Lithgows
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Lithgows, Limited, was a British shipbuilding company based in Kingston, Port Glasgow, on the River Clyde in Scotland.
Lithgows was incorporated in 1918 from Russell and Company, which had been acquired by William Lithgow in 1891 when his partnership with Anderson Rodger and Joseph Russell ended in 1891. William Lithgow's sons James and Henry joined the family business in 1907. The company grew throughout the early 20th century, acquiring many lower-Clyde heavy industrial businesses, including Dunlop Bremner & Company in 1919, Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in 1935 and Ferguson Brothers in 1961. For a period in the 1950s, it was the world's largest shipbuilding concern.
In 1967, Lithgows merged with Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Greenock to form a lower-Clyde rival to the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders. The new group became Scott Lithgow, Ltd, which was nationalised into British Shipbuilders in 1977.
[edit] Timeline
- 1874 Joseph Russell leased the Bay Yard in Port Glasgow from Cunliffe & Dunlop with partners Anderson Rodger and William Lithgow. It is believed that Russell had previously built vessels at Ladyburn.
- 1879 they purchased the Cartsdyke Mid Yard
- 1881 they acquired the Kingston Shipyard from Henry Murray
- 1891 The partnership was dissolved. Russell retired, Rodger took the Bay Yard and Lithgow the Kingston and Cartsdyke Yards.
- 1900 The Cartsdyke Yard was sold to Greenock Dockyard
- 1908 brothers James and Henry Lithgow assumed control and bought the Bay yard in 1911
- 1915 the company purchased the Port Glasgow East Yard from Robert Duncan & Co but it continued to trade as Duncan's until 1931.
- 1917 the Lithgow brothers bought into Glasgow marine enginebuilders David Rowan & Company
- 1918 Russell & Company was renamed Lithgows Ltd
- 1919 Lithgows purchased the Inch Yard of Dunlop, Bremner but it continued to trade under its own name until 1926
- 1919 Lithgows purchased the Glen Yard of Wm Hamilton & Company but it continued to trade under its own name until 1963
- 1920 Lithgows purchased steel stockholders James Dunlop & Company
- 1923 Lithgows purchased the closed yard of Murdoch & Murray thus owning the entire Port Glasgow waterfront from Bay to Inch
- 1923 Lithgows purchased the Greenock enginebuilder Rankin & Blackmore Ltd
- 1928 Lithgows purchased the Irvine based shipbuilder Ayrshire Dockyard Ltd
- 1933 The Inch shipyard was sold to National Shipbuilders Security and 'sterilised' for 40 years
- 1935 Lithgows took control of the Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Govan but it continued as a separate entity
- 1935 The Bay shipyard was closed and demolished in 1935.
- 1937 the Robert Duncan East Shipyard which had closed in 1931 was reopened under Lithgows name
- 1949 Sir James Lithgow set up Scottish Ore Carriers Ltd
- 1961 Lithgows took control of Ferguson Brothers (Port Glasgow) Ltd at Newark Ferguson continued to trade as a separate entity
- 1963 the East Yard was merged with Wm Hamilton & Company's Glen Yard, acquiring a 225t Arrol 'Goliath' gantry crane
- 1963 the David Rowan enginebuilding subsidiary was merged with Fairfield's enginebuilding to form Fairfield Rowan Ltd
- 1964 The Lithgow enginebuilding subsidiary of Rankin & Blackmore closed their Eagle Foundry in Greenock.
- 1965 Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering was placed in receivership.It continued outwith Lithgow control as Fairfield (Glasgow) Ltd (q.v.). The enginebuilding subsidiary Fairfield Rowan was closed in 1966
- 1966 Lithgows purchased the Inchgreen Drydock from Firth of Clyde Drydock Company. It occupied the site of Lithgows' former Inch yard.
- 1968 Lithgows merged with Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company under Scott Lithgow Ltd but traded separately as Lithgows (1969) Ltd
- 1970 Lithgows (1969) Ltd purchased the Campbeltown Shipyard Ltd
- 1972 the Glen /East Yard was absorbed into the Kingston Yard
- 1977 Scott Lithgow Ltd (and its Scott, Lithgow and Ferguson subsidiaries) were absorbed into the state owned British Shipbuilders Ltd.
- From 1981 the former Lithgow Kingston/Glen Yard was operated by Scott Lithgow (Offshore) Ltd
- 1983 the former Lithgow yards at Kingston / Glen were sold to Trafalgar House but were unused after 1987. The yards were partly dimantled in the period 1987-95.
- 1996 the Kingston / Glen yards were sold to Clydeport plc for redevelopment.
- 1997 Clydeport leased the Inchgreen Drydock to UIE Shipbuilding (Scotland) for ship refitting.
- 1997 the 225t Arrol Gantry Crane was removed and the last symbol of the great Lithgow and Scott shipbuilding empires, which had been responsible for building almost 2000 ships, finally disappeared from Inverclyde after almost 300 years.
Final traces of the Kingston and Glen/East shipyards were removed in 2005-2006, the former being redeveloped for residential purposes and the latter becoming site of a large Tesco supermarket development.
After 1977 Lithgow business interests diversified into hotels and electronics. However, in 1997 they retained some interest in shipbuilding through the Buckie Shipyard Ltd. During their period in Port Glasgow Russell / Lithgow built almost 1200 ships
A full list of the ships can be viewed at: http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/shipview.asp
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