The history of this iconic Glasgow Institution will be told from its inception in 1790 until the present day. Modelled on the Royal Humane Society of London it has provide a continuous rescue service from immersions that have taken place in the River Clyde and associated lochs, ponds and waterways. Housed on Glasgow Green its history mirrors the changes that have taken place on the haughs of the river, and the development of the City as a port and a major manufacturer of ships. Largely funded by bequeaths, subscriptions and donations, it has employed Officers of the Society whose dedicated work has saved the lives of many who, either by accident or intention, have fallen into the swirling waters of the river. Recent legislation has changed the primary purpose of the Glasgow Humane Society although it and its officers remain 'dear to the heart' of the citizens of the City.
UPDATE: Iain Whyte: "Send back the money - a Scottish slavery issue": Friday 16th January 2015
Unfortunately the talk planned for Friday 16th January 2015 had to be cancelled at short notice due to the inclement weather. The decision was taken in the late afternoon during the heavy snow shower which started then. It is hoped that Iain Whyte's talk can be rescheduled for another Friday night this spring.
Iain Whyte: "Send back the money - a Scottish slavery issue": Friday 16th January 2015
Iain Whyte’s talk will deal with a problem that occurred after the Disruption of 1843 when nearly 500 ministers left the Church of Scotland, taking many members of their congregations with them, to form the Free Church. In order to build churches for the new Free congregations funding was sought from a range of sympathetic sources. The problem arose when it was accepted from Presbyterian churches in slave-holding communities in America. Needless to say, this was extremely controversial. The Reverend Dr Iain Whyte is a retired Church of Scotland minister who has published three books on attitudes to black slavery in Scotland.
A new home for the Antiquaries
In October 2014 problems with our previous meeting venue forced the Antiquaries to look for a new home. We discovered that the Park Centre in Kerr Street, Kirkintilloch, was available on Friday evenings and decided to move there. Two meetings were held in November, including one to make up for the forced cancellation of our October meeting, and a further meeting was held in the Park Centre on 5th December. All three were well attended and many comments appreciative of the ambience of the Park Centre have been received by the Committee. Warm thanks are due to the Society Vice President, Rosalind McMeekin, and the caretaker of the Park Centre, John McLaren, for their part in achieving this smooth transition. However, nothing is ever ‘writ in tablets of stone’ and the Antiquaries Committee is always keen to receive members’ views on options regarding date and place of meeting. Meanwhile we are grateful to have achieved a speedy and apparently painless transition to new surroundings.
William B Black: "The Templeton Mill collapse": Friday 5th December 2014
Our member Bill Black will describe a tragic event of 1889, when during high winds, a wall under construction at Glasgow’s famous Templeton Carpet Factory collapsed into an adjoining weaving shed. He will attempt to correct some of the mythology surrounding this event in which twenty-nine young women lost their lives. The Society is lucky to have Bill as a member and regular speaker, with his seemingly unlimited supply of talks, on a wide variety of interesting subjects, from all over the West of Scotland.
Don Martin: 'Kirkintilloch and Lenzie fifty years ago': Friday 21st November 2014
During the early 1960s the Society’s present secretary took a very large number of photographs of the Kirkintilloch/Lenzie area. His main purpose was to record local transport services, especially the declining railway network, the replacement of steam on the railways by diesel haulage, the disappearance of the Lawson branding on local buses, and the last years of the Forth & Clyde Canal before its 1962 closure. However, he also photographed many other local subjects, including street scenes. This year he has been re-visiting many of the sites to take 50-year equivalent views. Both old and new will be presented in this talk, postponed from Friday 10th October 2014.
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