Paisley Snapshots , Iron founding, Ships-building and Engineering

Iron founding, shipbuilding and engineering industries were also important to Paisley during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  Close family links facilitated inter-related expansion from iron foundries into engineering and boat- and ship-building; the names of Fleming, Ferguson, Bow, McLachlan, Reid and Hanna became renowned for their Paisley endeavours in those industries.  Some ship-yards built dredgers, dredging equipment, hopper barges and other types of small ship, whilst others yards specialised in sectional boats for inland waters, which were reassembled on delivery.   Paisley’s engineering industry also held civil and mechanical engineering contracts to build railways and stations, and machinery for the local mills and factories during the heydays of those industries.