Greenock
Principal Sources
OSA Vol 5 No 40, I, Old Parish of Greenock; II, New Parish or Town of Greenock, 1793
The New Statistical Account of Scotland, Vol VII, Edinburgh, 1845:
Greenock pp 405-494, dated 1840
RMS II (3062) 1506-7
RMS III (2071) 1539-40, (2252) 1540, (2315) 1547
RMS IV (1155) 1556-7
RMS VIII (743) 1623, (761) 1624
RMS XI (439) 1663
RSS II (3366) 1539-40, (3885) 1540-1
RSS III (2315) 1547, (2636) 1547-8
RSS IV (1469) 1551-2, (2698) 1554
RSS V Part I (1237) 1562-3
RSS VI (989) 1570, (1028) 1570
Laing Charters (263) 1507, (439-440, 443-4) 1540, (742) 1562, (870) 1572, (1272) 1594, (1294) 1595, (1333-4) 1597, (1668) 1612, (1701) 1614, (1848) 1620, (1914) 1622, (1955-6) 1624, (2031) 1629, (2082-3) 1631, (2101-2) 1632, (2161, 2163) 1635, (2241) 1638, (2271) 1639, (2769) 1677
GD20/1/420 1545, GD20/1/421 1550, GD20/1/424 1562, GD20/1/434 1585
GD20/1/441 1599, GD20/1/459 1628
ER XIX p 494 1562
ER XXI pp 503-4 1584
ER XXII p 485 1593, pp 503-4 1594
Renfrew Retours (55-56) 1620, (59) 1622, (194) 1690, (202) 1594, (207) 1592
RS53 f 49v 1642
CS228/K/3/2 1792 (See National Records of Scotland online catalogue).
See also RHP81847, which I have not studied.
Reports on the State of Certain Parishes in Scotland, 1627, Maitland Club, Edinburgh, 1835
Crawfurd, G., A Genealogical History of the Royal and Illustrious Family of the Stewarts, from the year 1034 to the Year 1710 …, Edinburgh, 1710. (Hereafter ‘Crawfurd’).
Robertson, G., A general description of the Shire of Renfrew …, Paisley, 1818 (Hereafter ‘Robertson’). See especially p 411.
(This is a continuation of Crawfurd above).
Descriptions of the Sheriffdoms of Lanark and Renfrew, compiled about 1710 by William Hamilton of Wishaw, Maitland Club, Glasgow, 1831 pp 97-99
S Macdougall & J Monteith, Greenock Place Names, Greenock, 1996
Maps
Pont (33)
Gordon (55)
Blaeu (Renfrew)
Roy (PC & FC)
Ainslie (1796)
John Moore “Stephen McDougall: recent ‘discoveries’ of work by a mid-eighteenth-century Glasgow surveyor”, pp 4-5, Cairt, Issue 36. (Cairt is the Newsletter of the Scottish Maps Forum, published by the National Library of Scotland). Mr Moore draws attention to a survey of the Easter and Wester baronies of Sir John Shaw’s Greenock Estate carried out in 1758. (Glasgow City Archives, Ardgowan Papers, T-ARD1/5/A0). I have not studied this.
The NSA p 454 describes how all of Greenock parish was originally part of Inverkip parish. The lands of Greenock, Finnart and Spangok were then separated from Inverkip by Sir John Shaw. That was authorised by a Royal Charter dated 18 November 1589, which was ratified by Acts of Parliament in 1592 and 1594. The NSA gives the 1589 charter on pages 493-494. The text refers to the
proper lands and heretage of grenok fynnartie and spangok with thair pertinentis extending all to twenty aucht pund xiii s worth of land of auld extent lyand within the parochin of Innerkipe
(proper lands and heritage of Greenock, Fynnart and Spango with their pertinents extending [in] all to £28 13s [4d] worth of land of old extent lying within the parish of Inverkip).
£28 13s 4d would be exactly 43 marks so it is virtually certain that 4d has been omitted.
