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Few know of the link between Cathcart and the origins of helicopters. However many are aware of the Weir Group, probably one the last remaining great Glasgow engineering firms.

Started by the Weir brothers, they developed innovative devices for steamships and set up at the Holm Foundry, Newlands Road in 1886. Running of the business passed to the sons of James (The J of G&J) in the Edwardian period. Elder son William was more of the manager while the younger James (J.G. Weir), born in Cambuslang, was an intelligent and talented engineer.

Both brothers were interested the latest technology, especially the nascent powered flight scene. JG gained the Royal Aero Club’s 24^th pilot certificate in 1910 and served World War One in the Royal Flying Corps. Both assisted the rapid expansion of the RFC and by the end of the war, Cathcart had produced over 1000 De Havilland DH9s.

 

 

JG Weir seems to have been quite the “chap.” He left school at 16 because his maths teacher had nothing left to teach him. In 1911, Barlinnie became his home for two weeks after being found guilty of assaulting Glasgow University’s Professor of Divinity for jilting his sister! In later years, he was probably the only director of the Bank of England with a criminal record.

Like many firms that flourished due to the Great War, leaner times arrived in the twenties. Weirs were unafraid to diversify and managed to maintain the business.

 

 

1925 was a significant year in the development of the modern world. Paris held the ‘Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes‘ which ultimately led to the term ‘Art Deco’. John Logie Baird transmitted the first television signal, the Bauhaus commenced building its modernist facility in Dessau to the designs of Walter Gropius and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published.

1925 also saw JG Weir witness a demonstration of a strange futuristic craft called the Autogiro. A Spanish nobleman, Juan De La Cierva found a way of generating lift at very low speeds using a rotating set of blades. Picture an old aeroplane with a helicopter rotor mounted on top of it.

Although never a serious business proposition, JG Weir still provided capital for the Cierva Autogiro Company in 1926 and it produced the first practical rotary wing aircraft.

 

 

Over time, problems were solved and it had the notable safety feature of descending in control after a power failure. Also, developments allowed control of the rotor, which, through a licence from Cierva, allowed the German company Focke-Wulf to create the first true helicopter in 1936. Sadly, that same year, Cierva was killed in one of the early airline accidents, when his KLM DC-2 crashed after take-off from Croydon.

Throughout the 1930s, Weirs continued their involvement. JG Weir and his wife Mora (first woman to hold a rotorcraft licence) used an Autogiro to commute from their home, Skeldon House in Ayrshire, to the Cathcart factory. An Autogiro even appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film of The 39 Steps through connections with Weirs.

More seriously, the engineering team brought in by JG Weir to aid Cierva were strong enough to continue after his death. This was the group that developed the UK’s first helicopters post World War 2.

 

 

So, imagine walking through the Southside one pleasant morning ninety years ago. You look up after hearing a strange noise in the sky. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Air Commodore James George Weir in his Autogiro heading to work in Cathcart.

 

By Cameron Winton

Published 27th June 2025

 

References

The Weir Group – The History of a Scottish Engineering Legend, by William Viscount Weir, Profile Books (2013 edition)

Wikipedia:
The Weir Group
James George Weir
William Weir, 1st Viscount Weir