The story of the successful careers in Glasgow of two Aberdeenshire farm boys – brothers Andrew and George Sharp
Andrew and George Sharp were two of the twelve children of David Cruden Sharp and his wife Catherine Leith, and were my great-grandmother’s brothers. They were both born at Tillyfour farm in the parish of Foveran, about twelve miles north of Aberdeen – Andrew in 1866 and George in 1873.
Andrew was the first of the brothers to leave home, probably in 1890, when he was about twenty four. He decided to seek work in Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, where there was an outlet in particular occupations for tall well-built young men from the rural parts of Scotland. While many entered the police force, Andrew instead joined the prison service. Most Glasgow working-class men at the time were under-nourished and could not meet the requirements of height and strength for these services. Andrew is later described as having a “splendid physique”. He began his career at Duke Street Prison, where he was appointed as a Second Class Warder.
