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74-726: The Watt Library or Watt Monument Library in Greenock , Scotland, opened on its current site in 1837 and was the direct descendant of the Greenock Library, a subscription library founded in 1783. It closed as a subscription library in 1971 and re-opened as a public facility in 1973 under the name of the Watt Library, specialising in Local History and Archives. The building was designed in the Gothic revival style by architect Sir Edward Blore and

148-622: A cause celebre , seven young Greenock males stowed away on a cargo ship bound for Quebec . Treated with what was, even for the times, exceptional brutality, they were forcibly disembarked in Newfoundland ; by the time they were returned to Scotland, three of them had died. The Captain and mate of the cargo ship were tried in a blaze of publicity at the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh and served short prison terms. In 1714 Greenock became

222-538: A Scottish Parliament constituency. Greenock is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council , the local authority responsible for the wider Inverclyde area in which Greenock is located. The council is based in the Greenock Municipal Buildings . Greenock's climate is temperate maritime having mainly cool summers and mild winters. The coastal location means that the heat capacity of seawater helps keep winter temperatures higher than locations just

296-644: A custom house port as a branch of Port Glasgow , and for a period this operated from rooms leased in Greenock. Receipts rose rapidly with the expansion of colonial trade, and in 1778 the custom house moved to newly-built premises at the West Quay of the harbour. By 1791 a new pier was constructed at the East Quay. In 1812 Europe's first steamboat service was introduced by PS  Comet with frequent sailings between Glasgow, Greenock and Helensburgh , and as trade built up

370-527: 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 Craufurdsdyke. In 1642 it was made into the Burgh of Barony of Crawfurdsdyke, and part of

444-488: A Hamnet edition of Shakespeare plays from the 19th century published in Greenock. The collection was put on display at the McLean Museum in 2012. 55°57′03″N 4°45′57″W  /  55.95093°N 4.76593°W  / 55.95093; -4.76593 Greenock Greenock ( / ˈ ɡ r iː n ə k / ; Scots : Greenock ; Scottish Gaelic : Grianaig , pronounced [ˈkɾʲiənɛkʲ] )

518-462: A box describing themselves as Scottish or Irish, an option not available for English respondents. With an absence of an English tick-box, the only other tickbox available was "white-British", "Irish", or "other". However, if 'English' was written in under the "any other white background" it was not clear whether it would be counted as an ethnic group in same the way as the Welsh. Following criticism, English

592-493: A box describing themselves as Scottish or Irish, an option not available for Welsh respondents. Prior to the census, Plaid Cymru backed a petition calling for the inclusion of a Welsh tickbox and for the National Assembly for Wales to have primary law-making powers and its own National Statistics Office. With an absence of a Welsh tickbox, the only other tickbox available was "white-British", "Irish", or "other". For

666-553: 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

740-601: A census form, was estimated to be 94% in England and Wales, 96.1% in Scotland and 95.2% in Northern Ireland. This was due to a number of factors: households with no response, households excluding residents from their returns, and addresses not included in the enumeration. In Manchester for example 25,000 people from 14,000 addresses were not enumerated because the address database was two years out of date. The Local Authority with

814-620: A common spelling until it was changed to Greenock around 1700. Grenock was also used in the 19th century, e.g. in Lloyd's List publications. The spelling Greenoak was found in two factory accounts dating back to 1717, and a legend developed of a green oak tree at the edge of the Clyde at William Street being used by fishermen to tie up their boats. No reliable source has been found referencing green oaks, however, and so this has been generally dismissed as imaginative Anglophone folk etymology . Nonetheless

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888-678: A customs and excise museum which was open to the public. In June 2008 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced that the building would close in 2011 as part of a rationalisation project with any jobs being transferred to offices in Glasgow , and despite a campaign to oppose these plans, the building closed in August 2010. Riverside Inverclyde arranged further refurbishment works, and in 2013 announced that space had already been let to companies including PG Paper Company Ltd and Toshiba which had planning permission to form meeting rooms and an executive office in

962-981: A decrease from the 46,861 recorded in the 2001 UK Census . It lies on the south bank of the Clyde at the " Tail of the Bank " where the River Clyde deepens into the Firth of Clyde . Place-name scholar William J. Watson wrote that "Greenock is well known in Gaelic as Grianáig , dative of grianág , 'a sunny knoll ' ". The Scottish Gaelic place-name Grianaig is relatively common, with another Greenock near Callander in Menteith (formerly in Perthshire) and yet another at Muirkirk in Kyle , now in East Ayrshire . R. M. Smith in (1921) described

