Timeline of Glasgow history
This article is intended to show a timeline of the history of Glasgow, Scotland, up to the present day.
500-1099
543: The 12th century Bishop Jocelyn will later claim Glasgow's monastic church was founded by Saint Kentigern, also known as Saint Mungo, in this year
560: Jocelyn claims Mungo/Kentigern made his first bishop in this year
1100-1199
1114: Glasgow is a farming village, with a monastic church and water mill; the reach of Glasgow's bishops extends to Cumbria; the church is elevated to temporary cathedral status by young David of Strathclyde, later David I
1123: A cathedral is built over Saint Kentigern's grave, near the site of a Celtic monastery
1134: The churches of Saint John and the Holy Sepulchre are in the city; the church of Saint James is dedicated
1136: The cathedral is consecrated in the presence of David I
c1150: The Glasgow Fair is an eight-day event
c1174/c1178: William the Lion makes Glasgow an episcopal burgh of barony, and grants Bishop Jocelyn a charter
1179?-1199?: Bishop gives abbot and convent of Melrose a plot of land in Glasgow
1200-1299
1220s: Early trades in the town include fishermen, millers, bakers, cobblers, painters, and blacksmiths; wooden merchant's houses replace peasant huts
1233: Cathedral still under reconstruction
1240: Diocesan authorities deeply in debt to bankers from Florence; church over Saint Kentigern's grave being added
1246: Dominican order (Blackfriars) building their own church.
1258: Work on Kentigern's church complete
1274: Diocese includes Teviotdale in Dumfries
1286: Glasgow Bridge, made of timber, spans the River Clyde
1293: Saint Mary's church is in the town
1295: Saint Enoch's church is also in the town, and there is a second water mill beside the Gallowgate
1300-1399
1301: Edward I of England visits Saint Kentigern's tomb in the town. Edward forces the townspeople to make a giant wooden siege tower and supply 30 wagons to transport it to Bothwell Castle to besiege it, along with tools, iron and coal; the town has trade in salmon and herring
1320: There is a St Thomas's Church in the town, with a Florentine Dean
c1330-1350: The west end of the cathedral is completed
1350: The Black Death hits the town
1400-1499
c1400: Population estimate: 1,500-2,000
1410: The wooden bridge across the River Clyde is replaced by an arched stone bridge.
1431: William Elphinstone is born. He later obtained a papal bull for the University of Aberdeen in 1494, and introduced printing to Scotland in 1507
1438: Bishop's Palace is built
1450: Glasgow is a "burgh of regality"
1451: the University of Glasgow is established by bull of Pope Nicholas V, and founded by Bishop Turnbull, beside Blackfriars monastery
1453: John Stewart, Glasgow's first Provost, gives a grant of privileges to the university
1460: There is a Grammar School in the city; "fulling" is carried on; an extension to the college is begun (finished 1660)
1464: St Nicholas Hospital is in the city
1471: Provands Lordship, Glasgow's oldest dwelling-house, is built
1475: The Greyfriars (Franciscans)are granted a tenement and lands on the High Street; St Ninian's Hospital is established
1478: Other stone houses are built in Glasgow
1492: Pope Innocent VIII makes the See of Glasgow an Archbishopric - Robert Blackadder is the city's first archbishop
1500-1599
c1500: Population estimate is 2,500 - 3,000
1504: Plague hits Glasgow; the city is eleventh among Scottish burghs for taxation revenue
c1510: The Bishop's Palace is extended
1516-1559: The city's craft guilds are incorporated
1518: The university becomes more active
1520: The archdiocese now includes the former diocese of Argyll
1525: James Houston founds the Tron Church
1535-1556: Glasgow pays 1.5% - 3% of total Scottish burgh taxes
1544: Siege of castle; estimated population is 3,000
1556: Estimated population c4,500
1560: The burgh of Glasgow is now represented in United Kingdom parliament
1570: Andrew Melville rejuvenates the university
1574: Plague hits the city again
c1576: The council mill is rebuilt
1579: The city's cathedral is saved from demolition by craftsmen threatening to riot
1581: Glasgow pays 66% of upper Clyde customs tax
1584: Plague
1589: Golf is played on Glasgow Green
1593: Glasgow a presbytery in new self-governing church
1594: Glasgow is now fifth in ranking of Scottish burghs, paying 4.5% of export customs
1600-1699
