GREENOCK, a sea-port and burgh and market-town, in the Lower ward of the county
of Renfrew, 17 miles (W. N. W.) from Renfrew, 22 (W. N. W.) from Glasgow, and 65 '
(W.) from Edinburgh; comprising the parishes of East, Middle, and West Greenock;
and containing, according to the census of 1841, 36,936 inhabitants. This place is
said by some to have derived its name, in the Gaelic language Grian-chnoc, from the
site of its ancient baronial castle on a hill unsheltered
by any intervening object from the rays of the sun.
Others derive its name from Grianaig, " a sunny bay";
which is the present Gaelic name of the town. It originally
consisted partly of the lands of Easter Greenock,
in which is the suburb of Cartsdyke, or, as it is also
called, Crawfurdsdyke, so named from the erection of a
small quay by its proprietor, Thomas Crawfurd, Esq.;
and partly of the small village of Greenock, belonging
to Sir John Shaw, owner of the barony of Wester
Greenock, who in 1669 purchased from Margaret Crawfurd,
lady of Kilberny, the barony of Easter Greenock,
with the exception of the lands of Crawfurdsdyke, which
are now the property of William Crawfurd, Esq. On
the decease of Sir J. Shaw, the last of that name, in 1752,
John Shaw Stewart, Esq., afterwards (on his father's
death) Sir John Shaw Stewart, Bart, succeeded to the
lands of Easter and Wester Greenock, in right of his
mother; and on his death in 1812, they passed to his
nephew. Sir Michael Shaw Stewart, from whom they descended
to Sir Michael Robert Shaw Stewart, the present
proprietor.
The villages both of Wester Greenock and Crawfurdsdyke
at first consisted only of a few thatched huts,
stretching along the bay, and inhabited by fishermen.
But they gradually increased; and in I670, Sir John,
son of the former Sir John Shaw, obtained from Charles
II. a charter annexing the lands of Finnart, of which he
had become proprietor, to the barony of Wester Greenock,
and erecting both into one barony, under the
designation of the barony of Greenock. The inhabitants
appear to have pursued the fishery with success; they
had some shipping, and carried on a considerable coasting,
and a small foreign, trade, chiefly in herrings, of
which in 1674 they sent 20,000 barrels to Rochelle,
exclusively of other quantities to Sweden and the Baltic.
The two places had each a harbour capable of receiving
vessels of large burthen; and from that of Crawfurdsdyke,
a part of the expedition to Darieu was fitted out,
in 1697. The union of the two kingdoms opened to the
inhabitants new channels of commerce; and in 1*19,
they fitted out the first vessel employed in the American
trade, which they afterwards prosecuted with singular
success, bringing home great quantities of tobacco, which
they exported for the supply of the continent. Indeed
the rapidly-increasing importance of Greenock was such
that it excited the jealousy of the ports of London, Bristol,
and Liverpool: but the breaking out of the American
war greatly obstructed its chief source of prosperity,
and the loss of the American trade for some time impeded
the commercial interests of the port. It was,
however, soon counterbalanced by an enlarged traffic
with South America, and the East and West India colonies;
the trade of the port revived; and it has continued
to prosper till the present time, the place now
ranking as one of the principal sea-ports of the country.
This was the first port to petition for the opening of the
trade to the East Indies, in 1812. Greenock, extending
in every direction for the accommodation of its growing
population, has become the residence of numerous merchants
and shipowner.s; the seat of various thriving manufactures,
which put it nearly on a par with the most
flourishing commercial and manufacturing towns in the
kingdom; and more recently a parliamentary borough.
In 1835, forty persons were drowned by the bursting of
the Whin Hill Dam.
The TOWN is beautifully situated on the south shore
of the Firth of Clyde, which is here four miles and a
half broad; and extends for almost a mile along the
margin of the united bays of Greenock and Crawfurdsdyke.
