Biography of Leonard Gow

Leonard Gow (1859-1936) was an alumnus who founded, in 1919, the Leonard Gow Lectureship on Medical Diseases of Infancy and Childhood.

Born in Glasgow, the son of a shipping magnate also called Leonard, he attended the University in 1884 to spend a year studying Moral Philosophy. His brother John Barnett Gow had spent 1881-2 studying Chemistry and Literature. Leonard became senior partner in the shipping company Gow, Harrison & Co, director of the Burmah Oil Co and chairman of several other companies. A noted philanthropist, he founded the Leonard Gow Lectureship on Medical Diseases of Infancy and Childhood in 1919. He was given an Honorary degree in 1934.

Gow was one of the city's greatest art collectors, specialising in pictures, etchings and Chinese porcelain. In 1965 the trustees of his estate presented a collection of prints by the Glasgow artist Muirhead Bone to the Hunterian Art Gallery.

Summary

Leonard Gow
Shipowner
Born 14 January 1859, Glasgow, Scotland.
Died 11 November 1936.
University Link: Alumnus, Benefactor
GU Degree: LLD, 1934;
Occupation categories: shipowners
Record last updated: 27th May 2008

University Connections

University Roles

• Alumnus
• Benefactor

Academic Posts

Lectureships:

• Leonard Gow Lectureship on Medical Diseases of Infancy and Childhood