CALTON, a district (manufacturing) and a quoad sacra parish (for a time),
in the parish of Barony, county of
Lanark; included within the parliamentary boundary
of Glasgow, and comprising Old and New Calton. These
villages, formerly part of the barony of Barrowfield,
were, by royal charter in 1817, erected into a burgh of
barony, containing about fifty-four acres, of which
twelve are attached to Old and forty-two to New Calton.
The houses are neatly built of brick, and roofed
with tiles, for the manufacture of which clay of good
quality abounds in the immediate vicinity; and the
streets, especially those of the latter village, are regularly
formed. At the last census the number of inhabitants
in Calton and Mill-End was 25,060. A handsome
mechanics' institution has been erected, and there
are branches, in good buildings, of the Western Bank
of Scotland and the City of Glasgow Bank. The population
is chiefly employed in the cotton manufacture,
and in hand-loom weaving, which are carried on to a
very considerable extent; the manufacture of thread
affords employment to several hundreds of men and
women, and there are numerous shops for the supply
of the inhabitants with groceries and other articles of
merchandise. The government of the burgh is vested in
a provost, three bailies, a treasurer, and eleven councillors,
one ofwhom acts as dean of guild; they are chosen
by the burgesses, and are all elected annually, with the
exception of the elder bailie, who holds office for two
years. The burgesses have no exclusive privileges, nor
can any inhabitant be compelled to be a burgess; those
who choose to become burgesses pay a fee of £1. 2. on
admission. There are 16S burgesses on the roll, of
whom twenty-seven are resident, and qualified in respect
of property, and five as tenants of £15 dwelling-houses,
so that the council of fifteen is chosen out of a body of
thirty-two persons only. Application, however, has been
made by the authorities to parliament, for the passing
of an act to alter the charter, and enlarge the bounds of
the burgh. The magistrates and council have the privilege
of a weekly market, which is held on Saturday,
and of which they receive the tolls and customs. Their
jurisdiction extends, in civil cases, over the territory of
the burgh, and in criminal cases over the whole of the
police district; they hold a court for the recovery of
debts not exceeding 40s., and a police court, in which a
town-clerk, appointed by the superior of the burgh,
acts as assessor. The late quoad sacra parish of Middle
Calton, containing 7185 inhabitants, and comprised
within the presbytery of Glasgow, and synod of Glasgow
and Ayr, was formed in 1834. The church, built in
1793, at an expense of £1495, and since repaired and
enlarged, is a neat structure, and contains 1400 sittings;
the minister is appointed by the managers and subscribers,
and his stipend is £250. Calton also comprised
the late quoad sacra parishes of St. Luke's and
Greenhead. There are places of worship for members
of the Free Church, the United Presbyterian synod, and
Wesleyans. A burgh school, in which are 140 children,
is taught by a master who has a schoolroom rent-free,
and a salary of £10 in addition to the fees; and there
are numerous other schools, with a savings' bank under
the patronage of the magistrates.