John House (16 May 1906 – 11 April 1991) was a prolific and popular Scottish writer and broadcaster, with a significant attachment to the

City of Glasgow Glasgow City Council is the local government authority for the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Glasgow district of th ...

Early life

East end

House was born in Tollcross, then in the

County of Lanark Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...

, just outside the Glasgow city boundary. This, together with the fact that both of his parents were born in England, would come as a surprise to those who knew him as "Mr Glasgow", so thoroughly did he identify himself with the culture and people of that city. He felt that Glasgow was a fairly autonomous "city state". That his father, also John, was a prosperous company secretary and Jack himself trained as an accountant would only add to the surprise, given Glasgow's "

Red Clydeside Red Clydeside was the era of political radicalism in Glasgow, Scotland, and areas around the city, on the banks of the River Clyde, such as Clydebank, Greenock, Dumbarton and Paisley, from the 1910s until the early 1930s. Red Clydeside is a ...

" reputation. The family rapidly moved to

Dennistoun Dennistoun is a mostly residential district in Glasgow, Scotland, located north of the River Clyde and in the city's east end, about east of the city centre. Since 2017 it has formed the core of a Dennistoun ward under Glasgow City Council, ...

where Jack (and subsequently his four brothers and three sisters) attended Whitehill Secondary School. At his father's insistence he began training as an accountant. Accounting did not suit Jack's temperament, nor did it challenge his abilities, which lay towards writing, spinning yarns and acting.

Journalism

In 1928, he got a job as a reporter on the Glasgow ''

Evening Citizen The ''Evening Citizen'', was an evening version of '' The Glasgow Citizen'' (a daily newspaper founded in 1842 by James David Hedderwick). It was first published in August 1864, was one of the first of three evening newspapers to be printed, pub ...

'', where he was involved in a number of sensational stories – including a tragic blaze at the Glen Cinema in Paisley in which 80 children had perished. He also attended an early demonstration of

mechanical television Mechanical television or mechanical scan television is a television system that relies on a mechanical scanning device, such as a rotating disk with holes in it or a rotating mirror drum, to scan the scene and generate the video signal, and a si ...

John Logie Baird John Logie Baird FRSE (; 13 August 188814 June 1946) was a Scottish inventor, electrical engineer, and innovator who demonstrated the world's first live working television system on 26 January 1926. He went on to invent the first publicly demo ...

. Meanwhile, he continued to act – mostly light parts (in the Scottish National Players as well as for

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Evening Times The ''Glasgow Times'' is an evening tabloid newspaper published Monday to Saturday in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Called ''The Evening Times'' from 1876, it was rebranded as the ''Glasgow Times'' on 4 December 2019.The Bulletin'', ''

Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'' and the ''

Scottish Field ''Scottish Field'' is a Scottish monthly magazine which covers traditional, leisure, and historical interests. History and profile The magazine was established by former railway booking clerk and advertising executive John MacMurtie in Glasgow in ...

''.

Army, acting, script writing and political activity

During the second world war he attained the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the cinematographic unit, for which he wrote scripts (in the company of

Peter Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (born Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov ; 16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, filmmaker and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits ...

and

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in ''Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...

). He was well connected with the media classes of both

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

,. He was also active politically, standing unsuccessfully in a 1962 by-election for

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

in the Glasgow Woodside constituency, where he then lived. He also campaigned against the

Glasgow Inner Ring Road The Glasgow Inner Ring Road was a proposed ring road encircling the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland. Construction of the roads began in 1965, and half of its circumference was completed by 1972, but no subsequent construction was made and the r ...

and the construction of Glasgow's peripheral housing estates, such as

Easterhouse Easterhouse is a suburb of Glasgow, Scotland, east of the city centre on land gained from the county of Lanarkshire as part of an expansion of Glasgow before the Second World War. The area is on high ground north of the River Clyde and south ...

and

Nitshill Nitshill ( gd, Cnoc nan Cnòthan) is a district on the south side of Glasgow. It is bordered by South Nitshill to the south, Darnley to the east, Crookston and Roughmussel to the north-west, Hurlet to the west and Househillwood and Priesthill ...

