Blog @ StrathArchives - LibGuides at University of Strathclyde

Portrait of George Birkbeck sitting at a desk. In 1799, the managers of Anderson’s Institution appointed George Birkbeck (1776–1841) to replace Thomas Garnett as Professor of Natural Philosophy. A keen supporter of education for the working classes, Birkbeck recognised the need to produce skilled tradesmen. In 1800, he delivered a course which is regarded as being the first engineering course at Anderson’s Institution. The course, entitled ‘The Principles and Powers of Mechanical Energies’, proved to be very popular.

Birkbeck left Anderson’s Institution in 1804, but his mechanics’ class continued to meet. In 1823, the class broke away from Anderson’s Institution and set itself up as the Glasgow Mechanics’ Institute, amongst the first of the new breed of Mechanics Institutes which were being established at that time to offer technical education to the working classes.

After his departure from Anderson’s Institution, Birkbeck continued to encourage education for the working classes. He delivered mechanics’ classes in Liverpool, Hull and Birmingham and, later, whilst working as a physician in London, founded the London Mechanics’ Institution, the ancestor of Birkbeck College.

This portrait of Birkbeck by William Bewick was commissioned by the mechanics’ class at Andersons’ Institution in 1823. It is part of the University’s collection of artworks.

Reference: GLAEX A15, Portrait of George Birkbeck

Recent Posts

Celebrating friendship: student autograph albums

This year, Book Week Scotland (17-25 November 2025) is celebrating stories of friendship. Friendships formed at college or university often prove to be lifelong bonds, and this was certainly the case for many students at Strathclyde’s antecedent institutions, which include Glasgow’s early teacher training colleges. Autograph albums: a popular pastimeThis post highlights the friendships documented in autograph albums owned by three teacher training students in the early twentieth century. At that time, compiling an autograph album was a popular activity, particularly for younger people. A blank album would frequently be given as a gift, and the recipient would then ask their friends and classmates to fill its pages with verses, sketches, and other mementoes, transforming it into a unique and enduring record of friendship.The owners and their albumsThe owners of the three albums considered here were all female students taking the General Certificate course to qualify as primary school teachers. The earliest volume belonged to Sarah McLellan (1884-1956), who studied at the Glasgow Church of Scotland Training College (also known as Dundas Vale) from 1903-1905 (reference: CSTC/7/13). The first page of Sarah’s album is inscribed by her mother, Annie McLellan, and dated 18 January 1905. This was the date of Sarah’s 21st birthday, which suggests that her album was a birthday gift. The second album belonged to an unidentified female student who attended another of Strathclyde’s antecedent institutions, the Glasgow Free Church Training College, from 1906-1908 (reference: FCTC/8/9). The third album belonged to Mary McDonald (1898-1997), who studied at the Glasgow Provincial Training College from 1917-1919 (reference: JCE/22/2/26). The flyleaf bears Mary’s name, address and the date: 14 July 1918. This was the date of her 20th birthday, again indicating that she had received her album as a gift.Student lifeIn the early twentieth century, hundreds of female students were admitted to Glasgow’s teacher training colleges every year. Each college divided its new intake of students into several large sections, and the students then remained in their allocated section throughout their two-year course. All three autograph books have a page inscribed with the names of every student in the owner’s training section. In the volumes belonging to Sarah McLellan and Mary McDonald, a handful of those who are named on the section page also added their full home address on a separate page. Presumably, these were the girls with whom Mary and Sarah were particularly friendly, and with whom they most wanted to stay in touch.Artistic and literary contributionsThe other pages are covered with personal inscriptions by individual students, generally in the form of verses or drawings. When invited to sign a classmate’s album, a student would select a page for herself, write or draw her contribution and put her signature or initials at the bottom of the page, usually with the date. More rarely, she might contribute two or more pages to the same volume, like Mary McDonald’s classmate, Jenny Bonar, who penned at least three sets of sketches for Mary’s album. While the most thoughtful and detailed inscriptions probably came from the owner’s closest friends, only 14 of the 80 students within Mary McDonald’s college section provided an illustration or a literary contribution for her album. Mary may only have invited contributions from these select few, owing to the logistical difficulties of circulating the album to every member of such a large section.The dates appended to each contribution suggest that Sarah McLellan, Mary McDonald and the third, unidentified owner each began the process of collecting inscriptions from their classmates well in advance of finishing their studies. This was essential, as every person invited to contribute would need time for inspiration to strike, and to perfect their inscription or illustration before then returning the book, to be handed on to the next contributor. Sarah