Markets and Shop Hours

The right to hold markets and develop trade independently was a fundamental privilege of royal burghs and of burghs of barony. Royal burghs could trade with other countries while burghs of barony were limited to local trade, but they were all able to run markets.

In 1846 the exclusive trading privileges of guilds within burghs were abolished.[1] In 1847 the Markets and Fairs Clauses Act regulated any subsequent local acts to establish markets and fairs.[2] The General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act, 1862 gave police burghs the power to establish markets and improve existing markets. These powers were consolidated in 1892 including the power to charge for the use and of the market place or market house.[3] The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 clarified that expenditure on markets was to be covered by the burgh rate.[4] In 1982 the role was clarified and islands and district councils were empowered to provide market buildings, provide facilities, set charges and conditions and make byelaws to regulate the market and to discontinue any market they established.[5] Additionally, local authorities became responsible for granting licences for private markets.[6] These powers transferred to the unitary councils in 1996.[7]

Shop Hours

The Shop Hours Act 1892 permitted county councils and burgh commissioners to appoint inspectors to ensure compliance with working hours for young people in retail and wholesale shops, markets, stalls, warehouses, public-houses and refreshment houses.[8] In 1911 local authorities were permitted to fix a day for a weekly half day holiday for shops, enabling them to choose between a blanket half-day closure of all shops or different half-day closures for different types of shops, different parts of the area or different times of the year.[9] The local authorities could also hold a vote on exemptions and were required to enforce orders under this Act. From 1965, local authorities could no longer fix the early closing day and the occupiers were permitted to specify which day they wanted to close early by displaying a notice, with limits on how frequently this could be changed.[10] From 1975, islands and district councils were responsible for enforcing these provisions, until they were repealed in 1994.[11]

Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2021)

Bibliography

Bell, James, and James Paton, Glasgow: Its Municipal Organization and Administration (J. MacLehose and Sons, 1896)

Ferguson, Keith, An introduction to local government in Scotland (The Planning Exchange, 1984)

Whyte, W. E., Local Government in Scotland (Hodge & Co, 1936)

References

[1] Burgh Trading Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c.17).

[2] Market and Fairs Clauses Act 1847 (10 & 11 Vict. c.14).

[3] Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c.55) s.277.

[4] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. VI c.43) Sch.5.

[5] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65) s.27.

[6] Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (c.45) s.40.

[7] Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 (c.39) s.129.

[8] Shop Hours Act 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c.62); Shop Hours Act 1893 (56 & 57 Vict. c.67).

[9] Shops Act 1911 (1 & 2 Geo. V c.54).

[10] Shops (Early Closing Days) Act 1965 (c.35).

[11] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65) s.157; Deregulating and Contracting Out Act 1994 (c.40) Sch.17.

Liquor Licensing

The manufacture and sale of ale and other spiritous liquors in medieval burghs was supervised by burgh officials, often known as ‘ale-tasters’, and by the brewers themselves, who in large burghs would be organised into Incorporations of Maltmen or Brewers. Individuals outside the craft were forbidden from making malt, and by extension, brewing or distilling. In this way quality standards and entry into the craft were controlled. The town council would fix prices annually. The modern system of licensing is a much later development, imported from England in the mid-18th century.

In counties the Justices of the Peace (JPs) probably had a right to control the retailing of ale and spirits but seem only to have taken action after the passing of the Alehouses Act 1756.[1] Even then the clerk often issued licences to the justices without any process of examination into the fitness of the applicant. Licensing in its modern form dates largely from 1808 with the introduction of half-yearly meetings at which JPs in counties and magistrates in royal burghs granted licensing certificates.[2] Such a certificate was a necessary precondition to the grant of a licence by the Commissioners of Excise. To retail liquor without a licence was a criminal offence.

Legislation in the 19^th century aimed at ever-stricter controls, including the reduction of opening hours. By the end of the century repeated minor amendments had led to an urgent need for codification, which was met by the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1903.[3] This established licensing courts in counties and in royal, parliamentary and police burghs (with population qualifications) and introduced further controls, including a requirement to deposit plans of licensed premises with the licensing courts, and the regulation of licensed clubs. The working of the licensing authorities continued to be affected by the temperance movement. The Temperance (Scotland) Act 1913 introduced the so-called ‘veto poll’, enabling electors in a local area to have it declared ‘dry’, and to ban any licensed premises within its boundaries.[4] The First World War brought further restrictions on opening hours, made permanent shortly afterwards.[5] Throughout this period the licensing system itself remained largely unchanged. Licensing courts in burghs and counties were held twice a year, with an appeal to licensing appeal courts consisting partly of JPs and partly of councillors.

The Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976 replaced the licensing courts with licensing boards for each district or islands council area (for each council area after 1996) or for separate divisions within them. Appeal is now to the sheriff and thereafter to the Court of Session.[6]

Records of burgh licensing courts and of licensing boards are mainly held by local authority archives services. Justices of the Peace Licensing Court records are held by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) or by some local authority archives services under a charge and superintendence agreement (reference code JP). Scottish Office files on licencing, the development of licencing and temperance legislation, the Royal Commission on Licensing and various departmental inquiries are held by the National Records of Scotland (reference codes HH1, HH42 and HH43).

Compilers: SCAN contributors (2000).

Bibliography

The Laws of Scotland: The Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia 2^nd re-issue (Butterworths, 2023)

Cummins, J. C., Licensing Law in Scotland 2^nd edition (Butterworths/Law Society of Scotland, 2000)

Donnachie, Ian L., A History of the Brewing Industry in Scotland (John Donald, 1979)

Ferguson, Keith, An introduction to local government in Scotland (The Planning Exchange, 1984)

References

[1] Alehouses Act 1756 (29 Geo. II c.12).

