Eastpark is located in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, in the northwest of the city. The information on this society comes from a brochure advertising an upcoming opening talk. This is inserted into a press cuttings book (see below for reference). The lecture, entitled, ‘The Art of Forgetting’, was given by John Adams, Esq., M.A., B.Sc., Rector of the United Free Church Training College. It was held at 8pm at the Eastpark United Free Church, Gower Street, North Kelvinside, on Monday, 28 October 1901.

On the back of the brochure is an advertisement for the Eastpark Literary Association, which was then recently revived. Members of this group were to be formed of young men and women of the congregation of Eastpark United Free Church, with membership open to the young people in the district. The subscription fee was one shilling and six pence, which was cheaper than other societies at this time. Meetings were held in the church hall every other Monday in the evening. In addition to monthly lectures, they planned ‘to have a number of debates and musical evenings’.

Date of Existence

1898?-?

Source of Information

(Loose flyer advertisement for lecture, in presscuttings book between p. 94 and p. 95 (Lord Provost’s Office, Records of Public Events in Glasgow, Presscutting Book, General (Y.M.C.A. and other clubs, etc.) 15 Sep. 1898-4 Oct. 1901))

Repository

Glasgow City Archives

Reference Number

G2/3/7

Additional Notes

–

The information that we currently have for the Glasgow Jewish Literary and Social Society comes from a 1904 catalogue of the society’s library. Use of the library was restricted to society members, but was free of charge. The library was relatively modest with only 60 items listed, 16 of which were ‘Novels and Tales’. Included in the catalogue is a list of the library’s regulations.

To date, it is unknown if the Glasgow Jewish Young Men’s Institute was related to the earlier group. Details on this society come from the Glasgow Post Office directories. The 1914-1915 directory gives the address as 4 Carlton Place (just south of the River Clyde), and lists the society’s objects: ‘

‘Objects — To provide the means of social and literary recreations by promoting lectures, debates, musical evenings, &c.’

(‘Glasgow Jewish Young Men’s Institute’, ‘Educational Institutions’, Glasgow Post Office Directory for 1914-1915… (Glasgow: Aird & Coghill Limited, 1914), p. 1831)

Date of Existence

1904?-?

Source of Information

1. Glasgow Jewish Literary and Social Society, Catalogue, Library (November 1904);

2. [Advertisements, Glasgow Jewish Literary and Social Society], Glasgow Herald, 27 November 1895, p. 8;

3. (For Glasgow Jewish Young Men’s Institute, see: ‘Glasgow Jewish Young Men’s Institute’, Educational Institutions’, Glasgow Post Office Annual Directory for 1913-1914… (Glasgow: William Mackenzie, 1913), p. 1828); also ‘Glasgow Jewish Young Men’s Institute’, ‘Educational Institutions’, Glasgow Post Office Directory for 1914-1915… (Glasgow: Aird & Coghill Limited, 1914), p. 1831)

Repository

Mitchell Library

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC)

National Library of Scotland (NLS)

Reference Number

Mitchell (GC) 017.60941443 GLA 231828 (MLSC) (Catalogue, Library)

Additional Notes

The Glasgow Herald is available at the Mitchell Library and the National Library of Scotland in both hard copy and microfilm (check libraries for availability in both formats). Digitised issues are also available through the British Newspaper Archive: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

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

Partick is an area in the West End of Glasgow. (For more information on this area, see the entry for ‘Partick, Glasgow. Origins & History‘ on the ScotCities website). This was a fairly large Burns club, having 213 members in 1896. Membership would drop in the next year to 113, before rising again to 155 in 1902.

The late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century issues of the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory only offer lists of the office bearers, and the number of members on the roll for the years given above. A more detailed history is available on the club’s website:

‘History
The Partick Burns Club was instituted in 1885 and has met to honour Robert Burns every January since then, with the exception of some years during the First and Second World Wars. The Club was founded by the merchants, trades people and members of the Burgh council and the Presidents up to 1912 (when Partick was incorporated into greater Glasgow) were almost uniquely the Provosts of the Burgh.

The Club survived incorporation into Glasgow and between the wars continued its Annual membership. Thanks to the chain of office the names of the Presidents are recorded, however little else of this part of the Club’s history is known. After the Second World War, the suppers continued, however again, with the exception of the names of Presidents, little else is known […]

Originally and up to the Great War the Supper venues were local hotels and the Partick Burgh Hall itself.’

(‘About Us’, The Partick Burns Club <http://thepartickburnsclub.org/about-us/> [accessed 21/03/18])

Date of Existence

1885-present. Federated 1895

Source of Information

1. (Member’s card for John White Jr Esq; small printed advertisement for Partick Burns Club Annual Dinner, 25 January 1887) (MLSC, Glasgow Scrapbooks, No. 21, p. 136);

2. (Newspaper clipping:) ‘Partick Burns Club’, The Press, 31 January 1891 (on annual dinner of the club, 26 January 1891) (MLSC, Glasgow Scrapbooks, No. 21, pp. 178-79);

3. ‘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. 136;

4. ‘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. 155;

5. ‘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. 140;

6. The Partick Burns Club Homepage <http://thepartickburnsclub.org/about-us/> [accessed 21/03/18];

7. ‘Partick Burns Club’, ‘Burns Clubs’, Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burns_Clubs> [accessed 21/09/15]

Repository

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

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

Reference Number

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. 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.