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Glasgow School of Art Student.

Mr Harry Bathgate Jnr was a student who was dismissed from the Glasgow School of Art in 1910.

Caroline Baumhauer graduated with a Master of European Design from the Innovation School at The Glasgow School of Art in 2023. She was awarded the Undergraduate Chair Medal for the Innovation School.

Christina Baxter (born 03/05/1881) attended the Glasgow School of Art sporadically between 1915 and 1920. In the first instance, between 1915 and 1916, Christina attended evening classes in Textile Design along with a cohort of students from the College of Domestic Science. The College of Domestic Science was affiliated to the Glasgow School of Art, a programme of Advanced Art Needlecraft and Embroidery was established for high level students from the College to attend.

Christina then attended the Glasgow School of Art between 1918 and 1920, to undertake Saturday afternoon (and then Saturday Morning) Needlework Classes. At this time it is also noted that Christina had become a Teacher of Domestic Science. Throughout her time at the Glasgow School of Art, Christina stayed in North Kelvinside. She shared this address with Margaret Baxter, so it is likely that they were sisters.

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Margaret Baxter began attending the Glasgow School of Art in 1906, when she was 16 and working as a Design Copyist. She attended evening classes in Drawing and Painting until 1908. Between 1908 and 1909 she attended day classes in Design, which led to her becoming a 'Decorative Designer' while she attended day classes in Drawing and Painting, and Design between 1909 and 1910. From 1910 to 1913, Margaret attended day classes in Drawing and Painting. In 1913, she attended day classes in Life Drawing, and was also awarded a £10 maintenance bursary from the Glasgow Secondary Education Committee. In the same year, she is also listed in the Prospectus as graduating from the GSA with a Diploma, and becoming an Art Mistress at St Bride's Girl's School in Helensburgh. Margaret returned to the Glasgow School of Art in 1917 to take evening classes in Life Modelling, and in 1920 she attended evening classes in Needlework. Throughout her time at the GSA, Margaret is listed as residing in North Kelvinside in Glasgow.

It is likely that she exhibited prints, drawings, and paintings at the Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts between 1928 and 1961; and at the Royal Scottish Academy between 1947 and 1956. She was also related to Christina Baxter, who attended the GSA between 1915 and 1920.

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Sources: the Dictionary of Scottish Art and Architecture by Peter J M McEwan; Scotland's People: http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk.

Muriel Florence Baxter was born in Belfast on the 14th April 1895. Her father was Irish and her mother Florence Mary Baxter was from Bolton in Lancashire. Muriel was originally born Florence Muriel Baxter, however it is believed that her first and middle names were swapped so that she was not confused with her mother. The family moved from Belfast to Bolton before moving to Glasgow.

Muriel studied at The Glasgow School of Art between 1913 and 1919, where she took day classes in Drawing and Painting and was taught by Archibald E Millar who was an Assistant Professor. While studying at the GSA, Muriel assisted with the Belgian Tryst, a fundraiser organised by students and staff to aid Belgian Refugees. She worked in the Belgium Market on Stall 2 convened by Miss Tully. She continued to live in Glasgow after this, exhibiting work as an amateur painter. She also exhibited work in Liverpool where she died in 1974.

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Sources: The Dictionary of Scottish Art and Architecture by Peter J M McEwan; Scotland's People @ https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/?gclid=CL2elbqr79ICFQUq0wodCxQIFg; additional information provided by a private researcher.

William Baxter was born in 1896. He studied drawing and painting at The Glasgow School of Art in 1914/15 before joining the Royal Air Force. In 1918/19 he returned as a full time art student funded by the Ministry of Labour. He is listed in the School's World War One Roll of Honour.

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Bayatti was a Visual Communication student at The Glasgow School of Art, graduating in 2005. She was awarded the W O Hutchison Prize. She later studied Communication Art and Design at the Royal College of Art.

