Old Glasgow Pubs

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John Gorevan

Murray’s Bar

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89 Stockwell Street, Glasgow, G1 5HE

Stockwell Street Application Refused – 1909

The publican of 89 Stockwell Street, James Buchanan (Lived at 370 Cumberland Street) has applied for a certificate for new premises at 111 Stockwell Street, or alternatively for a provisional grand and confirmation for the same premises.

The current landlords of 89 Stockwell Street were the Glasgow & South-Western Railway Company. They were putting up another building and the licence was for that building. The plan was to move into the new premises and give up the licence for 89 Stockwell Street when it was ready.

Bailie Guest and the Chairman asked if the applicant would consider giving up the licence he held in South Wellington Street if they granted the licence of this new premises. Bailie Paxton, on behalf of the applicant said “I do not think you are entitled to bargain with the applicant at all.”

After the court had retired to consider their decision, the Chairman announced that both applications were refused unanimously.

Licence Holders

  • Miss Susan Murray
  • Mr James Buchanan

Do you know anything about this old Glasgow pub? Please get in touch or comment below.

Pubs – No Fun Allowed

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Reading through an article entitled ‘The Greatest Joke in History’ that described the joke that is the licensing laws (written in 1910). The article is a rant and a rave about the laws that are directed at public houses and not clubs.

No Opening on a Sunday

The article starts off with a rant about public houses being closed all day on a Sunday in Wales, Scotland and parts of Ireland, but England is only closed in the forenoon and afternoon on a Sunday.

The only way that someone in Scotland would be able to get a drink from a pub on a Sunday is if they are a bona fide traveller (Travelling for work and in need of ‘refreshment’).

No Fun Allowed!

If you were part of a club such as bowling, you would be able to take part in the activity on the premises, no problem at all. Have a drink and some fun with your friends and family is encouraged.

On the other side of the coin, a public house is ‘forbidden to allow any form of amusement or recreation on their premises and are not permitted without consent of the licensing bench to extend or improve their premises in any way that would make it more attractive and more fitted to meet the wants of the public.’

A man may not use a public-house for the purpose of passing an enjoyable hour with his friends at a game of cards, draughts, or dominoes.

Music was also banned in most parts of the country ‘even the automatic penny-in-the-slot musical boxes’. If there was a nice lawn or garden on the premises, the publican would lose his license if he allowed their customers to use this area to relax and refresh themselves.

There is an article from 1939 that answers the question ‘Are Darts Illegal?’

Most modern pubs these days have music, puggy machines, darts and karaoke, can you imagine your pub without any fun?

Auchintibber Inn

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High Blantyre

The Auchintibber Inn was owned by Mr J B H Struthers in 1910 and was known for creating a ‘mini paradise’ in the mining village.

In the heat of the temperance, publicans were fearful that they would lose their livelihoods and they were fresh out of ideas to keep the locals in their favour and stop them voting to become dry.

Mr Struthers decided that he would convert his land at the rear of the premises into a pitch to play an old Scottish sport called Quoiting.

The locals of the village all pulled together to create this paradise with Mr Struthers.

The article that includes there pictures is availble to be printed from the National Guardian. Please get in touch if you would like to purchase a copy. (Ref 12Aug1910)

The Lorne Bar

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32-34 Main Street, Bridgeton, Glasgow. Demolished.

Mr Patrick Donaghue owned this premises in 1911 and was subject to a very important case that affected publicans since the passing of the Licensing and the Children Acts.

Important Case under Children Act

In 1911, Patrick Donaghue was at the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh because he was charged with a contravention of the Children Act 1908, section 120 for allowing 3 children under the age of 14 years old to be in the bar of his premises at 32 Main Street, Bridgeton on the 8th of November 1910.

Mr Donaghue was convicted and fined 31s 6d or seven days, but appealed the decision.

This appeal was very important for the pub trade at the time because the law was very vague about where children were allowed to be in a pub and this helped gain some clarity.

As a result of the drawing of the inside of the premises (below), the conviction was quashed and Patrick was entitled to 10 guineas of expenses as a result.

The full article from the National Guardian is available for print for a small cost, get in touch with us for more information.

Plans of the premises that were used in the appeal.

The Lorne Bar was also known as the Misty Inn Bar between 1976 – 1981.

Glasgow Family History – Getting Started

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Starting out on your journey to find your ancestors can be quite intimidating if you don’t know where to start. We get a lot of emails every day asking about relatives in the licensed trade and though it would be great to put together a guide to help you on your way to finding out your family history.

What is Family History and Genealogy

Family History and Genealogy has become very popular over the past 10 years or so and with so many resources now available, it has never been better to get started. Now, what does it actually mean? Both of these terms are very similar. They both refer to researching and creating a list of your ancestors, often by using a family tree.

There are some debate about if Family History and Genealogy mean the same thing or if they have different meanings. Typically Genealogy is the term used for creating your family tree and Family History is a more personal touch on genealogy that involves researching the lives and stories from your ancestors.

Where do I start?

Free online Courses

I would recommend getting started by taking a free course by the University of Strathclyde called Genealogy: Researching Your Family Tree. I have done this course and highly recommend it to give yourself a basic understanding of family history.

Start your Family Tree

If you don’t have the time or want to take part in the course, you can jump into your Family History straight away by downloading a family tree chart from here.

Now that you have the visual representation, your next stage is to start documenting your current family that you are aware of. Use this time to also speak to your relatives that might have more knowledge about family members what you are not aware of.

You should get yourself over to MyHeritage to start your free trial. They have a fantastic database of records and also offer a DNA test that will tell you who your ancestors where… What an age we live in! This site will give your family tree a push forward with more information and records that have been digitised.

Hobby Sites

Once you have got a solid tree started, now you can start to research the lives of your ancestors and get a glimpse into their lives. What were their lives like? Where did they live? where did they work? Did they have any hobbies?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a magic resource out there that will tell you all of this information, but when you find our what a person’s job was, you can then use this information to look for more information about them. For example. If your ancestor was a publican (also written as a wine and spirit merchant) you will likely be able to find out about them on our website (www.oldglasgowpubs.com) and hopefully, get some stories too!

Further Resources