Albany Burns Club (aka Glasgow Albany Burns Club)

Save as PDFOverview The Albany Burns Club was founded by a few members of the soon-to-be-defunct Albany Bowling Club in order ‘[t]o keep up the old and valued friendships that were made on its turn’ (‘Club Notes’, ‘ALBANY BURNS CLUB’, Read More …

Albion Mutual Improvement Union

Save as PDFOverview The evidence for this society comes from the syllabus for the Spring 1862 session and from the three extant issues of a magazine produced in manuscript by its members (see ‘Additional Notes’ below). The ‘Order of Readers’ Read More …

Anderston Social Club (not the same as the Anderston Club)

Save as PDFOverview Anderston is an area just over a mile to the west of Glasgow’s city centre. (For more information about this area, see Michael Moss’s article, ‘Industrial Revolution: 1770s to 1830s. Neighbourhoods. Anderston‘ on The Glasgow Story website). According to Read More …

Auld Clinkum Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview There is very little currently known about this club. According to the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, members met on the first Saturday of each month at an establishment on St. Vincent Street (to the west Read More …

Bank Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview This Burns club met weekly on Saturday evenings at Mrs. M’Arthur’s in 1883, later the Club Rooms at M’Culloch’s in 1892, both of which are listed as 109 Argyle Street, before moving in 1896 (at least) to Read More …

Barns O’ Clyde Burns Club, Clydebank

Save as PDFOverview Clydebank is located to the west of Glasgow and is situated on the north of the River Clyde. The Visit Scotland website offers a brief history of the area: ‘Clydebank is the historic heartland of the Scottish shipbuilding industry Read More …

Bridgeton Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview Bridgeton is an area to the east of Glasgow’s city centre. (For more information about this area, see Gordon Adams’s chapter, [Bridgeton & Dalmarnock], ‘Historical Background‘, on the East Glasgow History website.) The Bridgeton Burns Club’s website gives the Read More …

City of Glasgow Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview The object of this society was its members’ intellectual improvement through the reading and discussion of essays written by society members, but this was to exclude the subject of religious doctrine.   A couple of examples of Read More …

Clydebank Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview Clydebank is located to the west of Glasgow and is situated on the north of the River Clyde. The Visit Scotland website offers a brief history of the area: ‘Clydebank is the historic heartland of the Scottish Read More …

Co-operative Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview This Burns club met on the first Saturday of each month between October and May at 8pm. Its meetings were held at various local restaurants (e.g. in Room No. 10 at M’Culloch’s Restaurant, Croy place, 9 Maxwell Read More …

College United Free Church Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview There is little currently known about this society. The only information we have to date comes from a 1903 printed brochure for the Wellington United Free Church, Glasgow (see ‘Additional Notes’ below), which lists a a joint Read More …

Dennistoun Jolly Beggars Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview Dennistoun is an area located to the east of Glasgow’s city centre. (For more information about this area, see Ian R. Mitchell’s article, ‘Dennistoun: No Mean Streets‘ on the Glasgow West End website). There is not much currently known Read More …

Dowanhill Society of Belles Lettres

Save as PDFOverview Dowanhill is an area in the West End of Glasgow. (For a brief summary of its history, see ‘History of Byres Road. The birth of the West End‘ on the Visit West End website). This literary society Read More …

Eglinton Young Men’s Literary Association

Save as PDFOverview This group belonged to the Eglinton Congregational Church, which was located on 341 Eglinton Street, south of the River Clyde, in the Laurieston area. (For more information on this area, see ‘Gorbals, Glasgow. Laurieston Guide‘ on the ScotCities website). Designed Read More …

Fingalian Club

Save as PDFOverview Along with a list of its office bearers, the Glasgow Post Office directory for 1856 to 1857 gives a brief summary of this club: ‘Its objects are to excite in its members (who must be Highlanders) a Read More …

Free College Church Association

Save as PDFOverview To date, there is little known about this society. The information that we have comes from the minute book of the Wellington United Presbyterian Church Literary Association: the Free College Church Association was scheduled to take part Read More …

