A high proportion of the University graduates that went to the colonies of Essequibo, Berbice and Demerara after their incorporation into the British Empire in 1796 were prominent physicians. The earliest known graduate with the connections to Guyana was Michael McTurk who graduated MD in 1810 and went on to spend thirty-four years as a Principal Medical Officer in Demerara, and member of the Georgetown Town Council. McTurk was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1839 for his efforts on the behalf of the emancipation of slaves. The McTurk family remains a part of modern day Guyana to this day.

Another notable medical graduate who was also acknowledged for his outstanding services in Guyana was Robert Grieve. Grieve graduated MD in 1861 and between 1875 and 1885 worked as a Medical Superintendent of the Public Lunatic Asylum in Berbice. As a Superintendent he implemented a number of reforms and successfully introduced humanitarian treatment of the patients at the Asylum.

Throughout the nineteenth century the economy of British Guyana, as it was known from 1831, was almost completely based on sugarcane production. Therefore the sons of merchants and plantation owners formed another significant group to attend the University of Glasgow with links to Guyana in that period. Robertson Gladstone, son of prominent merchant Sir John Gladstone with estates in Guyana, enrolled at the University in 1821 in preparation for his future career as a merchant.

As more British settled long-term in Guyana, they married on the island and their sons were also sent back to the UK for their education. The first Guyana-born student thus far traced was Andrew Watson who matriculated in 1875 to follow an Engineering course, but whose engineering career was put on hold as he became Scotland's first black football player, captaining Scotland on his international debut in 1881.