Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 4

HELENSBURGH
of retired merchants and others who are well-to-do ;
many are the country quarters of families whose winter
residence is in Glasgow. As is to he expected, the
private buildings are neat and pretty rather than hand-
some ; and the public buildings are not numerous. In
Aug. 1S78 was laid the foundation-stone of new muni-
cipal buildings. They are built in the Scottish Baronial
style at a cost of £6000, and have a frontage of 50J feet
to Princes Street and of 80 feet to Sinclair Street, and
contain a small hall. The present public hall in King
Street, with a neat Gothic front, was erected in 1845 as
a U. P. church ; but since the erection of the new U. P.
church it has been let for meetings, concerts, etc. It
holds about 450. At the E end of the same street
stands the new hospital, erected in the cottage style at
a cost of £3000 from a bequest left by Miss Anne
Alexander, and partly supported also by funds from the
municipal authority under the Public Health Act. On
the esplanade a monument was raised to Henry Bell in
1872, at a cost of nearly £900. It consists of an obelisk,
rising 25 feet from a base 3 feet square, and claiming to be
the largest single block of red Aberdeen granite erected
in Scotland. The total height of base and column is 34
feet ; and it bears the following inscription : — ' Erected
in 1S72 to the memory of Henry Bell, the first in Great
Britain who was successful in practically applying steam-
power for the purposes of navigation. Born in the
countv of Linlithgow in 1766. Died at Helensburgh in
1831/
The quoad sacra parish church, erected in 1847 near
the beach at the E end of the esplanade, is a large oblong
building with a plain square tower and little pretensions
to beauty. It contains 800 sittings. The West Estab-
lished church ranks as a chapel of ease, and contains
about 800 sittings. The foundation-stone of this hand-
some Gothic edifice was laid on 1 Feb. 1877, and the
total cost was about £6500. It superseded an iron
church built in 1868 for £600. The West Free church,
a large ornamental Gothic building with tower and spire,
was erected in 1S52 on the site of a former Original
Secession church. The E or Park Free church, also a
large Gothic edifice with tower and spire, was built in
1862-63 near the public playground. The U.P. church
occupies a prominent site on the rising-ground, and was
built in the same style, with tower and spire, in 1S61,
at a cost of upwards of £5000. The Congregational
chapel was rebuilt in 1881 in James's Street at a cost of
over £3000 ; and a new and larger one is meditated on
the same site. The old square building of this body,
known as the Tabernacle, built in 1802, was the first
place of worship in the burgh. The Episcopalians of
Helensburgh built the Church of the Holy Trinity in
1842, a schoolhouse in 1851, and a parsonage in 1857 ;
but in 1866 the first was pulled down, and on its site
rose the Church of St Michael and All Angels, a hand-
some Early French edifice, consecrated in May 1S68. A
Roman Catholic mission was founded in Helensburgh in
1865, with a place of worship to hold 300. In 1879-81
a new church, dedicated to St Joseph, was built of
white and red Dumbarton stone in Gothic style, with
400 sittings. In 1S78 a plain mission-hall was erected
in West King Street for religious and educational pur-
poses, especially in connection with the Helensburgh
Working Boys' and Girls' Religious Society.
The following are the schools under the burgh school-
board, with their respective accommodations, average
attendances, and government grants for 18S1 : — Helens-
burgh public school (450, 226, £196, 18s. Sd.); Grant
Street public school (319, 265, £254, 4s. lid.); Roman
Catholic (237, 1S3, £128, 3s.); and Episcopalian (91,
68, £59, 14s.). Besides these there are various private
schools, boarding and otherwise, for boys and girls.
Gas was introduced into the burgh about 1S46, and
is managed by a gas company. A plentiful supply of
water is obtained from a reservoir, opened in 1S68, on
Mains Hill above the town, and by means of a pipe from
Glenfruin, laid in 1S72. Among the associations of the
town may be mentioned a cemetery company, with a
beautifully situated extramural cemetery, agricultural
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HELENSBURGH
and horticultural societies, bowding, cricket, curling,
and skating clubs, a reading-room and library, and a
public library. In January 1883 the Public Libraries
Act was rejected at a public meeting of ratepayers.