1036-553: A few miles inland. Although there has been recent debate the moderating influence of the North Atlantic Drift , a warm oceanic current that is the eastern extension of the Gulf Stream , means that Greenock's average temperature is approximately one degree Celsius greater than eastern Scottish coastal towns on the same latitude (55.94 degrees north); whilst in winter, Greenock is considerably warmer than continental locations at

1110-452: A memorial to him in the form of a new library building and statue. The initial drawings for the building were created at a different site near the Well Park in Greenock by William Burn but were not followed through, instead the drawings of Sir Edward Blore , who built the front wing of Buckingham Palace , were used. The new library building was opened in 1837 with the statue being erected

1184-530: A tunnel under Greenock's west end. To regain custom, the Caledonian Railway extended (what is now known as the Inverclyde Line ) the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway west to Gourock; this line was built to run inland through deep cuttings and tunnels, with a tunnel under the whole length of Newton Street crossing under the other railway tunnel to emerge near Fort Matilda railway station . Spoil from

1258-453: Is a town in Inverclyde , Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland . The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council . It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire , and forms part of a contiguous urban area with Gourock to the west and Port Glasgow to the east. The 2011 UK Census showed that Greenock had a population of 44,248,

1332-653: Is a listed building. It has undergone recent refurbishment and re-opened in November 2019 as the Watt Institution, incorporating the McLean Museum Watt Lecture Hall and Inverclyde Archives. The Watt Library is the direct descendant of the Greenock Library, founded in 1783 as a subscription library. James Watt was a patron of the library and on his death, members of the James Watt Club proposed erecting

1406-694: The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). Detailed results by region, council area, ward and output area are available from their respective websites. Similar to previous UK censuses, the 2001 census was organised by the three statistical agencies, ONS, GROS, and NISRA, and coordinated at the national level by the Office for National Statistics. The Orders in Council to conduct

1480-684: The Harland & Wolff shipyard (the present-day location of Container Way), the Old West Kirk was relocated to a new site on the Esplanade where it still stands. The shipbuilders provided the Pirrie Hall to the south of the site: this was opened in February 1925, just after the old church closed for work to commence, and was used during the works to accommodate services, enabling the congregation to see progress on

1554-629: The Isle of Bute and the Cowal Peninsula. The hospital was commissioned to replace the Greenock Royal Infirmary , the Eye Infirmary, Gateside Hospital, Duncan Macpherson Hospital and Broadstone Jubilee Hospital. Construction work started at the end of August 1970 and the hospital was completed in 1979. In 2004 Inverclyde Royal Hospital faced proposals for a major downsizing with the loss of

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1628-476: The 'other' heading. 26 per cent did not specify an ethnicity, but of the remainder 23 per cent wrote Filipino , 21 per cent Japanese , 11 per cent Vietnamese , 11 per cent Arab , 6 per cent Middle Eastern and 4 per cent North African . Controversy surrounding the classification of ethnic groups began as early as 2000, when it was revealed that respondents in Scotland and Northern Ireland would be able to check

1702-554: The 1970s and 1980s due to competition from South Korea and Japan. United Kingdom Census 2001 A nationwide census , known as Census 2001 , was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in England and Wales ,

1776-640: The 1970s and 1980s meant that none of these companies are still trading. Greenock Shipbuilders included: Scotts, Browns, William Lithgows, Fergusons, Head the Boat Builder (lifeboats). Other marine engineering related companies included engine-makers – Kincaids, Scotts, Rankin and Blackmore (which included the Eagle Foundry) – ship repair (Lamonts) and Hasties for steering gear. Yacht builders included Adams and McLean (at Cardwell Bay). Other yards included Cartsburn, Cartsdyke, and Klondyke – all of which closed during

1850-555: The 2001 census were produced using a methodology known as the One Number Census. This was an attempt to adjust the census counts and impute answers to allow for estimated under-enumeration measured by the Census Coverage Survey (sample size 320,000 households), resulting in a single set of population estimates. Although the 1851 census had included a question about religion on a separate response sheet, whose completion

