Whaling & Shipping.
Compiled by: Ken Wright

Although the author of "Robinson Crusoe", Daniel Defoe, praised Bo'ness seamen when he visited the town in the 18^th Century the first recorded account relating to Bo'ness seamanship may be seen in the commendation given to Sir David Falconer, described as a "brave cavalier and skilful mariner of Borrowstounness". Sir David, second in command to Sir Andrew Wood of Largo, routed the English fleet, under the command of Sir Stephen Bull, in a fierce battle which took place in the River Forth, on the 10^th August, 1490.

Bo'ness was officially recognised as a port in 1601, although it had been recognised as such since at least 1565. This was short lived since in 1602 the Scottish Privy Council closed the port of Bo'ness because of the enormous amount of smuggling that was tacking place. It was reopened a few years later.

The Church of Borrowstounness was built at Corbiehall in 1634 because of the rapid growth of the seaport, and was served by the Minister of Kinneil.

Also in1634 the Sea Box Society was founded. Bo'ness skippers used to put one-tenth of their profits from every successful voyage into an iron-bound sea chest "for benevolent purposes, and for mutual help in times of need".

The construction of the first harbour at Bo'ness was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1707. Until now ships could only load and unload using a long causeway, accessible only at low tide and in calm weather. However, until 1733, this amounted to a simple pier on the west side of the anchorage.

In 1707 the Custom House moved from Blackness to Bo'ness on 26^th December due to the influence of the Hamilton's, thus again indicating that Bo'ness already had a considerable seaport by 1707.

Defoe (the author of "Robinson Crusoe" 1719)  writes in his "Tour Through Great Britain" (1724-26)  "It has been, and still is, a town of the greatest trade to Holland and France of any in Scotland, except Leith."

In 1733 the East Pier, some 368 feet long was added to Bo'ness Harbour. This was extended by a further 180 feet in 1787.

The shipowners and merchants of Bo'ness were worried about the condition of Bo'ness Harbour, the quays were in a poor state and the harbour was silting up. Ships already paid 1¹/₂d per ton for anchorage, but this proved to insufficient funding for the purpose. After due deliberation they decided to tax Bo'ness beer at the rate of 2d Scots per pint (£1 Scots was 20 pennies compared to 240 pennies in £1 Sterling). In 1744 an Act of Parliament was past and trustees appointed, but needless to say there was great opposition from the brewers and alehouse keepers. Ironically it was through the harbour for which the beer tax was imposed that most of the illicit beer was to be smuggled into Bo'ness.

From the mid eighteenth to the middle of the nineteenth century shipbuilding was a major industry in Bo'ness. At the end of the 18^th century there were two builders worthy of note: Robert Hart and Thomas Boag who each built vessels from 300 to 350 tons. The Greys from Kincardine came later and the last builder worthy of a mention was Meldrum who built a ship called the "Isabella" and another called the "Ebenezer". Shipping belonging to the town at this time consisted of 25 sail, 17 of them were brigantines of 70 to 170 tons per register, 8 were sloops from 20 to 70 tons per register. Six of the brigantines ranging in size from 147 to 167 tons were contracted to sail to and from London every 14 days. The other 11 brigantines and 1 sloop were mainly involved in Baltic trade, with the remaining 7 sloops involved in canal and coastal trade. The shipping employed a total of approximately 170 men and boys.

Between 1750 and 1780 Bo'ness ranked as the third port in Scotland

The Borrowstounness Canal Company was formed presumably sometime in the 1780's. Work had started on the Forth Clyde Canal in 1768 which would obviously prove a threat to Bo'ness Harbour since up to 50 carts of goods would regularly leave Glasgow in the morning bound for Bo'ness. It was obvious that when the canal was opened to Sealock (Grangemouth) that this and the packhorse trade from Glasgow would cease. The Borrowstounness Canal Company was going to build a canal link between Bo'ness Harbour and the "Great Canal"  (as the Forth & Clyde canal was called) It was initially estimated that the work would cost about £10,000, but when not half completed the cost was already £7,000 the work was abandoned. Meetings were held to raise more money, but there were objections that the money had not been well spent it was said that "some associated with the project rendered themselves richer in pocket and poorer in character by their conduct at that time." Nevertheless the idea wasn't abandoned and it was agreed to employ Robert Whitworth of Glasgow to give a report on the whole proposal and an estimate of the cost to complete the work. Mr Whitworth was the engineer responsible for the completion of the "Great Canal". His report is dated 28^th December 1789, but is outwith the scope of this Timeline. The canal was to be 54ft wide at the top, 27ft wide at the bottom and 8½ft deep to let vessels drawing 8ft to navigate it. The total cost estimated was £17,763 10s 0d. Thus the idea was abandoned. It is interesting to note that by 1^st December 1810 Grangemouth had its own Custom House with jurisdiction for Alloa, Stirling and Kincardine. In the same year the duties drawn from Bo'ness were £30,485 17s 0½d, but 5 years later they had dropped to £3,835 6s 4½d. On the proposed route for the canal approximately 6 furlongs west of Bo'ness Harbour a castle named Castle Lyon is mentioned, this is probably the same castle as Karig Lion Castle with Grid ref. NS 994817  OS: 65. No trace of either can be seen.

