The Hidden Glasgow Forums

Greetings,

My paternal grandfather lived at Kinning Park, Glasgow at the time of his death in January 1944.

At the time of his premature death, my grandfather worked as a carter for a galvanising company located along a street that once came off Govan Road at Paisley Road Toll and headed towards the River Clyde.

Latest maps do not show such a road (I think now covered by a housing estate), however, I have checked a map from the 1980s that shows a road called Marine Street that connected with Govan Road and headed north towards the Clyde.

Some Google ‘detective work’ seems to indicate that there was a galvanising plant by the name of Smith & McLean Ltd somewhere in that particular area.

As part of my ancestry search, it is appreciated if anyone is able to shed any more light on where Smith & McLean Ltd was actually located and whether it may be possible to obtain employment records.

Regards,

Ken Maxwell
(Sydney, Australia)

It was called the Clyde Galvanising Works, and it was located at 5 Marine Street. There are lots of photos here, and you can see its original location and compare it with what stands in its place today by using the slider at the bottom left of this map.

Sorry, can't help with employment records.

The 1963 Sell's Directory still shows them as being called Smith & McLean, though only shows their head office address in Glasgow, rather than the location of the works:-

1880 Smith & McLean, Clyde Galvanizing Works, Glasgow GPOD Advertisment by Robert Pool's Glasgow Collection, on Flickr

1901 Smith & McLean Ltd, Clyde Galvanizing Works, Glasgow GPOD Advertisment by Robert Pool's Glasgow Collection, on Flickr

Have you contacted the Mitchell Library? They hold some employment records in their archive and the University also has records from some Glasgow firms.

http://www.mitchelllibrary.org/virtualm ... =contactus

http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/archives/ ... /business/

Good luck!

Scottish Galvanisers are still operating in Maclellan Street, perhaps thre is a connection?

Thanks to those for all the good information and leads.

Regards,

Ken