The buildings occupy a narrow site of level land,
bounded on the south by a ridge of hills which rises
abruptly to an elevation of nearly 600 feet immediately
above the town, commanding a richly-diversified view of
the Firth and the coast of Dumbarton, on the north,
and much variety of interesting scenery on the east and
west. Greenock is for the most part very irregularly
built, consisting in the older portion of various narrow
and ill-formed streets, and in that of more modern date
of several spacious and handsome streets, with numerous
pleasant villas, especially towards the west, in which
direction chiefly the houses are increasing. It is paved,
lighted with gas, and amply supplied with water from
the vicinity, passed through filters previously to its being
distributed through the town, the necessary works having
been constructed by a company incorporated by act
of parliament in 1825, by the name of the Shaw's ff'ater
Joint-Stock Company, chiefly for proiiding water-power
for giving motion to the machinery of mills and factories.
For this latter purpose, an enterprise of vast magnitude
was completed under the direction of Mr. Thom,
civil engineer, and proprietor of the Rothesay cottonworks,
at the suggestion of the late Sir Michael Shaw
Stewart. The water-works, which are mostly situated
at a distance of about three miles, on the south-west
side of the ridge of hills that overlooks the town, consist
partly of a spacious reservoir formed by strong embank-
ments, inclosing an area of 295 acres, and containing
284,678,550 cubic feet of water, conveyed by an aqueduct
six miles in length from numerous streams. There
is also a compensation reservoir of forty acres, containing
14,465,898 cubic feet, and now called Loch Thom in
compliment to the engineer. From the principal reservoir,
which has an elevation of 500 feet above the town,
the water descends by a gradual declivity, and in its
course towards Greenock forms at convenient intervals
many falls of greater or less height, from which it is
diverted to the several factories that have been erected
near it, supplying to each 1200 cubic feet per minute
for twelve hours daily. The aggregate power of the different
falls, which vary in depth according to the wants
of each factory, has been estimated as equivalent to that
of 1782 horses. This important undertaking was successfully
completed in 1829, at an expense of £51,000,
including the purchase of the ground. In 1845 an act
was passed to enable the company to increase the supply
of water beyond what is above stated.
The Public Library, established in the year 1783, now
contains about 10,000 volumes. For several years the
books were kept in the Freemasons' Hall, in Hamiltonstreet,
till they were removed into a building in Unionstreet,
towards the erection of which James Watt, Esq.,
of Ashton Hall, Warwickshire, contributed £3000, as a
suitable place for the reception of a marble statue by
Chantrey, in honour of his father, James Watt, the celebrated
improver of the steam-engine, which statue had
been voted at a public meeting of the inhabitants of
Greenock, the native place of W^att. This distinguished
person was born on the 19th of January, 1736, and died
at Heathfield, in Staffordshire, on the 25th of August,
1821. The foundation stone of the new building was
laid by the late Sir Michael Shaw Stewart, M.P. for the
county of Renfrew, and provincial grand master mason
of the district, on the 25th of August, 1835, the anniversary
of Mr. Watt's death. The building is in the
early English style of architecture, and consists of a
centre, containing the library, and two wings, one of
which forms a reading-room, and the other a house for
the librarian. The Public Library is supported by annual
subscriptions of thirteen shillings paid by proprietors,
and twenty-one shillings paid by general readers.
A mechanics' institution was established in 1836; and
a handsome building has been erected for its use at an
expense of more than £1300, raised by subscription.
The ground-floor contains a library of 2000 volumes, a
reading-room, and an apartment for mechanical and
philosophical apparatus; above which is a hall sixtytwo
feet long, and thirty-nine feet wide, for the delivery
of lectures on chemistry, mechanics, and other subjects.
There is also a mechanics' library at Cartsdyke, or
Crawfurdsdyke, containing nearly 1500 volumes; and
three circulating libraries have collections varying from
500 to 1500 volumes. Two public newsrooms are likewise
supported, in one of which, in Cathcart-square, is a
portrait of Sir John Shaw, who is justly regarded as the
founder of the commercial prosperity of the town.
Assemblies are held in the Exchange buildings, in which
are elegant rooms; and a theatre, erected by Stephen
Kemble, is opened occasionally. The Tontine hotel, in
the principal street, is a spacious building, erected at an
expense of £l0,000,and contains some handsome apartments,
and every requisite accommodation.