1600: Population estimates for the city vary between 5000 and 7500
1604: 361 craftsmen work in fourteen trades, including two surgeons and 213 merchants
1605: The Trades House and Merchants House combine to form the first town council
1610: The General Assembly approves the restoration of diocesan episcopacy in Scotland
1611: Glasgow becomes a royal burgh, with a population of about 7600
1615: The Jesuit John Ogilvy is hanged for saying Mass
1621: Glasgow pays 3%-10% of Scottish customs duties
1625: The first quay is built at Broomielaw
1626: The Tolbooth is constructed
1636: There are 120 students at the university
1638: Covenanters at the General Assembly plan to abolish bishops
1639: Glasgow the 3rd richest burgh in Scotland, one-fifth as rich as Edinburgh; Hutcheson's Hospital is founded
1641: Hutchesons' Grammar School is founded for orphan boys; 50 buildings erected in Trongate
1645: Montrose enters city, celebrates victories
1649: Glasgow displaces Perth as Scotland's 4th trading centre; pays 6.5% of customs duties
1652: Major fire makes about a thousand families homeless; an early fire engine from Edinburgh helps put out the blaze
1655: Glasgow trades in coal, hoops, meal, oats, butter, herring, salt, paper, prunes, timber, and hides: goat, kid, and deerskins
1656: Glasgow is described as a "flourishing city", with "strong stone walls"
1659-1665: Bridgegate merchants' house is rebuilt
1660: A coal pit is reported in the Gorbals
1661: Several pits reported
1662: A post office opens
1663: Alexander Burnet is appointed archbishop
1668: Land is purchased for a new harbour - later Port Glasgow
1669: Burnet resigns the archbishopric, objects to Act of Supremacy
1670: Glasgow displaces Aberdeen and Dundee to become Scotland's second trade city
1673: Colonel Walter Whiteford opens city's first coffee house
1675: Magistrates take action against unauthorised prayer meetings
1677: Another major fire hits the city
1678: First stagecoaches run to Edinburgh
1680: The city's population is perhaps around 12,000, with 450 traders, 100 trading overseas
1688: Broomielaw Quay is reconstructed following dredging of the River Clyde
1690 Glasgow is re-chartered as a royal burgh; the city has an early Bank of Scotland branch
1700-1799
1702: the University of Glasgow has around 400 students
1706: Anti-unionists riot; Glasgow is a major smuggling port
1710: The city's population is estimated to be 13,000; over 200 shops are open; much of the city is liable to flooding
1712: Glasgow owners own 4% of Scottish fleet, 46 vessels
1715: Glasgow Courant newspaper appears
1718: Possible date for first Glasgow vessel to sail to America
1719: Cotton printing has begun
1720: Glasgow's estimated population is 15,000
1721-1735: James Anderson builds "Andersontown" (modern-day Anderston) village
1725: Glasgow occupied by General Wade's army; protests and street violence against liquor tax
1726: Daniel Defoe describes Glasgow as "The cleanest and best-built city in Britain"; 50 ships a year sail to America
1729: The Glasgow Journal newspaper is published
1730: The Glasgow Linen Society is formed
1735: The city's ship-owners own 67 ships
1736: The first history of Glasgow is published by John McUre
1737-1760: A new Town Hall is built west of the Tollbooth
1738: The Anderston Weavers' Society is formed
1740: Approximately 685,000m of linen is made in Glasgow, some of which is sent to London
1740-1741: The Foulis brothers begin printing
1742: Delft pottery is manufactured in the city
1743: The Foulis brothers become printers to the university
1745: Tennents open a new brewery in Glasgow
1749: A stage coach service opens between Edinburgh and Glasgow
1750: There are five sugar refineries in the city
1751: The John Smith bookshop is established
1753: Foulis Academy is established at the university to promote art and design; turnpiking of main roads from Glasgow; the city's involvement in the tobacco trade is reflected in the naming of Virginia Street
1755: The estimated population of Glasgow is 23,500
1757: 2.2 million metres of linen are produced in the city
1760: Glasgow enjoys a wave of prosperity; there are 13 professors at Glasgow University
1763: David Dale opens a draper's shop in the city; regular coaches run from Glasgow to Greenock
1765: Joseph Black discovers latent heat
1769: Tennents brewers is now a large industry; James Watt patents his steam engine condenser
