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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Lanarkshire => Topic started by: Wilton Endeavour on Sunday 01 January 17 21:04 GMT (UK)
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I am looking on information on either a chocolate factory or a biscuit factory or both that was in Glasgow in 1919.
The girl in question was residing at 21 Possil Road, Glasgow and her occupation was a Chocolate packer.
Her mother in law was a biscuit packer. I was thinking it could have been Tunnocks or Gray Dunn's. So if any one can come up with any factories that existed in 1919.
Yours,
Wilton Endeavour.
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Hi there, Dont think it would be Tunnocks a bit too far out. McFarlane and Laing were at the Gallowgate. Gray and Dunn were in Kinning Park (South side of Glasgow) Bilsland bakey was at Anderson, just off the Broomielaw. Thats all I can find at the moment
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The Coop at Shieldhall made just about everything, incl biscuits. Beattie's was another biscuit maker but I believe Burton's had a place in Springburn which was adjacent to Possil.
Skoosh.
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Could have been the City Bakeries, it was a huge concern with dozens of shops, so it would probably have had a biscuit department and a chocolate department. When I remember it the bakery (or factory) was in Balmore Road but when Sancti was in short trousers it was in Clarendon Street, which was at the foot of Maryhill Road in the Woodside - St George's Cross area, a stone's throw from Firhill and the Round Toll/Possil Road.
http://www.woodsideonline.org.uk/heritage/industry-factories-and-shops/city-bakeries/
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21 Possil Road would probably have been right down at St George's Road, not in the Possil itself Skoosh.
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Sugar refining was the basis of Glasgow's Confectionery industry, which continued to expand after the last refinery closed & cheap continental sugar became available. Wotherspoon, Buchanan, Hay, Birrell's, Stewart & Young & Montgomery's, big firms who probably also made chocolate? There were two chocolate factories, Carson's Ltd in Barrowfield & The Sweetmeat Automatic Delivery Company which made chocolate bars for vending machines.
Anent the Coop at Shieldhall, the UCBS main bakeries was in Ballater Street & MacNeil Street & the giant bakeries in Cranstounhill & Plantation of J & B Stevenson plus many others.
Looks like a needle in a haystack situation? Wilton, I think you've as much chance of discovering this as you have in finding the knife used to cut your grannie's umbilical. ;D
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I'm enjoying the discussion anyway folks.
Wilton Endeavour. :)
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The biscuit factory was McVities if you can track that one down.
Not sure if the chocolate factory was linked to this or not.
Wilton Endeavour
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Hi All :)
From the 1912 directory:
Biscuit Makers www.archive.org/stream/postofficeannual191112gla#page/1098/mode/2up
Chocolate Makers www.archive.org/stream/postofficeannual191112gla#page/1138/mode/2up
Confectioners www.archive.org/stream/postofficeannual191112gla#page/1158/mode/2up
Why do you think McVitie's, Wilton Endeavour?
Monica
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Hello Monica,
Because the lady whom I am doing the research for. She said that it was definately McVities for the biscuit factory where she worked. Thanks for the links.
Wilton Endeavour.
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Looks like a needle in a haystack situation? Wilton, I think you've as much chance of discovering this as you have in finding the knife used to cut your grannie's umbilical. ;D
:D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Still can't see an earlier reference to McVitie operating in Glasgow around 1920 unfortunately.
From the Slater Trade Directories in 1915:
Bakers https://archive.org/stream/slatersroyalnati1915dire#page/516/mode/2up
Biscuit Manufacturers https://archive.org/stream/slatersroyalnati1915dire#page/520/mode/2up
Chocolate Manufacturers https://archive.org/stream/slatersroyalnati1915dire#page/534/mode/2up
Confectioners Wholesale and Manufacturers https://archive.org/stream/slatersroyalnati1915dire#page/540/mode/2up
I cannot see an earlier mention to McVitie in Glasgow except for the connection to MacFarlane Lang and Co www.gracesguide.co.uk/Macfarlane,_Lang_and_Co and www.theglasgowstory.com/image/?inum=TGSA05084
Great film clip from 1928 here http://clanmacfarlane.org.au/macfarlane-lang-co-s-biscuit-making-1928/
Some further details on McVitie here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McVitie's
Monica
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Looks like a needle in a haystack situation? Wilton, I think you've as much chance of discovering this as you have in finding the knife used to cut your grannie's umbilical. ;D
Skoosh, I nearly choked when I read that.....that takes the 'biscuit'...GSOH ;)
Will Endeavour :), according to this, I don't think it was McV's.....