Manufactures of various kinds are carried on here
to a very considerable extent; and there are numerous
large estabhshments for refining sugar, some breweries,
distilleries, tanneries, foundries, and forges. The manufacture
of woollen cloth and yarn is pursued in two
factories, in one of which ^5,000 stones of wool are annually
consumed in the production of tartans, twilled
cloths, and yarn; and the other, of recent establishment,
is still more extensive. A very large cotton-work
has lately been opened, the machinery of which is propelled
by the Shaw's water: the building is of stone,
263 feet in length, sixty feet in breadth, and three stories
in height. In those parts where the process carried on
is most in danger of fire, the building is fire-proof; and
in case of need, the pipes by which it is heated with
steam can be rendered available with the same etfect as
a fire-engine. The water-wheel that drives the machinery
is seventy feet in diameter, and wholly of iron,
weighing about ISO tons. The number of people employed
is generally 400, the greater part of whom are
females. There are eleven large establishments for the
refining of sugar, affording occupation to 350 persons;
one of these is wholly engaged in refining for exportation,
and the aggregate quantity is about 14,000 tons
annually. Three breweries employ about forty-five persons,
doing business to the amount of £30,000 per annum
J and there is a distillery producing whisky annually
to the amount of £50,000, and paying duties to the
excise of £'21,000. Connected with the distillery is a
dairy of fifty cows. The manufacture of sail-cloth gives
employment to nearly 300 persons, and consumes annually
about 600 tons of raw material: attached to the
premises is an extensive rope- walk, in which large quantities
of cordage are made, averaging annually 700 tons.
There are also three other rope-walks, in the aggregate
affording employment to eighty persons. Four tanneries
employ together about fifty hands, and do business to
the amount of £18,000 annually; while two potteries,
in which '200 people are constantly engaged, make on
the average 100,000 dozens of white and printed earthenware.
The paper manufacture provides occupation to
about forty persons, of whom a considerable number are
females, and produces yearly 300 tons of packing and
coloured papers. There are also some extensive cooperages,
together employing about .500 men and boys. The
straw-plat manufacture of Greenock occupies generally
about seventy persons on the premises, and affords employment
to 150 who work at their own dwellings in the
town, and to 1500 in the islands of Orkney. There are
three extensive iron-foundries and forges for all kinds
of castings, and for the manufacture of steam-engines
and boilers, and various sorts of machinery, together
affording employment to more than 1000 persons. In
these establishments, steam-engines of the aggregate
power of nearly 3000 horses are annually manufactured;
and numerous English-built steamers, as well for government
as for private individuals, have been supplied
with engines and machinery from the works. Two
manufactories for chain-cables and anchors, also, employ
above 110 persons; and there is a work for the
making of bar-iron, in which a considerable number are
engaged. Four large mills for grinding grain, yield
upwards of 50,000 bolls a year: one of them was also
supplied with machinery for freeing rice imported into
this country from the husk, but this was found to be
attended without any of the expected benefit, and has
been discontinued.
The trade of the port, which, after it had recovered
from the depression it suffered during the American war,
greatly increased, has recently sustained some diminution
from the deepening of the Clyde and the introduction
of steam towing-boats, by which ships that previously
landed their cargoes here are now enabled to reach
Glasgow. The exports are chiefly cotton, yarn, kc.;
linen, woollen, and silk manufactures; hardware, earthenware,
glass, refined sugar, iron and machinery, copper,
and lead. The imports are cotton-wool, sugar, molasses,
coffee, cocoa, pepper, tobacco, corn, wine, oil, spirits,
timber, deals, mahogany, dye-woods, brimstone, and
numerous other goods. In a recent year, before the
establishment of the cotton-work above described, the
quantity of cotton-wool imported was 11,597,653 lb., and
the quantity of cotton, yarn, &c. exported was valued
at upwards of £1,000,000. The number of ships and
vessels entered inwards and cleared outwards to foreign
ports with cargoes, in the same year, was, '225 British, of
65,864 tons, and twelve foreign, of 3095 tons, inwards;
and 235 British, of 63,582 tons, and nine foreign, of
3411 tons, outwards. The number of vessels entered
inwards and cleared outwards, coastwise, was, 911
vessels, of 99,430 tons, inwards; and 1222 vessels, of
128,017 tons, outwards: this latter number of vessels,
however, includes vessels with part of cargoes previously
cleared outwards at Glasgow. In 1848 the amount of
duty paid at the custom-house was £436,985. The
number of vessels registered as belonging to the port is
432, of 79,779 tons' aggregate burthen; and the number
of seamen is upwards of 3000.
