Archives of the University of Glasgow
Encyclopedia
The Archives of the University of Glasgow (GUAS) maintain the historical records of the University of Glasgow
back to its foundation in 1451. Its earliest record is a charter dating from 1304 for the lands of the earliest mention of record-keeping in the University is in 1490 when it is recorded in the Annales Universitatis Glasguensis 1451–1558 that ‘in accordance with a proposition of the Lord Rector, a parchment book is ordered to be procured, in which important writs, statutes, and lists of the University, are to be engrossed: and also a paper book, for recording judicial proceedings.’ The Clerk to the Faculty, and subsequently the Clerk of Senate, maintained the records of the University due to the continuing requirement to ensure that the privileges, rights, policies and finances of the university were kept in good order.
outside the national archives in Edinburgh
.
The University’s archives are primary resources for Scotland's
educational, intellectual and cultural history and contain collections of records created by individual staff and students or groups and societies, as well as the business records of the University and its affiliated bodies.
The University Archives also manages the Scottish Business Archives, a large internationally important collection of business records (over 500 individual collections) covering the whole of Scotland
and beyond dating from the 18th century to the present. These collections reflect the contribution and breadth of activity that Scotland's
business, industry and enterprise has made past and present to the world economy. The collections were inaugurated by Sydney Checkland
, the first professor of Economic History
, in 1959 and have been managed by the University Archives since 1975. The Scottish Business Archive is one of the largest collection of business archives in Europe
.
, St Andrews College of Education, St Mungo's College of Medicine, and Trinity College
. There are large collections of photographs relating to University personnel and buildings and Scottish topography and plans of University buildings and land.
The collection of shipbuilding
records, many held on behalf of the National Archives of Scotland
, is unrivalled and includes those of John Brown of Clydebank
, the builders of the Queen Elizabeth
and Queen Mary
, William Denny of Dumbarton, Lithgows
of Port Glasgow
and Scotts of Greenock
, the world’s senior shipbuilder. Also included are the records of important national and international companies such as North British Locomotive Co
, the world’s largest locomotive works in 1900; James Finlay & Sons, East India merchants; Gourock Ropeworks Co and their New Lanark Mills, now a world heritage site; J & P Coats, world dominant Paisley thread manufacturers; the House of Fraser
department store group; Anchor Line, cruise and emigrant passenger shipping company; Ivory & Sime, Edinburgh
investment trust managers; Babcock & Wilcox, boiler-makers; Lloyds TSB, Scotland; and the major Scottish brewing and distilling companies, such as Tennents
and Scottish & Newcastle.
There are papers of individual and families of entrepreneurs like Viscount William Weir (1877-1959), Sir James Lithgow
(1883-1952) and the Napier family including their shipping, automobile, and textile interests.
Normal opening hours are as follows:
The Archives are closed on all University holidays.
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
back to its foundation in 1451. Its earliest record is a charter dating from 1304 for the lands of the earliest mention of record-keeping in the University is in 1490 when it is recorded in the Annales Universitatis Glasguensis 1451–1558 that ‘in accordance with a proposition of the Lord Rector, a parchment book is ordered to be procured, in which important writs, statutes, and lists of the University, are to be engrossed: and also a paper book, for recording judicial proceedings.’ The Clerk to the Faculty, and subsequently the Clerk of Senate, maintained the records of the University due to the continuing requirement to ensure that the privileges, rights, policies and finances of the university were kept in good order.
Overview
The Clerk’s Press is the oldest surviving piece of university furniture and was acquired in 1634 to hold such records. In 1955 the first professional University Archivist was appointed and it is currently one of the largest archive services in ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
outside the national archives in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
.
The University’s archives are primary resources for Scotland's
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
educational, intellectual and cultural history and contain collections of records created by individual staff and students or groups and societies, as well as the business records of the University and its affiliated bodies.
The University Archives also manages the Scottish Business Archives, a large internationally important collection of business records (over 500 individual collections) covering the whole of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and beyond dating from the 18th century to the present. These collections reflect the contribution and breadth of activity that Scotland's
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
business, industry and enterprise has made past and present to the world economy. The collections were inaugurated by Sydney Checkland
Sydney Checkland
Sydney George Checkland was a British-Canadian economic historian.Born in Ottawa, Checkland worked at the Bank of Nova Scotia, then the Ottawa Sanitary Laundry Company, while he gained associate membership of the Canadian Bankers' Association...
, the first professor of Economic History
Economic history
Economic history is the study of economies or economic phenomena in the past. Analysis in economic history is undertaken using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and by applying economic theory to historical situations and institutions...
