Renfrewshire (historic)
Renfrewshire or the County of Renfrew is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The lieutenancy area covers the three modern council areas of Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire, and this area is occasionally termed Greater Renfrewshire to distinguish it from the modern council area called Renfrewshire. The historic county additionally included territory on the south-western edge of Glasgow which was gradually transferred to the administrative area of the city as it grew.
The county borders Glasgow and Lanarkshire to the east and Ayrshire to the south and west. The Firth of Clyde forms its northern boundary, with Dunbartonshire and Argyll on the opposing banks.
Renfrewshire's early history is marked by ancient British and Roman settlement. Renfrewshire can trace its origin to the feudal lands at Strathgryfe granted to Walter FitzAlan, the first High Steward of Scotland. Renfrewshire was created as a shire in the early fifteenth century, having previously been part of Lanarkshire. The county was named after its original county town, the royal burgh of Renfrew.
During the Industrial Revolution, many of the larger towns became important centres of commerce and manufacturing. The goods produced were chiefly cottons, calicos and silks building on the county's long weaving heritage. Other industries such as ship building, distilleries and printworks also contributed to the economy. Paisley grew to become the largest urban and commercial centre in the county by some margin. Renfrewshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, and was based in Paisley.
Parts of the county, such as Pollokshaws in 1912 and Nitshill in 1926, were incorporated into Glasgow during the early 20th century as the city expanded. Renfrewshire was abolished for local government purposes in 1975, being replaced by the Strathclyde region and three lower-tier district councils. These were in turn abolished in 1996, since when the Renfrewshire area has been governed by the three council areas of Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire and Inverclyde.
History
Toponymy
The name of Renfrewshire derives from its county town, Renfrew, which has been attested since the Roman occupation of Britain. The name is believed to originate from Common Brittonic/Cumbric, from ren, as in Scottish Gaelic: rinn, or as in Welsh: rhyn and from frew, as in Welsh: fraw, or ffrau. This suggests a point of land near the flow of water, such as at the confluence of the Cart and Clyde rivers. It is rendered in.The area is sometimes known as Greater Renfrewshire to distinguish it from the Renfrewshire council area.
Early history
The earliest evidence of human activity in the area is traces of an Iron Age fort in the Busby area and a pre-Roman settlement in Overlee. When the Romans advanced in the year 80 from the Solway Firth, the territory that would later become Renfrewshire was occupied by the Damnonii, a British tribe.The principal Roman stronghold in the area was at Vanduara. Following the end of Roman rule in Britain in 410, the Cumbrian Britons, with their capital at Dumbarton, retained a hold on all the territory west of the Lothian — the Kingdom of Strathclyde. During the High Middle Ages, Strathclyde was conquered by the Kingdom of Alba, which in turn developed into the Kingdom of Scotland.
In the 12th century, during the reign of David I of Scotland, the Anglo-Norman nobleman Walter FitzAlan fled the English county of Shropshire on account of the conflict between the Empress Matilda and Stephen. Walter rallied to the support of the Empress, but when her cause was lost Walter befriended David I, King of Scots and an uncle of Matilda, and became David's Dapifer or Steward, as the first Lord High Steward of Scotland. Accompanied by his brother Simon, Walter came to Scotland about 1136 and fought for Scotland at the Battle of the Standard at Northallerton in 1138 under the command of David I's son, Prince Henry.
FitzAlan settled in the area and was granted the lands of Strathgryfe, which provided a basis for the later county, by David I. In 1163 Walter founded, first at Renfrew but shortly afterwards at Paisley, a house of monks of the Cluniac order drawn from the priory of Much Wenlock, in his native county of Shropshire. The monastery steadily grew and by 1219 became Paisley Abbey.
It is traditionally believed that Sir William Wallace, a knight and military leader during the period surrounding the Wars of Scottish Independence, was born in 1272 at Elderslie in the county.
Emergence of the county
The descendants of Walter FitzAlan would eventually form the powerful House of Stuart, with 'Stuart' or 'Stewart' being a corruption of 'Steward'. The Stewarts controlled the territory that would later become Renfrewshire as a barony which lay within the larger shire of Lanarkshire.In 1371, Robert Stewart was crowned King of Scotland following a marriage between his father Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland and Marjorie Bruce, daughter of King Robert I of Scotland. Sometime in the early fifteenth century, probably between 1404 and 1414, the barony of Renfrew was given its own sheriff, making it independent from Lanarkshire. The new shire was named after the town of Renfrew, the site of Renfrew Castle, which was the seat of the Stewarts. From this point onwards, the county has been closely tied to the monarchy and the heir apparent to the British monarch holds the title of Baron of Renfrew as well as High Steward of Scotland.