Evelyn Beale was born in 18th July 1870. She trained at the Slade School. She moved from Edinburgh to North Shields in 1907 and the following year returned to Scotland to live in Portobello before moving to Rothesay in1910, finally settling in Glasgow around 1918. She studied at the Glasgow School of Art between 1915 and 1919, where she studied day time drawing and painting and sculpture. Beale was active as a sculptor in the group of artists known as the 'Glasgow Girls' between 1904 and 1938. Many exhibited pieces are recorded, including memorial war panels after World War One. Beale died in 1944.

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Sources: the Dictionary of Scottish Art and Architecture by Peter J M McEwan; Scotland's People: http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

Janetta A Beaton was a student of the Glasgow School of Art between 1916 and 1918. During her first year, she studied evening classes in Drawing and Painting, specifically Needlework. Her second year at the School saw her achieve the Haldane Bursary of £2 for Design and Decorative Arts, and she transferred from Evening to Day Classes, where she studied Needle Lettering. Her occupation was listed as "Art Needlework". Janetta lived in the Gorbals during her time studying.

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Born in 1963, Rosemary studied at the Glasgow School of Art from 1981 to 1986, graduating BA(Hons) in Fine Art in 1985 and awarded a Post Graduate Diploma the following year.She won the John Player National Portrait Award in 1984 and was commissioned to paint Sir Robin Day by the National Portrait Gallery, London, 1985. She has undertaken a number of public art projects including'Present and Future', an entrance Art Work comprising 50m x 25m grass waves and 2 steel heads measuring 3m each at Prime Four, in Aberdeen.

Born and brought up in Govan, his father was a property agent and his mother a school teacher. Beattie studied at the GSA from 1935-1940, possibly inspired by his uncle, Dr Colin Sinclair who was a well-known architect. In his first session he studied Drawing and Painting, later switching to Design.

In 1938 he helped to rebuild Iona Abbey with the inspirational Church of Scotland minister, George Macleod, founder of the Iona community. Beattie was deeply religious and in later life trained as a Methodist Lay Preacher.

Gaining his Diploma in 1940, Beattie became an Art Master at Cally House, in Gatehouse of Fleet. (Glasgow Education Department took over Cally House during the war and many evacuee school children from Glasgow were sent there to be taught in a safer environment.) After the war he moved with his second wife to Uddingston and taught at Uddingston Grammar School. He then became Head of the Art Department at Rutherglen Secondary School before finishing his career as Head of Art at Bellshill secondary School.

Oscar Alexander Beattie was born on the 8th January 1890, in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. He enlisted as a soldier during the First World War, and achieved the rank of Lieutenant before serving overseas. He studied at the Glasgow School of Art in 1918, taking day classes in architecture. He returned to Australia in 1919, where he continued to work as an architect. He married Mary Kathleen Beart in 1926. Beattie died in Perth, Australia in 1966.

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Sources: the Dictionary of Scottish Art and Architecture by Peter J M McEwan; Scotland's People: http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk.

Born in Prestwick, Jessie Moira Munro moved to Shawlands in Glasgow when she was five years old. After attending Hutcheson’s Grammar School, she enrolled at the GSA in 1939 where she was a contemporary of Joan Eardley and Margo Sandeman, but left after a year to join the war effort. From 1942 she worked at Bletchley Park, initially as a secretary, but later became a cryptographer, a fact she did not divulge to her family until the 1980s. After the war in Europe ended, she moved to the Films Division of the Ministry of Information in London, working for its director Jack Beddington. She returned to Glasgow in 1947 to resume her studies at the School of Art where she met Stuart Beaty, a sculptor, whom she married in 1952.

Following teacher training at Jordanhill College she taught in the Gorbals until moving to Hawick in the Borders where Stuart had a successful career in textiles with Pringle of Scotland. She taught part-time in various local schools and during the late 1950s and 60s she exhibited widely in both group and solo exhibitions, becoming a professional member of Scottish Society of Women Artists in 1974. She also exhibited at Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Art.

After the death of her husband in 2004, she moved to the Stirlingshire village of Balfron to be near her daughter, and still painted regularly. Her final year was a triumph as she had a sell-out retrospective exhibition in the Harbour Gallery, Kirkcudbright, and was represented in the town's major summer exhibition, Glasgow Girls 1920-60, which she opened.

