Our founders – their stories

The Arlington Baths is 150 years old in 2020!

These are the stories of the founders of the two organisations that created the Baths and their families.

Though they were all men, women were also members, as were children, and we have lots more information about those early members and how the Baths was set up.

Glasgow Swimming Baths Company

The Glasgow Swimming Baths Company, founded in July 1870, raised the money to build the Arlington Baths. These are the original subscribers:

  1. John Marshall, Junr., of 168 St Vincent Street, Glasgow, Writer
  2. Thos. Steel Anderson, of 15 St Vincent Street, Merchant
  3. Robt. Boyd, of 10 Somerset Place, Merchant
  4. F. W. Allan, of 120 Buchanan Street, Merchant
  5. Archibald Colville, of 123 Hope Street, Merchant
  6. S. H. Schwabe, of 146 West George Street, Merchant
  7. R. Dalglish, Junr., of 29 St Vincent Street, Calico Printer

From Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Glasgow Swimming Bath Company Ltd (Glasgow City Archives TD965/1)

Committee of Management of Arlington Swimming Club 1870-71

The Committee of Management of the Arlington Swimming Club was responsible for running the club including recruiting members and managing the Baths building.

  1. F. W. Allan, 120 Buchanan Street
  2. T. S. Anderson, 15 St Vincent Place
  3. Robert Boyd, 10 Somerset Place
  4. Wemyss O. Bulley, 41 West George Street
  5. A Colville, 123 Hope Street
  6. John B. Cowan, M.D., 159 Bath Street
  7. W. J. Fleming, Clober, Milngavie
  8. William Graham, 71 West Nile Street
  9. J.S. Higginbotham, 157 West George Street
  10. R. P. Lamond, 64 West Regent Street,
  11. John Marshall, Jun., 168 St Vincent Street
  12. Donald Matheson, 32 Exchange Square
  13. S. H. Schwabe, 145 West George Street
  14. W. Sloan, 34 Bothwell Street
  15. R. Dalglish, Jun., 29 St Vincent Street, Secretary.

From advert in The Star, 19 October 1870

Advert with the text ARLINGTON SWIMMMING CLUB GENTLEMEN desirous of becoming MEMBERS of this CLUB are requested to furnish their Names and Addresses to any Member of the Committee, who will submit them for approval at the next Meeting. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT for the year 1870-71 F.W. Allan, 120 Buchanan Street T.S. Anderson, 15 St Vincent Place Robert Boyd, 10 Somerset Place Wemyss O. Buffey, 41 West George Street A Colville, 123 Hope Street John B. Cowan, M.D., 159 Bath Street W.J. Fleming, Clober, Milngavie William Graham, 71 West Nile Street J.B. Higginbotham, 157 West George Street R. P. Lamond, 64 West Regent Street, John Marshall, Jun., 168 St Vincent Street Donald Matheson, 32 Exchange Square S.H. Schwabe, 146 West George Street W. Sloan, 34 Bothwell Street R Dalglish, Jun., 29 St Vincent Street, Secretary.
Advert in The Star, 19 October 1870

Some of these individuals were in both organisations.

150th Anniversary guided walk

You can get an audio guide for a route that takes you in the footsteps of some of our founders, created with the help of Doors Open Day 2020. As you walk around Woodlands, Park and Sandyford you can listen to our members tell you about the founders’ lives.

Get the tour on the GuidiGo website

Or download the GuidiGo App to your phone and search for ‘Arlington Baths’.

In this video the members of the History Group tell you more about the guide and share some of the stories we just couldn’t squeeze into the walk.

It is important to the Arlington Baths Club today that we publicly acknowledge that, like many historic institutions in Glasgow, some of our founding members in 1870 will have made money trading in resources produced by colonial labour and may have had financial connections with families or companies which owned, or profited from the labour of, enslaved people.