1771: The Scottish economy is boosted by trade through Glasgow
1775: Trade with America in tobacco, sugar, and cotton - the city's prosperity is at its height
1776: Adam Smith, a professor at Glasgow University, publishes Wealth of Nations
1779: Mobs protest against the Catholic Relief Act
1780: The construction of the Forth and Clyde Canal is completed
1781: Vessels of over 30 tons can now reach Broomielaw Quay
1782-1783: The Forth and Clyde Canal enables grain from London to ease famine in Glasgow
1783: Glasgow Chamber of Commerce is founded - the first in Britain
1785: A hot air balloonist flies from Glasgow to Hawick in the Borders; the firm of Thomsons is formed as bankers
1796: The Royal Technical College (which will later become The University of Strathclyde) is founded
1798: The Merchant Banking Company of Glasgow fails
1799: Demonstrations over bread prices; trade in tobacco and rum declines
1800-1899
1800: The River Clyde is 14ft (3.1m) deep, and supports 200 wharves and jetties; there is a large Gaelic community in the city
1800: The Glasgow Police Act is passed by Parliament allowing the creation of the first modern preventative police force
1803: Dorothy Wordsworth visits Glasgow
1809: General Association of Operative Weavers is formed
1810-1814: Glasgow Asylum for Lunatics is built in Dobbies Loan
1813: Weavers fail in bid for fair wages
1814: Glasgow Green is Europe's first public park
1815: The Glasgow Herald is published twice-weekly
1818: Public supply of gas begins in the city
1825: the University of Glasgow, still located in the High Street, has over 1200 students and about 30 professors; 10 coaches run to Edinburgh daily
1827: The Argyll Arcade opens
1828: James Beaumont Neilson makes breakthrough in iron-smelting technology; a total abstinence society is formed
1832: The city benefits from increased representation under the Great Reform Bill
1835-1874: The Liberals represents Glasgow in parliament
1836: The Forth and Clyde Canal has increased traffic in goods and passengers
1837: Violent cotton-spinners strike; the leaders are sentenced to transportation
1841: Chartist demonstration is addressed by Fergus O'Connor
1842: Glasgow slums "the filthiest in Britain"
1843: Disruption of the Church of Scotland
1844: Glasgow Stock Exchange opens
1846: Burgh boundaries are more than doubled to 5063 acres (2295 Ha)
1848: 100,000 people gather on Glasgow Green to support Chartists
1851: Glasgow is Scotland's largest city, with a population of 329,096; over 18% are Irish-born; Portland St suspension footbridge is built
1851-1854: Victoria Bridge is built at Stockwell
1858-1859: St Vincent St Church is built by Alexander "Greek" Thomson
1859: Loch Katrine water supply is opened by Queen Victoria
1863: Dr Henry Littlejohn becomes the city's first medical officer
1865: Edward Pritchard is hanged for killing his wife and mother-in-law
1866: The City Improvement Trust clears slums and constructs new roads and buildings
1867: Queen's Park F.C. is founded
1868-1870: the University of Glasgow buildings at Gilmorehill are built to designs by George Gilbert Scott
1873: Rangers F.C. is founded
1876: Partick Thistle F.C. is founded
1883: The Boys' Brigade is founded
1888: Celtic F.C. is founded
1900-1999
1902: 20 football fans die in the first Ibrox disaster; magistrates ban barmaids
1903: Charles Rennie Mackintosh builds Miss Cranston's Tearooms
1904: The Kings' and Pavilion Theatres open
1905: Theatre Royal opens
1905-1907: The Caledonian Railway extends the Central Hotel
1907-1911: New buildings for the Mitchell Library are constructed
1909: Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Glasgow School of Art opens
1910: Emigration leads to 20,000 housing vacancies in Glasgow
1911: International Exposition at Kelvingrove; Glasgow's population is 785,000
1914: Tramcars cover wide routes around Glasgow
1919: Large strike for a 40-hour week
1921: Sinn Feiners murder policeman
1923: Glasgow railways are grouped as part of the new London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS)
1925: There are approximately 200 miles of tramlines and 1100 trams in and around the city
1926: Violence during General Strike
1929: Hogmanay cinema fire causes stampede which kills 69 children in Glen Cinema; Glasgow has nearly 100 cinemas
1931: The Glasgow population peaks at 1,088,000 thus becoming Britain 2nd biggest city.