, which resulted in the decline of traditional inner-city districts, a phenomenon known as

Counter urbanisation Counterurbanization, or deurbanization, is a demographic and social process whereby people move from urban areas to rural areas. It is, like suburbanization, inversely related to urbanization. It first occurred as a reaction to inner-city depriva ...

Writer and ''bon viveur''

Author

It is, though, as a writer that he is best known. He published 54 books, and possibly even more. Many of his books had been commissioned and some were obviously meant to be "fun" books. Several others had been commissioned by local authorities or tourist boards with a view to promoting their areas. Large companies – especially builders and whisky distillers – commissioned histories of their success from him, as did the locally renowned "Western Baths". All of these commissions are testimony to his engaging style, as well as an investigative prowess derived from his journalism. He produced other substantial works closer to his personal interests, such as ''Heart of Glasgow''. However, one of his biggest successes was ''

Square Mile of Murder The Square Mile of Murder relates to an area of west-central Glasgow, Scotland. The term was first coined by the Scottish journalist and author Jack House, whose 1961 book of the same name was based on the fact that four of Scotland's most infamou ...

''. In this he described and analysed several notorious 19th-century murders, and miscarriages of justice, in the middle-class districts in the west of the city. Among these were the cases of

Madeleine Smith Madeleine Hamilton Smith (29 March 1835 – 12 April 1928) was a 19th-century Glasgow socialite who was the accused in a sensational murder trial in Scotland in 1857. Background Smith was the first child (of five) of an upper-middle-class ...

, (played, like the rest of the cast, with a perfect English accent by

Ann Todd Dorothy Ann Todd (24 January 1907 – 6 May 1993) was an English film, television and stage actress who achieved international fame when she starred in 1945's ''The Seventh Veil''. From 1949 to 1957 she was married to David Lean who directed he ...

David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, Lean directed the large-scale epics ''The Bridge on the River ...

's 1949 film ''Madeleine'') and

Oscar Slater Oscar Joseph Slater (8 January 1872 – 31 January 1948) was the victim of a miscarriage of justice in Scotland. Wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to death, he was freed after almost two decades of hard labour at Scotland’s HM Priso ...

. He tried his hand as a novelist in ''House on the Hill'', with limited success (although it was later dramatised by

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...

). However, his sparkling journalism never went out of fashion – despite the fact that he had always warned that he never let a concern for facts get in his way if there was a good story to be told. His "'Ask Jack" column in the ''Glasgow Evening Citizen'' gave lively answers (most of them true) to readers' questions on all aspects of the City. He was often on television, with STV and BBC Scotland, and formed a winning partnership with Sir James Fergusson in the long-running radio series ''

Round Britain Quiz ''Round Britain Quiz'' (or ''RBQ'' for short) is a panel game that has been broadcast on BBC Radio since 1947, making it the oldest quiz still broadcast on British radio. It was based on a format called ''Transatlantic Quiz'', a contest betwee ...

''. ''Pavement in the Sun'' is an attempt at autobiography.

Restaurant critic

He regularly acted as restaurant critic for that paper, where, as usual, his partisanship for the city over-ruled any more nuanced judgements. The view from one restaurant table looked down along the Great Western Road. "Like the ''Champs Elysées'' – only better!", was Mr Glasgow's considered verdict. He spent a great deal of time in the "''Ubiquitous Chip''" restaurant and there is a caricature of him – buck teeth and all – by Emilio Coia still hanging over his habitual table. The restaurant was close to Jack's last home – a flat in a classic Glasgow tenement. His substantial

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

flat in ''Beaumont Gate'', was in

Dowanhill Dowanhill is an area in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland. An upper middle-class residential district, the area generally contains a mixture of terraced townhouses with private communal gardens, detached villas with private grounds and a number ...

, where he had always aspired to stay. This, like his birth and childhood homes was of striking red sandstone – a Glaswegian architectural/visual code for "''extremely well-off''".

Final years

He married Jessie Lottimer Bennett Miller, herself an outstanding journalist (who died in 1974). They had no children. He was awarded the St Mungo Prize Glasgow's top honour, in 1988, and Glasgow University awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Laws. The St Mungo Prize is awarded to the individual who has done most in the previous three years to improve and promote the city of Glasgow. He died in Glasgow

Western Infirmary The Western Infirmary was a teaching hospital situated in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland, that was managed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. It was opened in 1874 and closed in 2015. History After the University of Glasgow moved from the city ...

on 11 April 1991.

