About the Society · The Preses
An Unbroken Chair Since 1756
"Preses" — the old Scots word for the one who presides. Since James Burns in 1756, the chair has never stood empty.
The Current Preses
FULL NAME OF CURRENT PRESES
[Two or three sentences of biography: the Preses' Burgess descent, their connection to Glasgow, and their year of election.]
The Preses is elected annually by the members, presides at the Society's meetings, dinner and lecture, wears the Preses Chain, and represents the Society among the Trades House of Glasgow, the Fourteen Incorporated Crafts and the city's civic occasions.
Recent decades have seen the chair held by distinguished women of the Society as well as men — a tradition begun in 2002 and continued since.
The Preses Chain
The Society's chain of office passes from Preses to Preses at the annual election — together with the gavel and the bell that have called the Society to order across the generations.
To wear the Chain is to join a roll of Glasgow names reaching back to the reign of George II — merchants and craftsmen, soldiers and lawyers, fathers followed by sons and, in our own time, by daughters.
The Record
The Roll of Preses
From 1756 to the present day. Copy one row per Preses to complete the roll from the Society's records.
| Elected | Preses |
|---|---|
| 1756 | James Burns |
| 1974 | Sir Robert C Smith |
| 2002 | Marjorie Matheson |
| 2007 | Alison Dick |
| 2022 | Lorna Birse-Stewart |
The roll awaits its next names.
Serving the Society