The online ‘Records of the Parliaments of Scotland’ provides evidence of the creation of this parish under the parliamentary Register of 8 June 1594. The original source is given as NAS PA2/15 f.42v. I give an edited summary in modern English:
Our sovereign lord and estates of this present parliament ratify and approve the act made in the parliament held in Edinburgh 5 June 1592 concerning the erection of the parish kirk of Grenok, lately built by John Schaw of Grenok … our said sovereign lord and estates of this present parliament have dissolved and divided … the parsonage and vicarage of Inverkip into two separate parishes, parsonages and vicarages, one to retain the name of the parsonage and vicarage of Inverkip, and the other to be called … the parsonage and vicarage of Grenok; and the whole teinds, fruits, rents, profits and emoluments of the lands of Grenok, Fynert and Spangok, with their pertinents, which were accustomed before, to be paid to the parsons and vicars of Inverkip and now are designed to the bounds of the said newly erected kirk and parish of Grenok …
(The new parish was to be maintained by the three estates of Greenock, Finnart-Schaw and Spango. The division was to apply from 1593).
This picture is fleshed out by the report made in 1627. (See Reports on the State of Certain Parishes in Scotland, 1627, Maitland Club, Edinburgh, 1835 – Parish of Greenock pp 190-192).
The report states that of old it was part of the parish of Innerkip and made a separate parish some 35 years previously (i.e. c. 1592). John Schaw of Grenok was a prime mover in this process. In 1617 Eister Grenok Craufurd, belonging to the Laird of Kilburnie (Craufurd family), was separated from Innerkip and united to Grenok because the kirk in Greenock lay closer. Grenok Craufurd is described as a 17 merkland. Cartisburne was 40s (3m) land and was occupied by tenants holding of the Laird of Kilburnie.
The (original) components described in 1627 are Vester (Wester) Grenok as 20m land, Fynert-Schaw as 20m land and Spango as 40s (3m) land. (This is evidently only one part of Spango – see under Inverkip parish). These properties total 43m which is exactly the same as the figure specified in the 1589 charter.
It appears that the parish of Greenock was formed in two stages. The first step, taken in 1592 and effective from 1593, was to found the new parish out of the estates of Wester Greenock (20m – belonging to the Schaw family), part of Fynnart (20m – belonging to the Schaw family) and part of Spango (40s or 3m) which had passed from the Cunningham family to the Shaw family. The second step was that in 1617 these properties were joined by Easter Greenock Crawford (17m – belonging to the Crawfurd family) and Cartisburn (40s or 3m – held by tenants from the Crawfurd family). NSA p 454 states ‘In the year 1618, the lands of Easter Greenock and Crawfurdsburn [= Cartisburn], were annexed to Greenock by decree of Court of High Commission’. Cumulatively these make 63 merklands. Proof that both (Easter) Greenock and Cartisburn were originally in Inverkip is provided by Laing Charters (742) 1562.
OSA Vol 5 No 40, I, Old Parish of Greenock, 1793, p 559 states that in or after 1636 Greenock was created from lands in Inverkip and Houstoun. As we have seen above its creation predates 1636 but it appears it also received some lands from Houstoun parish. Fortunately the NSA (pp 454-455) details these:
In 1650, the Court of Teinds and Plantation of Kirks disjoined the estate of Garvock from the parish of Houston, and annexed the lands of Lees, Duras, Darnemes, and Fallow-hills, being one-half of said estate, to Greenock, and the other half, namely, Rodgertown and Wester Garvock, to Inverkip. This decree was confirmed by another in 1669.
Garvock was physically isolated from Houstoun parish because the parish of Kilmacolm lies between them. Although there were detached parts of parishes elsewhere in Scotland this was highly unusual in the context of Renfrewshire.
It should be pointed out that Finnart – which was once a very large estate of 60m was divided between two families. Fynnart-Schaw (20m) became part of the new parish of Greenock. Finnart-Stewart, so-called because it belonged to the Stewarts of Castlemilk, remained in Inverkip.
Robertson has a useful map (facing p 432) which shows the parish division, and some of the component farms, c. 1818.
Spango is dealt with under Inverkip parish but technically 3m of Spango moved to Greenock parish. Nominally Greenock was 3 x 20m estates + 3m Spango, or 63m.
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