The Principal and Professors of the University of Glasgow photographed on the Lion and Unicorn staircase at the Old College for the last time, 29 July 1870. The Bedellus stands apart to the left, carrying the mace. Principal John Caird is at the front (right) of the procession.
The 1869-70 University session terminated on 29th April, when the students met in the Common Hall. The Principal and Professors continued to occupy the buildings until the end of July when they assembled to be photographed. Next day the University transferred the buildings to the City of Glasgow Union Railway Co and ceased to occupy the site which had been its home for four hundred years.
The decision to leave High Street was due partly to the unpleasant and often dangerous character of the neighbourhoods around High Street. Appalling slums and fume-belching factories had sprung up on all sides of the Old College, providing an unsuitable atmosphere for study and a perceived threat to the physical as well as the moral well-being of the students.
Reference: Glasgow University Archive Services, ASNEG 3131
University of Glasgow
Keywords:
atmospheric pollution, bedellus, Lion and Unicorn staircase, maces, Old College, Principals, processions, professors, senate, slums, staircases, University of Glasgow
You have 0 images in your photo album.
