The city of Glasgow went through many transformations over the centuries. The Dear Green place was once an industrial city tarnished by slums, poverty and deprivation. In the mid-19th century, the Industrial Revolution was on its peak, coal mining, iron founding, chemical manufacturing and shipbuilding industries were also formed in the Glasgow.
The city center which had once been home to Glasgow’s wealthiest class, became a hub for industry and trade. The once beautiful tenements and townhouses fell into disrepair and became overcrowded slums for the new working class who had flocked to the city in search of work.
Photographer Thomas Annan was commissioned by Glasgow’s authorities to document the life of slums. He published his work in The Old Closes and Streets of Glasgow. Here below are some of his photographs of old Glasgow from the late 1860s that show streets and life of slums of Glasgow.
