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Dave souza (talk | contribs) →Fishing villages, harbours and shipbuilding: <ref name="Roy Greenock–PG"> |
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[[File:Greenock Gazeteer of Scotland.jpg|thumb|Waterfront, [[Roadstead|roads]] outside the harbour, c. 1838]]
The coast of Greenock formed a broad bay with three smaller indentations: the Bay of Quick was known as a safe anchorage as far back as 1164. To its east, a sandy bay ran eastwards from the Old Kirk and the West Burn as far as Wester Greenock castle. The fishing village of Greenock developed along this bay, and around 1635 Sir John Schaw had a jetty built into the bay which became known as Sir John's Bay. In that year he obtained a Charter raising Greenock to a Burgh of Barony with rights to a weekly market. Further east, Saint Laurence Bay curved round past the Crawfurd Barony of Easter Greenock to Garvel (or Gravel) Point. When a pier (or dyke) was built making the bay an important harbour, the fishing village of Cartsdyke gained the alternative name of
The fishing trade grew prosperous, with barrels of salted [[herring]] exported widely, and shipping trade developed. As seagoing ships could not go further up the [[River Clyde]], the [[Glasgow]] merchants including the [[Tobacco Lords]] wanted harbour access but were in disputes with Greenock over harbour dues and warehouses. They tried to buy the Garvel estate for a harbour when Easter Greenock lands were put up for sale to meet debts, but were outbid by Sir John Schaw who then got a Crown Charter of 1670 uniting Easter and Wester Greenock into the Burgh Barony of Greenock. A separate [[Barony of Cartsburn]] was created, the first baron being Thomas Craufurd. In 1668 the City of Glasgow got the lease of {{convert|13|acre|ha|0|abbr=off}} of land upriver close to [[Newark Castle, Port Glasgow|Newark Castle]], and construction promptly started on [[Port Glasgow|Newport Glasgow]] harbour which by 1710 had the principal Clyde [[custom house]].<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1921|pp=6, 55, 85}}<br />{{harvnb|Monteith|2003|p=3}}</ref><ref name="Roy Greenock–PG"/>
In 1696 and 1700 Schaw and residents of the town made unsuccessful bids to the Scottish Parliament for grants for a Greenock harbour, then when the [[Act of Union 1707]] opened up involvement in colonial trade, they raised their own funds. The work was completed in 1710, with [[wharf|quays]] extended out into Sir John's Bay to enclose the harbour. In 1711 the shipbuilding industry was founded when [[Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company|Scotts]] leased ground between the harbour and the West Burn to build fishing boats. Greenock rapidly became a major port and shipbuilding centre, and though tobacco imported from the colonies was taken to Glasgow by pack horse, the more bulky imports of sugar were processed locally. From 1774 the dredging of the River Clyde increasingly allowed ships to take merchandise directly to Glasgow, but merchants continued to use Greenock harbour.
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