Chloe Beddow graduated from Painting and Printmaking at GSA in 2022, and was the recipient of the McBroom Prize.

Vicky attained her B Des (Hons) in Printed Textiles from Duncan of Jordanstone College in 1995 and her MA Textile Design from Winchester School of Art in 1996. Her Masters level research focused on the use of reflective printing pigments in disperse dyes for sportswear. Initially a Printed Textiles Lecturer on the BA (Hons) European Textile Design course at Bradford college, Vicky became the Course Tutor overseeing all aspects of the course from design to foreign languages. In 1999, through maintaining cose links with industry whilst at Bradford College, Vicky went on to establish one of the UK’s first digital fabric printing services with RA Smart Ltd.The Fabric Printing Bureau operated under Vicky’s Directorship until 2002 serving a vast array of clients in design and design related industries, from haute couture to exhibition design. In May 2002, Vicky joined the Centre for Advanced Textiles as Bureau Co-ordinator to consolidate her expertise with that of Alan Shaw and the CAT team, in promoting the digital fabric printing technology as a commercial, educational and research facility.

Alex is a multidisciplinary artist, materials engineer and explorer. She returned to GSA as a mature student to formalise her practice in the sonic arts, graduating in 2023 with a B.Des. in Sound for the Moving Image (1st class honours) and winning the SIMVIS Chairman’s Medal. She believes that creative possibility is universal regardless of domain or resource - that the most innovative scientists have interests in the arts and vice versa.

Originally from Belfast, Alex lived, worked and expeditioned on all continents, often in remote cultures and landscapes, before setting up her studio by the sea in Scotland. Her practice explores the intersection between culture, arts and science to confront entrenched ideologies and beliefs. Her work incorporates light, sound, music, moving image, sculpture, writing and performance to create immersive experiences which challenge perceptions and stimulate empathy for the counterargument. Alex is concerned with 21st century “mauvais foi” (bad faith, Sartre), where we evade the responsibility of discovering and understanding ourselves and the consequences of our actions, failing to exercise integrity and autonomy in life choices.

Margaret C. M. Bell (born 23/02/1896) registered to study at the Glasgow School of Art between 1914 and 1915. She is recorded as enrolling in Day classes in Drawing and Painting, and Design. Unfortunately, it seems that she withdrew from these classes. However, her Design classes were not scored through, so it may be the case that she simply withdrew from the Painting and Drawing Classes. The GSA had a strict policy with withdrawing from classes – that no fees that had already been paid would be refunded. Margaret lived in South Kelvinside in the West End of Glasgow.

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Robert Anning Bell RA, RWS, LLD (1863-1933) born 14 Apr 1863, Soho, London, died 27 Nov 1933.
Robert Anning Bell was a painter, modeller for coloured relief, illustrator and designer of stained glass and mosaics. He studied at Westminster and the Royal Academy Schools. From 1911 he was the Professor of the Design Section at Glasgow School of Art. He was based in London and visited the School when required. From 1903 to 1911 he had been a visiting lecturer to the School and had also been one of the external examiners, so his influence on the section was strong. In 1918 he became Visiting Director of Studies to the Design School, a post he retained until his death in 1933. He also held teaching posts at the Royal College of Art, London and University College, Liverpool.

Stafford Northcote Bell (06/05/1879) began attending the Glasgow School of Art in 1913. He attended evening classes at the GSA for three years. Initially, he studied both Costume Class, taught by Mr Mains, and Etching taught by Miss Crawford. By 1915, however, it seems that he was taking evening classes only in Etching.

The costume classes involved the study of the "history and evolution of Dress and its Decoration,… manners, and customs." Costume models were also provided for the students to draw. The Etching Classes took place every Wednesday Evening, they involved the teaching of copper, zinc and other metal etching and printing.

While Stafford was at the GSA, his occupation was listed as "Tobacco Manufacturer". It is likely that he was related to J & F Bell, a notable Tobacco Manufacturer based in Merchant City in Glasgow. Stafford resided first in Hyndland, and then in Hillhead in the West End of Glasgow. Stafford died in 1928, his occupation was listed as a Tobacco Factory Manager.

