William Harley (1767–1829) was a Scottish textile manufacturer and entrepreneur who is known for his early contributions to the city of
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 ...
, including the development of the New Town of Blythswood, covering
Blythswood Hill
Blythswood Hill, crowned by the elegance of Blythswood Square, is the wealthiest part of central Glasgow, Scotland. It extends from the west edge of Buchanan Street to Gordon Street and Bothwell Street, Charing Cross, Sauchiehall Street a ...
, and pioneering hygienic
dairy farming
Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or ...
.
Early life
Harley was born in
Glen Devon
The River Devon (formerly Dovan, gd, Duibhe) is a tributary of the River Forth in Clackmannanshire, Scotland.
Geography and hydrology
The source of the river is Blairdenon Hill in the Ochils at an altitude of .
Upper areas have been dammed, ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
,
but lost both parents at an early age, so was brought up by his paternal grandmother.
He trained as a
weaver in
Kinross
Kinross (, gd, Ceann Rois) is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, around south of Perth and around northwest of Edinburgh. It is the traditional county town of the historic county of Kinross-shire.
History
Kinross's origins are connect ...
under the employ of his maternal uncle who produced
satinet Satinet is a finely woven fabric with a finish resembling satin, but made partly or wholly from cotton or synthetic fiber.
The fibers may be natural (as with cotton, woolens or cashmere wool) or synthetic.
In the United States of America
The proce ...
, and then later for his uncle's business in
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
.
Ventures
In 1789 William Harley moved to Glasgow, becoming a textile manufacturer, employing some 600 handloom weavers in partnership with a fellow member of the Merchants House but soon opened his own business warehouse on the corner of
George Square
George Square ( gd, Ceàrnag Sheòrais) is the principal civic square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of six squares in the city centre, the others being Cathedral Square, St Andrew's Square, St Enoch Square, Royal Exchange Sq ...
on South Frederick Street.
Development of Blythswood
By 1802, and now married to Jane Laird of Greenock, his business was so profitable that he purchased a house called Willowbank and ten acres of land adjacent to the future Sauchiehall Street from Lawrence Phillips of Anderston. Two years later he bought 35 acres of the vast Blythswood Lands from
Archibald Campbell Archibald Campbell may refer to:
Peerage
* Archibald Campbell of Lochawe (died before 1394), Scottish peer
* Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll (died 1513), Lord Chancellor of Scotland
* Archibald Campbell, 4th Earl of Argyll (c. 1507–1558) ...
to start developing the area as part of the Campbell's planned New Town of Blythswood. This was land just west of the partly developed Buchanan Street rising westward to the future
Blythswood Square
Blythswood Square is the Georgian square on Blythswood Hill in the heart of the City of Glasgow, Scotland. The square is part of the 'Magnificent New Town of Blythswood' built in the 1800s on the rising empty ground west of a very new Buchana ...
.
With his engineer James Cook, of Tradeston, Harley laid out all the streets on
Blythswood Hill
Blythswood Hill, crowned by the elegance of Blythswood Square, is the wealthiest part of central Glasgow, Scotland. It extends from the west edge of Buchanan Street to Gordon Street and Bothwell Street, Charing Cross, Sauchiehall Street a ...
including West George Street and St Vincent Street.
William Harley employed stonemason firms to build the first terraces of townhouses which were along the southside of Sauchiehall Street, and erected before 1815.
He also sold tracts of land, already serviced by him, to others for housebuilding. In the 1820s he devised and laid out Blythswood Square, adjacent to his 10 acre Willowbank pleasure gardens which were, open to paying members of the public. To allow people to travel to his gardens he had a road created from the city along what is now Bath Street, and had a bridge built to cross St Enoch's Burn which ran down what is now West Nile Street and Mitchell Lane to
St Enoch Square
St. Enoch Square is a public square in Glasgow, Scotland, situated south of the junction of Buchanan Street and Argyle Street, two of the city's busiest shopping streets.
History
The Square sits on land that once was the western part of Glas ...
.
He used the arches on either side of the burn to store ice becoming the city's first ice merchant.
