The Clutha Glasgow wash down water closet

Found in Partick, Glasgow by Graham Douglas and kindly donated by him.

The Clutha Glasgow wash down water closet.

1894 – 1895 –  The Clutha Sanitary Appliances Co (John Gourlay, manager), patentees, 197 Dumbarton Rd.

1900- 1901 –  John Gourlay, (The Clutha Sanitary Appliances Co.), ho. 4 Mains St.

1910 – 1911 – The Clutha Sanitary Appliances Co., safety and syphon waste preventing valves, 411 and 413 St. Vincent St.

1914 – 1915 – The Clutha Sanitary Appliances Co., 411-413 St. Vincent St.

(Note – SBH – no obvious mechanism for attaching a seat)

The Clutha Glasgow wash down water closet

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The Clutha Glasgow wash down water closet

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The Clutha Glasgow wash down water closet

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Below – Initially I thought this was made for a Clutha Ferry but my update above on 24/06/2015 suggests there was a Company making such articles and only used the Clutha name as a trademark and as such their products were possibly for general use – while slightly disappointing it may still be that there was a connection with the Ferry Company – I will leave my initial ponderings and postulations below just in case my update is incorrect but I suspect it is not!

A wonderful piece of Scottish history. Although the maker’s name is not to be found on this water closet, I am 100% certain it will be a Scottish maker,  possibly J and M Craig, Kilmarnock, Shanks  or Robert Brown of Paisley just to mention a few contenders. If anyone has any information on the maker of this water closet or indeed any photos of them in situ then please get in touch.

The ferries going up and down the River Clyde, Glasgow, rather than across, were called “Cluthas”

Below – Clutha Ferry No 6

Clutha Ferry

Below – 1899  – Media article of the Clutha Ferries, River Clyde, Glasgow

1899 media article of th eClutha Ferries, River Clyde, Glasgow

Below – 1903 – Media article regarding the demise of the Clutha’s

1903 media article regarding the demise of the Clutha's

Update 12/06/2015 – Shanks and Co, Barrhead, Glasgow are now my favourites for being the manufacturer of this product  – base on the following “… and sanitary ware manufacturers such as Doultons and Shanks, had always depended on the shipyards for the bulk of their orders.” and …”Shanks patented a non-return valve that allowed flushing toilets to be installed in ships and due to this and further inventions, his business flourished.” –  Source

Below – 1932 – Shanks sanitary ware for ships – (Note – SBH  I appreciate that the Cluthas were gone by 1903 and this advert is c. 1932 but Shanks & Co appear to have been making sanitary ware for shipping for many years).

1932 - Shanks sanitary ware for ships

However, in the 1934 – 1935 trade directory it states that R Brown & Sons, Ferguslie Fireclay Works, Paisley manufacture amongst many other items … white enamelled fireclay sanitary ware and ships valve closets …

 

 

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