Modern history
Renfrewshire was significantly involved in the Radical War of 1820, with many of the local industrial workers participating in the rioting and strikes.In the Second World War, Renfrewshire suffered due to its shipbuilding industries on the banks of the River Clyde. Heavy bombing was inflicted over the 6th and 7 May 1941 in an event referred to as the Greenock Blitz. On 10 May 1941, Rudolf Hess, a leading official in the government of Nazi Germany, parachuted into a field near Eaglesham on a secret mission to meet Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton for peace negotiations, and was instead arrested by a farmhand with a pitchfork and imprisoned. It is believed Hess was privately distressed by the war with the United Kingdom as he had hoped that Britain would accept Germany as an ally. Hess may have hoped to score a diplomatic victory by sealing a peace between the German Reich and British Empire.
The county was abolished for local government purposes in 1975, becoming three districts within the Strathclyde region. Further local government reorganisation in 1996 saw the area become the three council areas of East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, and Renfrewshire.
Governance
Historic local government
Shires of Scotland traditionally mirrored sheriffdoms with the county's sheriff holding considerable powers. From 1667, Scotland's counties outside the burghs were governed by Commissioners of Supply with powers to raise taxes and administer local government. However the judicial roles of the sheriff continued to overlap with executive government in their shires. In 1794, the first Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire, William McDowall, was appointed when permanent lieutenancies were appointed by Royal Warrant to all the counties of Scotland as the monarch's military representative.Historically Renfrewshire's Commissioners of Supply met at Renfrew, as the county town, along with the Quarter Sessions and freeholders of the county. The sheriff court also met at Renfrew until 1705, when it was moved to Paisley. By the late 1800s the commissioners met at both Renfrew and Paisley.
Elected county councils were established in 1890 under the Local Government Act 1889, taking most of the functions of the commissioners. The three Renfrewshire burghs of Greenock, Paisley, and Port Glasgow were deemed large enough to manage their own affairs and so were excluded from the administrative area of the county council. Renfrewshire County Council held its first meeting on 22 May 1890 at the County Hall in Paisley, a courthouse which had been built in 1820. The county council was chaired by the convener of the county, a position formerly held by the convener of the Commissioners of Supply. The final Convener of the county to have chaired the Commissioners of Supply was West Renfrewshire's Member of Parliament Archibald Campbell MP.
Further local government reform in 1930 under the Local Government Act 1929 brought Greenock, Paisley, and Port Glasgow under the control of the county council. During this time, several parts of eastern Renfrewshire were transferred into the growing city of Glasgow, including Cathcart, parts of Govan, and parts of the Parish of Renfrew lying north of the River Clyde.
Following the Local Government Act 1973, Renfrewshire was incorporated into the Strathclyde region and divided amongst three districts: Renfrew District, Eastwood District and Inverclyde District. The Act created a two-tier local government structure, with both districts and regions having elected councils and sharing responsibility for local government. The Local Government etc. Act 1994 abolished district and regional councils, replacing them with the current unitary council areas which in Renfrewshire were broadly based on the districts created by the 1973 Act. These local government areas are Renfrewshire, formed from Renfrew District excluding Barrhead; Inverclyde, formed from Inverclyde District and East Renfrewshire formed from Eastwood District plus Barrhead.
Divisions
Before the creation of current single tier local authorities, there were typically a number of divisions within counties with varying levels of local government powers. Burghs generally covered urbanised areas with rural parts of a county divided into districts.The Local Government Act 1947 defines the division of parts of the county which had pre-existed as:
- Large burghs: the towns of Paisley, Greenock and Port Glasgow. These burghs continued to be responsible for most local services such as roads, water and housing.
- Small burghs: the towns of Renfrew, Johnstone, Barrhead and Gourock were responsible for services such as housing, parks and cleansing.
- Landward areas: all parts of the county that were not parts of a burgh, including the smaller settlements such as Bishopton and Clarkston. There were parish councils until 1930 when they were replaced by landward district councils with limited powers, such as over parks and recreation.
In 1973, prior to the abolition of the county council under the Local Government Act 1973, there were five districts in the landward areas of the county. The First District in the west formed part of Inverclyde District; the Second, Third and Fourth Districts in the geographical centre were grouped to form Renfrew District and the Fifth District in the east formed Eastwood District.