Continuing the story of how Shuttle Row was transformed into a museum in the 1920s. Transcribed from the 1940s as follows: “The buildings that now form the Scottish National Memorial to David Livingstone were, with many others, erected about 1785 to house the employees of the Blantyre Cotton Spinning Works, one of the first experiments […]
The following extract is from 1943 or 44 taken from a little booklet about the story of the David Livingstone Centre. The whole extract formed the Preface of the booklet, which we’ll be exploring here over the next couple of weeks to celebrate the imminent re-opening of the museum. “Many people have expressed the wish […]
Things are changing in Blantyre with the imminent re-opening of Shuttle Row Museum rebranded now as David Livingstone Birthplace. Over the next couple of weeks, to celebrate the re-opening I’ll be telling the story in detail of how the Museum came about, charting its successes and struggles, archiving in writing how it looked and what […]
In 1911, a pedestrian out a walk in Bothwell and Blantyre took time to write his description and send it into the newspaper. Here, we have reprinted his account word for word, that Winter in November 1911 as he approached Blantyre. It makes for interesting reading! Shuttle Row is pictured in 1913 and the traveller […]
On 17th January 1913, a reader of the Scotsman Newspaper came up with a good idea. Why not buy the dilapidated birthplace house of David Livingstone at Shuttle Row and turn it into a museum about the great Explorer! It was a fanciful idea but one that planted the seed of such a wonderful idea, […]
Continued from Part 2 yesterday… In 1913, the Rev Thomas Hannan, visited Shuttle Row to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of Livingstone’s birth. He left a brilliant description of life in and around Shuttle Row at a time when it was still homes, some 16 years before it became a museum. Pictured in 1913, that […]
This photo was in a local newspaper in 1913, taken that year to illustrate an article about the life of David Livingstone. The article celebrated 100 years since the famous Explorer was born in one of the upper rooms of this building, Shuttle Row. The photo demonstrates the condition of the building, looking particularly run […]