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Sources: Ancestory.co.uk

Susan Elizabeth Bell (09/01/1878) attended the Glasgow School of Art in 1915 when she was 37. A student of the College of Domestic Science, Susan attended classes in Needlework Design that were established especially for talented needleworkers at the College of Domestic Science. She undertook evening classes in Needlework in 1915, and between 1917 and 1919 she attended Saturday day classes. By 1917, she had become a Teacher of Needlework and Domestic Science. Susan was taught by Miss Macbeth, the Chief Needlework and Embroidery Instructor. Susan was part of a cohort of Domestic Science Students who attended the Glasgow School of Art at the same time. She is noted as having both a term-time and home address, in Bath Street, Glasgow and Newton-Kirkpatrick, Dumfriesshire. In 1918, she moved to Lockerbie.

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Abraham Belskie was born in London and grew up in Glasgow. He first enrolled at The Glasgow School of Art for the 1922-3 session, when he attended evening classes in the modelling and sculpture section. He listed his occupation as that of “Sculptor's Apprentice". At the time, he was one of 83 students studying sculpture throughout the school.

The following year Belskie became a day pupil at the school. It is likely that he was awarded his Diploma in 1926, as in 1927 he had his Diploma endorsed after the successful completion of post-diploma study. He was one of only two sculpture students to receive this endorsement in 1927.

His sculpture "The Flood" was exhibited at the Glasgow Institute (now the Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts) in 1925. The following year, Belskie received a one third share of the John Keppie Scholarship. This award, worth £100, was given in alternate years to sculpture and architecture students. However, in 1927, Belskie was awarded it again, this time as the sole beneficiary.

In 1929 he emigrated to New York to work for the British sculptor John Gregory. In 1938 Belskie was introduced to physician Robert Latou Dickinson and subsequently applied his skills to create medical models, some of which were exhibited at the World's Fair of 1939. This was known as the Dickinson-Belskie Birth Series. In 1942, he created two sculptures, Norma and Normman, based on data collected by Dickinson, intended to represent the statistical ideal female and male figure. After Dickinson's death in 1950, Belskie instead created medallions (occasionally medicine-related).

James Bennett was born on the 3rd July 1886 in Dunfermline, Fife, eldest son of four brothers to David Bennett, Master Grocer and Spirit Merchant, and Margaret Bennett (née Houston). The family were living in Saline, Fife, in the early 1900s.

After leaving school, James trained with a local Architect, John Houston of Dunfermline, from 1903 to 1907. He then studied at the Glasgow School of Architecture from session 1907/08 to 1910/11, attending classes at both the School of Art and the Technical College.

The Technical College student registers reveal that James took a combination of day and evening classes during his five years there. These included Descriptive Geometry, Mechanics Lectures, Stereotomy, Builders' Quantities, Mechanics of Structures, Chemistry, Geology and Physics, as well as various classes in Architecture. During his studies he also worked as an assistant in the firm of Miller & Black in Renfield Street, Glasgow, for a year. He achieved first-class certificates of merit for most of his subjects, and in his final year was a senior medallist in Design.

James qualified for the Senior Certificate of the Glasgow School of Architecture in May 1911, and became assistant to William Cowie, architect in Ayr. That same year, he was awarded the triennial Alexander Thomson Travelling Studentship, which had been set up by the Glasgow Institute of Architects following the death of famed Glasgow architect Alexander "Greek" Thomson. Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a previous recipient of this studentship, in 1890.

On his return from travelling in Italy and France, James joined the firm of John Burnet and Son as an architectural draughtsman. Sir John James Burnet was responsible for designing several buildings at the University of Glasgow, including the Memorial Chapel and the James Watt Building. James passed the examination for admission as an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in late 1915, following sponsorship by John Burnet and two fellow architects, Alexander Nisbet Paterson and John Watson. However, war service then brought his promising career to a halt.

James joined the Officers Training Corps at the University of Glasgow in session 1915-1916. He enlisted in the Queen's Own Rifles, Glasgow Yeomanry, before receiving a temporary commission with the 129th Field Company Royal Engineers in October 1916.

