Shipbuilding Archives
Shipbuilding records can include plans, photographs, technical data, company minutes and cost books.
Records of personnel information are less likely to have survived and so the shipbuilding archives are not always a good source of information for family history research.
Our shipbuilding archives are arranged by company name. The main collections we hold are listed below:
| Ardrossan Dockyard Ltd |
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Barclay, Curle & Co Ltd |
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| George Brown & Co (Marine) Ltd |
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Charles Connell & Co Ltd |
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| Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd |
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A & J Inglis Ltd |
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| John G Kincaid & Co Ltd |
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Hugh McLean & Sons Ltd |
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| Milne Collection |
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Langmuir Collection [Clyde Paddlesteamers] |
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| G L Watson [Yachtbuilders] |
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If you are interested in locating plans and photographs on a particular ship, but do not know who built it, there is a Clyde-built Ship Index in the searchroom which contains information on all ships, including who built them.
Ralston (T-RK)
Ralston were a firm of marine photographers who were commissioned by the Clyde-based shipbuilding firms. In many cases, the photographs they took were never returned to the customers so this collection contains a vast array of images of several shipyards on the Clyde and many Clyde-built ships.
For further information on shipbuilding records, see "The Shipbuilding Industry: A Guide to Historical Records" by L.A. Ritchie. (Manchester University Press, 1992)
Glasgow University Archives also hold substantial shipbuilding records.
Stricter rules of access may apply to some of these collections so please contact us in advance if you are interested in this area.
Contact details
Archives and Special Collections
The Mitchell
North Street
Glasgow
G3 7DN
Phone: 0141 287 2910 or 2988
Fax: 0141 287 2815
E-mail: archives@csglasgow.org