McLellan received her blank album in January 1905 and was due to complete her training course in July of that year; we know that her classmates were contributing to the album by March 1905, if not a little earlier. Mary McDonald received her album in July 1918 and was due to finish her training course in July 1919. Her classmates were signing the album’s pages by August 1918. The unidentified owner of the remaining album started her training in 1906 and completed it in July 1908. Although we do not know exactly when she acquired the album, her classmates were filling up its pages by September 1907.Many of the students’ contributions are small watercolours, or sketches in pencil and ink. Delicate flower studies, landscapes and seascapes feature prominently, as well as portraits and some illustrations of animals and birds. Several examples of these are shown below.References: CSTC/7/13, FCTC/8/9The quality of the illustrations reflects the fact that the training course for primary teachers included both drawing and nature study. Many of the students were accomplished artists who gained endorsements to teach drawing in addition to their general teaching qualification.Themes of sentiment and symbolismSeveral sketches in the albums depict boats sailing into the sunset, signifying the end of girlhood, of training, and of the students’ concentrated time together. Other contributions reflect topics covered in the teacher training course or make more overt reference to the student experience. One of Sarah McLellan’s classmates, for instance, reproduced the words and melody of ‘The Normal Call,’ which was the Church of Scotland Training College song, while this drawing by Mary McDonald’s classmate, Victoria Gaul, pokes fun at the psychology classes that were part of the students’ curriculum:Reference: JCE/22/2/26In keeping with the sentimental purpose of the albums, some contributors copied out carefully chosen verses by Burns and other authors. These either praised the personal qualities of the volume’s owner, or entreated her to think of, and remember, the contributor. Other students expressed hopes for the owner’s future happiness and good fortune, especially in the pursuit of love and marriage. A highlight of this type is the beautifully executed ‘map of matrimony’ drawn by Annie S. MacKenzie in 1907. Plotting the course of courtship, the map guides Annie’s classmate from the starting point of ‘spinster isles’ and ‘bachelor cove’ down through the ‘strait of flirtation’ and the ‘gulf of matrimony’, with the journey culminating at the ‘region of rejoicing’.Reference: FCTC/8/9Not all female students aspired to matrimony, however. Another contributor to the same album, Marion Burleigh, urged its owner to ‘gather gear by every wile … for the glorious privilege / Of being independent.’ Humour also characterised many students’ contributions. This tongue-in-cheek illustration by Sarah McLellan’s classmate, Jane G. Martin, depicts a future suitor striving to win Sarah’s hand:Reference: CSTC/7/13Perhaps the most charming and creative contribution is the ‘Casket of Gems’ (pictured below), drawn by another of Sarah McLellan’s classmates, Janie P. Young. Topped with a bow displaying the initials ‘DVTC’, for Dundas Vale Training College, and the dates ‘1903-1905’, signifying Sarah’s period of study, the casket contains everything deemed necessary for a young Edwardian woman to succeed in life: the cure for worry (‘laughter’), the cure for love (‘marriage’), and the cure for heartache (‘sympathy’); the best rouge (‘early rising’), the elixir of life (‘love’), and the balm of all ills (‘essence of tu-lips’); as well as the cure for laziness (‘work’), the balm of life (‘contentment’) and a stimulating tonic (‘courtship’). Each gem is revealed by lifting the small, square flaps of the casket.Reference: CSTC/7/13Beyond college: friendships that lastedUpon qualification, most of the students who signed the autograph albums were posted to schools in and around Glasgow. Living and working within reasonable travelling distance of each other must have helped them to maintain contact with their college friends. Two of the girls from Mary McDonald’s training section inscribed her album in December 1919 and February 1920, approximately six months after they had completed their course (July 1919). This suggests that the friendships forged at college continued, and that Mary saw her two classmates again after concluding her studies. In fact, Mary’s section went on to hold annual reunions for the next 60 years, and it is tempting to speculate that she took her autograph book along on these occasions, to reminisce with those who had become lifelong friends.Mary McDonald (pictured in the second row, second from left) and fellow students, 1919 (reference: JCE/22/2/26).Preserving friendship in the ArchivesSarah McLellan, Mary McDonald and the third, unidentified student all continued to collect inscriptions and illustrations in their albums after completing their studies. They also received contributions from family and friends outside their student circle, but the autographs of their college classmates form the nucleus of each album. These unique and beautiful volumes, cherished by their owners throughout their lives, are now preserved in the University of Strathclyde Archives and Special Collections as evidence of the student teachers’ humour, artistic talent, and most of all, their friendship and regard for one another.This is a revised version of an article originally posted on Tumblr in November 2021....