The HARBOUR was commenced in 1707, by the inhabitants,
to whom the lord of the manor, Sir John Shaw,
conveyed the- ground on which it was formed, together
with his right, as superior of the barony, to levy anchorage
dues. In order to raise funds for its completion,
they voluntarily imposed an assessment of \s. 4rf. on
every sack of malt brewed into ale within the burgh.
The harbour thus formed being found, however, totally
inadequate to the rapid increase of the trade, an extension
including the Isay of Crawfurdsdyke was carried
into effect, at an expense of £20,000; and the subsequent
erection of dry-docks and other works requisite
to render it complete, comprising warehouses, bondingyards
for timber, and other accommodations, has increased
the amount to £119,000. The outer harbour,
which is accessible to the largest vessels, has sufficient
depth of water, and good anchorage; but the roadstead
is contracted by a considerable sand-bank, extending
from Port-Glasgow towards Dumbarton. The entrance
to the inner harbour is 105 feet wide, and the depth
great enough to allow vessels of any burthen to approach
the quays. The Custom-house quay is 1035 feet in
length, the East quay 531, and the West quay 425 feet,
forming together a line of very nearly 2000 feet, replete
with every facility for the loading and landing of cargoes,
with spacious warehouses and stores. Ship-building is
carried on to a great extent, for which purpose there are
seven dockyards belonging to different companies, affording
employment to 1200 men, with dry-docks, and three
patent-slips for repairing vessels, one of which is capable
of receiving ships of 400 tons. The number of vessels
annually launched averages about twenty, of the
aggregate burthen of from 6000 to 7000 tons. Boat-building
is also carried on, by companies confined to that object,
who employ about forty workmen, and launch annually
about 800 tons of all descriptions.
The custom-house, which is situated in the central
portion of the quay, is a spacious and elegant building
in the Grecian style, with a stately portico in front, the
whole erected in 1818, at an expense of £30,000. A
chamber of commerce and manufactures was incorporated
by royal charter in 1813, and is under the
management of twelve directors, of whom three annually
go out of office by rotation. The Exchange buildings,
erected in 1814, at a cost of £*000, afford every accommodation
for the meeting of merchants and shipowners,
and for the transaction of commercial affairs; they contain
also two spacious assembly-rooms, in which concerts
and card and dancing assemblies are held during the
season. The post-office has a good delivery; and in addition
to the Greenock Bank, there are branches of the
Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Glasgow
Union Banking Company, the Western Bank of
Scotland, and the Clydesdale Bank. The market, which
is on Friday, is abundantly supplied with grain and with
provisions of all kinds; and fairs are held on the first
Thursday in July and the fourth Thursday in November.
Facility of communication is afforded by excellent roads,
of which eight miles of turnpike-road pass through the
parish, and by steamers. The Glasgow, Paisley, and
Greenock Railway was commenced under an act passed
in 1837, and was opened throughout in 1841. The
length is twenty-two miles and a half, of which seven
form part also of the Glasgow and Ayr railway, whence
the Greenock line diverges at Paisley, crossing the rivers
Black Cart and Gryfe, and reaching its summit level on
the Bishopton ridge. Thence it is continued by an embankment,
running nearly parallel with the river Clyde,
to Port-Glasgow, from which taking a curvilinear direction,
it terminates at Greenock, where is a short branch
leading to the docks. There are two tunnels at Bishopton
ridge, cut through hard rock for above a mile in
length, and thirty-seven feet in depth; the embankment
near the Clyde is more than a mile long, and twentyeight
feet in height, and there is also one crossing Fulwood
moss, four miles long, but averaging only ten feet
in height. The railway was completed in March 1841,
at an expense of £498,142, including one-half the cost
of the portion between Glasgow and Paisley, of which
the other half was defrayed by the Glasgow and Ayr
Railway Company. An act was passed in 1846, authorizing
the formation of a branch of 352 yards extending
from the Glasgow, Paisley, and Greenock railway, to the
Clyde at Greenock; and also the construction of a pier
or wharf in connexion with it. In 1847 an act was obtained,
to amalgamate the railway with the great Caledonian
railway.