1924-509: The Archivist Lorraine Murray. In 2012, a rare book collection was discovered in a cupboard hidden by a plan chest by the former Watt Library Archivist. The collection included volumes on surgery, witchcraft and exploration dating from the 17th and 18th century. Other notable discoveries included an illustrated edition of Paradise Lost from 1827 engraved by the artist John Martin , an edition of letters by Cicero from 1538, and

1998-560: The Custom House was praised as "a grand National Structure" in "the highest style of elegance". By then there were scheduled steamboat sailings to Belfast , Derry , Liverpool, Inverness , Campbeltown , the Hebrides and "all the principal places in the Highlands". The Custom House underwent extensive refurbishment which was completed in 1989 and, until closure of the building in 2010, housed

2072-735: The French Vauquelin class destroyer Maillé Brézé blew up off Greenock with heavy loss of life following an accident involving two of her own torpedoes. Although this disaster occurred before the Free French Naval Forces were established, many people tend to regard the Cross of Lorraine on Lyle Hill as a memorial to the loss of the Maillé Brézé as well as to the later losses of the Free French Naval Forces which sailed from

2146-661: 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 13 acres (5 hectares) of land upriver close to Newark Castle , and construction promptly started on Newport Glasgow harbour which by 1710 had

2220-534: The Scottish average of 3.9% (figure is for the Scottish Parliament constituency and includes Gourock , Inverkip , Port Glasgow and Wemyss Bay ). In the early 17th century, the first pier was built in Greenock. Shipbuilding was already an important employer by this time. The first proper harbour was constructed in 1710 and the first well-known shipbuilders, Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company ,

2294-512: The UK (70,000 in England and Wales, 8,000 in Scotland and 3,000 in Northern Ireland). The census was conducted at the height of the foot-and-mouth crisis , which led to extra precautions being adopted by the field staff, and suggestions that the census may have to be postponed. However, it was reported that the disease outbreak did not affect the effectiveness of the collection process. The census

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2368-592: The UK census relies on self-completion, the composition of the other ethnic group category is not fixed. Analysis by the Office for National Statistics of the 220,000 people in England and Wales who ticked the other ethnic group box in the 2001 census reveals that 53 per cent were born in the Far East , 10 per cent in the UK, 10 per cent in the Middle East , and 7 per cent in Africa . People could write in an ethnic group under

2442-740: The United Kingdom. In England and Wales 390,127 people stated their religion as Jedi , as did 14,052 people in Scotland. The percentages of religious affiliations were: 15% declared themselves of no religion (including Jedi at 0.7%, more than those who declared themselves as Sikh, Jewish or Buddhist) and 8% did not respond to the question. The census ethnic groups included White ( White British , White Irish , Other White ), Mixed ( White and Black Caribbean , White and Black African , White and Asian , Other Mixed ), Asian or Asian British ( Indian , Pakistani , Bangladeshi , Other Asian ), Black or Black British ( Black Caribbean , African , Other Black ) and Chinese or Other Ethnic Group . Since

2516-413: The Watt Institution. This opening was timed to coincide with the year of celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the death of James Watt after whom the library is named. The Watt Library is open on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday between 10am-4pm. The library holds local history reference materials, access to family history resources and archive material, and can be viewed by appointment with

2590-496: The West Burn estuary and is reputed to have been the first Protestant church built in Scotland after the Reformation. The Schaw, later Shaw and Shaw-Stewart , family retained a leading role in Greenock over the following centuries. In 1670, Sir John Shaw obtained a charter from King Charles II , combining the lands of Finnart and the barony of Wester Greenock, to create the barony of Greenock. The coast of Greenock formed

2664-473: The accident and emergency department and the acute surgical ward in an effort to save costs. Many people criticised the plans complaining that the Inverclyde Royal Hospital was being seen as nothing more than a large health centre. In February 2007, after undertaking a review, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde proposed retaining the accident and emergency department and core inpatient services, including

2738-541: The alternative derivation from Common Brittonic * Graenag , 'gravelly or sandy place', as more appropriate, accurately describing the original foreshore. Johnston (1934) notes that "some Gaels call the seaport Ghónait , and that a possible derivation may be greannach , meaning 'rough, gravelly'. The name of the town has had various spellings over time. It was printed in early Acts of Parliament as Grinok , Greenhok , Grinock , Greenhoke , Greinnock , and later as Greinok . Old Presbyterial records used Grenok ,

