Alexandra Hotel on Bath Street; in 1895 at Thomas White & Smith’s (according to the Glasgow Post Office directory for 1895, they were ‘restauranteurs, wine merchants, bakers and purveyors’) at 7 Gordon Street; and in 1912 at the Bank Restaurant on Queen Street.

Date of Existence

1882 (the 1893 Annual Burns Chronicle gives 1883 as the date of institution)-present; Federated 1886

Source of Information

1. Memorial Catalogue of the Burns Exhibition. Held in the Galleries of the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, 175 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, From 15th July till 31st October, 1896 (Glasgow: William Hodge & Company and T. & R. Annan & Sons, 1898), p. xv (MLSC, Mitchell (AL) 14A MEM 472108);

2. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1894’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. III (Kilmarnock: D. Brown & Co., February 1894), p. 192;

3. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1895’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. IV (Kilmarnock: D. Brown & Co., January 1895), p. 173;

4. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1896’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. V (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1896), p. 129;

5. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1897’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. VI (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1897), p. 149;

6. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1900’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. IX (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1900), p. 135;

7. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1902’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XI (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1902), p. 134;

8. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1903’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XII (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1903), p. 142;

9. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1912’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XXI (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1912), p. 158;

10. Royalty Burns Club Homepage <http://royaltyburnsclub.com/> [accessed 23/09/15]

Repository

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

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

Reference Number

(See Source of Information and below for Annual Burns Chronicle)

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

‘BC‘ refers to the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, which was published yearly since 1892. Copies are available at the Mitchell Library Special Collections and the National Library of Scotland. Many of these 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.

The Glasgow Post Office directory published in 1881 provides the earliest information we have to date on this group and lists the office bearers and committee members. In addition, it gives the aims of the society, which were:

‘(1) to encourage and promote the study and circulation of Mr. Ruskin’s writing; (2) to form a centre of union for Mr. Ruskin’s friends and disciples; and (3) to promote such life and learning as may fitly and usefully abide in this country. Members and associates have the use of the collection of Mr. Ruskin’s writings belonging to the society. The society offers readings from Mr. Ruskin’s works, or papers on his teachings, to mutual improvement and kindred associations.’

(‘The Ruskin Society of Glasgow’, ‘Literary and Scientific Institutions’, Post Office Glasgow Directory for 1881-1882… (Glasgow: William Mackenzie, 1881), p. 113)

In 1902, the meetings for this society were held fortnightly at the Masonic Chambers, located at 100 West Regent Street. The annual subscription in that year was 5 shillings, which made it more expensive than most other groups at that time, which charged on average 2s 6p per session. This group was most likely made up of middle-class members.

Date of Existence

1879-?

Source of Information

1. Records of the Ruskin Society of Glasgow: Society of the Rose, 1882-1909 (Minute books, library records, letter book, etc., c.1882-1909) (UGSC, MS Gen 1093 (1-10));

2. ‘The Ruskin Society of Glasgow’, ‘Literary and Scientific Institutions’, Post Office Glasgow Directory for 1881-1882… (Glasgow: William Mackenzie, 1881), p. 113;

3. ‘The Ruskin Society of Glasgow Society of the Rose’, ‘Educational Institutions’, Post Office Glasgow Directory for 1902-1903… (Glasgow: Aird & Coghill, 1902) p. 183

Repository

Mitchell Library (Glasgow Post Office directory)

National Library of Scotland (Glasgow Post Office directory)

University of Glasgow Special Collections (UGSC)

Reference Number

(See Source of Information)

Additional Notes

The Glasgow Post Office directories are available at the Mitchell Library and the National Library of Scotland. Digitised copies are available through the NLS website: https://www.nls.uk/family-history/directories/post-office/index.cfm?place=Glasgow