2nd Lieutenant James Bennett was killed in action in France on the 28th November 1916, aged 30. He is buried in the Maroc British Cemetery in Grenay, north of Arras. He was awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal.

As well as appearing on the Glasgow School of Art Roll of Honour, James is commemorated on the University of Glasgow memorial, the RIBA war memorial and on the Roll of Honour of the Royal Technical College. He is also named on the Saline war memorial in Fife, and on his parents' headstone in Saline cemetery. The house in Saline where James grew up, originally called 'Hillview,' was renamed 'Maroc' after the cemetery where he is buried, in remembrance of him. Also appears on the Glasgow Institute of Architects Roll of Honour (Student).

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Sources: Dictionary of Scottish Architects http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk; The Glasgow Institute of Architects gia.org.uk/about; The University of Glasgow Story universitystory.gla.ac.uk/; The Scottish War Memorials Project warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/warmemscot.html; The Scottish War Graves Project scottishwargraves.phpbbweb.com/scottishwargraves.html; Saline, Steelend & Communities http://www.salinesteelend.org/; Commonwealth War Graves Commission - Debt of Honour Register http://www.cwgc.org/; RIBA Information Centre

Muriel Bennie (born 20/06/1896) was one of a cohort of students from the College of Domestic Science in Glasgow who attended evening classes in Textiles and Needlework at the Glasgow School of Art. The classes were awarded to students who were exceptionally talented in these fields. Muriel lived in Ayr.

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Charley Benson, (born 06/06/1894) attended the Glasgow School of Art between 1914 and 1916. He studied evening classes in Fashion Plate with Miss Gray. Fashion Plate involved the study of the human figure in Nature and Art, the study of drapery and material, the making of drawings for the illustration of catalogues and advertisements, and the designing of dresses as models for dressmakers and tailors. Throughout his time at the GSA, Charley worked variously as a Designer, a Ladies Tailor, and a Costumier. He lived in Motherwell. Charley was the right age to have been called up to fight in the First World War, however, it has been difficult to determine whether or not he did in fact serve.

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George Benson (born 14/06/1892) attended the Glasgow School of Art between 1907 and 1915. During his time studying, he attended evening and day classes in Drawing and Painting. His occupation changed from Shopkeeper, to student, to Architect's Apprentice. Furthermore, between 1913 and 1914, he won a bursary of £25 from the district of Stirling, allowing him to study as a full time day student. He is recorded as living in both Motherwell and Blanefield.

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Charles Benton was a student at the Glasgow School of Art c1914. He is listed in the School's World War One Roll of Honour.

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Sister Thérése Bernard attended the Glasgow School of Art between 1915 and 1916. She studied Day classes in Drawing and Painting. It is likely that she worked as a teacher at the Notre Dame School, attached to the Notre Dame Convent in Dowanhill, Glasgow. The School was founded in 1897, and still exists today.

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GSA student

Emma W. H. Bertram (Born 12/12/1893) attended the Glasgow School of Art in 1918, and then again in 1920. However, she cancelled her attendance in 1920. She studied evening and day classes in Drawing and Painting. Emma lived on Newlands Road, in the Southside of Glasgow.

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Catherine Bevan designed children's garments for the 1978 fashion show.

The daughter of a Kirkcaldy solicitor, Beveridge studied at GSA from 1900 to 1905 taking classes in Drawing and Painting and Design. In 1903-1904 she studied etching under M. Delville and took Life classes with the same teacher the following year.

Little is known about her later career, though she is believed to have moved to Paris in the early years of the C20th and showed a variety of work at the Paris Salon and also at the RSA, London.

David Beveridge was born in 1898. In 1914/15 he attended evening classes in drawing and painting at The Glasgow School of Art, before voluntarily enlisting as a Royal Engineer during the First World War. He returned to the School from 1919 to 1922 to study architecture. Beveridge is listed in the School's World War One Roll of Honour.