[2] Duties on Certain Licenses Act 1808 (48 Geo. III c.143); Licensing (Scotland) Act 1828 (9 Geo. IV c.58).

[3] Licensing (Scotland) Act 1903 (3 Edw. VII c.25).

[4] Temperance (Scotland) Act 1913 (3 & 4 Geo. V c.33).

[5] Licensing Act 1921 (11 & 12 Geo. V c.42).

[6] Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976 (c.66).

All
Liquor licensing

What does ‘off-licence’ mean?

The term ‘off-licence’ came into being under the Licensing (Scotland) Act of 1853, often referred to as the Forbes Mackenzie Act, (16 & 17 Vict. c.67). This established two types of liquor licence – one was for sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises, the other allowed grocers to sell alcoholic drinks strictly for consumption off the premises (hence ‘off-licences’). This was done to bring grocers’ shops under the licensing acts. Previously many shops had offered liquor along with snacks (such as bread and cheese). The act provided that pubs, inns, hotels etc should not operate as grocery shops and grocery shops should not operate as pubs.

Lighthouses

Early Lighthouses

The Isle of May Light, at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, is generally regarded as being the earliest lighthouse constructed in Scotland. It was built in 1635 by James Maxwell of Innerwick and John Cunninghame of Barnes.[1] Other lighthouses and similar buildings on the Scottish coast, such as bell towers, were simple structures and were built and maintained principally by individual burghs or by local acts of parliament. Concern at the number of wrecks due to severe storms in 1782 led the Convention of Royal Burghs and a House of Commons committee to recommend legislation to set up a body to fund, build and supervise lighthouses in Scotland, similar to Trinity House, the lighthouse authority for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar.[2]

Northern Lighthouse Commissioners

An act of 1786 founded the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses, who had the power to borrow money, purchase land, levy dues from ship owners, and to construct lighthouses.[3] The jurisdiction of the Commissioners was extended by statute to include the Isle of Man in 1815 and lighthouses established by burghs and other local authorities in 1836.[4] The 1836 Act made plans for new lighthouses to be built by the Commissioners subject to approval of Trinity House.[5] The powers of Trinity House were strengthened and the funding of lighthouses consolidated into the Mercantile Marine Fund in 1853.[6] In 1854 and again in 1894 the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses were confirmed as the authority for lighthouses in Scotland and the adjacent seas and islands, and the Isle of Man.[7] The Merchant Shipping Act of 1979 freed the Commissioners from the supervision of Trinity House.[8]

The Lighthouse Stevensons

Much of the early building work was undertaken by two innovative engineers: Thomas Smith, an Edinburgh ironsmith and streetlight designer, and his stepson, Robert Stevenson. They built 9 lights between 1786 and 1806. Under Smith and Stevenson many improvements were made to light design, including oil lamps, reflectors, clockwork mechanisms to rotate the beams, and increased height of the lighthouse buildings. Robert Stevenson’s sons, David, Alan and Thomas, followed their father into engineering. His grandson, Robert Louis Stevenson, served three years as an engineering apprentice, but turned to legal studies and writing.

Location of records

Records relating to lighthouses in Scotland are held by various archives in Scotland and The National Archives in London, but the principal source of information is the records of the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses, held by the National Records of Scotland (reference NLC), with the exception of the Northern Lighthouse Board Drawings Collection, which is held by Historic Environment Scotland. The records of the Clyde Lighthouse Trust are held by Glasgow City Archives (reference: T-CN40-44). For a list of other collections in Scotland containing records relating to lighthouses, consult the introduction to the NLC catalogue at the National Records of Scotland. The National Library of Scotland holds the business papers of Robert Stevenson and Sons, lighthouse engineers (Acc. 10706). The National Archives in London holds records relating to Scottish lighthouses in Ministry of Transport, Admiralty and Treasury records. For further details see the Discovery website

Contributors: Sheila Mackenzie (National Library of Scotland, 2002); David Brown (National Archives of Scotland 2002) Joanna Baird, Robin Urquhart (both SCAN 2002).

Bibliography

Allardyce, K. & E. Hood, At Scotland’s edge: a celebration of two hundred years of the lighthouse service in Scotland and the Isle of Man (Collins 1986)

Allardyce, Keith, Scotland’s Edge Revisited (Harper Collins, 1998)

Bathurst, Bella, The Lighthouse Stevensons (Harper Perrenial, 2007)

Hume, John, Harbour Lights in Scotland (Scottish Vernacular Buildings Working Group, 1997)

Leslie, Jean & R. Paxton, Bright Lights: The Stevenson Family of Engineers 1752-1971 (J. Leslie & R Paxton, 1999)

Mair, Craig, A Star for Seamen: the Stevenson Family of Engineers (J Murray, 1978)

Munro, R. W., Scottish Lighthouses (Thule, 1979)

Stevenson, R. L., Records of a Family of Engineers (London:, 1896)

Websites: [all accessed 24 April 2024]

Scottish Lighthouse Museum <https://lighthousemuseum.org.uk/>

Northern Lighthouse Board

Trinity House

Bell Rock lighthouse

Ardnamurchan Lighthouse <https://www.ardnamurchanlighthouse.com/>

References

[1] Historic Environment Scotland <http://canmore.org.uk/site/57875> [accessed 26 April 2024].