1932: The Dental Hospital in Sauchiehall Street is built
1934: Unemployed "Hunger marchers" shunned by Ramsay MacDonald; RMS Queen Mary launched
1935: Glasgow's subway becomes electric
1936: Overcrowding exists in 29% of Glasgow's houses
1937: Citywide automatic telephone dialling becomes available
1938: Glasgow hosts Empire Exhibition, Scotland 1938 at Bellahouston Park
1939: World War II: Glasgow naval base HMS Spartiate opens
1940: Bomb hits Merkland Street subway station, closes underground for four months
1941: Bombing raids on Clydebank, 500 killed
1944: Glasgow trams carry about 14 million passengers
1946: Glasgow naval base HMS Spartiate closes
1949: Trolley buses introduced, condemned by pedestrians as the "whispering death"
1950: Eye infirmary demolished
1951: Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) is formed by merger
1952-1955: Union Bank of Scotland absorbed by Bank of Scotland
1958: William Burrell dies, bequeaths Burrell Collection; Lanarkshire County Council moves its headquarters from Ingram Street to Hamilton
1960: Duke Street prison closed
1962: Trams stopped running
1964: University of Strathclyde established; Beeching closes low-level (Argyle) line
1966: Buchanan Street and St Enoch railway stations close
1967: Celtic F.C. first British winners of European Cup; RMS QE2 launched; trolley-buses withdrawn
1969: Last daily steamers from Bridge Wharf
1970: M8 motorway and Kingston Bridge open
1971: 66 football fans die in the second Ibrox disaster; Government refuse to save Upper Clyde Shipbuilders
1975: British Army tackle rubbish caused by dustmans strike; Glasgow becomes the home of Strathclyde Region's headquarters; the city sees the start of Britain's first mass-circulation daily newspaper workers' cooperative when the Scottish Daily News opens in Albion Street in May, as well as the country's first newspaper work-in when it folds after six months.
1979-1980: Low level Argyle Line re-opens
1982: Roy Jenkins wins Hillhead by-election for SDP
1983: Burrell Collection opens
1985: Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre opens; Glasgow population is 734,000
1988: The Glasgow Garden Festival hosts this year's National Garden Festival and attracts 4.3 million visitors.
1989: High number of poll tax arrears; St Enoch Centre opens
1990: Cultural city of Europe; McLellan Galleries re-opens; Glasgow Royal Concert Hall completed; the QE2 returns to the river Clyde to mark the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Cunard Steam Ship Company.
1993: Opening of the new St Mungo’s Museum, the UK’s only Museum of Religion, next to the city’s 13th century cathedral.
1996: Glasgow Festival of Visual Arts; opening of the Gallery of Modern Art in the former Stirling’s Library; first Glasgow International Festival of Design
1996-1999: Festival of Architecture and Design
1997: Opening of new £38 million Clyde Auditorium at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.
1999: Glasgow is UK City of Architecture and Design; Buchanan Galleries open; millennium celebrations
2000-2006
2002: Final of UEFA Champion's League held at Hampden Park. Real Madrid beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1.
2004: Stockline Plastics factory explosion, Nine people dead, 37 injured, 15 seriously.
2005: The city launches a bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
2006: Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum reopens after its three-year, £27.9million restoration
2007: Final of UEFA Cup to be held at Hampden Park on 16 May.
See also
Sources
- The Oxford Companion to Scottish History, ed. Michael Lynch, Oxford University Press, 2001
- The Making of Scotland, Robin Smith, Canongate Books, 2001
- The Hutchinson Encyclopedia, 1997 ed., Helicon Publishing Ltd, 1996
- Chronicle of Britain, Chronicle Communications Ltd, 1992
- Glasgow Guide