Free East Campbell Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview Members of this society were most likely part of the congregation of the East Campbell Street Free Church (East Campbell Street is just off of Gallowgate, to the east of Saltmarket in the city centre). (For more Read More …

Free Gorbals Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview This group was located in the Gorbals, in the south side of Glasgow. Members might have belonged to the East Gorbals Free Church (previously and subsequently known as Gorbals Parish Church or the Parish Church of Gorbals), Read More …

Free St. David’s Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview Members of this society were most likely part of the congregation of St. David’s Free Church, located on Frederick Street in the city centre. (For more information on this church, see ‘Frederick Street UP Church‘ on The Glasgow Read More …

Free St. George’s Literary Association

Save as PDFOverview Members of this society were most likely part of the congregation of Free St. George’s Church, located on Bath Street in the city centre. (For more information on this church, see ‘Glasgow — St. George’s‘ on the Ecclegen website.) Read More …

Free St. Luke’s Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview Members of this society were most likely part of the congregation of St. Luke’s Free Church, which at this time was installed in a new church built for them on Great Hamilton Street (now London Road, SE) Read More …

Free St. Mark’s Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview Members of this society were most likely part of the congregation of St. Mark’s Free Church, located at 161 Main Street, Anderston, an area to the west of Glasgow’s city centre. (For more information on this church, Read More …

Gas Workmen’s Institution

Save as PDFOverview The information on this society comes from two issues of The Glasgow Mechanics’ Magazine. The May 7th issue for 1825 provides a good overview of this group: ‘The Gas Workmen’s Institution. – Out of these public associations Read More …

Glasgow Addisonian Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview Alexander Smith (1829-1867) was a well-known working-class Scottish poet, and was one of the founding members and Secretary of this society. (For more information on Smith, see, for example, ‘Alexander Smith (1829 – 1867)‘ on the Scottish Read More …

Glasgow Arbroath Association

Save as PDFOverview Arbroath is a town in Angus, and is northeast of Dundee. (For more information on the town, see ‘Arbroath‘ on Undiscovered Scotland website.) This society is a type of nineteenth-century county association. In the stricter sense, county associations Read More …

Glasgow Athenaeum French Literary Club

Save as PDFOverview Modeled on the Manchester Athenaeum, the Glasgow Athenaeum was founded in 1847 as a literary an scientific institution. (For more information about this organisation, see ‘Athenaeum opening‘ on The Glasgow Story website, and ‘Administrative / Biographical History‘  for the Read More …

Glasgow Ballad Club

Save as PDFOverview The founder and first President of this club was William Freeland, who served from 1876 to 1903. There were 11 original members. The Glasgow Post Office directory for 1902-1903 gives a good overview of this club and Read More …

Glasgow Bankers’ Debating and Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview The evidence for this society comes from the ‘Preface’ to William Graham’s Deirdre: A Scoto-Irish Romance of the First Century A.D. (1908), which states: ‘The larger portion of the following compilation was read to the Glasgow Bankers’ Debating Read More …

Glasgow Border Counties’ Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview 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 Read More …

Glasgow Bute Literary Institute

Save as PDFOverview Bute, or the Isle of Bute, is an island in the Firth of Clyde. Bute is also a county that comprises this island and number of surrounding islands. This society is a type of nineteenth-century county association. In Read More …

Glasgow Carlton Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview Carlton is a district in the east end of Glasgow. (For more information about this area, see Gordon Adams’s article, ‘Carlton’ on the East Glasgow History website.) This club met on the first Tuesday of the month between October Read More …

Glasgow Carrick Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview Carrick is a district that is now part of South Ayrshire. Members of this Burns club were presumably from this area but had since settled in Glasgow. In the 1890s, the club had 40 members on the Read More …

Glasgow Clerical Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview This society is particularly interesting as some of its members were ministers of churches that later ‘came out’ in 1843; that is, their congregations broke away from the established church in what is known as the Disruption Read More …

Glasgow Coleridge Club

Save as PDFOverview There is very little information currently known about this society. The only details we have come from the minutes of the Glasgow Addisonian Literary Society, a group discussed in Simon Berry’s Applauding Thunder (2013). According to Berry, Read More …