2812-424: The automatic process could not read the forms. The forms were then pulped and recycled, and the digital copies printed onto microfilm for storage and release after 100 years. Once the data were returned to the statistics agencies it underwent further processing to ensure consistency and to impute missing values. The overall response rate for the census, that is the proportion of the population who were included on

2886-513: The building. Greenock Telegraph estimated that £4.1 million has been spent over five-year period for the renovation works. Greenock became a centre of industry, with water power being used to process imported goods. In 1827 Loch Thom was constructed as a reservoir with The Cut aqueduct , bringing water to two lines of falls for water mills to power a paper mill, cotton and woollen mills, sugar refineries and shipbuilding Greenock Central railway station at Cathcart Street opened in 1841, for

2960-681: The census, specifying the people and information to be included in the census, were made under the authority of the Census Act 1920 in Great Britain, and the Census Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 in Northern Ireland. In England and Wales these regulations were made by the Census Order 2000 (SI 744/2000), in Scotland by the Census (Scotland) Order 2000 (SSI 68/2000), and in Northern Ireland by the Census Order (Northern Ireland) 2000 (SRNI 168/2000). The census

3034-549: The century. The land to the west of this was common ground for inhabitants of the town, but in 1907 the Admiralty compulsorily purchased part of this land for a torpedo factory. The remaining space was handed over to Greenock Corporation in 1914 as a public park. The Clyde Torpedo Factory opened in 1910, with 700 workers transferred from the Royal Arsenal , Woolwich . The site was tasked with designing and testing of torpedoes ,

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3108-505: The cuttings and tunnels was used to build an embankment out from the shore to a long timber wharf at Gourock railway station , providing space for railway sidings. The railway bought Wester Greenock castle and its extension, the Mansion House, and demolished them before constructing the tunnel immediately west of Greenock Central station, running under the castle grounds which now form Well Park. Greenock's increasing importance and wealth

3182-538: The development of the Clydeport container port as Ocean Terminal, a passenger terminal for cruise ships touring the Atlantic. Students who do not travel further afield for study often attend the Greenock campus of West College (formerly known as James Watt College of Further and Higher Education). Greenock reached its population peak in 1921 (81,123) and was once the sixth largest town in Scotland. Until 1974, Greenock

3256-451: The eldest inherited Easter Greenock and married a Crawfurd, while Wester Greenock went to the younger daughter who married Schaw of Sauchie. Around 1540 the adjoining barony of Finnart was passed to the Schaw family, extending their holdings westward to the boundary of Gourock , and in 1542 Sir John Schaw founded Wester Greenock castle. The Scottish Reformation of 1560 closed the chapels in

3330-493: The first time in a UK census, those wishing to describe their ethnicity as Cornish were given their own code number (06) on the 2001 UK census form, alongside those for people wishing to describe themselves as English, Welsh , Irish or Scottish. About 34,000 people in Cornwall and 3,500 people in the rest of the UK wrote on their census forms in 2001 that they considered their ethnic group to be Cornish. This represented nearly 7% of

3404-481: The first time providing a fast route from Glasgow to the coast linking up with Clyde steamer services. The provision of this new line meant there was no need to take the steamer all the way down river from Glasgow. In 1869 the Caledonian Railway was bypassed by the rival Greenock and Ayrshire Railway which opened a station on the waterfront at its Albert Harbour station (later renamed Princes Pier), served by

3478-548: The following high schools as of 2023: Greenock has the following other educational establishments: The Greenock Infirmary , later the Royal 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. Today, the town is served by the Inverclyde Royal Hospital which is located in Greenock serving the population of Inverclyde , Largs ,

3552-419: The following year. The building has been given Listed status, Category A by Historic Scotland. Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey sculpted the impressive marble statue of James Watt which is on permanent display inside the Library. The Watt Library was closed for refurbishment in 2018 and opened again in 2019 incorporating the McLean Museum and Art Gallery, Watt Hall and Inverclyde Archives under the original name of

3626-512: The gun battery of Fort Beauclerc near the West Burn was extended to guard against the threat of privateers , but the emphasis shifted to wider markets including imports of rum and sugar from the Caribbean , wines from Spain, and fish from North America. A whaling business operated for about 40 years. Greenock "was mainly a trading port for goods such as sugar and cotton, but also dispatched ships to West Africa to take people to be enslaved " in Britain's American colonies. In 1868, in what became

