The Incorporation of Hammermen of Glasgow are generously supporting our student competition: the Engineering Professors’ Council and The Hammermen of Glasgow Student Awards.
The Incorporation of Hammermen of Glasgow originally comprised craftsmen associated with metalworking – traditionally “men who wielded the hammer”, namely blacksmiths, goldsmiths, lorimers, cutlers, armourers, sword-makers, clockmakers, locksmiths, pewterers, tinsmiths etc. The Incorporation of Hammermen’s crest is a hammer surmounted by a crown, and its motto “By Hammer in the Hand, All Arts do Stand”. Today, “these men of the Hammer” embrace every aspect of modern engineering in all its disciplines and, as a consequence of admission of sons of members, many other trades and professions are represented.
The Incorporation is governed by the Master Court which is headed by the Deacon, the Collector and a number of Masters who are elected annually.
No member of the Incorporation can become Deacon without first serving an annual term as Collector. The office would appear to have been established c.1620 and is no guarantee of the holder becoming Deacon. It is the Collectors task to recruit new members and to look after the aims of the Incorporation, which were traditionally kept in the Collector’s box.
The Incorporation today has a membership of over a 1000 and during its 450-year history there have been many famous men connected with it, including Kings Princes and Prime Ministers. From the 16th to the early 19th centuries, the majority of members were metalworkers – men who worked with a hammer to fashion their products. However, more recently, membership has widened to include industrialists, entrepreneurs, and others for whom the Incorporation with all its traditions has provided encouragement in furthering the trade and commerce of the City of Glasgow.