Glasgow Cowal Society, Literary Department

Save as PDFOverview The name for this society refers to Cowal, a peninsula in Argyll and Bute in the Scottish Highlands, thus its members were almost certainly from the Highlands. This group is a type of nineteenth-century county association. In the Read More …

Glasgow Daisy Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview There is not much currently known about this Burns club. The details we have come from the 1912 Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory. The group met at the Christian Institute on Bothwell Street (to the west of Read More …

Glasgow Dickens Society

Save as PDFOverview The Glasgow Post Office directory for 1908-1909 provides an overview of this society: ‘The objects and aims of the Society are: — (1) To knit together in a common bond of friendship lovers of that great master Read More …

Glasgow Free Church Literary Union

Save as PDFOverview The Union was formed in 1850, seven years after the Disruption, when the Presbyterian church split in two. Its institution occurred during a period of active church building—and apparently society founding—by the newly-established Free Church. In 1853, Read More …

Glasgow Free Tron Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview Members of this society were most likely part of the congregation of the Free Tron Church in the city centre. (For more information on this church, see ‘Glasgow — Tron‘ on the Ecclegen website.) There is little currently known about Read More …

Glasgow Haggis Club

Save as PDFOverview This Burns club was of a (purposefully) moderate size, limiting its membership to 40 in 1894, and expanding this only slightly to 50 in 1897. According to the 1904 Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, it was Read More …

Glasgow Hutchesontown Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview This Burns club was based in Hutchesontown, located to the south of the River Clyde and southeast of the city centre. Members met at 572 Rutherglen Road (premises of R. Young, spirit merchant) on the first Friday Read More …

Glasgow Jolly Beggars Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview There is very little currently known about this club. Outwith a mention of this group in the Memorial Catalogue of the Burns Exhibition, the only other information we have to date is from the 1892 Annual Burns Read More …

Glasgow Montefiore Literary and Musical Society

Save as PDFOverview The only information we currently have on this society comes from the 1885-1886 Glasgow Post Office directory, which lists the group’s object, admissions policy, subscription rate, and office bearers: ‘The object of this society is to give Read More …

Glasgow Mossgiel Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview Mossgiel Farm in Ayrshire was the home of Robert Burns. (For more information about the farm, see ‘Mossgiel‘ on The Burns Encyclopedia website.) This Burns club had a modestly-sized membership of 50 in the late nineteenth century. Meetings Read More …

Glasgow Northern Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview There is very little currently known about this society. Outwith a mention of the group in the Memorial Catalogue of the Burns Exhibition, the only other details we have are provided by the Annual Burns Chronicle, which Read More …

Glasgow Orcadian Literary and Scientific Society

Save as PDFOverview The members of this group and/or their parents were originally from Orkney and had since settled in Glasgow. This society is a type of nineteenth-century county association. In the stricter sense, county associations were groups whose members (or Read More …

Glasgow Primrose Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview In 1910 (the earliest year for which we have any details on this club), members met in the Arcade Café (possibly Sloan’s Arcade Café, 109 Argyle Street), before meeting in the Alexandra Hotel (148 Bath Street, in Read More …

Glasgow Queen’s Park (Burns Club)

Save as PDFOverview There is very little currently known about this club. There is only a brief mention of this group in the minutes of the Glasgow and District Burns Club. We learn a bit more from the ‘Club Notes’ Read More …

Glasgow Shakspere Club

Save as PDFOverview This club was formed in Glasgow as it was thought there was a need for the city to have its own society similar to the ones then running in Edinburgh and beyond. The object of the club Read More …

Glasgow Society of Science, Letters, and Art

Save as PDFOverview There is little currently known about this society. The only information we have comes from the Glasgow Post Office Directory for 1885 to 1886, which offers the following details on what appears to be a high-status club Read More …

Glasgow Southern Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview There is little currently known about this Burns club. The only details provided by the 1901 Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory are its then current office bearers and their addresses, while the 1904 directory is even less Read More …

Glasgow St. David’s Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview There is little currently known about this club. From the 1892 and 1895 editions of the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, we know that members met in the Club Rooms located at 163 Ingram Street. This is Read More …