Several acres in the E end of the burgh are enclosed as
a public playground, for cricket, quoits, etc. ; and there
is a safety skating pond, of about 4 acres, on the Luss
road, to the N ; and fine bowling-greens. In 1878 a
quantity of ground, enclosed and laid out as a park,
situated at Cairndhu Point in Row parish, was presented
to the burgh through the generosity of a few of the
citizens. This is known as Cairndhu Park. Helens-
burgh has a post office under Glasgow, and branches of
the Bank of Scotland, the Union, and Clydesdale Banks.
The offices of all these banks are fine buildings ; that of
the first is in the Scottish Baronial style, and cost £3000.
Seventeen assurance companies are represented by agents
or offices in the burgh. There are three principal hotels ;
one of them, the Queen's, formerly known as the Baths,
was the residence of Henry Bell. The Helensburgh
News, a Conservative organ established in 1876, is pub-
lished on Thursdays ; the Helensburgh and Gareloch
Times and Property Circular, a Liberal paper begun in
1879, appears every Wednesday.
Although it was one of the original inducements to
settle at Helensburgh, that 'bonnet-makers, stocking,
linen, and w r oollen weavers ' would ' meet with proper
encouragement,' the burgh never attained any com-
mercial importance ; and it has no productive industry
beyond what is required to meet its own wants, and
those of the summer visitors who annually swell the
population. Herring and deep sea fishing occupy some
of the inhabitants. Since the opening of the railway to
Glasgow in 1857, the mild climate of the district has
combined with the convenience of access to make it a
favourite summer resort ; though of late years the
popularity of other watering-places has perhaps dimin-
ished that of Helensburgh to some extent. Notwith-
standing various proposals, Helensburgh never had a
harbour ; and the completion of the railway superseded
the necessity of one. The quay, a rough pile built in
1817, used frequently to be submerged ; but in 1861 it
was greatly enlarged and improved. In 1881 a fine new
pier was built at Craigendoran, J mile to the E, by the
North British Railw-ay Company ; but it is situated
wholly in Cardross parish, and is exclusively in the
hands of the company.
In January 1776 the lands of Malig or Milrigs were
first advertised for feuing by Sir James Colquhoun, the
superior, who had purchased them from Sir John Shaw
of Greenock. Feuars came in gradually, and for some
years the slowly growing community was known simply
as New Town or Muleig ; but eventually it received the
name of Helensburgh, after the superior's wife, daughter
of Lord Strathnaver. In 1802 it was erected into a free
burgh of barony, under a provost, 2 bailies, and 4 coun-
cillors ; with a weekly market and 4 annual fairs. The
insignificance of the last is indicated by the fact that
in 1821 the fair customs were let for five shillings.
The introduction of steam navigation lent an impetus to
the growth of the burgh. Henry Bell (1767-1830)
removed in 1807 to Helensburgh, where, while his
wife kept the principal inn, ' The Baths,' he occupied
himself with a series of mechanical experiments, whose
final result was the launch of the Comet (Jan. 12, 1812),
the first steamer floated in the eastern hemisphere. Henry
Bell was provost of the burgh from 1S07 to 1809. From
1846 till 1875 the town was governed under a police act
obtained in the former year ; while at the latter date
the General Police and Improvement Act was adopted.
The municipal authority now consists of a provost, 2
bailies, and 9 commissioners. The police force cousists
of 9 men, including a superintendent, with a salary of
£160. No fail's of any sort are held now.
The quoad sacra parish was formed in 1862, and is
coterminous with the burgh ; on the E it is bounded by
Cardross parish, on the S by the Firth of Clyde, on the
W by Ardencaple parish, and on the N it extends to
the N boundaries of the farms of Kirkmichael, Stuck,
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