Overnewton Literary Club

Overview

Overnewton was part of the Yorkhill area in the West End of Glasgow, located roughly across the road from the grounds of the Kelvingrove Museum. It is currently unknown if this group was associated with the Overnewton Public School on Lumsden Street, or the Emmanuel Congregational Church, which was located on Overnewton Square.Ā (For more information on the Overnewton Public School, see the entry for ‘Kelvin School for the Partially Sighted‘ onĀ The Glasgow StoryĀ website).

The information on this club comes from the group’s own newspaper — or rather, their magazine, as members called it — that was written by and for the members (see ‘Additional Notes’ below).

The club met weekly on Saturday evenings to hear talks about an eclectic range of subjects, as per the norm with literary societies in the nineteenth century. In addition, there was a political debate, a ‘Hat Night’ — wherein members drew topics from a hat and had to speakĀ  extempore for a set amount of time — and a social evening on the syllabus between January and March 1901.

Date of Existence

1901?-?

Source of Information

The Overnewton Whisper, No. 2, 26 February 1901

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections

Reference Number

Mitchell (GC) CD f072 91445 OVE

Additional Notes

See also entry forĀ The Overnewton Whisper on our sister website,Ā Literary Bonds.