[2] Munro, R. W., Scottish Lighthouses (Thule, 1979) pp. 51-55

[3] Erection of Lighthouses Act 1786 (26 Geo. III c.101).

[4] An Act for enabling the Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses to erect Lighthouses on the Isles of Man and Calf of Man, 1815 (55 Geo. III c.67); Lighthouses Act 1836 (6 & 7 Will. IV c.79).

[5] Lighthouses Act 1836 (6 & 7 Will. IV c.79).

[6] Merchant Shipping Law Amendment Act 1853 (16 & 17 Vict. c.131) s.4.

[7] Merchant Shipping Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict c. 104) s389; Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. c.60) ss.634 & 668.

[8] Merchant Shipping Act, 1979 (c.39) s.33.

All
Lighthouses

Where can I find information on lighthouses?

Information about the history of lighthouses in Scotland is relatively easy to get hold of through published books and the Internet, and by visiting lighthouse museums. Books to look at include R W Munro, Scottish Lighthouses (Thule, 1979); K Allardyce and E Hood, At Scotland’s Edge (Collins,1986); K Allardyce, Scotland’s Edge Revisited (Collins, 1998); B Bathurst, The Lighthouse Stevensons (Flamingo, 1998); J Hume, Harbour Lights in Scotland (Scottish Vernacular Buildings Working Group, 1997); J Leslie and R Paxton, Bright Lights: The Stevenson Family of Engineers 1752-1971 (1999); C. Mair, A Star for Seamen: the Stevenson Family of Engineers (J Murray, 1978); R L Stevenson, Records of a Family of Engineers (1896).

The most useful websites are those of the Scottish Lighthouse Museum <https://lighthousemuseum.org.uk/> Northern Lighthouse Board and Trinity House. All accessed 24 April 2024] Two lighthouses have visitor centres: the Scottish Lighthouse Museum at Fraserburgh (in the north east of Scotland) and the Ardnamurchan Lighthouse (in the extreme west of the British mainland).

Where can I find information about Robert Stevenson and his family?

Firstly, look at published histories: R L Stevenson, Records of a Family of Engineers (1896); B Bathurst, The Lighthouse Stevensons (Flamingo, 1998); J Leslie and R Paxton, Bright Lights: The Stevenson Family of Engineers 1752-1971 (1999); C. Mair, A Star for Seamen: the Stevenson Family of Engineers (J Murray, 1978).

If you need to consult original records, start at the National Library of Scotland, which holds the business records of Robert Stevenson and Sons (Acc. 10706).

Where can I find plans of a particular lighthouse?

Firstly, try the Northern Lighthouse Board Drawings Collection, which is held by the National Monuments Record for Scotland. Another source for plans of lighthouses is the Register House Plans series in the National Records of Scotland (RHP). For some lighthouses on the Clyde there are lighthouse drawings among the records of the Clyde Lighthouse Trust, in Glasgow City Archives (reference: T-CN40-44). The Robert Stevenson & Sons business papers in the National Library of Scotland contains a few lighthouse plans.

Where can I find original records and other information about the Flannan Lighthouse disaster?

Most of the information about the event is contained in the records of the Northern Lighthouse Commission, at the National Records of Scotland. In addition, most national newspapers at the time covered the story. The Northern Lighthouse Commission records (all at the National Records of Scotland) which relate to the incident are: NLC3/1/1 Secretary’s department correspondence and reports (1 Jan 1901 to 31 March 1902) includes: a letter from County Clerk, Dingwall, granting permission to place a winch on Breascleit Pier; copy telegrams and letters from the master of the Hesperus and others reporting the disaster and steps taken; correspondence with the Board of Trade and Crown Office; reports by Superintendent Muirhead and others; correspondence regarding insurance payments, pensions and the deceased keepers’ families; letters and reports regarding analysis of water in the well at Breascleit and an inspection voyage in1901. NLC 2/1/87-88, minute books of the Commissioners (1899-1903) includes minutes concerning the lighthouse in the years leading up to the disaster, the disaster itself, and subsequent enquiries, reports and events.

Libraries

Libraries

Libraries were first found in cathedrals, abbeys and universities. Keepers of public libraries were amongst the public officials required to comply with the 1693 Act for taking the oath of allegiance and assurance.[1] From the 17th century onwards, local libraries were set up through philanthropy or other funding as subscription libraries, working men’s libraries and specialist libraries.[2] Many local libraries were set up in the late 19th and early 20th century from capital donations by Andrew Carnegie.[3]

Scottish local authorities were first empowered to establish libraries and/or museums by the Libraries (Public) Act 1853 which extended the Public Libraries Act 1850 to Scotland and Ireland.[4] This enabled royal and parliamentary burghs and burghs of barony or regality with a population of more than 10,000 to adopt the act and establish free libraries funded by a library rate.[5] The library and/or museum was to be run by the town council or by a committee appointed by the council, and admission was to be free. The following year the Public Libraries (Scotland) Act 1854 increased the level of the rate and the funding could be spent on books as well as accommodation and staff.[6] The Public Libraries (Scotland) Act 1867, which also had to be adopted by a vote of local householders, required library committees to include equal numbers of householders and magistrates. The power to set up free public libraries, art galleries and museums was extended to police burghs and parishes.[7]

The Public Libraries Consolidation (Scotland) Act 1887 repealed all previous legislation and replaced it with a consolidated measure which remains partly in force in 2021.[8] As in the previous legislation, town councils and parish councils could set up and operate libraries following a vote of householders to adopt the Act. The 1887 act made clear that female householders were included, and this meant they could vote and could be appointed to the library committee. The range of institutions was extended to include schools of science and schools of art as well as libraries, museums and art galleries. No charge could be made to borrow books or magazines and all museums, art galleries and libraries were to be open to the public free of charge.

