Records of the Ure Elder Fund for Indigent Widow Ladies, charity, Glasgow, Scotland

• Minute books 1928-1976;
• Benefits payment book 1943-1968;
• Roll of benefit applicants 1907-1966;
• Correspondence, including: between Mrs Isabella Elder, Miss Janet Galloway, Mrs Jessie Campbell, Mrs John Caird, Professor Young, Sir William Thomson and others concerning the financing of Queen Margaret College, its new medical buildings and the College's proposed amalgamation with Glasgow University. Also includes College expenses and income 1883-1892;
• Mrs Isabella Elder's accounts of her travels after Mr John Elder's death in 1869, with copies of letters attached 1869-1892;
• Newspaper cuttings concerning work among women, social care of underprivileged women and Atholl House 1925-1968;

The Ure Elder Fund for Indigent Widow Ladies was founded in 1904  , and is a registered charity in Glasgow. Its aims are to benefit the needy widows of Glasgow and Govan. The Ure Elder Fund seems to have been established in Mrs Isabella Elder's (nèe Ure) will of 1904 and is still active today. The fund was named after Isabella's late husband, John Elder (1824-1869), owner of Fairfields Shipyards in Govan, and her brother, John P Ure, who eventually took over her husband's company in 1869 after his death, and was named so in memory of Isabella's brother's high esteem for her husband. When the fund was established it named twelve Trustees, four appointed by the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and four by the Faculty of Procurators and four by the Lord Provost of Glasgow from the City Councillors. There were equal numbers of women and men as Trustees and applicants to the fund were first visited by a lady for assessment and recommendation. These practices are still in force today.

Mrs Isabella Elder was born in 1828 and married John Elder in 1857. After being widowed in 1869 she ran the company single handedly for 9 months until her brother took over. As well as leading to the establisment of the Fund, she also donated Elder Park to Govan, bought North Park House and donated it to Queen Margaret College, and established the School of Domestic Economy to teach young women.

The arrangement of this material reflects the original order in which it was received.

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Manual file level list available in the National Registers of Archives in Edinburgh (NRAS 3044) and London (NRA 21083 Glasgow Univ)

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Description compiled in line with the following international standards: International Council on Archives,ISAD(G) Second Edition, September 1999 and National Council on Archives,Rules for the construction of personal, place and corporate names

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Fonds level description compiled by Andrew Thomson, Hub Project Archivist, 22 October 2004

Lower level description compiled by Emma Yan, Assistant Archivist (Cataloguing), 29 November 2007