Records of Legal titles concerning land acquired by Charles Tennant & Co, chemical manufacturers, Glasgow, Scotland at St Rollox Croft, Glasgow.

Scope and Content

  • Legal titles concerning St Rollox Croft, Glasgow acquired by Charles Tennant & Co, 1764-1930

Administrative / Biographical History

Tennant, Knox & Co, chemical manufacturers, set up their St Rollox chemical works in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1799 to manufacture bleaching powder. The land upon which the works were built, St Rollox Croft, was situated near the Springburn area of Glasgow, just north of the city's cathedral, and the legal conveyance was dealt with by the firm of Mackenzie, Gardner & Alexander, solicitors, Glasgow, later known as Mackenzie, Roberton & Co. In 1799, the company produced 52 tons of bleaching powder and by 1825, the St Rollox works had become the largest chemical works in the world producing 910 tons of powder and by 1930 covered a 50-acre site. By 1815, the company was known as Charles Tennant & Co. In 1842, the "Tennant's Stalk" chimney was erected, at that time the fourth highest built structure in the world at 450 feet, and a feature of the Glasgow skyline for 80 years. In 1892, the firm specialised in the production of sulphuric acid and was acquired by United Alkali but continued to trade as Charles Tennant & Co. The firm was incorporated as Charles Tennant & Co Ltd in 1913. The works continued to produce chemical products until its closure in the early 1960s and their demolition in 1964-5. In 2002, Charles Tennant & Co Ltd was still a trading company based in Glasgow.

Source:  Joe Fisher,Glasgow Encyclopaedia(Edinburgh), 1994)

Arrangement

The arrangement of this material reflects the original order in which it was received

Access Information

Open

Acquisition Information

Gift : Mackenzie, Roberton & Co : Glasgow : May 1971

Other Finding Aids

Digital file level list available in searchroom

Manual file level list available at the National Registers of Archives in Edinburgh (NRA(S)) and London (NRA)

Alternative Form Available

No known copies

Conditions Governing Use

Applications for permission to quote should be sent to the University Archivist

Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use & condition of documents

Appraisal Information

This material has been appraised in line with standard GB 248 procedures

Custodial History

Held by Mackenzie, Roberton & Co, solicitors, and received via the Business Archives Council for Scotland

Accruals

None expected

Related Material

GB 234 GD 270 Records of Charles Tennant & Co (National Archives of Scotland)

Collection deposited with the following other legal records of Mackenzie, Roberton & Co, solicitors:

GB 248 UGD 152/1 Records of Mackenzie, Roberton & Co, solicitors

GB 248 UGD 152/4 Records of Pinkston Estate, Glasgow

GB 248 UGD 152/5 Records of Meikle Cullock, land in the parish of Urr, Dumfries & Galloway

GB 248 UGD 152/6 Records of Dougalstoun Estate, East Dunbartonshire

Material in other repositories: no material associated by provenance

Bibliography

No known publications using this material

Additional Information

Compiled by David Powell, Hub Project Archivist, 26 June 2002

No alterations made to date

Geographical Names