Govan..1914..William Hillock

[stapler40]

Hello:

Is there any records for residents of Govan in 1914. I have an entry for my great grandfather, William Hillock, living at #35 main street, Govan in 1914. Since the family lived in Belfast I'm trying to understand why he was in Govan. I believe there might be a Scottish connection but the available evidence is weak. On his 1884 marriage certificate he states his father's name as Henry. I have searched for a Henry Hillock/Hillick/Hillicks living in Belfast and the only one I have been able to find was a Henry Hillock who married a Mary Bradley and moved to Edinburgh in the 1850s.

Any thoughts and help are very much appreciated.

thanks

Stapler40

[StewL]

Hello Stapler40

This is a very friendly and helpful site.
I am not up on Irish records, but someone will come along soon that may be able to help.

[Currie]

Hello Stapler40,

The National Library of Scotland is making its Scottish directory collection available on the Internet Archive. Here’s some for Glasgow. Where there actually is an entry for an address only the head of household would be shown. Far from being a complete record but a very useful resource none the less. http://archive.org/search.php?query=gla ... pe%3Atexts

Around that time period 35 Main Street, Govan, is shown as being Napier House. There has probably been renumbering etc since then. Note on that page there is also a Mair Street, any chance it was that? http://archive.org/stream/postofficean1 ... 4/mode/2up

This appears to be 35 Main, a residential building. Residents won’t be shown in directories unless they are listed separately under their names. http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/details/1136859/

Only recently demolished, in 2009 it seems.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=55 ... 6&t=h&z=19

Seems it was a Working Men’s hostel at some stage but not sure when. Perhaps he came to Glasgow looking for work and stayed there.
http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/bu ... ?id=100109

Hope that helps,
Alan

[Currie]

“A model lodging house in Govan, corner of Napier Street and Govan Road, pre-1899.”

“Municipal "Model Lodging Houses" were established in Glasgow in the 1870s to provide superior hostel accommodation for travelling workers and others”

http://www.theglasgowstory.com/image.php?inum=TGSE00760

Alan

[Falkyrn]

At that time Govan was thriving with several shipyards and major Engineering works situated adjacent to the River employing thousands of men. Just across the River in Partick (also a part of Govan Parish for a long time) the opposite bank of the Clyde was lined with Shipyards and Engineering Works.- Several ferries crossed the River on a regular timetable.

In addition to this, on both sides of the River and a short distance away Glasgow itself were several docks which were extremely busy as the combined area was one of the busiest Port complexes in Britain.

There were also regular ferries to and from Ireland and a colloquial term coined for them was the "sixpenny taxi"


Main Street Govan was renamed Clydebrae Street around the 1920's when Glasgow swallowed up several smaller Burghs and found itself with numerous duplicate street names in different parts of the City (Govan only became part of Glasgow in 1912)