In 1894 burghs were allowed to adopt the Public Libraries Acts by a resolution of the town council instead of a householder vote.[9] In 1899 local authorities were permitted to combine to run library services.[10] The Education (Scotland) Act 1918 enabled education authorities to provide books for adults as well as school pupils, in co-operation with public libraries where these existed.[11] In 1929 when parish councils were abolished, county councils became responsible for library provision through their scheme of administration which could include provision for a library committee under the general supervision of the education committee.[12] These provisions were broadly continued in 1947.[13] The Public Libraries (Scotland) Act 1955 enabled statutory library authorities and non-statutory libraries to collaborate in the provision of library services, enabled local authorities to rescind the adoption of the Public Libraries Acts in areas where there were adequate library facilities and enabled the inter-library loan system.[14] In 1973 Highlands, Borders and Dumfries & Galloway Regional Councils along with the district and islands councils in the rest of Scotland were given a duty ‘to secure the provision of adequate library facilities for all persons resident in their area’.[15] In 1994 these responsibilities transferred to the new unitary councils.[16] From 2007 onwards, some councils set up trusts, eligible for charitable status, to manage council-owned facilities and provide statutory library functions on behalf of the council.

Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2021)

Related Knowledge Base entries

Museums and Galleries

Leisure and Recreation

Bibliography

Aitken, W.R., A history of the public library movement in Scotland to 1955 (Scottish Library Association, 1921)

Bell, James, and James Paton, Glasgow: Its Municipal Organization and Administration (J. MacLehose and Sons, 1896)

Crawford, John, ‘The community library in Scottish history’ IFLA Journal 28.5-6 (2002), pp. 245-55

Ferguson, Keith, An introduction to local government in Scotland (The Planning Exchange, 1984)

Haythornthwaite, J. A., N. C. Wilson and V. A. Batho, Scotland in the Nineteenth Century: an analytical bibliography of material relating to Scotland in Parliamentary Papers, 1800-1900 (Scolar Press, 1993)

Mann, Alastair, ‘Libraries’ in Oxford Companion to Scottish History ed. by Michael Lynch (Oxford University Press, 2007) pp.387-88.

Whyte, W. E., Local Government in Scotland (Hodge & Co, 1936)

References

[1] Act for taking the oath of allegiance and assurance, 1693. The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, ed. by K.M. Brown and others (University of St Andrews, 2007-2021), 1693/4/50. <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1693/4/50> [accessed 24 October 2018].

[2] Alastair Mann, ‘Libraries’ in Oxford Companion to Scottish History ed. by Michael Lynch (Oxford University Press, 2007) pp.387-88.

[3] CILIPS ‘Carnegie and the History of Scottish Public Libraries <https://www.cilips.org.uk/carnegie-100-series-carnegie-and-the-history-of-scottish-public-libraries-2/> [accessed 21 April 2021].

[4] Public Libraries Act 1850 (13 & 14 Vict. c.65).

[5] Libraries (Public) Act 1853 (16 & 17 Vict. c.101).

[6] Public Libraries (Scotland) Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c.64).

[7] Public Libraries (Scotland) Act 1867 (30 & 31 Vict. c.37).

[8] Public Libraries (Consolidation) Act 1887 (50 & 51 Vict. c.42).

[9] Public Libraries (Scotland) Act 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. c.20).

[10] Public Libraries (Scotland) Act 1899 (62 & 63 Vict. c.5).

[11] Education (Scotland) Act 1918 (8 & 9 Geo. V c.48) s.5. [Note that the Public Libraries Act 1919 did not apply to Scotland].

[12] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. V c.25) ss.14,18, 41.

[13] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. VI c.43) s.106(7).

[14] Public Libraries {Scotland) Act 1955 (c.27).

[15] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65) s.163 (1).

[16] Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 (c.39).

Leisure and Recreation

This Knowledge Base entry is about the local authority function of providing and supporting leisure and recreation. Local authorities became involved in the provision of leisure and recreational facilities and activities from the mid-19^th century onwards, mainly as a means of improving the general health of the population. Generally, these types of facilities were initially built through philanthropy and public subscription, whether baths, public parks, gymnasiums or playing fields. Legislation then enabled local authorities to use the rates to create, manage and maintain these types of facilities.

Some local authorities obtained local acts of parliament which enabled them to develop their own recreational facilities. The Police (Scotland) Act 1850 enabled burgh commissioners to provide grounds within the burgh or no more than 3 miles away to be used for recreation.[1] They were also allowed to provide public baths, washhouses and bathing places and drying grounds.[2] Similar provisions were included in later general police acts.[3] The Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1892 was more extensive, enabling burghs with seashores to make byelaws to regulate the use of the seashore for bathing and recreation, regulating the hire of donkeys and ponies for pleasure riding and booths, stalls and stands on the beach.[4] Local authorities could also make byelaws on the use of public bleaching greens, drying greens, washhouses, baths, gymnasiums, pleasure grounds, recreation grounds and open spaces.

