Friends of GRI

27/05/2026

17/05/2026

The waiting room at in 1911. As busy then as it is today! Notice that men and women mostly sit separately and a couple of the ladies in the front row have big bags with them and must have been planned for admission.

Look at the wall. You can still see these same Victorian tiles in parts of the hospital today.

These old photos are fabulous 🤩

12/05/2026

Delighted to have won an award at the 2026 Glasgow Blythswood Festival. We feel very honoured and grateful and are absolutely delighted with our Mackintosh portfolio 🥰 Congratulations to all finalists and award winners. Special thanks to for hosting ☺️

12/05/2026

It’s Florence Nightingale’s birthday 🎉 she would have been 206 today!

Nightingale transformed nursing into the esteemed profession it is today. Our first matron Rebecca Strong was trained by Nightingale in London. In 1893 with the support of the mighty William Macewen, Strong opened the Nurses Preparatory Training School in Glasgow and she went on to revolutionize nurse training using the block training method (periods of time on the ward with periods of time ‘blocks’ away from ward work studying theory at college) Today, Strong’s method is used throughout the world.

We applaud and thank all nurses today on

Nurses deserved to be celebrated and none more so than our past & present nurses - you guys are the best. We appreciate you and all that you do 🩷

10/05/2026

One of our favorites. Patients getting treated in The Gatehouse - the former casualty at

On the side you can just make out a domestic fish kettle - this was used as a sterilizer. In fact William Macewen’s nurses held him in such high esteem that they presented him with one as a gift. Macewen was a firm believer in Lister’s theories of antisepsis (at a time when not everyone was convinced that cleanliness was the answer 😬)

If you don’t know much about Macewen don’t worry, we will fill you in later in the week - he was some guy 😜

09/05/2026

Celebrate The Friends of GRI's bees, learn a little about why they are so important, and be amongst the first to take part in The Glasgow Bee Trail when it launches on the 23rd and 24th May! What's On Glasgow - your guide to events in Glasgow!

06/05/2026

Rottenrow: The Birth Of A City is an exhibition dedicated to Glasgow's much loved maternity hospital, explore the history of this Glasgow institution at the Friends of Glasgow Royal Infirmary Museum. What's On Glasgow - your guide to events in Glasgow!

05/05/2026

A young Joseph Lister. The man who discovered the theory of antisepsis and in doing so revolutionised medicine. Lister’s discoveries made in 1865 in Glasgow have saved millions of lives throughout the world.

Did you know? 🧐

As a youth, Lister had a mild case of smallpox, a disease which was often fatal.

Lister’s ward at was ward 24. It was built on a cholera pit. A gruesome fact only discovered when an unpleasant and persistent smell was eventually investigated. Initially believed to be due to a foul drain, the truth was much worse - only a 4 foot basement separated Lister’s ward from hundreds of decomposing bodies 😱

Come visit us to learn more about Cholera, Smallpox, Victorian surgery and the many other pioneers of healthcare who have spent time at 😍

04/05/2026

Did you make it to Rottenrow: the birth of a city yet?
Why not 😜

An exhibition dedicated to Glasgow’s much loved maternity hospital with lots of interesting facts and objects on display. Learn about these two gentlemen…both c section pioneers in an era when, if unable to deliver without intervention, women often died. Murdoch Cameron had one of his c section babies named after him - little Cesar Cameron and we’ve got Munro Kerr’s top hat 🎩😍 come see it 🙌🏻🥳

You can even choose to be a part of the exhibition on our Rottenrow wall ☺️