Weavers'Society of Anderston

[Colin Bain]

My g-g-grandfather, John Bain, was a weaver in Anderston during the 1820's and 1830's. He married a Mary Irvine in 1828 and over the course of the next 5 years they had three sons (the youngest of whom was my g-grandfather, Thomas). Mary remarried in Nov 1839 which could lead to the reasonable presumption that John died sometime between 1833 (when Thomas was born) and the time of her second marriage.

I have learned that the weavers of Anderston had incorporated themselves as early as 1738 as the "Weavers' Society of Anderston" for the dual purpose of controlling cloth quality and supporting members who became infirm or destitute. It is highly possible that John Bain was a member of the Society and the family may even have received some help at the time of his death. I understand that records of the Society survive and are held in the Glasgow City Archives.

My dilemna is that I am unable to search the records. So, if anyone may be planning to visit the Glasgow City Archives I should be extremely grateful if they could access the records of the Weavers' Society of Anderston and look through those over the timeframe 1825-1839 for any mention of John Bain. Even a contact name would be appreciated.

Many thanks in anticipation
Colin Bain

[Valerie Wilson]

Hello Colin
Reading your memo, my ggggrandfather George Irving was a Weaver, stated on my gggr-thers marriage certificate, when he married in Newcastle-on-tyne 31.3.1840 to Mary Ann Oldham. James Irving was george's son and has stated on 1851 UK census that he was born Gretna, there I stop, have found a lot of George's around the district, but if there is a Weaver's Society he may have been registered, can you help me here as I dod not know George's spouse's name?

[joette]

Hi to both of you & a specail welcome to TalkingScot for Valerie.
I would be happy to see if the Mitchell Library does hold such records when I'm up for another wee visit at the end of October-I always find a reason to visit the Mitchell as it holds such vast records.
If there's anybody else who can throw further light on either of your queries they will be along at some point too.

[Colin Bain]

Hi Valerie,

Since posting my note I've been fortunate enough to find a CD with the Rules & Regs of the Weavers' Society of Anderston, a list of Office-Bearers from inauguration (1738) to 1900, a 1857 members' list and a list of others who joined up to 1900.

Firstly, I am not familiar with Gretna or its location (it hasn't come into my orbit of interest) but should mention that Anderston is a district of Glasgow that was established in the 1720's as a hand-weavers' village. The Weavers' Society was formed there mainly to control the quality of cloth produced in the village and also to act as a friendly society providing welfare to members. This became its main role in later years.

Secondly, by the time George (David?) Irving was born (1820) the hand-weavers in Glasgow were facing extinction as textile manufacture moved from a cottage to a factory-based industry. Their situation became so desperate that they rioted in 1820 and a number were tried and executed. There were still weavers in Glasgow but they were mainly powerloom weavers employed in the mills (as many as 10,000 in 1830).

Nevertheless, I've looked through the CD I acquired for any mention of the Irving name and found none were members in 1857 or admitted to membership from then till 1900. And further, no Irvings were Office-bearers from 1840 to 1870.

Sorry to have such negative news but welcome to TalkingScot and best wishes in your family research.

Cheers
Colin

[Colin Bain]

Hi Joette,

Many thanks for the offer to do some hunting in the Mitchell Library on my behalf later this month. Anything you find will be truly appreciated.

As I mentioned in a reply to Valerie, I recently acquired a CD with some information on members of the Weavers' Society of Anderston. This was purchased through Anguline Research Archives. Among other things, the CD has a listing of Office-bearers elected at Annual Meetings from 1738 to 1900. In this listing I found
- a William Bain who served as Clerk (Secretary?) of the Society from 1798 to 1808, and
- a John Bain who was elected as one of the Society's Masters over a 3-year period 1808 - 1810 and again in 1824. It is possible that the two periods of office were held by different people (perhaps father and son?) and if that was the case the John Bain who is of immediate interest to me (I haven't found his parents as yet) may well be the one who held office in 1824.

Look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Again, many thanks
Colin

[Currie]

I just stumbled across this and it rang a bell. I’ve no idea what’s inside.

“Excerpts from the Ancient Records of the Weavers' Society of Anderston” (1879)
http://www.archive.org/details/excerpts ... 00andegoog

Alan

[Colin Bain]

Hi Alan,

Thanks for taking the trouble to provide this link. However, it refers to the publication I bought earlier (see above) on CD from Anguline Research Archives. Had I been as smart enough I might have been able to access it, as you have, for free!

The publication is encouraging as it mentions two members of the Bain family but I really need to get to the Mitchell Library, where more exrensive records of the Weavers' Society of Anderston are held, to confirm whether these are connected to the line I'm tracking.

Thanks again and a happy NY
Colin

[Currie]

Hello Colin and a Happy New Year to you.

That’s happened to me quite a few times. They say ‘all good things come to those who wait’ but whenever I’ve tried that the wait has always seemed to be forever.

All the best,
Alan