The provision of recreational space was extended to parish councils in 1894 enabling them to acquire land for public recreation and accept up to 20 acres from an entailed estate as well as provide public baths.[5] In 1929 district councils were enabled to make byelaws for recreation grounds, commons, bleaching greens and other public spaces.[6]

The Physical Training and Recreation Act 1937 enabled local authorities to acquire land and construct buildings for gymnasiums, playing fields, campsites, or use by athletic, social or educational clubs for exercise, recreation and social purposes.[7] The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 placed these responsibilities on regional and islands councils, requiring that they consult with the district councils to ensure there was adequate provision of facilities.[8] However, in 1982 this was clarified and the Local Government and Planning (Scotland) Act 1982 required district and islands councils to ensure that there was adequate provision of facilities for the inhabitants of their area for recreational, sporting, cultural and social activities. These responsibilities were transferred to unitary authorities in 1996.[9] From 2007 onwards, some councils set up trusts, which could acquire charitable status, to manage council-owned facilities and provide leisure and recreation functions on behalf of the council. Some local parks and recreation facilities have been placed into local community management.

Records of parks, sports facilities and other leisure and recreation facilities and activities are likely to be held by local authority archives services, along with records of local sports clubs and other voluntary or commercial groups. The National Library of Scotland holds records of a wide range of sports and other local clubs and societies. The National Records of Scotland hold the records relating to central bodies such as the Central Council of Physical Recreation and the Scottish Sports Council as well as records relating to local byelaws.

Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2021)

Related Knowledge Base entries

Parks

Sport

Entertainment and Culture

Bibliography

Bell, James, and James Paton, Glasgow: Its Municipal Organization and Administration (J. MacLehose and Sons, 1896)

Ferguson, Keith, An introduction to local government in Scotland (The Planning Exchange, 1984)

Whyte, W. E., Local Government in Scotland (Hodge & Co, 1936)

References

[1] Police (Scotland) Act 1850 (13 & 14 Vict. c.33) s.320.

[2] Police (Scotland) Act 1850 (13 & 14 Vict. c.33) s.321.

[3] General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c.101) s.367.

[4] Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c.55) ss.303-304.

[5] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. c.58) ss.24, 43, 44.

[6] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. V c.25) s.26(8)

[7] Physical Training and Recreation Act 1937 (1 Edw VIII and 1 Geo. VI c.46).

[8] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65) s.162.

[9] Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 (c.39).

Industrial Promotion

Both central government and local authorities have tried to encourage economic growth by promoting their areas for industrial development. For most of the 20^th century, local authorities relied on town planning legislation to enable them to develop areas for industrial premises and sites. They also co-operated with voluntary bodies such as the Scottish Development Council and with central government bodies such as the Scottish Development Agency and the Highlands and Islands Development Board. Outreach could include the printing of tourist brochures, and the advertisement of industrial opportunities through film, of which some samples survive in the National Library of Scotland Moving Image collection.

The Local Government and Planning (Scotland) Act 1982 formally added industrial promotion to local authority functions.[1] District councils were limited to promotion within their own areas or to participating in initiatives led by the Secretary of State for Scotland or the regional council for the area or a national body set up for that purpose (such as the Scottish Development Agency). Regional councils were responsible for the implementation of planned policies, such as those carried out by Tayside Regional Industrial Office (TRIO), which provided advice on new investments and expansion of businesses in the region and conducted marketing programmes for the promotion of business opportunities.[2] In 1996 this function transferred to the unitary authorities.[3]

Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2021)

Bibliography

Ferguson, Keith, An introduction to local government in Scotland (The Planning Exchange, 1984)

References

[1] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (c.43).

[2] Athugalage, T. S. K. ‘Tayside economy: an input-output approach to analysis and planning’ (Unpublished doctoral thesis, Dundee College of Technology, 1983) pp. 88-90.

[3] Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 (c.39) Sch. 14.

Housing

The local authority function of providing housing emerged out of desire to improve public health and reduce disease. The housing function was therefore initially given to the same local authorities as under the Public Health (Scotland) Act 1867.[1] These were the town councils and police commissioners of burghs or trustees exercising the functions of police commissioners and, in the landward areas, the district committees set up under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 or where these did not exist, the county councils. In 1929 when local government was re-organised the county councils took over the housing function from the abolished district committees, but housing was one of the few functions that was not transferred from small burghs to the county councils. The large burghs and counties of cities also continued to have housing functions.[2] At local government reorganisation in 1975 housing was allocated to the district and islands councils but regional councils as well as district and islands councils were empowered to make arrangements with housing associations to provide housing.[3] In 1996 housing transferred to the new councils.

Before 1885 local authorities were enabled by various Acts to demolish properties unfit for human habitation but had no responsibility to replace these or to re-house the inhabitants. Following the 1885 Royal Commission of Inquiry into Housing of the Working Classes, the Housing of the Working Classes Act 1885 gave a duty to local authorities to regulate and enforce proper sanitary conditions through byelaws and enabled loans for housing.[4] A further Act in 1890 enabled local authorities to build replacement housing for people displaced by the demolition of unfit housing.[5]

In 1912 a Royal Commission on Housing in Scotland was set up ‘to inquire into the housing of the industrial population of Scotland, rural and urban (with special reference in the rural districts to the housing of miners and agricultural labourers); and to report what legislative or administrative action is in their opinion desirable to remedy existing defects.’[6] Reporting in 1917, the majority recommended that the state should accept responsibility for housing the working classes and should provide financial assistance for this.[7]

Legislation on housing provision was UK wide. The Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919 enabled the building of new houses by local authorities with subsidies from central government.[8] The Logie Housing scheme in Dundee, which opened in 1920, was the first council housing estate built in Scotland under this act. The Housing (Financial Provisions) Act 1924 increased government subsidies to be paid to local authorities to build housing for rent for low paid workers and extended the time over which the subsidy was paid from 20 to 40 years.[9] During the 1920s and 1930s additional funding to local authorities focused on slum clearance.[10]

