ABSTRACT
Recent research into the financial position of women in England points to the lack of research into the economic position of women in Scotland in the late nineteenth century.2 Richard Rodger acknowledges the presence of women as mortgage lenders in Edinburgh and Claire Swan notes the appearance of female investors in Dundee, yet both fail to develop the importance of Scottish women as financiers.3 However, Eleanor Gordon and Gwyneth Nair have recently attempted to analyse one section of Scottish finance in which women have played a significant role. They have discovered that some females in Glasgow held a significant degree of wealth and power. Their study demonstrates how these women infiltrated the typical male ‘sphere’ and were significant property owners, householders, businesswomen and, latterly, investors.4 Their study is a pioneering investigation into the economic lives of Scottish females and calls for further studies into this area of British social and economic history.
