On 8th October 1825, a formal contract for lighting Stirling was to be executed between Stirling Town Council and the Stirling Gas Light Company (SBC/11/22). The Stirling Gas Light Company had been formed months earlier after members had seen gas lighting in Glasgow and sought to bring the same to the town. A site was established near the current train station and on 27th November 1827, streets in Stirling were lit for the first time.
A briefly mooted discussion by the Town Council to purchase the Gasworks in 1874, was revived in 1896. The move was seen as favourable by the general public, but opposition to purchase arose when the valuation of the Gasworks was between £62,000 – £68,000. This was considerably higher than the public thought, but a generally accurate valuation of the private company.
The Town Council went forward with a private bill to start the undertaking of the company. The bill, however, was defeated and the Stirling Gas Light Company would remain private until its nationalisation in 1949.
Within the collection of Mathie, MacLuckie and Lupton are photographs of the Gasworks. They worked with Thomas Galbraith, Clerk to the Commissioners of Stirling Town Council, on the private bill. The context behind the photographs is unclear, but is presumed they were probably taken to help ascertain the valuation of the company in 1896, or be used as evidence in the private bill.
