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Paisley Territorial Drill Hall
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With the demise of the Facade of the second Territorial Drill Hall on Paisley High Street in the last few weeks, this may be a good time to remember the original Drill Hall that sat on the site before 1896. I’m not sure when first Drill Hall was constructed, but by 1896 it is…
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Dark deeds in Bargarran, Erskine & Paisley in 1697
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Over the last few weeks, Paisley has been talking about the disappearance of the Bargarran witch hunt commemorative horseshoe, part of the Tondo designed by the Kings Sculptor and Buddie, Alexander Stoddart. In the past the Bargarran witches have been blamed for dark times in Paisley when the horseshoe has previously disappeared, such as…
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“Royal Victoria”
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Paisley in March 1838 On the 1st of March 1838 Messers Barr and McNab of the Abercorn Foundry launched the first ever steamer built on the white Cart. This iron boat was 38.1 meters in length a breadth of 4.27 meters and a depth of 2.84 meters. The hull weighed 45 tons. The Royal…
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Names of the witches (in Scotland) 1658 – Welcome Library
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The Welcome Library has published a fascinating book from 1658 to c1662 with a list of witches named in Scotland. The original manuscript list is written by several hands but also contains a later transcript. The original document is endorsed: ‘Names of the witches. 1658’. There is one short section on Renfrewshire. The document…
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The “Newshot”, Fleming & Ferguson, Paisley 1943
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Today if you mention Paisley ship building to residents or visitors they are very surprised. Paisley’s shipbuilding heritage has a long history, from building canal boats at Saucel to numerous shipyards on the White Cart. Fleming & Ferguson has its origins in 1885 when William Y Fleming bought over the Phoenix shipyard of H…
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County Square, Paisley
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Paisley’s 19th century County Buildings & Jail, sat between county Square and the River White Cart. They replaced Paisley Tollbooth which sat at the corner of the High Street and Moss Street. In turn, The County of Renfrew decided that their space in the buildings was too small and in 1887 they decided to…
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Peter Burnet – “Black Peter”
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From the New Paisley Repository No.4 Saturday, January, 15th. 1853 SONG. To the Air – ” CAPTAIN PATON.” Composed after reading the life of Peter Burnet, commonly known in Paisley by “BLACK PETER.” Peter Burnet – “Black Peter” was born on the estate of Thos. Todd, Esq. in the state of Virginia,…
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Centuries-old mystery of Paisley Abbey’s medieval drain revealed
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From 2019: We are a bit behind when it comes to adding news and research to the website just now, but here is the story of the discovery a few weeks ago of the outlet of the Paisley Abbey Drain and most likely part of the old river wall as well. We already knew…
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John Stevenson & Sons
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Have you ever walked down Weighhouse Close in Paisley and wondered what the old single-story building and yard between the Private Car park and the Mrs Coats Home for Girls used to be? After doing some investigation, I have realised that this and the associated buildings probably make up one of the last complete…
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The “Tomb” of Marjory Bruce
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Today within the Choir of Paisley Abbey sits the “Tomb” of Marjory Bruce, daughter of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland and wife of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland. While researching Walter Stewart VI for a chapter in ‘Conquered by No One’ on the Declaration of Arbroath, my attention was once again drawn…