Helensburgh Heritage
Helensburgh Heritage Trust
THE historic Rhu churchyard is associated by many people with Henry Bell, steamship pioneer and Helensburgh's first Provost, whose grave is marked with a large monument and statue.
But nearer the Gareloch there is a most unusual gravestone, and it has a moving story which was uncovered some years ago by Greenock Telegraph woman’s editor Evelyn Raden, who in an article in June 1966 told the sad tale of 'The Three Laughing Maids of Rhu'.
ONE of the great tales of Scottish Law, the trial of Madeleine Smith for murder after a love affair which mostly took place in Rhu, was being commemorated in July 2007 by Scotland’s Faculty of Advocates.
Madeleine was tried for the murder of her lover, Pierre Emile L’Angelier, at the High Court in Edinburgh. The trial began on June 30 1857, and finished on July 9. The case was found not proven, that unique Scottish verdict.
JOHN Arnold Fleming, O.B.E., F.R.S.E., J.P., was a well known and very wealthy Helensburgh man who died at his home, Locksley, East Abercromby Street, on October 22 1966, less than a month before his 95th birthday.
He was a noted journalist, author, artist, traveller, politician, businessman, churchman and benefactor.
CARDROSS has an important place in the history of aviation — as it was the scene of the first successful controlled glider flight on September 12 1895.
Percy Sinclair Pincher managed to keep a glider called the Bat off the ground at a height of 12 feet for all of 20 seconds, the first controlled glider flight in Britain.
NEW material became available about the Rhu-based mystery of whether or not Madeleine Smith murdered her lover in 2007 as the 150th anniversary of the start of her trial was marked with an exhibition, a re-enactment, and a new book.
Madeleine was tried for the murder of her lover, Pierre Emile L’Angelier, at the High Court in Edinburgh. The trial began on June 30 1857, and ended with a not proven verdict on July 9.
A SHANDON man played a vital part in the World War Two Battle of Kohima, a critical battle in the Burma Campaign.
Lieutenant Colonel Robert (Rex) King-Clark MBE, MC, who died on December 29 2007 at the age of 94, commanded 2nd Battalion The Manchester Regiment — the machine gun battalion of the British 2nd Division — throughout the battle in Assam.
George Maclachlan
Solicitor, Writer, and Town Clerk of Helensburgh
1846 until 1911
Reported as a thoughtful and diligent scholar at the Academy in Paisley, George Maclachlan was apprenticed to a local Law Firm on leaving school.