This node is intended to show a
timeline of the history of
Glasgow,
Scotland up to the present day. It shows the development of Glasgow from a small village and town of religious importance to the bustling, busy city it is today.
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: 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
c
1150: The Glasgow Fair is an eight-day event
c
1174/c
1178:
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:
Dominicans (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 beseige 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
c
1330-
1350: The west end of the
cathedral is completed
1350: The
Black Death hits the town
1400-1499
c
1400:
Population estimate: 1500-2,000
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
Aberdeen University in
1494, and introduced
printing to
Scotland in
1507
1438: Bishop's Palace is built
1450: Glasgow is a "burgh of regality"
1451:
Glasgow University 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
c
1500: Population estimate is 2,500 - 3,000
1504:
Plague hits Glasgow; the city is eleventh among Scottish
burghs for
taxation revenue
c
1510: 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: Seige of
castle; estimated population is 3,000
1556: Estimated population c4,500
1560: The burgh of Glasgow is now represented in
parliament
1570: Andrew Melville rejuvenates the university
1574: Plague hits the city again
c
1576: 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 hits the city
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: Hutcheson's Grammar School is founded for
orphan boys; 50 buildings erected in Trongate
1645:
Montrose enters city, celebrates victories
1645-
1646: Plague hits city
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:
Glasgow University has around 400 students
1706: Anti-unionists riot; Glasgow is a major
smuggling port
1707:
Act of Union
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 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
1803:
Dorothy Wordsworth visits Glasgow
1809: General Association of Operative Weavers isformed
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
1820:
Radical insurrection
1825:
Glasgow University, 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 FC is founded
1868-
1870:
Glasgow University buildings at
Gilmorehill are built to designs by
George Gilbert Scott
1900-1999
1902: 20
football fans die at
Ibrox; 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 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 kills 69 children; Glasgow has nearly 100 cinemas
1932: The Dental Hospital in Sauchiehall Street is built
1934: Unemployed "Hunger marchers" shunned by
Ramsay MacDonald; "
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 at Bellahouston Park
1939:
World War II: Glasgow naval base ''
HMS Spartiate'' opens
1940: Bomb hits Merkland St 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 first British winners of
European Cup;
QE2 launched; trolley-buses abandoned
1969: Last daily steamers from Bridge Wharf
1970:
M8 and Kingston Bridge open
1971: 66 fans die at
Ibrox; Government refuse to save
Clyde shipbuilders
1975: Troops tackle rubbish caused by dustmans strike; Glasgow becomes the home of
Strathclyde Region's headquarters
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; millenium celebrations
2000-2005
2002: Final of
UEFA Champion's League held at
Hampden Park.
Real Madrid beat
Bayer Leverkusen 2-1.
See also
Glasgow
Scotland
Glasgow City Chambers
Scottish history
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
http://www.glasgowguide.co.uk/info-timeline.html Glasgow Guide
Previously published on wikipedia (and written by me)