Westburn Underpass Mural

This great mural brightens up the Westburn underpass in Greenock.

The underpass is between Westburn Street and the Oak Mall in Greenock.

Made of painted tiles, the mural shows some of the buildings that existed before the Oak Mall was built.

6274 Public Art were responsible for the mural, replacing a previous one which had been damaged.

Joining with Monday Murals.

Greenock Town Hall Saloon

The Saloon of Greenock Town Hall is used for a variety of purposes.  It is beautifully decorated.

There are beautiful glass inserts in the ceiling.  The colours and details are amazing.

There's a fantastic blue and white plaster frieze around the top of the walls.

Some of the windows are painted with wonderful allegorical figures - just look at the details.

The plasterwork ceiling is lovely.

There is so much to see in just that one room.

Son of Greenock - Henri Temianka

This wonderful sculpture was on show at the Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock at the weekend.  It depicts violinist Henri Temianka (1906 - 1992) by sculptor Miriam Baker.

It was unveiled in Greenock last year on the 110th anniversary of his birth here in Rue End Street, Greenock to Polish immigrants.  They were part of the small Jewish community in the town.  Shortly afterwards the family moved to Rotterdam.

Temianka eventually moved to America where he achieved fame with the Paganini Quartet and many other notable orchestras.  Viki McDonnel of Greenock has done much research into the Jewish community in this area and she is responsible for the wonderful little booklet which you can see in the photograph.  She had been in touch with Henri's son Daniel in California in respect of her research into Greenock's Jewish community

The plaque reads:

Henri Temianka (1906 - 1992)

Violinist, Conductor, Educator, Writer

Son of Greenock

Founded and led the Paganini Quartet (1946 - 1966)

and California Chamber Symphony (1960 - 1990)

"You have a very simple choice: to create or not to create."

Bust by Miriam Baker

A very interesting and unusual piece of Greenock's history and heritage.

Uncle Sam - the Greenock connection

Uncle Sam - the personification and symbol of the United States and the descendant of a Greenockian!

Samuel Wilson, is generally considered to be the original Uncle Sam.  Samuel and his brother Ebenezer were employers of over 100 men in their slaughterhouse and meat-packing business in Troy, New York.  Samuel Wilson, according to the "History of the City of Troy" by A J Weise -

     "Being one of the first settlers, and besides having a kind and benevolent disposition, he won the         esteem and affection of everybody in the village, and was more generally designated as Uncle             Sam than by his proper name."

Wikipedia

During the 1812 - 1815 war they were contracted by Elbert Anderson to provide beef for soldiers stationed at Greenbush, New York.  All provisions had to be stamped, and the initials E.A.-U.S. appeared on the barrels of meat from the Wilsons.  Seemingly a soldier asked what those initials meant and the reply, from a local, was Elbert Anderson and Uncle Sam.  The name caught on and any other wagons or barrels carrying the initials U.S. was deemed to be from Uncle Sam.

According to Albert Matthews in his book "Uncle Sam", the term appeared in Bartlett Dictionary of Americanisms in 1848 and has been in use ever since.  This recruitment poster from World War I by the artist James Montgomery Flagg (1877 - 1960) is probably the image most of us have in mind when we think of Uncle Sam.

So what's the Greenock connection?

Most sources name Samuel's grandfather as Robert Wilson from Greenock who settled in Massachusetts.  His son, Edward Wilson was Samuel's father.  Samuel was born in West Cambridge (now Arlington) on 13 September 1766 and moved in his early twenties with his brother to Troy in New York, on the Hudson River.  He started out as a brick maker before owning slaughterhouses.  He married Betsey Mann of Mason, New Hampshire, and had four children.  He died on 31 July 1854 at Troy and was buried originally at Mt Ida Cemetery in Troy.  In 1858 he was re-interred in a family plot at Oakwood Cemetery, Troy.

Highlanders Clearance

Greenock Highlanders' Academy has been demolished.

I wrote about the School not that long ago.  You can read about the riot at its opening here.

Highlanders' Academy, Greenock

Even the tree in the playground has been destroyed.

Shame really, but I presume it is all for the sake of (so called) progress!

Blacksmith to Archaeologist

It is a very rewarding experience when travelling abroad to come across references to fellow Greenockians who have left their mark, in a positive way, in a far off country.  On a recent visit to Canada, I visited the lovely little town of Elora in Wellington County, Ontario.  There I discovered the following  historical plaque erected by the Ontario Heritage Foundation, Ministry of Culture and Recreation. 

