Necropolis memorials to French and German figures from Glasgow industrial history

The Glasgow Necropolis is a fascinating location and there is a huge amount of historical information that has been gathered and can be found on this website: https://www.glasgownecropolis.org/

Three particular people we have highlighted here are the German Henry Dübs , the Frenchman Pierre Jacques Papillon and Professor Coats, who did some training in Wurzburg. All highlight the importance of European links in Glasgow's heritage.

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Henry Dübs 

At the Necropolis you can find a Memorial to Henry Dübs (1816 – 24 April 1876), a 19th century German-born engineer who worked in Glasgow. He was Works Manager and Company partner at Neilson and Company in Springburn, who built this locomotive for Finland :

This exquisite technical drawing from Neilson & Company from the Science Museum collection: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/documents/aa110094432/drawing-of-5-0-gauge-6-wheel-1856g-336-cubic-feet-fuel-capacity-4-9-between-wheels-tender

Dübs then set up his own company Dübs & Co. in Queens Park at Polmadie.

Interestingly Dübs & Co was one of the first companies to employ women as tracers in their drawing offices.  He also invented a type of steam lifting crane to lift the locomotives.

A restored British "Neilson" steam locomotive, used in Finland from 1869 well into the 1920s, preserved at the Finnish Railway Museum in Hyvinkää, Finland.

Picture attrib: 
Janke at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5>, via Wikimedia Commons
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Loco21.jpg

Archive of Dübs & Co. is held at https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/6e2c855b-6894-3a83-9582-a19f5c4df8dd but not much can be seen online.

More information: https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Henry_Dubs

A Dubs "long boiler" locomotive: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co205734/ner-0-6-0-1001-class-steam-locomotive-and-tender-no-1275-1874-steam-locomotive
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Necropolis from Glasgow Cathedral - Photo : J.Wilson

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Pierre Jacques Papillon

There is also a memorial to the family of Frenchman Pierre Jacques Papillon, who introduced Turkey Red dye. In 1785, Papillon came to Glasgow from Rouen at the invitation of businessman George Macintosh. Papillon, a chemist from Rouen, came to Scotland to show him the dyeing process for this red dye, a process that had been imported from Turkey to the Rouen area of France.

Turkey Red was an important dye as there had been a hunt for a good red dye that would withstand light. :


A Turkey Red dyed bandanna - from an exhibition in Glasgow in 2014

The EU Funded project about Turkey Red dye: PowerPoint Presentation (gla.ac.uk)

Dalmarnock Turkey Red DyeWorks was established in 1785 by Highlander George Macintosh in partnership with David Dale and then Henry Monteith acquired the business in 1805 when it was renamed Barrowfield Dyeworks. It specialised in dye for these bright red Bandanna handkerchiefs. George Macintosh introduced Turkey Red to Scotland in 1785. 

From the same exhibition (2014), photographs of Mackintosh (on the left) and David Dale (on the right):


Other good references including links to Alexandria and Vale of Leven and more about the process of dyeing:

There is a stone in memory of the Jamieson family and their connection with Pierre Jacques Papillon, of Turkey Red dye fame! https://www.glasgownecropolis.org/profiles/papillion/

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Professor Coats

A Professor of Anatomy and Pathology who had also trained in Wurzburg in Germany

https://www.glasgownecropolis.org/profiles/professor-joseph-coats-md-professor-of-pathology-university-of-glasgow/

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Joseph F. Gomoszynski

This is an interesting history of a young Polish man and his infant son who are buried at the Necropolis

https://www.glasgownecropolis.org/profiles/joseph-f-gomoszynski/

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Map Reference: Euro Walk 1 - Cathedral and Necropolis to Bucks Head Building

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