3700-434: The ill-fated Darien Scheme set out from this pier in 1697. Its town was named Cartsburn. 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

3774-442: The image has frequently been used as an emblem or logo, carved on public buildings, used on banners and badges, and was once emblazoned on the local Co-operative Society emblem. It reappeared in 1992 as the new shopping centre's name, the Oak Mall, which uses a green tree as its logo. The name is also recalled in a local song ("The Green Oak Tree"). Significantly, no green oak appears on the former burgh coat of arms , which features

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3848-437: The lowest response was Kensington and Chelsea with 64%. Hackney had the next lowest response at 72%. Out of all local authorities, the ten lowest response rates were all in London. The results still represent 100 per cent of the population, however, because some individuals not completing their forms were instead identified by census enumerators, and through the use of cross-matching with a follow-up survey. The results from

3922-403: The nave of the church. Opposite it, above the front entrance, is the Crawfurdsburn or Choir Gallery. At the south end of the nave, the Sailor's Loft gallery was built in 1698 and features a 19th-century model frigate, which replaced earlier models. At the north end, the Farmer's Gallery is above the main seating area. A tower was added in the mid 19th century. In 1926, to make way for expansion of

3996-403: The newly formed Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment (AUWE), Portland. A church which became known as the Old West Kirk had been established in Greenock in 1591 under the patronage of John Schaw, the first built in Scotland since the Reformation . It was extended over the years, at an early stage the Schaw aisle provided pews for the Laird of the Barony, built as a gallery to the east of

4070-453: The opposite true in midwinter . On the summer solstice, usually observed on the 21 June, the sun rises at 04:31 and sets at 22:07. On the winter solstice, usually 21 December, the sun rises at 08:46 and sets at 15:44. 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. Greenock has the following primary schools as of 2023: Greenock has

4144-399: The parish, and as the parish church was some 6 miles (10 kilometres) distant at Inverkip over a difficult route which was impassable in winter, in 1589 John Schaw obtained a charter from King James VI to build a kirk for the "poor people upon his lands who were all fishers and of a reasonable number". Later known as the Old Kirk or the Old West Kirk , it was constructed on the west bank of

4218-400: The pier became known as Steamboat Quay. The custom house needed larger premises and in May 1817 the foundation stone was laid at Steamboat Quay for a Custom House building designed by William Burn , which was completed in 1818. Its gracious neoclassical architecture features a Grecian Doric portico looking out over the quay, which would eventually be renamed Custom House Quay. In 1828

4292-413: The principal Clyde custom house . 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 quays extended out into Sir John's Bay to enclose the harbour. In 1711 the shipbuilding industry

4366-417: The rebuilt kirk. It then came into use as the church hall. The church is notable for stained glass by artists such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Sir Edward Burne-Jones . The Church has a website. Greenock suffered badly during the Second World War and its anchorage at the Tail of the Bank became the base for the Home Fleet as well as the main assembly point for Atlantic convoys. On 30 April 1940

4440-473: The same latitude, such as Moscow. Anecdotally Greenock has a reputation for receiving higher than average rainfall (the song The Green Oak Tree comments on this). Whilst the rainfall is indeed higher than the average recorded at Scottish weather stations, the greatest rainfall in Scotland occurs on the west (ocean) facing mountain slopes of Lochaber , near Fort William in the Highlands . Greenock's latitude means long hours of daylight in midsummer with

4514-476: The testing taking place in Loch Long . During the Second World War the site switched entirely to manufacturing torpedoes. The original gun battery site was occupied by the Navy Buildings , the main offices, just to the east of the torpedo factory buildings. Following WW2, in 1947, the site became fully committed to R&D as the Torpedo Experimental Establishment (TEE). TEE was closed in 1959, when all torpedo research, development and design were concentrated at

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4588-425: The three chalices of the Shaw Stewarts, a sailing ship in full sail, and two herring above the motto "God Speed Greenock". Hugh de Grenock was created a Scottish Baron in 1296, and the seat of the feudal barony of Greenock was apparently what became Easter Greenock Castle . Around 1400 his successor Malcolm Galbraith died with no sons, and his estate was divided between his two daughters to become two baronies:

