The University of Glasgow Story

The Square, 7

Description

7 The Square is part of the Stair Building, which comprises No.5–10 The Square, and currently houses the School of Law.

No.7 was one of the 13 townhouses built for the University Professors in 1870–1871 by George Gilbert Scott. 7 The Square housed the Professors of Oriental Languages for a hundred years. Its first tenant was Duncan Harkness Weir, Professor of Oriental Languages from 1850 to 1876. He lived at No.7 from 1870 to 1876. The next resident was James Robertson, Professor of Oriental Languages from 1877 to 1907, followed by William Barron Stevenson, Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages from 1907 to 1937. The last Professor teaching Oriental Languages to live at No.7 was Cecil Weir. Weir was Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages from 1937 to 1968.

The home wasn’t occupied again until the end of 1970 when Robin Downie, now Emeritus Professor of Moral Philosophy, and his wife moved into the property. Given that Professor Weir had lived in the home for some time No.7 had required some renovations. In addition to updating the electrical wiring, central heating was also installed. According to Mrs Eileen Downie’s Memories of life in The Square word was that previous generations of Professors’ wives had kept their fur coats on in most parts of the house to keep warm. Professor Downie and his family lived at No.7 until 1975. There was much interest from other Professors when the house became available. Ultimately Dennis Cyril Gilles took up residence at No.7 from September 1975 until June 1983 at which time the building was incorporated into the School of Law.

Summary

The Square, 7
7 The Square
University of Glasgow
Glasgow
G12 8QQ
Record last updated: 6th Nov 2015