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Thomas Johnston Beveridge was born on 15 July 1888, the son of Robertson Beveridge, (profession indeciperable) and his wife Helen Johnston. He studied at the School of Architecture, Edinburgh College of Art from 1904, receiving his diploma in July 1909. He was awarded a National Art Survey Scholarship in 1908 and a travelling bursary in 1909. He completed his training in the offices of John Kinross for whom he retained a life-long affection and shared his artistic bias and love of the Renaissance, and Sir Robert Lorimer. From 1910 to 1914 he spent time studying old work in London, Cambridge, Guildford, Hampton Court and elsewhere, and in the latter year began collecting material for his book 'English Renaissance Woodwork 1660-1730', published in 1921. In his preface he indicates the origin of this publication: 'In 1910 I found that I had the opportunity for a prolonged measuring tour. On the advice of Mr John Kinross RSA Edinburgh, I began to study the woodwork of the period of Sir Christopher Wren, with the object of publishing drawings of it in book form later on'. Several entries in the Scott Morton Letterbook of 1909 refer to Beveridge's work with Plenderleith, the firm's craftsman, on the carvings at Ardtornish, during which he must have developed an interest in fine woodwork. Beveridge was both architect and designer throughout his life.

He commenced practice on his own account in 1920, at 22 Ainslie Place, Edinburgh, and in 1924 moved to 248 West George Street, Glasgow where he specialised in domestic architecture in a Scottish traditional style. He was an assistant teacher at Glasgow School of Architecture for eight hours per week from 1928 to 1930. He was elected LRIBA in 1931, his proposers being John Watson, Thomas Lumsden Taylor and Thomas Harold Hughes.

By c1935 Beveridge had taken John Eadie Waddel Dallachy, formerly of Wylie Wright & Wylie, into partnership.
On 6 March 1939 Beveridge was elected FRIBA, his proposers being Hughes again, William Ross and Professor William James Smith. His nomination papers state that his output included ship decoration, foundry work and the design of reinforced concrete buildings, bridges etc., in association with Macdonald & Partners of Glasgow. However his obituary in the Glasgow Herald attributed Beveridge's practice with a wider range of buildings: schools, industrial estates and country houses, along with quality oak furnishings for Glasgow Cathedral and Clarence House. In his later years he worked in partnership with John Eadie Waddel Dallachy (born 1904). In 1957 he became an Associate of the RSA.
Beveridge died at the Victoria Infirmary, Glasgow on 25 July 1964. He was survived by his wife Agnes Cowan Brown.

William Beveridge was a born c1883 and died in his early thirties while serving in the First World War. He studied at The Glasgow School of Art from 1898 to 1899, and in 1899 worked as a designer. He is listed in the School's World War One Roll of Honour.

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Helen Biggar was born on 25 May 1909 in Glasgow, Scotland and died suddenly on 28 Mar 1953 at age 43 in London, England. She was the eldest of three girls; her two younger sisters were named Mary (Mamie) and Florence (Flossie). She was known for being active, determined, beautiful, attractive, tiny, courageous, humorous, radiant, colourful, charming, intelligent, affectionate, loyal, compassionate, and interested in large social issues. She played the violin and knew Russian.

A series of accidents left her short in stature and with a humped back which was considered to be disabled. She was likely only around 4'9". At a young age, she had an operation to remove a tuberculosis gland in her neck. As a young infant later on, she fell off the couch damaging her spine and consequently, had to live in a spinal carriage for a while. Doctors believed she would be paralyzed forever but she eventually learned to walk again. Finally, at the age of 7, she was pushed on stairs damaging her spine again and had to wear a spinal jacket. She learned how to walk again for the third time after this event. She had also suffered from polio.

She transferred to a private school after the stairs accident, then later transferred to The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) at age 16 in 1926 because she showed an affinity for the arts. She was a student at the GSA from 1925 to 1932. At The Glasgow School of Art, she studied heraldry and textile design. She made designs for the Corporation of Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries. She was involved in life-drawings, fashion, plant drawings, cartoons, stage design, and book illustrations. She was awarded a diploma in Textile Design in 1929. She started a two-year sculpture post-grad course but never finished it and left the school in 1931. Ceramics were Helen's favourite form of art. She made illustrations for a fairy story called "Red Shoes" and "The Forerunner" by Dimitri Merezhkovsky who was a historical novelist and symbolist. Regarding extracurriculars at the GSA, she made designs for the school cabaret group and would often attend theatre productions. She also went to the GSA school balls despite not being able to dance. In 1930, she won a £10 Minor Traveller Award for modelling which would be worth roughly £835 in 2023.

