Telephone Department

Papers, 1892 - 1905

The first telephone exchange in Glasgow was opened in 1879 by the Telephone Company Ltd. By the 1890s the inefficiencies and expense of the private service had led Glasgow Corporation to apply to the Post Office for a licence to run a municipal system. Evidence was presented to two Select Committees of the House of Commons. After some delay, a licence was granted to the Corporation on 1 March 1900 to build and run its own telephone exchange and service.

The service officially began in June 1901 with the freshly-formed Telephone Department managing it. The central exchange and offices were based in Renfield Street with a network of sub-exchanges and switch-rooms spread throughout the city including at Hillhead, Bridgeton, Strathbungo, Govan and Kinning Park. The telephone wires themselves were laid underground in the centre of the city to prevent storm damage.

The system was formally opened in August 1901 and would eventually cover not only the city but parts of the counties of Lanark, Renfrew, Dumbarton and Stirling. The overall coverage was approximately 163 square miles. By 1904, almost 12,000 telephones had been installed in private and commercial properties. Individuals and businesses paid an annual charge for the line but the Glasgow Corporation telephones were installed free of charge.

Despite the department’s achievements (including its claim to have made Glasgow the most extensively telephoned city in the UK in 1904), it was ultimately not able to continue. Glasgow’s municipal telephone service disappeared when the Corporation transferred it to the General Post Office in 1906.

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Glasgow City Archives, TD563/5, Glasgow Corporation Telephone Department: advertisement brochure, 1901 - 1904