Coordinates: 55°57′00″N 4°45′54″W / 55.950°N 4.765°W / 55.950; -4.765

Greenock ( listen ; Scottish Gaelic: Grianaig, pronounced [kɾʲiənɛkʲ]) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It forms part of a contiguous urban area with Gourock to the west and Port Glasgow to the east.

The 2011 census showed that Greenock had a population of 44,248, a decrease from the 46,861 recorded in the 2001 Census. It lies on the south bank of the Clyde at the "Tail of the Bank" where the River Clyde expands into the Firth of Clyde.

History

Name

The name of the town has had various spellings over time. It was printed in early Acts of Parliament as Grinok, Greenhok, Grinock, Greenhoke, Greinnock, and later as Greinok. Old Presbyterial records used Grenok, a common spelling until it was changed to Greenock around 1700. The origin of the name is unknown, suggested sources have included the Common Brittonic "Graenag", a gravelly or sandy place which accurately describes the foreshore before the docks and piers were constructed, or Gaelic meaning a sunny place, which Grenockians have thought an improbable description. It has also been suggested that "Grian cnoc" or sunny hill could refer to the hill on which the castle and mansion house stood, but this has not found much support.

HMP Greenock is a prison located in Greenock, Scotland, and serving designated courts in western Scotland by holding male prisoners (both adult and under 21s) on remand, and short-term convicted prisoners. It provides a national facility for selected prisoners serving 12 years or over, affording them the opportunity for progression towards release. It also accommodates a small number of prisoners for a range of management and operational reasons. Although officially labelled as HMP Greenock it continues to be known by its original name Gateside Prison.

Senior Management

HMP Greenock's Governor is Mr William Stuart and the Deputy Governor is Mr Colin Brodie.

Residential areas

HMP Greenock is divided into five separate residential areas, known as halls.

Arran and Bute

Work began to build Arran and Bute halls in August 2013, with work completed on July 2014. These Halls are a new type of facility called Community Integration Units (CIU) They will hold 8 and 6 prisoners respectively, who will use their time there as a stepping stone in to the community.

Greenock was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 until 1974, when it was abolished and its area was merged into the new Greenock and Port Glasgow constituency.

Boundaries

The boundaries of the constituency, as set out in the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832, were-

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 1860s

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1939/40: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;