Famous People

James Watt (1736 - 1819) Inventor & Mechanical Engineer

There can be little doubt that James Watt is Greenock's most famous son. He was born in William Street not far from his statue and just around the corner from the pub named in his honour, The James Watt Bar, now known, by the descendants of those who knew him personally, as the 'Jimmy Watt'.

The local college of further education, the James Watt College, is named after him. So is the Watt Library in Union Street which houses the local history archives relating to Inverclyde. There is also Watt Street, a favourite for driving test examiners - the cambers in the road making the three point turn particularly awkward.

Watt will be forever associated though with watching a kettle boil and formulating a few great scientific ideas while drinking his tea. He also has his name on lightbulbs.

Learn more about James Watt at Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Watt



Hamish McCunn (1868 - 1916) Composer

If you enter the room above the Watt Library which holds the collections and archives of the Greenock Burns Club, the Mother Club, you will be drawn to the portrait of a fine featured young man on the facing wall. Not Robert Burns but Hamish McCunn, an honorary member of the Club.

He lived at Thornhill, Ardgowan Street but acheived his fame in London. He wrote many orchestral and choral works but is better known
today for one particular piece, 'The Land of the Mountain and the Flood', which he composed at the age of eighteen. This work was adopted as the theme tune for the 1970s television programme, Sutherland's Law.  Ok, it might not be Star Wars or Chariots of Fire but it's still a grand tune.

Learn more about Hamish McCunn at Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamish_MacCunn


 

William Quarrier (1829 - 1903) Philanthropist

William Quarrier was born in a house on Cross Shore St, Greenock but moved to Glasgow at an early age after his father died. He was brought up in a situation of poverty and witnessed first hand the squalour, deprivation and utter hopelessness of slum life. At the age of seventeen he became a Christian and also started his training as a shoemaker...a career he would make a success of... eventually owning three shops. With success came an urge to better the life of the orphaned and young homeless of the city. This eventually led to the setting up of the homes between Kilmacolm and Bridge of Weir which at their peak housed more than 1500 children at a time.

To raise money to fund and continue the project, Quarrier sometimes played on the benevolent nature of his friends and business associates. He would hold meetings and at the start of the meeting produce an unpaid bill from his pocket and place it on the table. He would lead the meeting in prayer asking the Almighty that a way might be found that would pay the account...by the end of the meeting the bill would be invariably, and usually quietly, covered.

Quarrier's Village, though now mostly privately developed, is a wonderfully atmospheric place for an afternoon walk. A round trip along the cycle path from Kilmacolm is a perfect walk both in terms of distance and scenery.

Learn more about Quarriers at www.quarriers.org.uk/about/history/williamquarrier.php

 

 Henry Robertson Bowers (1883 - 1912) Adventurer

 Short, hardy, reliable, understated and the finest example of a man Greenock has ever
 produced. He sailed at least five times around the world. He was a Royal Indian Marine. He captured gun runners on the Persian Gulf. He was scared of spiders.

 He was born in the house at the corner of the Esplanade and North St. A small plaque on the wall tells you this. He moved to England with his mother and sisters after his father died in 1887. His mother returned to Rothesay when he was in his early twenties. He would swim from Ardbeg Point to Craigmore Pier and back in the dark of a winter's morning.

He travelled to Antartica with Scott on the Terra Nova. He was stranded with horses on ice floes. Read Cherry- Garrard's Winter Journey. Read how they lose their tent and feel the tears in your eyes when they somehow manage to find it. He became the 'fifth man' in the race to the pole. He died with Scott and Wilson. He still lies on the ice.

There is a memorial plaque to him in St Ninian's Church on Bute. His name is also on the family plot in Greenock Cemetery. Follow the main drive...carry straight through....you will shortly find a stone to Peter Gatherer set back on your right...walk behind that stone...turn left...then right....you are in the undergrowth...and then you see his name. Learn more at Wikipedia
For more information visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Robertson_Bowers