In 1944 and 1947 the Scottish Housing Advisory Committee published two influential reports on design of housing and on the need to link social housing with industrial re-generation.[11] Legislation in 1944 extended subsidies to general housing rather than just slum clearance and enabled payments to the Scottish Special Housing Association, while the Ministry of Works produced pre-fabricated houses for local construction.[12] In 1946 subsidies were increased with the emphasis put on improving existing housing rather than new build.[13]

In 1957 local authorities were enabled to provide housing in response to other overpopulated areas and to make overspill agreements.[14] By 1987, local authorities had been given duties to make grants towards improvements of private housing stock, support homeless people, ensure that the private housing stock was fit for purpose, inspect for overcrowding and register houses in multiple occupation.[15] However, in 1980, tenants were given the right to buy their council house and local authorities were also enabled to make loans to tenants who wanted to exercise that right.[16] This right to buy significantly reduced the council housing stock and local authorities therefore changed their emphasis from provider to regulator.

Housing registers, housing plans, tenants handbooks and other printed matter may be found in local authority archives services, but it is unusual for records of tenancies and letting of council housing to survive. Records relating to the construction of housing by local authorities can be found in the building warrants and plans, as well as in planning and development files and minutes of housing committees. The National Records of Scotland holds files on the Royal Commissions on Housing, the Scottish Housing Advisory Committee, government support for housing initiatives, policy, planning, development of housing legislation and other housing matters (reference code DD6).

Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2021)

Bibliography

Checkland, Olive and Sydney Industry and Ethos, Scotland 1832-1914 (Edinburgh University Press, 1989)

Ferguson, Keith, An introduction to local government in Scotland (The Planning Exchange, 1984)

Gordon, William, ‘Housing and Town Planning’ in Source book and history of administrative law in Scotland ed. by M. R. McLarty (Hodge, 1956), pp. 148-60

Niven, Douglas, The Development of Housing in Scotland (Croom Helm, 1979)

Rodger, R., ‘Urbanisation in twentieth century Scotland’ in Scotland in the Twentieth Century ed. by T. M. Devine and R. J. Finlay, (Edinburgh University Press, 1996), pp. 122-152

Smith, James & Douglas Robertson, ‘Local elites and social control: building council houses in Stirling between the wars’ Urban History 40.2 (May 2013), pp. 336-54

Whyte, W. E., Local Government in Scotland (Hodge & Co, 1936)

References

[1] Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890 (53 & 54 Vict. c.70) s.96; Public Health (Scotland) Act 1867 (30 & 31 Vict. c.101).

[2] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. V c.25) s.2; Sch 1.

[3] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65) ss.130-131.

[4] Housing of the Working Classes Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. c.72).

[5] Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890 (53 & 54 Vict. c.70).

[6] Report of the Royal Commission on the Housing of the Industrial Population of Scotland, Rural and Urban, Edinburgh 1917 Cmnd. 8731.

[7] Report of the Royal Commission on the Housing of the Industrial Population of Scotland, Rural and Urban, Edinburgh 1917 Cmnd. 8731 para.1938.

[8] Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. V c.35).

[9] Housing (Financial Provisions) Act 1924 (14 & 15 Geo. V c.35).

[10] Housing Act 1930 (20 & 21 Geo. V c.39).

[11] Scottish Housing Advisory Committee ‘Planning our new homes’ (Edinburgh: Department of Health for Scotland, 1944); Scottish Housing Advisory Committee ‘Modernising our homes’ (Edinburgh: Department of Health for Scotland, 1947).

[12] Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act, 1944 (7 & 8 Geo. VI c.36); Housing (Scotland) Act 1944 (7 & 8 Geo. VI c.39).

[13] Housing (Financial Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. VI c.54).

[14] Housing and Town Development (Scotland) Act 1957 (c.38).

[15] Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 (c.26).

[16] Tenants’ Rights etc (Scotland) Act 1980(c.52); Housing Act 1980 (c.51).

Hospitals before the NHS

Prior to the 19th century, hospitals were built and operated by subscriptions, charitable and private funds and bequests. Large teaching hospitals, known as infirmaries, were set up in Edinburgh in 1729 and Aberdeen in 1739, with Glasgow founding a Town’s Hospital in 1733, later opening Glasgow Royal Infirmary in 1794. Other large towns similarly set up infirmaries, while smaller towns built cottage hospitals and fever hospitals intended to cope with the regular outbreaks of cholera, typhus and other infectious diseases. Although town councils often supported these initiatives, local authorities were not generally empowered to incur costs for hospitals.[1]

Local authority formal involvement in constructing and maintaining hospitals began when parochial boards were permitted to subscribe to hospitals under the Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845.[2] The Public Health (Scotland) Act 1867 permitted local authorities (town councils, police commissioners or parochial boards) to provide hospitals whether by building them, alone or in combination with other local authorities, or contracting with existing hospitals. [3] Thereafter, the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, transferred these powers from parochial boards to county councils, enabling them to build fever hospitals.[4] The Public Health (Scotland) Act 1897 enabled local authorities to provide and maintain hospitals for people with infectious diseases and convalescent hospitals, again in combination with other local authorities if they wished. It also gave the Local Government Board for Scotland the authority to compel provision of these hospitals.[5]

The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 empowered county councils and the town councils of large burghs to provide ordinary general hospital accommodation in addition to their existing statutory duties to provide for the treatment of infectious diseases, tuberculosis and the sick poor.[6] For this purpose, local authorities were authorised to submit schemes for the reorganisation and extension of hospital facilities in their areas to the Department of Health for Scotland.