Bibliography

* ''Baths: the story of the Western Baths, Hillhead from 1876 to 1990'' by W.M. Mann; with additional material by Jack House. 1993 * ''Beatles quiz book'' compiled by Jack House. ith plates and illustrations, including portraits.1964 * ''Century of box-making. A history of Andrew Ritchie and Son Limited from 1850 to 1950''. ith plates, including portraits.1955 * ''Cherchez La Femme''. A simple sketch in Scots n one act.1936 * ''Comics in kilts'' / illustrated by Bill Tait. 1945 * ''Down the Clyde''. ith illustrations, including maps.1959 * ''Dumfries and Galloway''. ith illustrations.1963 * ''Dunoon, 1868–1968'' written by Jack House 1968 * ''Dunoon, on the Firth of Clyde''. Official guide / written by Jack House. ith illustrations and maps.(two editions – 1947 and 1953) * ''Eight plays for Wolf Cubs'' / by Jack House and Theo Brown. (1928, reissued 1961) * ''Family affair. The story of David Carlaw & Sons, Ltd. of Glasgow''. ith illustrations, including portraits.1960 * ''Friendly adventure. The story of the City of Glasgow Friendly Society's'' first hundred years / by Jack House. llustrated.1962 * ''Getting around the Clyde''. ith illustrations and a map.1946 and 1948 * ''Glasgow old and new'' ompiled byJack House 1974 (revised 1983 and again in 1991) * ''Glory of Scotland : The West'' / (colour photographs by W.S. Thomson.). 1962 * ''Heart of Glasgow'' / Jack House. 1965, 1972, 1978, 1982, 1991, 2005 * ''House on the hill'' / Jack House, 1981 * ''How to clean an elephant, and other facts of life'' / by Jack House. 1948 * ''Kirkcaldy: the official guide'' / text by Jack House. Sketches by Joan Eardley. ith a map.1940 * ''Lang Toun'' / by Jack House. 1975 * ''Lochrin's hundred years. The story of William Bain & Company Ltd. of Coatbridge.'' llustrated.1959 * ''Macalaster & Alison : the insurance brokers, 1877–1977'' / by Jack House. 1978 * ''Murder not proven?'' 1962, 1984, 1986, 1989 * ''Music Hall Memories – Recollections of Scottish Music Hall and Pantomime'' 1986 * ''Out from Oban''. ith illustrations.1962 * ''Pavement in the sun.'' n autobiography. Illustrated.1967 * ''Plumber in Glasgow : the history of the firm of Hugh Twaddle & Son, Ltd from 1848 to 1948'' / by Jack House; with four drawings by Robert Eadie. 1948 * ''Portrait of the Clyde'' by Jack House 1969, 1975 * ''Pride of Perth the story of Arthur Bell & Sons Ltd, Scotch whisky distillers'' Jack House 1976 * ''Robert Paterson builder, 1827–1977'' by Jack House 1977 * ''Romance of Long John'' / by Jack House. 1982 * ''Sailing down the Clyde : Glasgow to Kyles of Bute'' / by Jack House. 1969 * ''Scotland for fun : a quiz book'' / Jack House 1962, 1983 * ''Scott country. Around the Borders.'' ith illustrations, including a map.1962 * ''Skye and the Western Isles.'' ith illustrations, including maps.1962 * ''Spirit of White Horse'' / by Jack House. 1971 * ''Square mile of murder'' / Jack House ; n account of four famous Glasgow murder cases. With plates, including portraits. foreword by Robert Jeffrey ; introduction by Donald R. Findlay (1961, 1975, 1984, 1988) 2002 * ''Stewarton'' by Jack House 1971 * ''Tale of two houses'' / Jack House. 1980

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:House, Jack 1906 births 1991 deaths Journalists from Glasgow Scottish novelists Writers from Glasgow Scottish people of English descent People educated at Whitehill Secondary School 20th-century British novelists British restaurant critics