Many of our Glasgow partnership businesses were made through family connections – fathers and sons, brothers, and sometimes sisters.

Explicit partnership between women was much less common than among men, and typically a means of support for younger, never married sisters pooling skills and labour in low entry cost sectors like dressmaking.

A cross-check of partner surnames with marriage registration records did not suggest that business created through in-law relationships, was common.

Family partnerships – working with a son, brother, or sister – might not have unlocked additional capital but it was a way of supporting the family across and between generations.  Our data suggests that family partnerships during this era were more likely to persist, with loyalty, trust and altruism within family circles providing an explanation for that persistence.