The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, and former burgh, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and employment opportunities of Glasgow. At its peak, during the 1930s, the wider Gorbals district (which includes the directly adjoined localities of Laurieston and Hutchesontown) had swollen in population to an estimated 90,000 residents, giving the area a very high population density of around 100,000 per sq. mi. (40,000/km2). Redevelopment after WWII has taken many turns, and the area's population is substantially smaller today. The Gorbals was also home to 16 high rise flat blocks; only six are standing as of 2023, and two of them are set to come down in the next couple of years.
Meaning of placename
The name is first documented in the 15th and 16th centuries as Gorbaldis, and its etymology is unclear. It may be related to the Ecclesiastical Latin word ('sheaf'), found in the Scottish Gaelic term ('tenth sheaf'), a tithe of corn given to a parish rector. The taking of was a right given to George Elphinstone in 1616 as part of his 19-year ('lease'). The place name would therefore mean 'the Sheaves'. The name is similar to a Lowland Scots word ('unfledged bird'), perhaps a reference to lepers who were allowed to beg for alms in public. ('garden of the town') conforms with certain suggestions made by A.G. Callant in 1888, but other interpretations are also popular.
The village of Gorbals, known once as Bridgend, being at the south end of the bridge over the Clyde towards Glasgow Cross, had been pastoral with some early trading and mining. The Industrial Revolution, thanks to the inventions of James Watt and others, stimulated major expansion of Glasgow. In 1846 the city absorbed Gorbals, with a population of some 3,000, and with cotton spinning and weaving factories, ironworks and engineering. Increasingly in the 19th and 20th centuries, the area became home to large numbers of migrants from the surrounding countryside, including the Scottish Highlands, and immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Eastern and Central Europe, to meet the needs of industrial capital.
History
Govan parish was one of the oldest possessions of the church in the region. The merk land of "Brigend and Gorbaldis" is referred to in several sources. The village of Brigend was named after the bridge which Bishop William Rae had built in 1345 over the River Clyde; it lasted until the 19th century. Lady Marjorie Stewart of Lochow was said to have had a hospital built for lepers and dedicated to St Ninian in 1350, although this year is contested by current historians' estimates dating her life and activities. The lands on which the hospital was built were named St Ninian's Croft. They were later incorporated into Hutchesontown.
After the Protestant Reformation, in 1579 the church granted the land for ground rents (feued the land) to Sir George Elphinstone, a merchant who was Provost of Glasgow (1600–1606). The barony and regality of the Gorbals was confirmed in 1606 by a charter of King James VI, which vested Elphinstone's son, also George, and his descendants. These powers descended to Sir Robert Douglas of Blackerstone, who in 1650 disponed (legally transferred) the Gorbals to Glasgow's magistrates for the benefit of the city, the Trades' House, and Hutchesons' Hospital. The magistrates from then on collected the rents and duties and divided them: one fourth to the city, one fourth to the Trades' House, and the remaining half to Hutchesons' Hospital.
In 1790 the lands were divided into lots for development; the city acquired the old feus of Gorbals and Bridgend, and also the Kingston portion of the Barony of Gorbals. The Trades' House obtained a western section; and the remaining section lying to the east and south was allocated to Hutchesons' Hospital. The Hutcheson's Trust sub-feud a portion of their lands to an ambitious builder, James Laurie. (His grave, along with those of many other builders of Gorbals, is marked with well-carved masons' implements, indicating his Master status. The gravestones are visible at the Burial Ground, established in 1715 and now called the Gorbals Rose Garden). Laurie built the first house in St Ninian Street in 1794.