The town was erected into a burgh of barony by
charter of Charles I., granted to Sir John Shaw, its
proprietor, in 1635, and confirmed by Charles II. in 167O.
In 1741, the then Sir John Shaw, by a charter which
was renewed in 1751, conferred upon his tenants in the
burgh the privilege of electing two bailies, a treasurer,
and six councillors, with power to hold courts for the
admission of burgesses, the good government of the
town, and the trial and punishment of deUnquents.
This charter continued in force till the passing of the
Municipal Reform act of the 3rd and 4th of William IV.
A provost, four bailies, a treasurer, and ten councillors,
are now elected agreeably with the provisions of that
measure; and their jurisdiction extends over the whole
of the municipal and parliamentary boundaries of the
burgh, which includes the suburb of Cartsdyke. The
magistrates hold courts daily for the trial of criminal
causes not extending beyond petty thefts and misdemeanors,
all higher matters being referred to the sheriff
of the county, who holds a court here for those cases to
which the jurisdiction of the magistrates does not extend.
Under the provisions of the general Reform act
of the 2nd and 3rd of William IV., the burgh returns
one member to the imperial parliament: the right of
election is vested in the £10 householders, who also
form the municipal constituency, and of whom the number
is 1188. The town-hall was erected in 1765, after a
design by the father of the distinguished Watt; it is a
neat structure containing the several court-rooms, and
other apartments for the transaction of the public business
of the magistrates. The town gaol or bridewell, a
handsome building in the castellated style, contains
thirty-five cells for criminals. The sherifTs court-house,
erected in 1834 by subscription, consists of a spacious
hall for the courts, with apartments for the sheriff and
his clerk, and rooms for jurymen and witnesses.
The PARISH originally formed part of that of Innerkip,
from which it was separated by act of parliament,
in 1592: the lands of Easter Greenock and Crawfurdsburn
were annexed to it in 1618, and a considerable
portion of the parish of Houston in 1650. At later
periods the parish was subdivided into smaller parishes.
It extends along the Clyde for nearly five miles, and is
bounded on the south by the parish of Houston; on the
south-east, by the parishes of Port- Glasgow and Kilmalcolm;
and on the west, by Innerkip. The surface is
hilly, rising towards the south, by elevated ridges, to a
height of 600 feet. The coast is flat and sandy, and is
not distinguished by any pecuharity of features, the hill
of Binnans, the highest in the ridge, forming the only
landmark of importance: from this eminence is obtained
a beautiful view of the Firth. On the shore the soil is
chiefly clay, intermixed with sea-shells and gravel; and
in the higher grounds, a rich loam, alternated with peatmoss:
there are some quarries of sandstone, but of very
inferior quality. The estimated number of acres is 8000,
of which nearly 3000 are arable, 1150 meadow and pasture,
about fifty woodland and plantations, and the
remainder moor. The scenery is beautifully diversified,
and on the acclivities of the hills are numerous scattered
villas, overlooking the Clyde. The mansion-house of
Greenock is finely situated on an eminence above the
town; the greater portion of it is ancient, but several
additions have been made of more modern character.
There are some trees of considerable girth near this
mansion, and also near that of Crawfnrdsburn or Cartsburn
House, which is likewise an ancient building. The
annual value of real property in Greenock is £11 1,493.