New asbestos-related collection open for research: Michael Brazier papers

The latest collection to join our unique corpus of asbestos-related materials is the Michael Brazier papers on asbestos and the asbestos industry. Our asbestos collections provide first-hand evidence of the fight to gain scientific acceptance of the lethal effects of exposure to asbestos, the international campaigns to ban the substance, and efforts to get compensation for the victims of asbestos-related disease. These papers, gifted to the University by the son of Michael Brazier this year, are fascinating in that they document the asbestos debate from the point of view of an asbestos company. Michael Brazier was the grandson of Albert Alfred Brazier, the founder of A.A. Brazier & Co. This company was started in the 1920s as a UK distribution arm of the Johnsons Asbestos Company, which was based in Thetford Mines, Quebec. Michael started in the late 1940s learning the asbestos trade, became a company director and then eventually took over as managing director from his father, Wilfred Sydney Brazier.Michael was passionate in his interest in all the aspects of the asbestos debate, and he was part of the industry delegation to the parliamentary Advisory Committee on Asbestos in 1976-77. Over decades, he carefully collected reports, documents, and publications relating to the asbestos health debate, from the perspective of the asbestos industry. He was particularly interested in whether all forms of asbestos were as dangerous to health.A collection-level description is available on our online catalogue, including the option to download a detailed box-list for the collection.Further informationCollection catalogue: Michael Brazier papers on asbestos and the asbestos industryAsbestos-related collections resource guide(Image credit: Letterhead from A.A. Brazier, Acc 2065: Box 6)...

Archie Hind Centenary Project Update: funding success!

We are thrilled to share the news Eleanor Bell has been awarded a Catalyst Award grant by the AHRC to deliver the Archie Hind Centenary Project! This grant will be supporting the cataloguing, digitisation, research into, and engagement with the Archie Hind papers as well as new oral history interviews with those who knew Archie. Detailed cataloguing and digitisation will open up this collection that was previously thought lost. Eleanor will study the papers and discover more about Archie Hind’s creative process, uncover his unpublished writings, and trace his wider literary and social networks. This ground-breaking project will add new knowledge to the field of Scottish Literature and make the collection available for generations of researchers to come. We are very excited to begin the project, with Eleanor, in 2026. The activities will lead us into the centenary of Archie Hind’s birth in 2028 where the outcomes can all be celebrated in style. Eleanor reflected: ‘I’m delighted to have received this AHRC Catalyst funding and very much look forward to collaborating with Archives & Special Collections over the next few years in order to fully explore and unlock the potential of the Archie Hind Papers.’Congratulations to Eleanor on securing one of the most prestigious and competitive funding awards in the in the UK!Find out more about the Archie Hind Centenary project:The discovery of the Archie Hind papers.Archie Hind Project blog-posts. [image credits: Eleanor Bell and the collection]...

Archie Hind Centenary Project Update: Hind at the Glasgow City Chambers

Eleanor Bell and Rachael Jones were delighted to attend a Glasgow850 celebration last month. “Archie Hind and Dalmarnock Power Station”, a portrait painted by Alasdair Gray, was brought out of storage and installed on the ground floor of the City Chambers. Painted in 1977, Dalmarnock Power station was once a symbol of Glasgow’s industrial might and provides a fitting backdrop for the author of The Dear Green Place. The painting is one of a series of 30 paintings by Gray that record Glasgow and its citizens: an initiative by Elspeth King from the People’s Palace. The installation at the City Chambers also includes artworks by pupils from St Mungo’s Academy that were inspired by the Gray portrait. Find out more on the Glasgow850 news site.All visitors can view the painting until 3 November 2025.Find our Archie Hind updates by searching our blog-site for ‘Hind’.Featured image courtesy of Glasgow City Chambers. From left to right: Sorcha Dallas, curator of The Alasdair Gray Archive; Dr Eleanor Bell, Postgraduate Research Director for the Department of Humanities; Lord Provost of Glasgow Jacqueline McLaren; Sheila Hind, daughter of Archie Hind; Rachael Jones, Assistant Archivist....

Information Services Andersonian Library Guides

Strathclyde at 60: George Birkbeck and the first mechanics class

Leave a comment