Quite unexpectedly the herring fishing season of 1795-5 was so good that there were hopes that herring curing would be added to the place industry.

By about 1796 Grangemouth, South and North Queensferry, St. David's, Inverkeithing, Limekilns, Torry and Culross were all attached to the Bo'ness Custom House. At this time there were 44 officers employed. Salt was still a precious commodity the Bo'ness salt duty amounting to £3,000. Salt was stored in cellars or "girnels" barred with strong doors sealed by the Revenue Officer. It was only allowed to be taken out when the duty was paid.

It is interesting to note that by 1^st December 1810 Grangemouth had its own Custom House with jurisdiction for Alloa, Stirling and Kincardine. In the same year the duties drawn from Bo'ness were £30,485 17s 0½d, but 5 years later they had dropped to £3,835 6s 4½d. Grangemouth probably owes its foundation because of the Forth and Clyde Canal to Sir Lawrence Dundas of Kerse, an ancestor of the Earl of Zetland, who was the districts main landowner at the time.

The "Comet" (one of the first practical steam powered boats), was launched on the Clyde in 1812, designed by Henry Bell (b. 1767 d. 1830) who, a native of Torphichen, learnt his trade in Bo'ness. It came to Bo'ness from the Clyde via the Forth and Clyde Canal in 1813 for an overhaul to be carried out by Henry's old employers, Shaw & Hart.

With the collapse of they local canal scheme (the Forth Clyde Canal ending at Grangemouth or Sealock as it was then known) Bo'ness Harbour fell on hard times. However the return of better days when in 1843 John Wilson of Dundyvan built Kinneil Furnaces.

Work began in 1876  on Bo'ness Harbour, the west pier to be extended, a dry dock constructed and hydraulic machinery installed. In 1887. The new Bo'ness Dock was completed in 1881 along with the rest of the work.

Between 1935-48 Bo'ness Harbour declined for several reasons including the following: it was closed to commercial trade during WW II, the volume of coal business decreased dramatically, it was difficult to keep free of silt and it was not large enough for modern commercial traffic. It is still hoped that it will once again find a use as a maritime museum or for pleasure craft.

During WWII A tank landing craft unit HMS Stafford converted Bo'ness into a temporary Naval Base.

Bo'ness Harbour officially closed on Tuesday, 30^th June 1959.

After a gap of 30 years the first commercial ship, the Balmoral, registered in Bristol visits Bo'ness Harbour, although it did berth on the seaward side of the harbour.

Whaling

In 1751 Six whalers, with an approximate capacity of 330 tons set sail from Scotland and by 1756 this had increased to sixteen. In 1970 the government offered a bounty of £2 per ton, based on the ships capacity, to encourage the industry. This meant even if there was no catch a ship with a capacity of 330 tons would receive a bounty of £660. Bo'ness whaling records however do not extend this far back, although Bo'ness was a whaling port at the time The largest cargo of blubber ever landed in Scotland was landed at Peterhead by the "Resolution" which caught 44 whales in 1814. The oil yield was valued at £10,000 with a further £1,000 for the bones which was used for furniture, waist pinching stays and pandybats. Pandybats were long leather-covered cane like instruments which Irish schoolmasters used as canes. Alas the success of the 1860's large catches all but destroyed the whale population, and by the 1890's despite steam powered ships now being more efficient (faster, increased range and able to go into more dangerous waters), the Arctic whaling industry died. The River Tay, owned by Gilroy Brothers & Co. of Dundee, but built at Kinghorn, was the first iron-hulled, steam powered whaling ship built in 1868 for Arctic trade. Weighing 608 tons she was 145ft long with a 30ft beam and a draught of 18½ft, she had 6 separate watertight compartments and a reinforced hull to withstand the pressures of the ice flows. Although her first season was good due to her increased range and speed she was able to make two Arctic voyages in the one season, but alas over hunting made Arctic trade uneconomic.

In 1893 it was therefore decided to send 3 ships to the Antarctic. This industry continued to the outbreak of the First World War, but was never as profitable due to the distances involved

Whaling was taken up for the second time in Bo'ness in the 1850's and records show that ships included: "Success", Captain Jock Tamson; "Home Castle"; "Rattler", Captain Stoddart; "Juno", Captain Lyle; "Larkins", Captain Muirhead; "Alfred", Captain William Walker; "Jean" Captain John Walker and the officers on the "Jean" were William White, Alexander Donaldson, John M^cKenzie (harpooner) and John Grant. Each whaler carried a crew of 50. There were two boiling-houses in Bo'ness where the oil was extracted from the whales blubber. The main one was on the Wynd where many of the whaling sailors were employed off-season. Whaling soon proved unprofitable and by 1870 Bo'ness whaling had ceased. John Anderson owned the whalers "Success", "Alfred", and "Jean"; he also had a large interest in the boiling-house on the Wynd.

The "Terra Nova" of Dundee, captured a whale in 1893 in which a harpoon was found. The harpoon bore the name of the maker, William Cummings, blacksmith, Kinneil dated 1853 which had belonged to harpooner J. M^cKenzie, of the "Jean" Bo'ness. A copy was made by Bo'ness Hotelier John Jeffrey who had the original on loan.