Glasgow Sunday Society

Save as PDFOverview Details on this group come from the Glasgow Post Office directory for 1884-1885, that gives the following summary, which includes a rather lengthy list of its 26 vice-presidents: ‘Objects of the society — (1) To obtain the Read More …

Glasgow Sutherlandshire Association

Save as PDFOverview Sutherland is a county in the Highlands 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 Read More …

Glasgow Training College Literary Committee

Save as PDFOverview There is little currently known about this literary committee. To date, the evidence for it consists of four photographs. A brief description is available on the University of Strathclyde Archives Online Catalogue: ‘Name of creator Glasgow Training College Read More …

Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association

Save as PDFOverview The Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement was founded in 1824. In 1877, it amalgamated with the Glasgow Young Men’s Christian Association (aka the G.Y.M.C.A., instituted in 1841, but this date is debatable) to become the Read More …

Glasgow University Dialectic Society

Save as PDFOverview The online catalogue of the University of Glasgow Archives Services, Archives Hub, offers a summary of this society and its activities: ‘Administrative / Biographical History Glasgow University Dialectic Society was instituted in 1861 at the University of Read More …

Glasgow Western Literary Union

Save as PDFOverview There is little currently known about this union, which appears to have been a debating society. The only information we have comes from the minute book of the Kelvinside Literary Association, which discusses a Union circular that Read More …

Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement

Save as PDFOverview This society was instituted in 1824. In 1877, it amalgamated with the Glasgow Young Men’s Christian Association (aka G.Y.M.C.A., instituted in 1841, although this date is debatable) to become the Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association in Read More …

Glasgow Young Men’s Christian Association

Save as PDFOverview The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) was formed in London in 1841. (For a history of this association, see ‘History and Heritage’, on the YMCA website.) There is a discrepancy in the records as to the start date of Read More …

Glasgow-Ardgowan Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview Ardgowan is located near Inverkip, Inverclyde, on the west coast of Scotland. It is possible that the members of this club were originally from this area before moving to Glasgow. There is little currently known about this Read More …

Glencairn Burns Club, Glasgow

Save as PDFOverview Glencairn is a parish in Dumfries and Galloway. It is possible that the members of this club were originally from this area before moving to Glasgow. In the late nineteenth century, this Burns club met on the Read More …

Gorbals Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview This club took its name from the Gorbals, an area in the south side of Glasgow where, presumably, the members were based. (For more information about the area, see ‘Gorbals , Glasgow. Origins & History‘ on the ScotCities website.) The group Read More …

Govan Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview This club was based in Govan, an area south of the River Clyde and southwest of the city centre. (For more information about this area, see Gerald Blaikie’s article, ‘Govan, Glasgow. Architecture & History‘ on the ScotCities website.) It is currently Read More …

Govan Fairfield Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview This club was based in Govan, an area south of the River Clyde and southwest of the city centre. (For more information about this area, see Gerald Blaikie’s article, ‘Govan, Glasgow. Architecture & History‘ on the ScotCities website.) It is currently Read More …

Govanhill Literary Association

Save as PDFOverview Govanhill is an area in the south side of Glasgow, and north of Queen’s Park. (For more information about this area, see the entry for ‘Govanhill‘ on Wikipedia.) It is currently unknown if this association was attached Read More …

Holyrood Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview This group is an interesting example of a literary society whose history was not straight-forward, being the result of alliances made and broken — societies being formed, amalgamated with other societies, dissolved and/or re-formed as new clubs Read More …

Hope Street Free Gaelic Church Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview This society was made up of young men from the congregation of the Hope Street Free Gaelic Church. (For more information on this church, see ‘Glasgow — Hope Street‘ on the Ecclegen website, and ‘Glasgow, 58 Waterloo Street, Gaelic Free Read More …

Hunterian Club

Save as PDFOverview According to its listing in Charles Sanford Terry’s A catalogue of the publications of Scottish historical and kindred clubs and societies, the Hunterian Club was founded ‘for the reproduction of the works of Scottish writers of Elizabethan times‘. (Terry, Read More …