, in 1959 and have been managed by the University Archives since 1975. The Scottish Business Archive is one of the largest collection of business archives in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Collections
The collections include those for the University of Glasgow’s predecessor and affiliated bodies, such as Anderson’s College of Medicine, Glasgow Veterinary College, Glasgow Dental Hospital & School, Queen Margaret College, Royal Scottish Academy of Music & DramaRoyal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland is a conservatoire of music, drama, and dance in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1845 as the Glasgow Educational Association, it is the busiest performing arts venue in Scotland...
, St Andrews College of Education, St Mungo's College of Medicine, and Trinity College
Trinity College, Glasgow
Trinity College, Glasgow, Scotland, is the Church of Scotland's College at the University of Glasgow. It provides special supervision of candidates for the ministry through a Principal and a College Council...
. There are large collections of photographs relating to University personnel and buildings and Scottish topography and plans of University buildings and land.
The collection of shipbuilding
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
records, many held on behalf of the National Archives of Scotland
National Archives of Scotland
Based in Edinburgh, the National Archives of Scotland are the national archives of Scotland. The NAS claims to have one of the most varied collection of archives in Europe...
, is unrivalled and includes those of John Brown of Clydebank
Clydebank
Clydebank is a town in West Dunbartonshire, in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, Clydebank borders Dumbarton, the town with which it was combined to form West Dunbartonshire, as well as the town of Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire, and the Yoker and...
, the builders of the Queen Elizabeth
RMS Queen Elizabeth
RMS Queen Elizabeth was an ocean liner operated by the Cunard Line. Plying with her running mate Queen Mary as a luxury liner between Southampton, UK and New York City, USA via Cherbourg, France, she was also contracted for over twenty years to carry the Royal Mail as the second half of the two...
and Queen Mary
RMS Queen Mary
RMS Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily in the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line...
, William Denny of Dumbarton, Lithgows
Lithgows
Lithgows Limited, was a British shipbuilding company based in Kingston, Port Glasgow, on the River Clyde in Scotland.-Founding:The Company was established by Joseph Russell and his partners Anderson Rodger and William Lithgow who leased the Bay Yard in Port Glasgow from Cunliffe & Dunlop and...
of Port Glasgow
Port Glasgow
Port Glasgow is the second largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16617 persons...
and Scotts of Greenock
Greenock
Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...
, the world’s senior shipbuilder. Also included are the records of important national and international companies such as North British Locomotive Co
North British Locomotive Company
The North British Locomotive Company was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp Stewart and Company , Neilson, Reid and Company and Dübs and Company , creating the largest locomotive manufacturing company in Europe.Its main factories were...
, the world’s largest locomotive works in 1900; James Finlay & Sons, East India merchants; Gourock Ropeworks Co and their New Lanark Mills, now a world heritage site; J & P Coats, world dominant Paisley thread manufacturers; the House of Fraser
House of Fraser
House of Fraser is a British department store group with over 60 stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891 it was known as Fraser & Sons. The company grew steadily during the early 20th century, but after the Second...
department store group; Anchor Line, cruise and emigrant passenger shipping company; Ivory & Sime, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
investment trust managers; Babcock & Wilcox, boiler-makers; Lloyds TSB, Scotland; and the major Scottish brewing and distilling companies, such as Tennents
Wellpark Brewery
Wellpark Brewery is a brewery situated in Duke Street in the East End of Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1740 on the bank of the Molendinar Burn by Hugh and Robert Tennent...
and Scottish & Newcastle.
There are papers of individual and families of entrepreneurs like Viscount William Weir (1877-1959), Sir James Lithgow
Sir James Lithgow, 1st Baronet
Sir James Lithgow, 1st Baronet CB GBE MC TD was a Scottish industrialist who played a major role in restructuring the British shipbuilding and steelmaking industries in the 1930s in addition to playing an important role in formulating public policy and supervising wartime production.-Early...
(1883-1952) and the Napier family including their shipping, automobile, and textile interests.
Opening hours and admission
Admission to the Archives is free and everyone, members of the University, visiting researchers and members of the public can use the collections.Normal opening hours are as follows:
| Open | Close | |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 13.30hrs | 17.00hrs |
| Tuesday | 9.30hrs | 17.00hrs |
| Wednesday | 9.30hrs | 17.00hrs |
| Thursday | 9.30hrs | 20.00hrs |
| Friday | 9.30hrs | 17.00hrs |
The Archives are closed on all University holidays.