Over the years, the Glasgow & West of Scotland Family History Society has been donated a number of items – individual photos, documents, images and other ephemera – which to date we have been unable to share. Now we have set up Ephemera Corner, where you can find a photo and a brief description of each item. Where there are several pages or if you need a closer look, we can send you a scan of the item.
1. Archibald Browning Smith Drysdale
This certificate in Anaesthetics relates to the practical experience undergone in the Western Infirmary in 1916 by Archibald Browning Smith Drysdale.
Archibald Drysdale was born in 1895 in Dennistoun, Glasgow, the son of Robert Steele Drysdale and Annie McNeill Stewart. He served in WW1 as a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps, and graduated in Medicine from the University of Glasgow in 1918.
Archibald moved to England and in 1927 married Margaret Henderson at Pendleton in Lancashire. He died at Cabus, Preston on 27 May 1980.
2. George Alexander Tyson
This is the apprenticeship application form of George Alexander Tyson to Bertrams Limited, engineers and iron founders in Edinburgh, dated July 1939. George was born in the registration district of Dalry and Gorgie in Edinburgh to James Andrew Tyson and Jessie Paterson, and from the electoral registers, appears to have stayed with hsi parents most of his adult life. Nothing more is known of George until his death in Edinburgh on 15 August 2001.
3. West of Scotland Agricultural College (WSAC)
The West of Scotland Agricultural College was formed in 1899, the first agricultural college in Scotland. In 1900, it was based in Blythswood Square, Glasgow and leased Holmes Farm in Kilmarnock, where practical work was undertaken. In 1927, the estate of Auchincruive, Ayr was gifted to the College by the late John Hannah of Girvan Mains, and there lectures and demonstrations were given on the science and practice of agriculture.
This photograph was donated to the Society by the daughter of one of the students, and shows the names and images of the students and staff when the College was celebrating its Semi-Jubilee in 1925.
4. Roger Price
These are the birth registration document and Certificate of Service in the Royal Navy of Roger Price. Roger was born in 1876 to Benjamin and Ellinor Price at Dundyvan in Old Monkland, Lanarkshire, and went on to become a miner. In 1895, he volunteered for the Royal Navy and joined his first ship, the ‘Victory’, in November of that year. He became a qualified diver but was invalided out of the service in 1899. He later moved to New Zealand where he married. He and his wife had two children but both died without issue. Roger died in New Zealand, date unknown.
5. Kate or Maggie McLeod
This is a cabinet print taken by James Norval of Dunfermline & Alloa (operational dates 1879-1936). This company opened its Alloa branch in 1889, which suggests the photo was taken after that date, and the style of the woman’s dress suggests a date of around 1893-5. She is not in mourning dress and is not displaying an engagement or wedding ring, so the reason for the photo is not known. On the back is handwritten ‘Either Kate or Maggie McLeod’.
6. Bernard Patrick McLaughlin
This is a time-line and other information relating to the WW1 military service of Lance Corporal Bernard McLaughlin of the Machine Gun Corps. He enlisted in October 1915 and died on active service on 17 January 1917. He was son of Bernard McLaughlin and husband of Hope McLaughlin of 18 Cross Street, Partick. He was interred at the A.I.F. Burial Ground at Flers on the Somme in France.
7. William Stewart
This image is of the headstone of William Stewart from Glasgow who died aged 39 on December 17 1874 and was interred in Nevada’s Gold Hill cemetery.
Gold Hill was established in 1859 following gold discoveries, and enjoyed prosperity until the mid 1870s, with a peak population in 1873 of 8000. It is likely that William had joined the movement of Scots settlers to Nevada in search of his fortune, but no further information is available.
8. Unknown Girl
This photo was taken at one of Colin Ramsay’s two Glasgow studios between 1867 and 1876. The identity of the girl is unknown, but the picture may have been taken to record a special birthday. The photo was found in an antique shop in Olympia, Washington State, USA and donated to the Society.
9. Lachlan Loudoun MacLean and Loudoun James MacLean
These photos are of brothers Lachlan Loudoun MacLean (1890-1970) and Loudoun James MacLean (1893-1973). Their parents were Loudoun Francis MacLean (1848-1897) and Emily Sherwood Winser. Their grandparents were Lachlan MacLean M.D. of Coll and Isabella Mary Mackenzie (1803-1884).
10. Isabella Mary Mackenzie or MacLean
This is the grandmother of the boys shown in paragraph 8. Isabella Mary Mackenzie was born at Hartfield, Applecross in 1803 and married Lachlan MacLean of Coll in 1823 in Oban. They had daughter Elizabeth MacLean born on the island of Rum in 1835 who went on to marry John Sharp and have children Katharine and Helen Sharp.
Isabella was the grand daughter of John MacLeod of Raasay – ‘Young Rona’ of the ’45 – who had 3 sons and 10 daughters, the eldest of whom married Col. Mure-Campbell, later Earl of Loudoun.
11. The Snodgrass family of Beith
This collection was bought at a jumble sale in 2010 and handed in to the Society by a donor. It includes these two coloured photographs of Mr and Mrs Thomas Snodgrass, a number of black and white photos, trees of the Caskie and Kerr families and various other family papers.
The couple in the portraits are probably Thomas C Snodgrass (born 1843 in Stewarton) and Isabella Macpherson, daughter of Margaret Kerr. They had four children, two of whom married. James Kerr Snodgrass (born 1879 in Govan) married Isabella Fairgrieve Laing in 1920, and Thomas Snodgrass (born 1882 in Stewarton) married Lily Bella Blanden in 1916.
If you would like to explore this collection further, it is recommended that you phone the Research Centre for an appointment (0141 339 8303).
12. Bessie Stewart
This collection is a snapshot of a young woman’s life, mostly between 1929 and 1934, although there are items relating to the early 1940s. Bessie Stewart lived in Carntyne. She was an active member of the Buck’s Head Dramatic Club, took piano lessons and enjoyed the Bible Class social nights. The collection also includes assorted Christmas, engagement and 21st birthday cards, together with pocket diaries from 1930 to 1935.
If you would like to explore this collection further, it is recommended that you phone the Research Centre for an appointment (0141 339 8303).
13. The Bowie/Baxter/Scott Box
This is a collection of birth, marriage and death certificates etc relating to the Bowie/Scott family who owned a number of flats in Dennistoun. These papers cover two generations – Henry G Bowie (d.1978) and his spouse Sarah Jane Lawson Scott, and their daughter Mrs Isabel Baxter. The collection includes a large number of photographs, plus receipts and other paperwork relating to the family’s rental properties.
If you would like to explore this collection further, it is recommended that you phone the Research Centre for an appointment (0141 339 8303).
14. The Porter Collection
This collection was donated to the Society by a member in the USA – the postcards were part of her mother’s collection and she wanted to give them a good home. It includes images of Robert Burns’ home town, and several postcards have hand written messages on the back which may be of interest to family historians. (Edward Bear is not part of the collection!)
15. The McCredie Collection
This photograph and postcard collection was donated to the Society by one of our members. Items that may be of particular interest are postcards sent to a Miss Wark of Bridge of Allan, and photographs of a WW1 soldier, G W Bretherwick of HMS Nottingham.
16. Isabella Hastings
This photograph, by an unknown photographer, is of Isabella Hastings (nee Cockburn) taken some time during the 1890s. Isabella is in the middle, back row.
