Walter Stirling's house on Miller Street. Stirling (c 1710-1791) was a prosperous merchant, the son of a surgeon and the nephew of a Lord Provost.
In 1791 Stirling left his house and his collection of books to create a free reference library, which was named Stirling's Library. The library had a number of homes and after the old house was demolished in the early 1860s the collection of 20,000 books was housed in a new building erected on the site. In 1912 the library was placed in the care of Glasgow Corporation's library service.
Miller Street was laid out for houses by a maltster, John Miller, who began offering steadings for sale there in 1762. The Town Council agreed to pave the street in 1773, and it was gradually filled with large houses thereafter. Miller himself built a mansion on its corner with Argyle Street, and died there c 1790.
Reference: Mitchell Library, GC 941.435 GOR
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
libraries, maltsters, mansions, merchants, property developers, Stirling's Library, streetscenes, town houses