http://www.mcvities.co.uk/about
Annie
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MoniaL, it has been a while since you posted but the links were very useful. My great grandfather was a worker in a biscuit factory in Glasgow. For some reason, I imagined maybe on an assembly type line stamping cookies. It was only recently when a 1919 birth certificate for his youngest child became available that I saw he was listed as a baker-journeyman. Then in two directories which I have since dug up, I found him listed as a baker. I wanted to see where he might have been a baker at a biscuit factory. I did some Googling and this tread turned up with the links. I was interested to look at the listings on your links and find an old map of Glasgow to see what might have been near the address he lived at for many years. I wondered if I might narrow it down this way. To my surprise the first biscuit manufacturer was Adelphi Biscuit Factory located on Adelphi Street. My great grandfather lived on Adelphi at an address which would have been in close proximity to the biscuit factory address for many years. So, thank you for that link which turned up a most promising lead.
Biscuit Makers www.archive.org/stream/postofficeannual191112gla#page/1098/mode/2up
TetleyT
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Hi TetleyT
Really pleased that the links have been of use to you :)
There is some material on the Adelphi Biscuit Factory to gather such as:
http://glasgowwestaddress.co.uk/1891_Book/McCall_&_Stephen.htm
www.theglasgowstory.com/image/?inum=TGSA00167&t=2 and https://canmore.org.uk/site/160704/glasgow-14-18-adelphi-terrace-adelphi-biscuit-factory I think the etching referred to on Canmore collections tab is likely the one showing on The Glasgow Story?
I see mention also of another large scale bakery where part of the factory was also on Adelphi Street:
...These bricks were recovered from the United Co-operative Baking Society biscuit factory, McNeil Street, Hutchesontown, Glasgow. It occupied the block encompassing McNeil Street, Ballater Street, Adelphi Street and Moffat Street. These particular bricks were from the facade in Adelphi Street and date from c.1908.
www.scottishbrickhistory.co.uk/united-co-operative-bakery-society-factory-mcneil-street-glasgow/
There is also a long post on them on the 'Old Glasgow' group on Facebook here www.facebook.com/251032471675283/posts/extracts-taken-from-the-rare-books-collection-history-of-the-united-co-operative/949041628541027/ (you don't have to log on or anything to just have a read through). It is an interesting read on the world of commercial baking at that time.
So, looks like your g grandad had choices of where to work very near to home ;)
It is always more interesting to add to your research in the way you are doing. Enjoy ;)
Monica
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Oh, thank you! That is much appreciated.
Since you have to buy Scotland's People documents individually, I plan carefully for my purchases and usually prioritize my direct line. However, I have bought some of my grandfather's siblings recently, knowing each might contain more information on my great grandfather.
The family seemed to move such that each child was born in a different location within the Glasgow area. My great grandfather's occupation changed over time, too. I have found that his occupation was first listed as a woodyard labourer or wood sawyer. Then he was a warehouse labourer. The next document listed him as a biscuit factory worker. There was a six year gap before the next child was born By then (1919 - when my great aunt was born) my great grandfather was living on Adelphi and was listed as a baker-jouneyman. To be a journeyman, I can probably guess he had moved to do learn this trade sometime in that six year gap. That child's birth certificate also showed his rank in the military. This was the first time I had been aware he served in the military. But I noticed in one of the links you sent there was information about the men of the bakery doing military service, so that fit together.
I have a postcard sent from France, from the daughter born 1919, addressed to my great grandfather at the same place on Adelphi. The postcard was sent in 1939. I found a directory for around that time where my great grandfather was listed as a baker. So, I know he lived at the same address near the bakery (and other bakeries) for 20 years and worked as a baker for that duration.
My great grandmother is said to have abandoned the family, possibly to pursue a life on stage. The daughter born 1919 was in Paris because she had trained as a dancer and was at the
Folies Bergère. I had wondered initially how a woodyard labourer had paid for all the dance lessons. Then when I found he became a baker, I wondered what sort of bakery company would be able to employ a man for over 20 years, allow him time for military services, and pay a steady enough wage for him to pay for dance lessons. (I wonder who cared for the children while he did military service.) In any case, going through the links has given me a much better sense of how these pieces of my grandfather's life may have fit together.
