Queen Margaret College Settlement Association

Queen Margaret College Settlement Association was founded in 1897. The settlement was part of a wider movement among universities, charitable and philanthropic institutions, which emerged in the last two decades of the 19th century in the UK and internationally. Mirroring the approach taken elsewhere, volunteer students from Queen Margaret College resided temporarily together with permanent, paid staff in the densely populated, industry-dominated, working-class district of Anderston to carry out social work activities which targeted the perceived welfare needs of the people there. The University Settlement movement began in 1884 with the founding of Toynbee Hall and Oxford House in the East End of London. Based on those models, the male students of the University of Glasgow founded their own settlement in 1889 to carry out social work with a strong Christian emphasis in the Garscube area of the city. 1

The Queen Margaret College Settlement Association committee consisted of officials from the University of Glasgow, Queen Margaret College, current and former students of the College, members of its Students' Union and Representative Council and a representative from the Charity Organisation Society, which had hitherto carried out social work in Anderston. The first president of the Settlement Association committee was principal of the University of Glasgow, Reverend Story. Janet (Jessie) Campbell of Tullichewan was vice president and Janet Galloway was a member of the executive council. Dr Marion Gilchrist, one of Queen Margaret College's first medical graduates, and Ruth Pirret, the first BSc graduate, both served as ordinary members of the committee. 2