The records of the Clyde Navigation Trust are a wonderful source of information about Glasgow's trading history and the creation of the Clyde as an international waterway.
The records of The Clyde Navigation Trust (1709-1988) include:
Minutes - the main records of the Trust from 1801
Reports and Papers - recording all aspects of the Clyde and Clyde Navigation, 1755-1 958, including reports from the country's leading engineers, John Smeaton, John Golborne, Thomas Telford and others
Accounts and statistics - detailing the rise of Glasgow as a world trading centre
Report Books - these record ships entering and leaving the Clyde (both Glasgow and Greenock), 1819-1968, but do not include passengers' names
Clyde Bill of Entry - local newspaper, listing arrivals and departures of ships for the Clyde, with details of cargo, etc.,1841-1887
Photographs - thousands of photographs, including construction of works, buildings, cranes and equipment, ships and views of the Clyde. Only a few of these are on the Virtual Mitchell
Maps and Plans - including general plans of the river and riparian lands, plans of bridges, weirs, canals, railways, lighthouses and the harbour
The collection also includes records of the Clyde Pilotage Authority, 1856-1998; Clyde Lighthouses and Cumbrae Lighthouse Trusts, 1755-1966; Ardrossan Harbour Co., 1886-1968; and Greenock Harbour Trust, 1755-1966.