The hospitals were transferred to the National Health Service in 1948 and therefore local authority responsibilities for operating hospitals ceased.[7]

Records of cottage hospitals, fever hospitals and other local authority or private and charitable hospitals may be found in local authority archives services. Local authority minutes and financial records can also make reference to these hospitals. Records of hospitals which transferred into the NHS in 1948 generally have been deposited in health services archives. National Records of Scotland holds files on local authority health services (reference code HH61) and other health matters.

Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2021)

Related Knowledge Base entries

Hospitals and local health provision under the NHS

Bibliography

Evans, A. A. L., ‘Health’ in Source book and history of administrative law in Scotland ed. by M. R. McLarty (Hodge, 1956), pp. 130-47

Levitt, Ian, ‘Boy Clerks and Scottish Health Administration, 1867-1956’ in Medicine, Law and Public Policy in Scotland ed by Mark Freemen, Eleanor Gordon and Krista Maglen (Dundee University Press, 2011), pp. 161-79

McCallum, John, “Nurseries of the Poore”: Hospitals and Almshouses in Early Modern Scotland’ Journal of Social History, 48:2 (2014), pp. 427-49

McLachlan, Gordon (ed.), Improving the Common Weal: Aspects of Scottish health services 1900-1984 (Edinburgh University Press for the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust, 1987)

Stewart, John, ‘The provision and control of medical relief. Urban Scotland in the late nineteenth century’ in Medicine, Law and Public Policy in Scotland ed by Mark Freemen, Eleanor Gordon and Krista Maglen, (Dundee University Press, 2011), pp. 10-26

References

[1] Improving the Common Weal: Aspects of Scottish Health Services 1900-1984 ed. by Gordon McLachlan, (Edinburgh University Press for the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust, 1987), pp.21-23, 213-18.

[2] Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c.83) ss.66-67.

[3] Public Health (Scotland) Act 1867 (30 & 31 Vict. c.101) s.39.

[4] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c.50) s.17.

[5] Public Health (Scotland) Act 1897 (60 & 61 Vict. c.38) s.66.

[6] Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. V c.25) s.27.

[7] National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. VI c.27).

Hospitals and local health under the NHS

Hospitals became part of the National Health Service (NHS) on 5 July 1948 as a result of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947. Local authority hospitals and voluntary (i.e., not-for-profit) hospitals in Scotland were transferred to the Secretary of State for Scotland.[1] Five regional hospital boards were set up, to administer all NHS hospital services in their respective areas. These were Northern, covering Caithness, Inverness, Nairn, Sutherland and Ross and Cromarty; North-Eastern, covering Aberdeen city and the counties of Aberdeenshire, Banff, Kincardine, Moray, Orkney and Shetland; Eastern covering Dundee, Angus, and Perth and Kinross; South-Eastern covering Edinburgh, Berwick, East Lothian, Fife, Midlothian, Peebles, Roxburgh. Selkirk and West Lothian; and Western, covering Glasgow and the counties of Argyll, Ayr, Bute, Clackmannan, Dumfries, Dumbarton, Kirkcudbright, Lanark, Renfrew, Stirling and Wigtown. Each regional hospital board then set up local hospital boards of management which ran an individual hospital or a group of hospitals. Regional hospital boards were responsible for strategic management of the provision of hospitals (including teaching hospitals) and specialist services in their area.

Alongside hospital provision, local health authorities were set up, responsible to the Secretary of State for Scotland for providing care of mothers and young children, midwifery services, health visitors, home nursing, vaccination and immunisation, prevention of illness, care or aftercare of people suffering physical illness or mental ill-health, and domestic help required due to ill-health. The local health authorities were also enabled to contribute to research. These local health authorities were the town councils of large burghs and the county councils (or joint county councils where appropriate) and they were required to keep separate accounts from their other local authority responsibilities.[2]

General practitioners (GPs), dentists, chemists and ophthalmic and dispensing opticians remained self-employed, but they had to apply to executive councils, set up by the Department of Health for Scotland, to be included on their lists for payment for their services. The Scottish Medical Practices Committee was set up to decide how many GPs should cover a local area.

Mental health services were mostly covered by separate legislation but from 1947 local health authorities had a duty to secure suitable education and training for people with learning disabilities or mental ill-health and the Secretary of State for Scotland had a duty to co-ordinate and supervise this.

The NHS was re-organised in 1974, following the NHS (Scotland) Act 1972.[3] Regional hospital boards, boards of management, local health authorities, medical education committees, executive councils, the Scottish Health Services Council and joint ophthalmic services committees were abolished. Instead, 15 regional health boards were set up along with a common services agency. Each health board had to submit a scheme for the establishment of local health councils for their area and set up consultative committees for GPs, dentists, nurses and midwives, pharmacists and opticians in their area. Health boards and local authorities were required to co-operate, but the town and county council medical officers of health were effectively replaced by designated medical officers appointed by health boards. The new Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service was given responsibility for the maintenance of hospital buildings and former local authority premises, along with procurement of equipment, goods and materials.

Further changes resulted from the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990.[4] This enabled the setting up of NHS trusts which were independent of the health boards and had their own board of directors and opened the procurement market to allow the NHS trusts, health boards and other health bodies to purchase goods and services from each other as well as from the Common Services Agency. GP practices could become fund-holding practices.

