Was Your Ancestor a Shipbuilder on the Clyde?

At its height, the shipbuilding industry along the Clyde employed tens of thousands of workers who made some of the world’s fastest, biggest and most beautiful ships. In addition to this tens of thousands more were employed in the supporting industries in Lanarkshire. The industries of coal mining, ironworks and steelworks.

With the Industrial Revolution (1760-1840), came steam engines creating faster transport across the seas.  As a result, shipbuilding replaced trade as the major form of commerce along the Clyde river and shipbuilding companies soon dotted its banks. Arguably the largest of these companies was the Fairfield Shipping Company in Govan.  In addition to the Empress line (Empress of Ireland, Empress of Britain, Empress of Japan, Empress of Asia and Empress of China), Fairfield was one of the leading suppliers to the Royal Navy. 

As a result of the numbers of shipyards and the quality of the vessels, Glasgow became a world leader in shipbuilding. "Clyde built" soon became the standard of quality. 

If your ancestor worked in the Shipbuilding industry on the Clyde, you may wish to have a look at some of the archival records. These records include plans, photographs, minutes and cost books for the shipyards. Few personnel records have survived. The records are housed at the Glasgow Archives in the Mitchell Library and at the Glasgow University Archives.

Shipbuilding records are at the Glasgow Archives: http://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/libraries/the-mitchell-library/archives/collections/shipbuilding-archives/Pages/default.aspx

Shipbuilding records are at Glasgow University Archives: http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_60314_en.pdf

Iron, Steel and Coal mining company records for Lanarkshire, are at the Glasgow University Archives:

http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_60311_en.pdf

Any company magazines of the various shipbuilding companies are available at the National Library of Scotland. These often include promotions, deaths, celebrations and photos of company gatherings.

Fairfield Shipyard Museum

After my tour around Govan Old Parish Church and seeing the Govan Stones, I wandered a bit further down Govan Road to what was once the offices of the Fairfield Shipping Company. The offices have had a major refurbishment and are now a museum in honour of the shipyard that once proudly stood there.

Fairfield was the first to combine the works of the ship builders and the engine fitters into the same shipyard. It is built on land that was once a farm, named Fairfield. It was the largest shipyard on the Clyde and built more ships than any of the others. 

While Fairfield did some work for Cunard, they were likely best known for their Empress line - Empress of Britain, Empress of Scotland, and the ill-fated Empress of Ireland. 

Fairfield also partnered with the Canadian Pacific Railway and their ships were the links to the west for many immigrants. Included in these immigrants were British Home Children.

During both world wars, Fairfield build naval ships and submarines as well as air craft carriers in more recent years. 

I was fascinated with the opportunity to see and hold a "riveter", having an ancestor who worked as a riveter. The weight of it was astounding and one can barely imagine standing holding it for hours and hours on end, not to mention the kick-back one would experience every time it "fired" No ergonomics in those days and repetitive strain injuries were a way of life 

A fascinating glimpse into a once illustrious industry, the Fairfield Shipping Museum is open daily from 2 pm - 5 pm. It is a short walk from the Govan subway station.