John Street U. P. Church Literary Institute

Save as PDFOverview John Street is located in the heart of Glasgow’s city centre. Members of this society were most likely part of the congregation of the John Street U. P. Church. (For more information about this church, see ‘John Read More …

Juridical [Society]

Save as PDFOverview The listing for this society in the 1854-1855 Glasgow Post Office directory gives a brief summary of this group and its activities: ‘[…] The Society meets in the Sheriff Court Hall, County Buildings, every Wednesday evening during Read More …

Kelvinside Parish Church Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview 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 Read More …

Kingston Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview 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 Read More …

Kinning Park Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview 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 Read More …

Langside (Literary) Society

Save as PDFOverview Langside is an area in the south side of Glasgow. (For more information on this area, see the entry for ‘Langside‘ on TheGlasgowStory website, and  ‘Langside & Battlefield. Illustrated Guide‘ on the ScotCities website). There is little currently known about Read More …

Langside Hill United Free Church Literary Institute

Save as PDFOverview Langside is an area in the south side of Glasgow. (For more information about this area, see Gerald Blaikie’s article, ‘Langside & Battlefield. Illustrated Guide‘ on the ScotCities website.) Members of this society were most likely part of the Read More …

Lansdowne Literary Association

Save as PDFOverview Lansdowne is an area in the West End of Glasgow. There is little currently known about this society. The only information we have comes from the minute book of the Kelvinside Literary Association. In the minute entry Read More …

Literary and Commercial Society of Glasgow

Save as PDFOverview The Glasgow Literary Society was founded in 1752 and changed its name at the beginning of the nineteenth century to the Literary and Commercial Society of Glasgow. They changed premises as well, moving from the University of Read More …

Literary Debating Society

Save as PDFOverview The information that we have on this society comes from the magazine that was produced by the group members (see ‘Additional Notes’ below). In the three issues that were produced, there is no mention of how often Read More …

Literary Society of St. Ninian’s Parish Church

Save as PDFOverview Members of this society were most likely part of the congregation of St. Ninian’s Parish Church, located at 429 Crown Street, in the Gorbals area of Glasgow. (For more information on this area, see the entry for ‘Gorbals, Read More …

Macaulay Literary Club

Save as PDFOverview It is currently unknown if this club was named for Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859), possibly as a tribute to him and his influential writing on British history, his death occurring only five years prior to the club’s Read More …

Mauchline Society (aka Glasgow-Mauchline Society)

Save as PDFOverview Mauchline is a town in East Ayrshire. Robert Burns lived there for a time on Mossgiel Farm. This group is a type of nineteenth-century county association. In the stricter sense, county associations were groups whose members (or whose Read More …

Monday Shakspere Club

Save as PDFOverview According to the 1881 printed list of rules for this group, the group’s object was the study of Shakespeare’s works. The meetings were to alternate between the reading of a play and criticism (i.e. discussion). The meetings Read More …

Mosspark Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview Mosspark is an area of Glasgow located south of Bellahouston Park, in the south side of Glasgow. (For more information on this area, see Irene Maver’s article, ‘No Mean City: 1914 to 1950s. Neighbourhoods: Mosspark‘ on The Glasgow Story website). Read More …

New Literary and Philosophical Society

Save as PDFOverview The formation of this new group is discussed in an article published in 1824 that also included a summary of a number of different Glasgow literary societies. The foundations of New Literary and Philosophical Society were laid Read More …

Newton Place Literary Society, Partick

Save as PDFOverview This literary society was based at the Newton Place United Presbyterian Church on Dumbarton Road, Partick, in the West End of Glasgow. (For more information on this church, see ‘Newton Place United Presbyterian Church‘ on The Glasgow Read More …

Original Union Club

Save as PDFOverview There is very little information currently known about this club. The information that we have comes from a newspaper clipping from the ‘Times’, possibly the Glasgow Evening Times. This newspaper article was placed in a scrapbook complied by Read More …

Overnewton Literary Club

Save as PDFOverview Overnewton was part of the Yorkhill area in the West End of Glasgow, located roughly across the road from the grounds of the Kelvingrove Museum. It is currently unknown if this group was associated with the Overnewton Read More …

