Glasgow family’s influence beyond just VCU

This article is a supplement to the “VCU receives record $45 million cash gift”

• The Glasgow couple, Margaret Elizabeth Branch and Arthur Glasgow, married in October 1901. They had only one child, Marjorie, who married Ambrose Congreve (the last heir whose death prompted the release of the trust) in 1935.
• Congreve lived in Ireland, where he enjoyed gardening, The Telegraph reports. Congreve had tended to world-renowned gardens that took up his time in his retirement.
• Congreve and Glasgow (who died in 1995) had no children, but the Glasgows’ influence continues, specifically in Richmond where the family was one of education and affluence.
• Margaret Glasgow’s father was a prominent figure in the Richmond banking and investment groups. In 1909, he opened one of the city’s first bathhouses across the street from Monroe Park. The facade of the bathhouse became the facade for VCU’s GRC dorms.
• James Branch Cabell, the namesake of the Monroe Park campus library, was a cousin to Mrs. Glasgow.
• Mr. Glasgow was an engineer from 1885 to 1891. The next year, he created a partnership with Alexander Humphreys to create Humphreys & Glasgow, an engineering firm in London. He served as chairmen for the company until 1939.
• Mr. Glasgow’s sister was the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Ellen Glasgow.
• Mrs. Glasgow died in August 1952 and Mr. Glasgow died in October 1955. Both are buried in Hollywood Cemetery.