Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

GLASGOW
impulse from the erection by Messrs Tennant, Knox, and
Co., of a chemical work at St Rollox, in the northern
district of Glasgow, for the manufacture of sulphuric
acid, chloride of lime, soda, soap, etc. This is now one
of the most extensive chemical works in the world,
and the firm have connections and agencies in every
considerable mart both at home and abroad. In 1843
the company erected a ' monster chimney ' for the pur-
pose of carrying off, and preventing injury from, any
noxious gases that might arise in the process of their
manufacture. It was erected at a cost of about £12, 000,
and measures 40 feet in diameter at the base, and is 435J
feet high above ground. It is still counted one of the
sights of the city, though since 1857 it has been over-
topped by the chimney of Messrs. Townshend's chemical
works, which though only 32 feet in diameter has a
height of 454 feet above ground.
The manufacture of bottles and bottle glass was com-
menced at Glasgow in 1730, the first bottle-hou'se being
about where the S end of Jamaica Street now is, and
probably near the site of the Custom House. At first
the trade does not seem to have been very brisk, for
the workmen were only employed for four months in
the year, but now the manufacture is carried on very
extensively in Anderston and Port Dundas. The manu-
facture of flint glass was begun in 1777 by Messrs
Cookson & Co. of Newcastle, and under other firms is still
carried on with great vigour. The earthenware manu-
facture was commenced at Delftfield, near the Broomie-
law, in 1748. This was the first pottery in Scotland,
but for a long period the quality was decidedly inferior
to the English make, and the goods produced only of
the lowest quality, and the consumption in consequence
mostly local. Since, however, about 1829, and more
especially since 1S42, the manufacture has been greatly
increased and improved. New establishments have been
erected, and the productions have attained a beauty of
design and a delicacy of finish which now enable them to
compete successfully in all departments, and in both the
home and foreign markets, with the well-known Stafford-
shire ware. There were in 1896 about twenty potteries
within the city, the largest being at Garngad Hill, where
about 1000 hands are employed. The manufactures in-
clude every kind of product from the coarsest earthen-
ware to the finest porcelain, and the exports, both coast-
wise and foreign, amount to over 12,000 tons a year.
The rope manufacture, which dates from 1696, is con-
siderable, and so is the brush trade, which was first
introduced in 1755. The tanning of leather on a con-
siderable scale began soon after the Union, and a shoe
trade that followed it had attained in 1773 such import-
ance that there were two firms in that year each employ-
ing over 300 hands. The trade is now of large extent
for both home and foreign supply. The brewing busi-
ness is very old, and Glasgow was in the 17th century
noted for the excellence of its ale. It has greatly in-
creased in later times, and Messrs Tennent, of the
Wellpark Brewery in Duke Street, are among the largest
exporters of porter and bitter ale in the kingdom, their
produce bearing the highest character in the foreign
markets. There are twelve breweries. The first distil-
lery was established in Kirk Street, Gorbals, in 1786,
by William Menzies, his licence being the fourth granted
in Scotland. At that period the duty little exceeded
one penny per gallon, and the best malt spirits sold at
about 3s. per gallon. The trade both by distilleries
and agencies for houses situated elsewhere has now be-
come a very extensive one, the premises of the distillery
at Port Dundas being almost the largest in the world.
There are many other industries, too numerous to be
particularly noticed, and, in short, Glasgow may be set
down as the workshop of Scotland, there being, with a
very few exceptions, hardly an article useful to mankind
that is not made in the city of St Mungo.
All the iron trade of Scotland, with small exception,
belongs directly or indirectly to Glasgow, concentrating
here its business, commercially and financially, and
drawing hence almost all the articles of consumpt con-
nected with its works and workers. The iron in-
GLASGOW
dustry, now of such importance to the city, seems to
have been introduced in 1732 by the Smithfield Com-
pany, for the manufacture for export of all sorts of
hard ware. M'Ure describes their warehouse as 'built
on an eminency near the north side of the great key
or harbour at the Breamielaw,' and says that it con-
tained ' all sorts of iron work, from a lock and key to
an anchor of the greatest size.' The trade went on
in a fair way, for in 1772 there were imported into
the Clyde 836 tons of bar iron and 896 tons of pig
iron, while the exports of manufactured iron were 6 1 if
tons, of which a little over 489 tons went to Virginia.
The trade had not increased to a very great extent,
though it was growing, but about 1839, or perhaps a
little earlier, it began to show signs of greater develop-
ment, which rapidly took place in consequence of the
introduction of the hot-air blast, devised by Mr James
B. Neilson, manager of the Glasgow gasworks, and of
the greater demand for iron of all sorts following on
the introduction of the railway system. A great deal
of the iron reaches Glasgow in the form of pig iron, and
at different works within the city it is rolled and manu-
factured. The six furnaces of the Govan Ironworks —
popularly known as 'Dixon's Blazes,' from Mr Dixon
who erected them about 1837 — form a curious feature
in the district S of the Clyde. Besides the Govan works,
some of the other large premises are the Glasgow Iron-
works at Garngad Road, the Blochairn Steel Works near
the Alexandra Park, the Parkhead Forge at Parkhead,
and the Govan Forge and Steel Company, who manu-
facture the heaviest class of forgings for ships, marine
and ordinary engines, and mild steel castings and forg-
ings of all descriptions. For castings of various sanitary
and architectural appliances, the very large Saracen (at
Possilpark) and other foundries have a wide and
well-earned reputation. The increase of the iron trade
in Glasgow corresponds with that for the whole of
Scotland. In 1788 over the whole country there were
only eight furnaces at work, and their produce was only
one-sixth of what it would be now for the same number,
such has been the improvement that has taken place in
the methods of operation.
The following table shows the increase since —
Year.
No. of Furnaces.
Tons produced.
1806
IS
22.S40
1823
22
30,500
1833
31
44,000
1843
62
248,000
1851
114
740,000
1861
122
1,040,000
1870
1,206,000
1879
97
932,000
1S89
SS
998,000
In 1890, in consequence of the strike of furnacemen,
the production fell to 798,000 tons; but the average
amount may be taken at close on a million tons. From
80 to 90 steel furnaces annually produce also nearly half
a million tons of Siemens steel.
The prosperity of the trade between 1833 and 1851 is
well shown by the great increase in the number of the
furnaces, and the improvements in manufacture by the in-
creased output that these furnaces could produce. From
an average output of nearly 1400 tons per furnace in
1S33, the quantity rose, in 1843, after the introduction
of the hot blast, to 4000, and this has since again more
than doubled. In place of the 489 tons that had been
sent to Virginia in 1772, there were sent in 1860, to
America alone, no less than 78,000 tons, and though
this in 1861 fell in consequence of the war to 35,000
tons, France increased its consumption by 14,000 tons,
and Spain increased hers by the same amount. In
1895 the total shipments of iron from Glasgow amounted
to 248,515 tons.
Another of the great sources of Glasgow's prosperity
and success has been the abundance of coal in the sur-
rounding district, which has not only provided fuel for
the ironworks, the factories, and the steamships, but
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