It reads:-

David Boyle 1842 - 1911

Born in Scotland, Boyle came to Canada in 1856 and settled in this area.  As a local school teacher, he began an extensive collection of native artifacts and became an archaeological authority.  Boyle moved to Toronto in 1883 and three years later was appointed the first Curator of the Provincial Archaeological Museum, then housed in the Canadian Institute Building.  Dedicated to the study and retention of artifacts within Ontario, he initiated an active programme of excavation and acquisition.  Between 1887 and 1907 Boyle edited a noted series, the Annual Archaeological Reports, published under the auspices of the Ontario Department of Education.  Through his work on Ontario prehistory, Boyle gained international recognition as a leading Canadian archaeologist and anthropologist.

David Boyle was born in 1842 in Greenock, the son of John Borland Boyle and Anne Anderson.  The 1851 Census shows David (9) living with his parents John (32) listed as an Engine Smith, his mother Ann (33) and siblings John (5) and Mary Ann (3 months) at 9 East Quay lane in Greenock.

David's grandfather, also David Boyle was blacksmith at Greenfoot, Sorn, Ayrshire and was married to Jean Borland.  They had several children, at least one of whom, Andrew also emigrated to Canada and was blacksmith at Eden Mills, Ontario.  David worked with him for a while.  David began his career as a blacksmith working for Hugh Hamilton in Elora, but also attended school and had a thirst for knowledge.  He began teaching in 1865 and moved to Elora Public School in 1871. In 1867 he married Martha S Frankland and they had two daughters.  Geology and natural history were just two of his many interests and he began collecting specimens which he donated to the Canadian Institute in Toronto.  In 1909 he received his Doctor of Laws from the University of Toronto.  You can read more about Boyle in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography here.

It would appear that Boyle also sent natural history samples back to his home town of Greenock as there are a couple of reports from the1870s and 1880s in the Greenock Telegraph detailing these.  Hopefully the McLean Museum may still have some - I'll try and find out when it reopens in a year's time.

From a plaque in Elora showing the town in days gone by.

It really makes me proud to realise the esteem which is afforded to people like David Boyle and his family who left their native land and achieved so much in their adopted country.

Trade in 1791 - essentials and home comforts

Greenock's shipbuilding and sugar refining industries relied heavily on imported goods.  Shipbuilding required timber, much of which was imported from Canada.  Sugar was imported from the West Indies and refined here.  However the Greenock ships which brought back these valuable cargoes did not make their outward journey empty.  They supplied invaluable commodities which the settlers and traders in these far away lands could not easily obtain.

This advertisement (I've reproduced part of it here) from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1791 shows what goods were being exported from Britain by ships belonging to Greenock merchants.  Among the items being offered for sale were:-

Food - refined sugar, Cheshire cheese, salad oil

Clothing - shoes, stockings, hats

Fabric - Irish linen, printed cotton in fashionable patterns, corduroys, woollens, embroidered serge

Metal goods - nails, ships anchors, German steel,

Household essentials - earthenware, frying pans, kettles, window glass, candles

Toiletries - soap, hair power

Other items included - tobacco, paint and oil, fishing nets, sail cloth guns, powder and shot.

It is so interesting to see the sorts of things that were traded then.  Obviously it was not just the working essentials that were important to settlers, they also required some home comforts and luxury goods.  Many local merchants had branches of their business on both sides of the Atlantic in order to make the most of the trading opportunities available.  William Forsyth, who is named in the advertisement, was an important merchant in Nova Scotia with trading partners in Greenock.  There will be more about William Forsyth and his family in future posts.

Broomhill War Memorial, Greenock

This is the Broomhill War Memorial commemorating those from the area who died in World War I.

It is situated at the corner of Drumfrochar Road, Cornhaddock Street and Broomhill Street.

It was unveiled by Greenock's Provost Thomas Mitchell on 16 April 1920.

There are many names on the Memorial from many different regiments.  A full list of names can be found at Inverclyde's Great War.  At that site you can click on the individual names and find out more about the person.

The site has information about all the War Memorials in the area and if you are researching family from Greenock and surrounding places, this site is well worth a visit.  It is run by the McLean Museum and Inverclyde Council and also provides an invaluable collection of resources about World War I and the local people who gave their lives.

