IF any one family can be cited as exemplars of the entrepreneurial spirit of Glasgow which drove the expansion of the city in the latter half of the 18th century, it was the Stirlings who effectively began the printing and dyeing industries that were a huge contributor to the development of Glasgow and other places. There had been Stirlings in and around Glasgow for centuries, but it was William Stirling (1717-1777) who made them rich and famous. Already involved in the clothing trade, records show that Stirling was made Burgess and Guild Brother of the Burgh of Glasgow in February 1745.