I do like each person on the tree to be more than just a name and date. Understanding these sorts of details about the context of their lives really helps fill out the picture.
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From online websites it seems the MacFarlane Lang Biscuit factory owners gave large sums of money to charities and funded hospitals. I suspect they were one of the benevolent companies that catered to their workers good health and well being. People who worked for companies like that didn't have to pay doctor's fees as their employer usually employed a doctor and nurses to work in the sick bay.
You mentioned dancing: My grandfather worked for a large English benevolent company and his daughters learnt to swim and dance (Grecian dancing !! ) at the company's facilities. I think it may also have been likely that the biscuit company held dance classes.
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You mentioned dancing: My grandfather worked for a large English benevolent company and his daughters learnt to swim and dance (Grecian dancing !! ) at the company's facilities. I think it may also have been likely that the biscuit company held dance classes.
Well, that is a very interesting and completely new idea to me. Working on some pictures with a relative, we began to suspect maybe two siblings also took some lessons. This would make sense then. I must see what I can dig up on what some of the companies close to their home had available. All this really helps explain how this family, who I do not think were particularly well-off, seemed to fare better than some other ancestor lines. I have a whole different possible perspective on the work life of this great grandfather now.
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Since you have to buy Scotland's People documents individually, I plan carefully for my purchases and usually prioritize my direct line. However, I have bought some of my grandfather's siblings recently, knowing each might contain more information on my great grandfather.
What was your g grandfather's name?
Just some ideas as to where you can research further for him:
With the mention of military service, have you looked for service records for him? Many WW1 service records were destroyed as the result of a fire caused by an incendiary bomb at the War Office Record Store in London in 1940. However, many are there to be found. Ancestry and Find My Past both have these online via subscription.
Worth also checking the valuation rolls on Scotlands People. This is a good way to confirm addresses. Some also show occupations. SP are slowing adding to this database, currently every 5 or 10 years, from 1855 to 1940.
Another other source might be the NLS Post Office Directories:
Post Office Directories for the general Glasgow area 1828-1912 - https://digital.nls.uk/directories/browse/archive/91168983
New release of later directories here http://archive.org/search.php?query=collection%3Ascottishdirectories&sort=-publicdate For these later ones, just scroll down until you find the Glasgow collection which takes you up to the 1940s.
The NLS map series is also amazing https://maps.nls.uk/towns/glasgow.html
A quick reference 1935 Glasgow map here www.artus-familyhistory.com/Glasgow%201935/Glasgow%201935.html
Monica :)
PS: You may have gone through these already ;)
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I was told my late grandfather worked for the Eagle Star Insurance company as a boiler inspector. However, Eagle Star came into being nine years after he died. Obviously the office was in the town's High Street and the younger generation would see that there had been a name change over the door.
I think this sort of event could explain why your informant thought the ancestor worked for McVities, when in reality he had worked for the company before McVitie bought it out.
I think Monical's suggestion, about viewing the rolls, is an excellent one. I would not be surprised if the owner of the house was his employers.
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Just to keep this thread going. I have found another candidate. In the 1921 Census for Ardgowan Street, Calton, Glasgow. Elizabeth McDougall, 22, born Glasgow, Chocolate Packer. Further along where it gives you where they worked. It is coming up with Rurco chocolate factory. Or that is what it looks like. So if anyone has any ideas of where it was located in 1921.
Wilton Endeavour
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I was brought up in Possilpark. Possil Road was at the end of Saracen street. The City Bakery was in Balmore road.
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Not Rurco chocolate but i found that my granny's sister worked for Reeves Chocolate factory she lived in the Calton/Bridgeton area namely Baltic St and Reeeves was situ at barrowfield/stamford st...there is small bits of info here and there https://cardhawkuk.com/2021/10/08/reeves-chocolate-glasgow/
https://urbanglasgow.co.uk/reeves-chocolate-factory-t1792.html it may help you in your search. PS forgot to add this link https://www.talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3241&start=20.
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Wilton Endeavour can I ask who you were researching within this. Who was the original person and you mentioned their mother in law?
I also seen you mentioning elizabeth bell as a possibility too.
Just curious as I was looking for information on my Granny who I know worked in one and stayed in Possilpark