Glasgow School of Cookery
In the late nineteenth century poverty and public health problems were rife in the overcrowded cities of Victorian Britain. At the same time philanthropy had become fashionable amongst the middle and upper classes who sought to help alleviate social problems through supporting campaigns for the 'common good'.
John C Buckmaster was an advocate for education in domestic science to raise standards of cookery and hygiene within homes and improve the lives of working classes. At the London International Exhibition of 1873 his lectures on the importance of education in food and household management led to the establishment of the National Training School of Cookery, South Kensington, London.
At the same time, the Rev Frederick Lockhart Robertson, minister of St Andrew's Parish Church, Glasgow, was actively trying to improve the lives of those living in poverty and deprivation in the overcrowded slum housing of Glasgow. He believed that the establishment of training school in cookery, like the one in London, could provide a solution.
Rev Robertson influenced James Bain, the Lord Provost of Glasgow, to invite John C Buckmaster to address a Glasgow conference with a view to organising some scheme for an “institution of cookery in the City”.
On Saturday 13th November 1875 the conference was held in the Religious Institution Rooms, 172 Bath Street, Glasgow. After hearing John Buckmaster speak, a Provisional Committee was formed to establish the Glasgow School of Cookery and Rev Robertson was appointed as Convener.
Members of the Provisional Committee (later becoming Directors) included many prominent and wealthy citizens of Glasgow,with James Bain, the Lord Provost, at the head of the list. Others included professors of medicine, members of parliament, school inspectors and successful businessmen.
A sub-committee, consisting of Rev Robertson, Dr Buchanan, Mr J King, Mr A Hoggan, Bailie Collins and Mr Airlie, was responsible for many of the practicalities in setting up the School, including acquiring premises and staff.
Working in parallel with the men was the Ladies Executive Committee, many of them related to those on the Provisional Committee.
Notably, amongst these women was 32 year old Grace Chalmers Paterson (1843-1925), an unmarried daughter of a merchant who lived in Claremont Terrace, Glasgow, where she was able to mix with many influential people, some of them philanthropists. She believed strongly in the school and its aims and became a driving force behind getting the School established. She become the Honorary Secretary (effectively Principal) of the Glasgow School of Cookery and successfully fought for the introduction of cookery and domestic economy to the Scottish school curriculum. She was an active campaigner for education and womens’ issues, a member of the Association for the Higher Education of Women, and in April 1885 became one of the first two women elected to the Glasgow School Board.
Funding to help establish the School was to be raised by public subscription. In order to raise the fund of £2000 required, subscription lists were drawn up and given to the Directors to personally canvas the people on the lists for financial support.
The aims of the School were set out in promotional leaflets:
"....to train young women spending their days in factories; girls attending the higher classes in public schools, in habits of thrift and tidiness, to instruct them in domestic economy, especially in the art of cooking......
To qualify every girl who may attend the classes, to become the thrifty wife of an industrious man – the honoured mistress of a cheerful and loving home."
The School's first premises, at The Albert Hall, 285 Bath Street, Glasgow, were opened to the public on 21 February 1876.
Initially the School offered classes in superior cookery, plain cookery and cookery for the working classes. Evening classes for working class women were subsidised by the daytime courses aimed at more affluent women but they were not well attended, despite eventually being offered for free.
Classes were offered in towns and villages around Glasgow, using public halls to encourage attendance by working class women. The emphasis then changed to teaching domestic subjects in the Board Schools. In 1876, a change in regulations allowed the inclusion of cookery classes on School Board expenditure, and this increased the demand for teachers trained in domestic subjects. The School acquired further premises at 65 Greendyke Street and 151 George Street, Glasgow.
Over time the syllabus also expanded to include teachers’ diplomas in cookery, laundry, housewifery, dressmaking, needlework and millinery, along with certificates in high-class cookery, professional cookery and housewifery.
In October 1876 representatives of the Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Leeds cookery schools met in Liverpool, to form the Northern Union of Training Schools of Cookery. The aim of the Union was to institute uniform standards and common examinations for teachers of cookery. It also provided a force of strength for Grace Paterson's fight to get cookery and domestic economy included in the teaching curriculum of Scottish schools. All of the Union schools eventually went on to be officially recognised as teacher training centres.
The northern cookery schools shared tried and tested recipes used in teaching. The Glasgow School of Cookery kept a scrapbook of recipes, some handwritten, others on printed sheets and some which had been produced by the northern schools. The concept of the recipes scrapbook later led to the development of the Glasgow Cookery Book.
The Glasgow School of Cookery also published a recipe book Superior Cookery.
In 1888, the Glasgow School of Cookery managed a tearoom at the Glasgow International Exhibition which ran from 2 May to 10 November 1888. The tearoom was reported to be so popular that "at different times a policeman has had to be stationed at the entrance door to regulate the admission of patrons". The resulting profits helped cover the costs of running the school over the following years. New premises were leased at 86 Bath Street, the adjacent premises, in 1899 and later premises at 504 Sauchiehall Street and 1 Victoria Crescent, Glasgow.
The School took the opportunity to demonstrate its work at large public events. The Glasgow East End Industrial Exhibition was held at Duke Street, Glasgow, and ran from 9 December 1903 to 9 April 1904. Its aim was to raise funds for a new Glasgow Royal Infirmary building and it showcased the work of the artisan classes. A medal was awarded to the School for its contribution in the section on womens' industries.