Blue plaque honour for J.D. Fergusson and Margaret Morris

12 November 2025

As part of the city’s 850th anniversary celebration we chose to honour two important artistic figures who lived in North Kelvin.

We arranged for two blue plaques to commemorate the Scottish colourist J.D. Fergusson (1874–1961) and the dancer and choreographer Margaret Morris (1891–1980), who lived in the top corner flat of 4 Clouston Street from 1939.

The Lord Provost Jacqueline McLaren unveiled the plaques at a short ceremony earlier this month. In a speech to onlookers gathered outside no. 4, she said:

This was more than just a home; it was a creative hub, a place where art, movement, and imagination came to life.  Fergusson, one of the leading lights of the Scottish colourists, and Morris, a pioneer of modern dance and a visionary in her own right, lived and worked here – and their influence continues to ripple through the worlds of art and performance to this day.

These plaques are a small but powerful reminder of the cultural richness that has always been part of Glasgow’s story.

They connect us to our past, inspire our present, and hopefully spark curiosity in future generations who pass by this very spot.

Fergus and Meg … and North Kelvin

Fergusson and Morris lived a bohemian lifestyle and were part of the artistic avant-garde in France before the First World War and in London during and after it. Having spent the 1930s back in France, with the threat of war looming they eventually arrived in Glasgow just before the outbreak of World War Two. The couple remained at Clouston Street until their deaths.

During their time in North Kelvin they produced some of their finest work: Fergusson in painting and sculpture, Morris in dance and modern ballet.

The connection between these two important figures in Scottish and European artistic life and North Kelvin was largely forgotten until a member of the Community Council visited the Fergusson and Morris gallery within Perth Museum and Art Gallery, where a variety of Fergusson’s work, film of Morris’s early dance experiments and artefacts of their life together are on display. It was one of those artefacts – Fergusson’s spectacle case with his name and address written on it – that brought the connection into focus.

Acknowledgements

We received generous financial support from both the City Council, via the Discretionary Grant Fund which enabled us to commission the plaques, and from Roger Billicliffe, chair of the J.D. Fergusson Trustees, for the installation of the plaques and the purvey following the unveiling ceremony.

We would like to thank the Lord Provost for conducting the unveiling ceremony and everyone who came along to celebrate the occasion.

We are also grateful for the enthusiastic support of our idea from the residents at 4 Clouston Street, and would like to thank in particular the current owners of the flat for kindly making their home available to us on the day.