The lands of Finnart to the west of Greenock belonged to the

Earl of Douglas This page is concerned with the holders of the forfeit title Earl of Douglas and the preceding feudal barons of Douglas, South Lanarkshire. The title was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1358 for William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, so ...

in medieval times. Around 1455 they were forfeited to the crown. Finnart was given to the

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

s, while the western part of the barony of Finnart went to Stewart of Castlemilk and became the barony of Finnart-Stewart, or

Gourock Gourock ( ; gd, Guireag ) is a town in the Inverclyde council area and formerly a burgh of the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It was a seaside resort on the East shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. Its main function today is as a ...

. Sir James Hamilton of Finnart inherited the barony and rose to high office, but was beheaded and his estates forfeited, with his Finnart lands going to Shaw of Sauchie and Greenock. These estates subsequently became the west end of Greenock. The northern part of the Finnart-Stewart estates forms the main part of modern Gourock, while the remainder now accommodates the housing estates of south-west Greenock.

Location

The Douglas lands of Finnart lay west of the barony of Greenock, the boundary being "the Hole or West-burn": the burn is culverted under the modern town centre at Westburn Street, immediately to the west of ''The Oak Mall'' indoor shopping centre, and from there flows into the River Clyde which formed the northern boundary. The southern boundary was the glen leading to

Inverkip Inverkip (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Chip'') is a village and parish in the Inverclyde council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland, southwest of Greenock and north of Largs on the A78 trunk road. T ...

; the West Burn flows down this valley, close to the line of the A78 trunk road. The area now includes

Greenock West Greenock West, also known simply as the ''West End'', is an area of Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. The streets are in a grid like layout referred to as ''blocks'' as opposed to the irregular street patterns elsewhere in the town. Union Street ...

, as well as the Bow Farm housing estate. The parish boundary with

divided Easter Finnart from Finnart-Stewart (or Wester Finnart), which "extended from Achaneich to Achamead". The former Auchneagh House was sited adjacent to Fancy Farm, just to the west of the former municipal boundary: its location is marked by Auchneagh Road, which runs north west from the A78 Inverkip Road: the area is now a Greenock housing estate. The farms of Aughmead and West Aughmead were sited about further west. They lay to the west of Aughmead Road which runs north from Inverkip Road, and were in the area of the modern south-west Greenock housing estates of Larkfield and

Braeside Braeside, meaning ''hillside'' in the Scots language, may refer to: * Braeside, Aberdeen, Scotland * Braeside, Greenock, Scotland * Braeside, Victoria, Australia * Braeside, Ontario, Canada * Braeside Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona * Breaside, Chic ...

, which both lie to the south of the current boundary with Gourock itself. The Rev. Macrae's ''Notes About Gourock'' of 1880 includes a rough map showing the boundaries of Gourock estate including Auchneagh, Aughmead and Braeside, and extending over the Inverkip road as far as

Loch Thom Loch Thom is a reservoir which since 1827 has provided a water supply to the town of Greenock in Inverclyde, Scotland. It is named after the civil engineer Robert Thom who designed the scheme which created the reservoir and delivered water ...

. The map shows the western boundary as the Mile Burn. The notes quote Crawfurd's 1782 ''History of the Shire of Renfrew'' referring to a walk-mill called "Elie-mill" as "lying within the barony of Gourock". The mill site lies a short distance to the east of West Aughmead farm, on the location of the modern street named Aileymill Gardens.

History

The extensive landholdings of the

included the lands of Finnart, which lay to the west of the barony of Greenock. As a result of disputes with King James II of Scotland, the lands and estates of

James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas, 3rd Earl of Avondale KG (1426–1491) was a Scottish nobleman, last of the 'Black' earls of Douglas. Early life The son of James the Gross, 7th Earl of Douglas, by his wife Lady Beatrice Sinclair, daug ...

, were forfeited to the crown in 1455. In 1457 the king gave Finnart to the

Hamilton family The Hamiltons of the United States are a family of Scottish origin, whose most prominent member was Alexander Hamilton (1755/57–1804), one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Their ancestors and relations in Scotland included the Lair ...

. The western portion of the Finnart estates was given by the king to Sir Archibald Stewart of Castlemilk, and subsequently became the barony of Finnart-Stewart, which had its seat at

castle. In 1510

James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran and 2nd Lord Hamilton (c. 14751529) was a Scottish nobleman, naval commander and first cousin of James IV of Scotland. He also served as the 9th Lord High Admiral of Scotland. Early life He was the eldest of ...

, passed the Finnart estate on to his

natural son Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...

who became Sir James Hamilton of Finnart, though still widely known as "The Bastard of Arran". Finnart rose to a powerful place as head of the Hamilton family, and was appointed to a series of high positions by King

James V of Scotland James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and du ...

. In 1540 Finnart abruptly fell from favour with the king and was executed, with his lands forfeit to the crown. King James V then bestowed the lands of Finnart on Alexander Shaw of

Sauchie Sauchie is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies north of the River Forth and south of the Ochil Hills, within the council area of Clackmannanshire. Sauchie has a population of around 6000 and is located northeast of Alloa and ...

and Greenock, who passed them together with the barony of Wester Greenock on to his son John Shaw in 1542. In 1669 his descendant John Shaw bought the barony of Easter Greenock from the Crawfords, and the conjoined baronies were inherited in 1752 by John Shaw Stewart. The lands remain under the

Shaw Stewart baronets The Stewart, later Shaw-Stewart Baronetcy, of Greenock and Blackhall in the County of Renfrew, is a title in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. It was created on 27 March 1667 for Archibald Stewart. In Scotland, the name is styled Shaw Stewart. Thi ...

Notes

References

* (

Inverclyde Inverclyde ( sco, Inerclyde, gd, Inbhir Chluaidh, , "mouth of the Clyde") is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the hist ...

Council website) * (Inverclyde Council website) * (Inverclyde Council website) * (Inverclyde Council website) *{{Citation , last = Weir , first =Daniel , year =1829 , title =History of the Town of Greenock , publisher = , location = , page = , url =https://www.inverclyde.gov.uk/assets/attach/815/Daniel-Weir-History-of-the-Town-of-Greenock-1829.pdf , accessdate = (Inverclyde Council website) Greenock Geography of Inverclyde History of Inverclyde Baronies in the Baronage of Scotland