Great views across the Clyde

It was such a great day here in Greenock yesterday that I set out in search of some photographs of the River Clyde.  The Clydeport Cranes are always a good signpost for getting your bearings.

One of the best places for good views is up high on the Kilmacolm Road.  The views across the river from here are just amazing - you can see right up to the Gareloch.

Looking down just past the James Watt Dock Marina into what was the Great Harbour there were a few boats berthed.

I never tire of this view.

Greenock Jougs

Once upon a time, at the bottom of Broad Close in Shaw Street in Greenock there was a thatched house that served as the town gaol.  Daniel Weir in his "History of the Town of Greenock" (1829) describes it as "an ill-looking thatched house of one story, and consequently one apartment".  From the walls of the building hung the jougs (or jugs) - an iron collar attached to the wall by a stout iron chain.  This representation of the jougs can be seen on a wall off Cathcart Street (east end) in Greenock where the Broad Close once ran down to Shaw Street which (neither still exist).

In Scotland, the jougs were used both for detention of wrongdoers and also as a punishment.  Offenders would be secured in the collar and left to the mercies of the local population who hurled abuse, and heaven only knows what else, at the miscreants.  Jougs were often attached to churches and town tollbooths. They acted as deterrent as well as a punishment.  Another set of jougs could be found at the West Quay head in Greenock - handy for errant sailors!

In the Ayrshire town of Kilmaurs, the jougs can still be seen attached to the Tollbooth in the centre of the town.

Tall ship on the Clyde

On the River Clyde at Greenock yesterday, the beautiful tall ship Stavros S Niarchos.

Part of the Tall Ships Youth Trust.

What a beautiful sight!

Riot at opening of new Greenock school

The opening of the new Highlanders' Academy in Greenock on 5 December 1887 was accompanied by a riot!  The Glasgow Herald reported -

"An unprecedented and, as the sequel proved, disgraceful exhibition was yesterday witnessed at the opening of a new Board school in Greenock, which resulted in the injury of several persons, the jeopardising of the lives of very many more, the destruction of much valuable property, besides having a bad moral affect among the young persons who were present, which will probably take years to get rid of."

The problem concerned the transfer of the former headmaster, Robert Wilson to a different school.  He had been headmaster at the original Highlanders' Academy (1837), located in Roxburgh Street.for 17 years.  As its name suggests, the school had been built to accommodate the large number of children whose parents had come to Greenock from the Highlands of Scotland looking for work.  Money was raised for the school partly by subscription and the land gifted by Sir Michael Shaw Stewart.  The original school had to be demolished when the railway was being extended.  Now that the new Highlanders' Academy building was completed, the parents and children wanted their own headmaster to be transferred to the new school with them.  However, the authorities had chosen a William Cook as the new headmaster.

At nine o'clock on the morning of 5 December 1887, the day of the opening, a procession, headed by local councillors and teachers as well as many children accompanied by their parents walked to the school.  Joined by many onlookers, the Herald reports that four or five thousand people were gathered -  

 "The majority of the crowd was composed of the working class, many of them being young men, although a few of the parents in the middle-class were also here and there observable."

A few protesters stated voicing their opinions about the choice of headmaster, and once most of the children were safely inside the school, Mr Wilson tried to enter.  He had been suspended for not accepting a position at another school and attempts were made to stop him entering the school.  This led to more agitation, and with the large crowd filling the surrounding streets panic set in, many people trying to get out of the area.  Inside the school, the Councillors and members of the School Board locked themselves in the headmaster's room.  The mob managed to get inside the school where they seem to have run amok.  The police were already inside the building and tried to beat back the crowd.

Mr Wilson was raised shoulder high and paraded through the school.  More and more people seem to have joined the fracas, and it was not until Mr Wilson left the building about 11 o'clock that the police managed to get control of the situation.  The children were led to safety and eventually the crowds dispersed.  The Councillors and School Board members escaped by a side door to a waiting cab.

The new headmaster, Cook, also tried to escape in a cab, but it was followed by a crowd.  Police officers were stationed at the homes of various Councillors and School Board members in case of more trouble.  Eventually things quietened down.  Mr Robert Wilson was some months later reinstated as headmaster of Highlanders' Academy, Greenock.

Highlanders' Academy was completed in 1887 to a design by David Barclay.  It is situated at the corner of Dempster Street and Mount Pleasant Street in Greenock.  The school was closed in 2012 and the building put up for sale by Inverclyde Council.

Let's hope it doesn't share the same fate as Mearns Street School.