Regarding her clothing, as a child, she had made clothes for her dolls. Whilst at GSA, Helen began to make her own clothes. This included wearing long wide trousers or long skirts to disguise her thin legs, even when hemlines were shortening, and was one of first girls to wear trousers in her program. She also dressed in full-sleeve blouses to hide her deformity and liked wearing sandals. She often wore long skirts or dresses to the school balls.

She lived on St. Vincent St in Glasgow which had a studio for her to work in. Often, she would frequent Charles Rennie Macintosh buildings.

Helen was very active in politics. She was a member of the Independent Labour Party in Great Britain. She was also a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. Her uncle, John Biggar was a politician with the Scottish Labour Party and was Lord Provost of Glasgow between 1941 to 1943. She was also politically active during the Second World War.

She joined the Kino Film Society and GSA Kinecraft Society with Norman McLaren and produced numerous films starting in approximately 1933. He also had studied at GSA. Many of the Kino films were politically influenced. She was also involved in the Glasgow Worker’s Theatre Group.

Helen Biggar's wartime Glasgow art circle included refugee artists like Josef Herman and Jankel Adler, and talented locals like Robert Frame and Eli Montlake, some of whom joined her in London when she moved there permanently in 1945. They exhibited as the New Scottish Group at the Edinburgh Festival in 1947; and as the Gorbals Artists when Glasgow Unity brought their famous production of The Gorbals Story (1946) to London in 1948. On 11 Oct 1948 Helen Biggar married Eli Montlake at Wandsworth register office.

In 1945, she moved to London, living near the British Museum, she found work as a milliner for a French owned business and started making fancy hats for high society ladies. In 1950, she became a wardrobe mistress for Saville Theatre in London for a season of Jewish plays. Later on in the year, she joined and toured with the Ballet Rambert as a wardrobe mistress where she designed and made costumes.

Unfortunately, on 28 Mar 1953, Helen suffered a brain haemorrhage and was rushed St Mary Abbots Hospital in London. She fell into a coma and died soon after. Her cremation at Golders Green was attended by luminaries from the artistic, theatrical, and ballet worlds of London and Glasgow. She was survived by her husband.

Helen Biggar had a niece named Anna Shepherd. Anna was the daughter of Helen’s sister Flossie and Sydney d’Horne Shepherd. Anna published a novel about Helen in 2014 called Helen Unlimited: A Little Biggar. She also wrote an unpublished novel called Traces Left which was used as the primary source for the Birmingham Film and Video Workshop film called “Traces Left.” This 1983 documentary traced Helen’s work as a sculptor, film maker, and set designer. It also highlighted her work with Norman McLaren, the Glasgow Unity Theatre Group, and Glasgow Kino Group, an independent and politically active film production group. From Nov 2022 to Mar 2023, part of Biggar's GSA archive collection, including a drawing, a letter, some newspaper clippings, and the Kino Film Group minute book, were featured at the GLEAN exhibition in the Edinburgh City Art Centre.

Hugh Biggar was born in 1861 and was the eldest son of a family of seven which included five boys and two girls. His father was a semi-invalid. He was a socialist, pacifist, and a founding member of the Independent Labour Party of Great Britain. He also believed in the equality of women and men. When he was 48 years old, his first daughter, Helen Biggar, was born.

Hugh studied at the Glasgow School of Art (GSA) from 1881/2 to 1885/6. He was awarded the Haldane medal in 1886 and won a number of prizes and competitions.

Florence Manson, Hugh’s wife and Helen’s mother, was very artistic and knew music, singing, and drawing. She also learned bookkeeping to help the family business called Mansons & Sons. Florence’s father was totally deaf so she also knew sign language. Her grandfather was a portrait painter, photographer, and woodcarver.