For ECCLESIASTICAL purposcs this place is in the
presbytery of Greenock, synod of Glasgow and Ayr. The
original parish, which, since the New or Middle parish
was disjoined from it in 1741, has been designated the
Old or West parish, is about three miles and a half in
length and two and three-quarters in breadth. The
minister's income is £718, arising from a stipend of
£287, from an annuity of £25 from the corporation,
and the rents of the glebe, amounting to £406; with a
manse: patron. Sir Michael Robert Shaw Stewart. The
old church, a cruciform structure built in 1590, being
inconveniently situated, and greatly dilapidated, has
been abandoned, and a new church built on a more
commodious site; the present structure, which is of
elegant design, contains 1400 sittings. The Middle
parish, created by the Court of Teinds, is about onethird
of a mile in length and a quarter of a mile in
breadth, and wholly within the town. The minister's
stipend is £200, with £20 for communion elements, and
a manse; patrons, the Magistrates and Town Council,
the Kirk Session, and the Feuars in the parish. The
church, erected in 174* at an expense of £2388, by
subscription, aided by a grant from the corporation,
is a handsome structure in the Grecian style, with a
portico of the Ionic order and an elegant spire 145 feet
in height, and contains 1497 sittings. A chapel has
been erected in the parish by the Society for Propagating
Christian Knowledge, for the use of the mariners
frequenting the port; it contains 350 sittings, and
divine service is performed on Sunday by a missionary,
who has a salary of £26 per annum. The East parish
was divided from the original parish, by the Court of
Teinds, in 1809; it is about three miles and a half in
length, and two and a half in breadth. The minister's
stipend is £200, with £20 for communion elements, and
a manse; patrons, the Magistrates and Council, and a
committee of the Seat-proprietors. The church was
erected in 1774 as a chapel of ease, and contains 976
sittings. The former quoad sacra North parish was separated
from the West parish under act of the General
Assembly in 1834, and was about half a mile in length
and less than a quarter of a mile in breadth; patrons,
the Communicants. The church, at first a chapel of
ease, was built in 1823, at an expense of £600, and
contains 1165 sittings. The South quoad sacra parish
comprised a small district within the town; patrons,
the Proprietors of the church, which was built as a
Gaelic chapel of ease, in 1791, at a cost of £1300, raised
in shares, and is a neat structure with 1300 sittings. The
late quoad sacra parish of St. Andreiv was also separated
from the West parish; patrons, the Trustees. The
church was built by subscription, aided by grant from
the Church-extension fund, at a cost of £2600; it is a
handsome structure in the later English style of architecture,
and contains 945 sittings. The late parish of
St. Thomas was ecclesiastically separated in 1839, from
the Old parish and the Middle parish: the church was
built by private subscription, aided by a grant from the
extension fund. That part of the burgh which is called
Cartsdyke {which see) was ecclesiastically separated from
the East parish, in 1839, but, like the four preceding
districts, afterwards ceased to be a quoad sacra parish.
There are places of worship in the burgh for members
of the Free Church, the United Presbyterian Church,
Baptists, Independents, Reformed Presbyterians, and
Wesleyans; an episcopal, and a Roman Catholic chapel.
The members of the Free Church have altogether six
places of worship in the burgh, and the United Presbyterian
Church four.
The old parochial school has been superseded l)y the
establishment of two burgh schools, in one of which the
Latin, Greek, and French languages are taught; and in
the other, arithmetic, the mathematics, geography, and
drawing. They are under the management of two masters,
appointed by the corporation, and who have each
a salary of £30, with the fees and an allowance of £25 a
year in lieu of house and schoolroom. The Highlanders'
Academy was built in 1837, partly by subscription, and
partly by grant from government, on a site given by
the late Sir Michael Shaw Stewart; it is a handsome
building, containing two schoolrooms, and apartments
for the masters of an infant and juvenile school, with a
large inclosed play-ground. There are also two schools for
orphans, built by the corporation, one for the gratuitous
instruction of children in the elementary branches of
education, and the other for teaching girls to sew and
knit, and qualifying them for service; they are both
supported by subscription, and partly by the proceeds
of the children's work. The Greenock Hospital and
Infirmary was established in 1809, when a building was
erected at an expense of £1815, on a site of land given
by Sir John Shaw Stewart. It is maintained by subscription,
and the number of patients averages about 585
annually received into the house, and 200 out-patients.
Two wings have been added to the building, which is
now adapted for the reception of 100 patients. The
institution is under the superintendence of four physicians,
two surgeons, and a resident apothecary; and
the annual expenditure is about £1000. There are
numerous friendly and benefit societies; and a savings'
bank has been some time established, in which are deposits
to the amount of about £63,000. It may be
mentioned that Mr. Gait the novelist resided at Greenock,
where he died in 1839. The town gives the inferior title
of Baron to the family of Cathcart, a dignity created in
1807, in the person of tiie late Earl Cathcart, upon his
return from Copenhagen, where he had served as commander-
in-chief of the military force employed in the
expedition to that place.