Strathclyde
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a former independent kingdom in Scotland. In the 8th century the ancient confederacy of the Britons was broken up into the separate divisions of Wales and English and Scotch Cumbria. Scotch Cumbria, otherwise called Strathclyde, thenceforth formed a little kingdom, comprising the country between Clyde and Solway, governed by princes of its own, and having the fortress town of Alclyde or Dumbarton for its capital. Becoming gradually ally more and more dependent on Scotland, it was annexed to the Scottish crown at the death of Malcolm I. On the death of Alexander I., without issue in 1124, it was permanently united to the Scotch kingdom under David I. MOUNT AND STRATHCONA ALEXANDER DONALD ROYAL, Canadian 1st BARON, SMITH, a statesman; born in Scotland in 1820; entered the service of the Hudson Bay Company at an early age, and was the last resident governor of that corporation as a governing body. He was special commissioner during the first Riel rebellion in the Red River settlements in 1869-1870; a member of the first executive council of the Northwest Territory; represented Winnipeg and St. John's in the Manitoba Legislature in 1871-1874; and was a member of the Canadian House of Commons for Selkirk in 1871-1872, 1874, and 1878, and for Montreal West in 1877-1896. He was a director of the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba railway; the Great Northern Railway of Minnesota; and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company; and intimately connected with many other corporations and organizations. He was made High Commissioner for Canada in 1896. In 1898 he was Governor of Frazer Institute and Chancellor of McGill University and also of Aberdeen University, Lord Rector in 1903. He gave over $1,000,000 to McGill and Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, also $1,000,000 to the King Edward Hospital Fund. He endowed chairs in many colleges and contributed generously to various educational funds. He died in 1914.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote this in 1921, Strathclyde was purely a historical term for the British kingdom between Clyde and Solway, with its capital at "Alclyde or Dumbarton". Modern historians tell a rougher story: they usually call the earlier realm Alt Clut, note that Dumbarton Rock was stormed by a Viking army from Dublin in 870, and place the kingdom's later centre around Govan, where the carved sarcophagus and hogback stones at Govan Old are its chief surviving monuments; the tidy annexation dates offered here are no longer accepted, since David I governed the area as prince of the Cumbrians before he became king in 1124. The name itself came back into everyday use in the 20th century "e2"80"94 the University of Strathclyde was chartered in 1964, and from 1975 to 1996 Strathclyde Region was Scotland's largest local authority, containing roughly half the country's population. Strathclyde Police survived until 2013, when it was folded into the single national force, Police Scotland.
Written for this edition, 2026.