Regarding his career, he was a joiner who framed houses and eventually became an architect. Unfortunately, Hugh struggled financially, declared bankruptcy, and lost the business called Mansons & Sons. Around 1929, Hugh started a cabinetmaking and bedstead business with Florence's brother, Andrew, called Manson & Biggar.

Jessie St Claire Biggar was born on 4th April 1902. She attended the Glasgow School of Art for a few months in 1918. While at the GSA, she studied Day Classes in Design three times a week. However, it is noted that she left the School at Christmas. The note continues to mention that she "might come back", however, there is no record of her doing so, and no record of her attending the GSA in later years. She is noted to have resided in Newlands in Glasgow.

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Margaret Logan Bilsland was a student at The Glasgow School of Art from 1896-1898. Her father was John Bilsland, a nut and bolt manufacturer. She married fellow student William Cunningham Hector in 1913 (born Rio de Janeiro in 1875) who studied at GSA from 1894-1899 and would go on to be an artist and antiques dealer. Together they had one child, End, born in London in 1914. They bought Ethie Castle near Arbroath in 1928 and also owned Marlybank, Huntly Gardens, Kelvinside in Glasgow. Both are buried at Inverkeilor churchyard near Ethie Castle.

Alice Mary Binnie (born 12/07/1903) studied at the Glasgow School of Art between 1918 and 1919. Alice was a Typist Clerkess and took evening classes at the GSA in Fashion Plate. This involved learning to design clothing and costume, to draw life models, and to create illustrations for fashion advertisements, among many other things. Mary lived in Crosshill.

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Born Glasgow. Painter in oil and pastels, and etcher. Landscapes in bright colours, showing the influence of John Reid Murray and George Henry. Graduate of Glasgow University and Glasgow School of Art 1975-1980. In 1980-1983, aided by a Greenshields scholarship, studied in Paris at Atelier 17 with Stanley Hayter and attended classes at La Grande Chaumiere. Much of her printmaking done on Orkney. Paintings mostly landscape and derive from journeys in her native Scotland and the USA.

William Bryce Binnie was born in Linlithgow in 1886, the son of Helen Bryce and William Binnie. He studied architecture at The Glasgow School of Art from 1905/06 to 1910/11, during which time he undertook an apprenticeship at John Burnet and Son. In the final year of his studies he won a travelling scholarship, and spent a year in Italy. Thereafter he went to New York to work as a designer for Warren & Wetmore architects, for whom he designed the detailing of Grand Central Station. In 1913 he returned to the U.K. and took up a position as chief draughtsman for a practice in London. At the outbreak of the First World War he entlisted in the Royal Highlanders, where he was promoted to the rank of temporary captain and awarded the Military Cross with bar. In 1919 he was appointed by the Imperial War Graves Commission as an assistant architect, and in 1920, deputy director. In these roles he was responsible for supervising the erection of war cemeteries and memorials across the former Western Front, as well as designing the memorial to the Ministry at Nieuport in Belgium. Binnie is listed in the School's World War One Roll of Honour.

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Sources: http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk

Alfred Bathurst Binning was born on the 20th January 1894. He studied at the Glasgow School of Art from 1915 to 1919, where he took evening classes in drawing and painting and life drawing. During this time his occupation is listed as an apprentice scientific instrument maker. He remained in Glasgow, and exhibited work as a painter at the Royal Glasgow Institute between 1921 and 1938.

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Sources: the Dictionary of Scottish Art and Architecture by Peter J M McEwan; Scotland's People: http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk.8.

Leonardo Bistolfi (14 Mar 1859-02 Sep 1933) was an Italian sculptor, and an important exponent of Italian Symbolism.

Edith L. S. Black (17/11/1890) attended the Glasgow School of Art between 1918 and 1920. She studied day, and then evening classes in Drawing and Painting. In her second year, Edith's occupation is listed as Tracer, most likely making copies of industrial plans by hand. Edith lived in Pollokshields.

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J B Black was a lecturer in Social and Intellectual History at the University of Glasgow from 1913 to 1916. He appears on Glasgow School of Art's First World War Roll of Honour.

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