Palaver Society

Save as PDFOverview The first meeting of this society was held at the Ramshorn Inn (which might be the same as the Ramshorn Bar, 437 Arglye Street, in the city centre) at the end of May 1831. (For more information Read More …

Partick Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview 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 Read More …

Pollokshaws Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview Pollokshaws is an area in the south side of Glasgow. (For more information on this area, see Irene Maver’s article, ‘No Mean City: 1914 to 1950s. Neighbourhoods: Pollokshaws‘ on The Glasgow Story website). This Burns club had 70 members in 1896, Read More …

Pollokshields Free Church Literary Institute

Save as PDFOverview Pollokshields is an area in the south side of Glasgow. (For more information on this area, see see Gerald Blaikie’s article, ‘Pollokshields, Glasgow. Origins & History‘, on the ScotCities website). Members of this society were most likely part of the congregation of the Read More …

Pollokshields Literary and Art Circle

Save as PDFOverview Pollokshields is an area in the south side of Glasgow. (For more information on this area, see the entry for ‘Pollokshields, Glasgow. Origins & History‘ on the ScotCities website). The information that we currently have on this society comes solely Read More …

Pollokshields Parish Church Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview Pollokshields is an area in the south side of Glasgow. (For more information on this area, see Gerald Blaikie’s article, ‘Pollokshields, Glasgow. Origins & History‘ on the ScotCities website). Members of this society were most likely part of the congregation of Read More …

Possilpark Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview Possilpark is a district in the north of the city. (For more information on this area, see Michael Maver’s article, ‘No Mean City: 1914 to 1950s. Neighbourhoods: Possilpark‘ on The Glasgow Story website). There is little currently known about this Read More …

Provand’s Lordship Literary Club

Save as PDFOverview The Provand’s Lordship Literary Club was set up for the preservation of one of the very few medieval buildings left in Glasgow. The group was founded in 1906 and met in this house, and through subscriptions and various Read More …

Queen Margaret College Reading Union

Save as PDFOverview This group of young women were — or were previously– students of Queen Margaret College, membership being open to current and former students. (For more information on this college, see’ Queen Margaret College‘ on The University of Glasgow Story website, Read More …

Queen’s Park Free Church Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview Queen’s Park refers to the eponymous park as well as the surrounding area in the south side of Glasgow. (For more information about this park and the surrounding area, see ‘Queen’s Park‘ on The Glasgow Story website, and ‘Queen’s Park: Read More …

Round Table Club

Save as PDFOverview 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 Read More …

Royalty Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview 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 Read More …

Ruskin Society of Glasgow; Society of the Rose

Save as PDFOverview 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 Read More …

Sandyford Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview Sandyford is an area located just to the west of Charing Cross. The Glasgow and District Burns Association website gives a brief history of the founding of this club: ‘The clubs’ [sic] motto is taken from the poem Read More …

Scotch Girls Friendly Society

Save as PDFOverview There is little information currently known about this group. The only information that the 1894 Glasgow Post Office directory provides is an address, which is given as 59 Elmbank Street, located to the east of Charing Cross. Read More …

Scottish Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview According to the 1915 Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, this Burns club had 101 members and nine life members on its roll in 1914. This is the only evidence we have in regards to the size Read More …

Scottish Society of Literature and Art

Save as PDFOverview The Glasgow Post Office directory for 1887-1888 provides a good summary of this society and its activities. Along with the society’s object — ‘[t]he cultivation of literature, music, elocution, and art generally, by the holding of meetings Read More …

Select Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview There is very little currently known about this society. The only evidence we have to date comes from a contemporary magazine article that provides only one line on the group: ‘The communication of the Select Literary Society, Read More …

Shettleston Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview Shettleston is an area in Glasgow’s east end. (For more information on this area, see Gordon Adams’s article on the ‘History of Shettleston‘ on the ‘East Glasgow History‘ website). According to the 1902 Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, this Read More …

Sir Walter Scott Club

Save as PDFOverview The Glasgow Post Office directory for 1896-1897 lists the prestigious office bearers and prominent members of the community who belonged to this club. In addition, it gives the group’s object, which was ‘[…] to promote the study of Read More …