NHS trusts and local health councils were abolished following the National Health Service Reform (Scotland) Act 2004.[5] This act also required health boards to establish a scheme for community health partnerships to co-ordinate the planning, development and provision of health services in consultation with the local authorities in the area.

Hospital and health records are held by health services archives. National Records of Scotland holds records relating to the NHS, including registers of local and voluntary hospitals transferred into the NHS in 1948 (reference code HH107), annual reports on health services (HH106), and records of various health advisory councils, administrative files and services files (HH98- HH111).

Compilers: Laura Gould (NRS, 2021), Elspeth Reid (2021)

Related Knowledge Base entries

Hospitals before the NHS

Joint hospital boards

Bibliography

Dupree, Marguerite, ‘Central policy and local independence: integration, heath centres and the NHS in Scotland, 1948-1990’ in Medicine, Law and Public Policy in Scotland ed. by Mark Freemen, Eleanor Gordon and Krista Maglen (Dundee University Press, 2011) pp. 180-202

McLachlan, Gordon (ed.), Improving the Common Weal: Aspects of Scottish health services 1900-1984 (Edinburgh University Press for the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust, 1987)

References

[1] National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. VI c.27).

[2] National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. VI c.27) s.20, s.55.

[3] National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1972 (c.58).

[4] National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 (c.19).

[5] National Health Service Reform (Scotland) Act 2004 (asp 7).

Higher education

Scotland’s medieval universities were St Andrews (founded 1411), Glasgow (1451) and King’s College, Aberdeen (1494), followed by Edinburgh (1583) and Marischal College, Aberdeen (1593). Marischal College and King’s College were united as the University of Aberdeen in 1858.[1]

In the 1960s four new universities (Strathclyde, Heriot Watt, Dundee and Stirling) were created as part of a major expansion of university education in the UK. Strathclyde University in Glasgow was founded as the Andersonian Institute in 1796, became the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College in 1887, a Central Institution in 1908 and a university in 1964. Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, was founded as the Edinburgh School of Arts in 1821, became a technical college in 1885, a Central Institution in 1908 and a university in 1966. The University of Dundee was founded as University College Dundee in 1881, was affiliated to the University of St Andrews in 1897 and became an independent university in 1967. Stirling University was founded in 1967. A fifth university, the Open University (created in 1969) allowed many Scots to undertake higher education through distance learning.

Technical colleges developed in the 19th century, most notably in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Some of these became designated as Central Institutions in the 20th century: these were bodies which provided specialist higher education and were supported by grants from central government through the Education (Scotland) Fund and other central funding mechanisms. In 1908 these were Robert Gordon’s College and Gray’s School of Art , Aberdeen; Aberdeen and North of Scotland College of Agriculture; Dundee Technical Institute; Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture; Heriot-Watt College, Edinburgh; Edinburgh College of Art; Glasgow Athenaeum Commercial College; Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College; The West of Scotland Agricultural College; Glasgow School of Art; and Leith Nautical College.[2] By 1946 the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, the Scottish Woollen Technical College, and the two Colleges of Domestic Science and the Veterinary Colleges in Glasgow and Edinburgh had been added.[3] Paisley Technical College was added by 1950 and Napier Technical College, Edinburgh in 1964.[4]

In the 1990s, most of the CentraI Institutions changed their names and expanded their range of specialisms. Several became universities in their own right, making use of provisions under the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992.[5] These included Glasgow Caledonian University Napier University, Paisley University (now University of the West of Scotland), Robert Gordon University, and in 1993 and Abertay University in 1994.[6] The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama became recognised as an institution providing higher education in 1995.[7] In 2008 the last remaining Central Institution, the Scottish Agricultural College, was recognised as fundable body under the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005 and therefore Central Institutions ceased to be a distinct category of higher education providers.[8]

Records of universities and other higher education providers will be found in their own archives service. National Records of Scotland hold Scottish Government records of policy on and communications with higher education institutions (reference codes ED9, ED10 and ED26).

Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2021)

Related Knowledge Base entries

Further Education

Education

Bibliography

Anderson, R. D., Education and the Scottish people, 1750-1918 (Clarendon Press, 1995)

Anderson, Robert, Mark Freeman and Lindsay Paterson, The Edinburgh History of Education in Scotland (Edinburgh University Press, 2015)

References

[1] Universities (Scotland) Act 1858 (21 & 22 Vict. c.83) s.1.

[2] Education (Scotland) Act 1908 (c.63).

[3] Education (Scotland) Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. VI c.72).

[4] The Central Institutions (Scotland) (Recognition No. 1) Regulations, 1950 (SI No. 1757).

[5] Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992 (c.37).

[6] The Glasgow Caledonian University (Establishment) (Scotland) Order 1993 (SI No. 423 (S. 43)); The Glasgow Caledonian University (Scotland) Order of Council 1993 (SI No. 556 (S.75)): The Napier University (Scotland) Order of Council 1993 (SI No. 557 (S.76)); The University of Paisley (Scotland) Order of Council 1993 (SI No. 558 (S.77)); The Robert Gordon University (Scotland) Order of Council 1993 (SI No. 1157 (S.174)); The University of Abertay Dundee (Scotland) Order of Council 1994 (SI No. 1980(S .90)).

[7] The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (Scotland) Order of Council 1995 (SI No. 2261 (S.170)).

[8] The Fundable Bodies (The Scottish Agricultural College) (Scotland) Order 2008 (SSI No. 241); Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005 (asp 6); The Central Institutions (Recognition) (Scotland) Revocation Regulations 2008 (SSI No. 178).