Bill Daly
I am initially from Renfrew, I studied Maths at Glasgow University in the 1960s then worked for IBM for 25 years, the last seven of which in Paris as manager of IBM’s manpower for Europe. I took (very) early retirement and my wife and I moved to a hill village in the south of France on the outskirts of Montpellier where we stayed for 22 years.
My two great interests are playing Bridge and writing novels. I was twice the senior bridge champion of France and I am a best-selling writer in the category of Scottish Crime, having had five novels published. We moved back to Glasgow in 2015 and I am currently a volunteer guide at Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum.
In the presentation I cover the background of Great Exhibitions in Europe in the Victorian era, starting with the Crystal Palace in London in 1851, and I explain the motivation for Glasgow holding a great Exhibition in 1888 and the detail of what that exhibition comprised. My talk covers the background as to why exhibitions were held in Victorian times, the many nations involved, and the various buildings and entertainment sites that were constructed in order to house the exhibition.