52 Marywood Square sits on the corner of Moray Place, and for the first 50 years or so was known as 25 Moray Place, being a part of the third Victorian terrace, 18-25 Moray Place. It only “moved” to Marywood Square when the streets were renumbered around 1929.

John Watson

The first occupant, from 1875, was John Watson, of John Watson & Co, wholesale wine merchants, who moved from Garnethill. He had been born in Lanark, and married Henretta Rogers in Thirsk, Yorkshire in 1866. He had a warehouse at 14 Queen Street (the site was recently Next, now Deichmann, on Argyle & Queen Streets) and he was a regular importer of Geneva (Gin), red and white wine according to the Clyde Bill of Entry and Shipping List.

He suffered from ill health and in February 1877 took a trip to Rothesay with some friends in the hope it would help. He went missing, and his body was later recovered from the sea by a passing yacht. His illness was presumably depression, and his death suicide, though in classic Victorian style, no mention is made of this anywhere .

Account of John’s death, Glasgow Herald 20 Feb 1877. Source: BNA

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The Guild of Aid was a charity for women based in the Gorbals. Its mid 20th-century existence under charismatic warden Marald D Grant is well documented; indeed if you believe the GlasgowStory entry, she founded it in 1926 and it ceased when she retired in 1966. The 40 years before her involvement is less well documented, and its 50 year association with Strathbungo is barely documented at all, and essentially forgotten. So here’s the story of The Guild of Aid.

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