Speculative Society

Save as PDFOverview An article on Glasgow’s societies appeared in the February 1824 issue of The Western Luminary, a literary magazine published in the city. It briefly reports on the first meeting of this society: ‘The Speculative Society of Glasgow, Read More …

Springburn Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview Springburn is a district in the north of the city. (For more information on this area, see Gilbert T. Bell’s, ‘Second City of The Empire: 1830s to 1914. Neighbourhoods: Springburn‘ on The Glasgow Story website.) There is very Read More …

St. Andrew Society

Save as PDFOverview In a scrapbook housed in the Mitchell Library, there can be found a type-written document about the St. Andrew Society. The (unknown) author records a brief history of the group, and gives its object (i.e. the purpose Read More …

St. Rollox Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview St. Rollox was located in the north of the city in the Springburn area. The area was home of the St Rollox Railway Works, and St Rollox Chemical Works, which was reportedly the largest in Europe. (For more Read More …

St. Rollox Debating Society

Save as PDFOverview St. Rollox was located in the north of the city in the Springburn area. The area was home of the St Rollox Railway Works, and St Rollox Chemical Works, which was reportedly the largest in Europe. (For more Read More …

St. Rollox Jolly Beggars

Save as PDFOverview St. Rollox was located in the north of the city in the Springburn area. The area was home of the St Rollox Railway Works, and St Rollox Chemical Works, which was reportedly the largest in Europe. (For more Read More …

St. Stephen’s Literary Association

Save as PDFOverview Members of this association were most likely part of the congregation of St. Stephen’s Church. At the time that this group was running, they would have been based at the church built in 1850 for the congregation Read More …

The British Empire Shakespeare Society

Save as PDFOverview This society was the Glasgow branch of the larger British Empire Shakespeare Society that was founded by Greta Morritt (actress) in 1901. According to The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare, she founded the society ‘to promote Shakespeare’s works throughout Read More …

The Scottish Poets’ Club

Save as PDFOverview There is very little currently known about this club. The only information we have to date comes from the Glasgow Post Office directory, which briefly states the group’s object and lists the then current office bearers: ‘THE Read More …

The Thirteen Club (aka The Glasgow Thirteen)

Save as PDFOverview From the start, this club was intended to have a small, exclusive membership limited to 13 members. Discussions were to be on literature and art. The first meeting was held on Friday, 15 January 1891 at Moir’s Read More …

The Thom Society

Save as PDFOverview The evidence for this society comes George Hull’s The Poets and Poetry of Blackburn (1793-1902) (1902). This Glaswegian literary group was devoted to the study of the poetry and songs of Robert W. Thom (30 December 1816-?). Thom Read More …

Thistle Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview This is little currently known about this Burns club. What we do know is that it was a relatively small group by design: according to the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, in 1894, the club had Read More …

Tollcross Burns Club

Save as PDFOverview Tollcross is an area in Glasgow’s east end, approximately three miles from the city centre. (For more information about this area, see Gordon Adams’s A History of Tollcross & Dalbeth, a digitised copy of which is available Read More …

Victoria Free Church Literary Institute

Save as PDFOverview This church was located on the corner of Victoria Road and Pollokshaws Road in the south side of Glasgow in the Gorbals area. (For more information about this area, see ‘Gorbals, Glasgow. Origins & History‘ on the Read More …

Waverley Literary & Drama Association

Save as PDFOverview This is little currently known about this society. The evidence that we have comes from a programme for the group’s ‘Thirty-first Dramatic Entertainment’, which was scheduled to be held on 30 April 1880. The front cover states Read More …

Wellpark Free Church Literary Society

Save as PDFOverview The Wellpark Free Church was located in Dennistoun, an area in the east end of the city. (For more information about this church, see ‘Glasgow — Wellpark‘ on the Ecclegen website, and Gordon Adams’s article, ‘Wellpark Church of Scotland‘ Read More …

Western Scientific Association

Save as PDFOverview The information that we have on this society comes solely from a newspaper article attributed to Thomas Lugton and written over fifty years after the group’s last recorded activity. The article states that this association was founded Read More …