4662-419: The town relied heavily on electronics manufacture. However, this has given way mostly to: call centre business, insurance, banking and shipping export. The Fleming and Reid merino wool mill employed 500 people – mostly women and produced wool garments spun and woven at the mill. This mill was at the corner of Drumfrochar Road and Mill Road. As of October 2012 Greenock has an unemployment rate of 5.3%, above

4736-415: The town. On the nights of 6 May and 7 May 1941 around 300 Luftwaffe aircraft attacked the town in the Greenock Blitz . On 10 October 1940, RAF Greenock was created as a maintenance base for RAF flying boats. The base was hit on 7 May 1941 during the Greenock Blitz. A large building housing a drapery business constructed on Cowan's property at the corner of the Municipal Buildings was badly damaged and

4810-502: The trauma and emergency medical departments at Inverclyde Royal Hospital and submitted this proposal to the Scottish Government for approval. Langhill Clinic situated behind Inverclyde Royal Hospital is now the main psychiatric hospital with an IPCU unit and Day hospital alongside the main psychiatric ward. Historically, the town relied on shipbuilding , sugar refining and wool manufacturing for employment, but none of these industries are today part of Greenock's economy. More recently

4884-408: Was a parliamentary burgh in its own right. It was merged with Port Glasgow to form Greenock and Port Glasgow constituency. In 1997, it became Greenock and Inverclyde . After the redistribution of Scottish seats, it was merged into an enlarged Inverclyde constituency – the first time in political history that Greenock has not been named in a parliamentary seat. Greenock and Inverclyde remains

4958-486: Was administered through self-completion forms, in most cases delivered by enumerators to households and communal establishments in the three weeks before census night on 29 April. For the first time return by post was used as the main collection method, with enumerators following up in person where the forms were not returned. The postal response rate was 88% in England and Wales, 91% in Scotland, and 92% in Northern Ireland. A total of 81,000 field staff were employed across

5032-479: Was demolished, leaving the blank brick corner area still known as "Cowan's Corner". This was later landscaped and used as a garden. Greenock thrived in the post-war years but as the heavy industries declined in the 1970s and 1980s unemployment became a major problem, and it has only been in the last ten years with reinvestment and the redevelopment of large sections of the town that the local economy has started to revive. Tourism has appeared as an unexpected bonus with

5106-476: Was established the following year. It gained numerous contracts with the Royal Navy from 1806, building ships such as Glasgow . In 1967 Scott's was merged with Lithgows (founded 1874, later the largest privately owned yard in the world) the same year becoming Scott Lithgow , which was later nationalised as part of British Shipbuilders in 1977. From 1800 to 1980 many thousands of people worked to design, build and repair ships. The reduction in shipbuilding in

5180-426: Was estimated to cost £259m over its 13-year cycle from the start of planning in 1993 to the delivery of final results in 2006. Printing of the 30 million census forms was subcontracted to Polestar Group, and processing of the returned census forms was subcontracted to Lockheed Martin in a contract worth £54m. The forms were initially scanned into digital format, then read with OMR and OCR , with manual entry where

5254-530: Was founded when 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. The American Revolutionary War temporarily interrupted trade, and

5328-459: Was included as a tick-box option in the 2011 census. It is sometimes claimed that the 2001 census revealed that two-thirds of the population of Wales described themselves as of Welsh nationality . In fact, the 2001 census did not collect any information on nationality. Controversy surrounding the classification of ethnic group began as early as 2000, when it was revealed that respondents in Scotland and Northern Ireland would be able to check

5402-409: Was manifested in the construction of the Greenock Municipal Buildings , whose Victoria Tower, completed in 1886, stands 245 feet (75 metres) tall. The War of 1812 reawakened fears of American raids against Britain's ports. Earlier gun batteries had been dismantled and in 1813 ground was granted for a battery at Whitefarland Point. Fort Matilda was completed in 1818 and was sporadically modified over

5476-506: Was not compulsory, the 2001 census was the first in Great Britain to ask about the religion of respondents on the main census form. An amendment to the 1920 Census Act (the Census (Amendment) Act 2000 ) was passed by Parliament to allow the question to be asked, and to allow the response to this question to be optional. The inclusion of the question enabled the Jedi census phenomenon to take place in

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