Motor Yachts on the Clyde

on Jan 10, 2015

In the 1860s, a boat yard was built at the mouth of the burn at Rosneath on the Gareloch by Archibald McKellar. In May 1909, the yard was purchased by James Silver, a local man who had served his apprenticeship in the yard, and a yacht designer, John McCallum, and they set about building yachts of high quality. The business failed in 1914 and was taken over by Ferguson and Thompson, Ltd., of Glasgow who retained James Silver as manager and continued the business under the name of James A. Silver, Ltd. A new designer, John Bain, arrived at the yard and became the yard manager when James Silver left in 1916. The firm developed a reputation for the production of high quality motor yachts at Rosneath in the 1920s and 1930s. Their designs and their methods are well documented in the publication “Motor Yacht Building” by John Bain that was published in the late 1930s. The firm closed its...