Info from Milne's Story of Gourock 1858-1958
St. Bartholomew's Scottish Episcopal Church began with an advertisement which appeared in July. 1855: ‘Temporary Services at Gourock. With a view of affording the members of the Episcopal Church resident in Gourock the opportunity of attending divine service during the summer months, the Incumbent of St. John's, Greenock. gave notice on the 19th ult, that he had engaged the room of the School of Industry in Gourock for a given period, and purposed (D.V.) meeting them tor public worship therein, on every Lord's Day, at half-past two o'clock commencing from Sunday, the 24th June, until further notice.’
That was the beginning of what was, and still is. known locally as “the English Church,” and by the following year a Priest-in-Charge, the Rev. Samuel Pratt, was appointed, and a fund was started to provide a Church. The response was generous — one donation came from Mr. William Ewart Gladstone. M.P.—and in less than a year, enough money was gathered to enable building to begin. A little more than two years after the beginning of the services mentioned in the advertisement — on July 14, 1857—St. Bartholomew's Church was consecrated by the Rt. Rev. Charles Wordsworth, D.D., Bishop of St. Andrews, acting for the Bishop of Glasgow. In 1862 the Church suffered a severe blow, when three of its leading personalities left — the Incumbent, the Rev.H. Kennedy, Captain Frere, R.N.. and Mr. Benjamin Noble, the last two being laymen who had done much to establish St. Bartholomew's. Other members also left the town, and a depleted congregation without the necessary income, could not carry on. The result was that the Church was closed for 15 years except during one or two months in each summer. Such a state of affairs could not last for ever, and with the coming of two men — Mr. A. P. Robertson and Mr. Robb—to settle in Gourock. happier clays began for St. Bartholomew's.
Mr. Robb became the organist, Mr. Robertson guaranteed the stipend of a clergyman, and in 1878 the Rev. Wilfred Leveson was appointed. The Church had turned the corner, and when, in 1891, the long ministry of the Rev. (later Canon) W. J. Howell began St. Bartholomew's went on from strength to strength. During the 30 years of Mr. Howell's ministry the Church building was twice enlarged, in 1893 and in 1910, the latter addition to cope with the increased membership brought about by the establishment of the R.N. Torpedo Factory at Greenock, and the consequent transference of many people from Woolwich.
The Rev. R. F. Strathern succeeded Canon Howell in 1921, and while the congregation was large, a difficult period financially was beginning. Mr. A. P. Robertson, who had given generously throughout his association with the church, had died, and was greatly missed in every way. However, in the following years the first Rectory, in Moorfield Road, was bought, and at Easter, 1924, electric lighting was installed in the Church. That Moorfield Road Rectory was sold eventually, and through the generosity of Mrs. A. M. J. E. Goldie, the lower flat of Craigend was leased to the Church, rent free for some years. A new Rectory was acquired in Manor Crescent W. in 1945, and six years later, on the death of Mrs. Goldie, Craigend, in Albert Road, was left to the Church to be used in part or entire, as a Rectory.
Between the wars, the Church laced many difficult periods, and the post-war years saw the congregation further depleted because of the transfer of the R.N. Torpedo Factory to Alexandria. Now, under the present Rector, the Rev. A. H. Clare, numbers are increasing again, and the outlook is much brighter