The building of the four terraces surrounding his new square took place in the years to 1827.
At the peak of the development of Blythswood Hill there were 1,800 stonemasons at work. By far it became the healthiest and wealthiest part of the city.
Water supplier and public baths
About 1804, at a time when people had to queue at wells within the city to pump water, Harley also started a business piping fresh water from springs on his Willowbank property west to a reservoir tank on the northeast corner of what is now Bath Street and West Nile Street, and selling it twice a day directly to people’s doors via water tanks on carts.
However when the very new Glasgow Waterworks Company and Cranstonhill Company started pumping water from the
River Clyde
The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...
direct to people’s homes, Harley’s water distribution business switched to service another of his new projects, the creation of the first indoor
public baths
Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...
in Scotland. Bath Street was later named after these baths.
Harley's Byres
Harley had cows at Willowbank and at his Sighthill farm of 36 acres just north of the new Royal Infirmary. In 1809, after supplying milk from one of his cows as requested by customers visiting his indoor public baths, William Harley now established the first hygienic dairy in Europe known to all as “Harley’s Byres” adjacent to the baths, starting with 24 cows.
Eventually he designed and built three cowsheds housing 300 cows. Harley's principles of hygiene continue today worldwide, involving strict practices in employee cleanliness, sterilisation of equipment, and improved animal cleanliness and husbandry, with increased output and quality of milk. This attracted attention from home and overseas including
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , group=pron ( – ) was List of Russian rulers, Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. He was the third son of Paul I of Russia, Paul I and younger brother of his predecessor, Alexander I ...
,
Archdukes John and
Louis of Austria,
He was asked by the
Highland Society of Scotland
The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) was founded in Edinburgh in 1784 as the Highland Society of Edinburgh.
The Society had its root in 1723 when the Society of Improvers of the Knowledge of Agriculture in Scotland was ...
to write a book on his methods
which he finally published in 1829, a year before his death in London.
Harley also built a viewing gallery within his byres, charging admission from people wishing to view the milking.
Willowbank Baking
After his success supplying water and milk to the city and suburbs, in 1815 Harley was asked to supply bread to the city.
His employees started baking bread, biscuits etc and selling to Glasgow and its suburbs, and distributing it by steamer to towns along the
Firth of Clyde
The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...
.
Economic depression
The lengthy French Revolutionary Wars followed by the Napoleonic Wars, finally ending at the Battle of Waterloo of 1815, had a dramatic effect on trade and business throughout Britain.
William Harley continued to run his businesses as they struggled for a year or two thereafter, but then they were placed in a
trust
Trust often refers to:
* Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality
It may also refer to:
Business and law
* Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another
* Trust (bus ...
formed by some contemporaries in an attempt to keep them going. However the Royal Bank of Scotland finally in 1821 had to sequestrate him, the property developments being finalised by others or sold off entirely.
Legacy
The creation of the main parts of the New Town of Blythswood from West Nile Street westwards to Blythswood Square.
Founder of the principles of hygiene in dairying, first in Europe.
John Galloway wrote a biography of Harley which was published in 1901.
In 1921 the Pen & Pencil Club erected a plaque in recognition of Harley on Renfield Street at the corner with Bath Street, at the location where Harley had started his water, dairy and bakery businesses.
Graeme Smith wrote a biography of William Harley and family and the development of Glasgow's New Town of Blythswood from 1800 to the present day, in 2021.
Personal life
William Harley married Janet (Jane) Laird, eldest daughter of John Laird, rope and sail manufacturer in Greenock, (and sister of
William Laird) in 1801, and they had six daughters and four sons.
In 1829 he was invited by the Tsar of Russia to manage and improve the new Imperial dairy in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, but while travelling he took ill and died in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
Harley was buried in London's notorious
Spa Fields
Spa Fields is a park and its surrounding area in the London Borough of Islington, bordering Finsbury and Clerkenwell. Historically it is known for the Spa Fields riots of 1816 and an Owenite community which existed there between 1821 and 1824. The ...
graveyard.
Works
*
References
{{reflist
1767 births
1829 deaths
Businesspeople from Glasgow
Scottish farmers