Port Ellen

(Port Ilein)

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Port-Ellen, a seaport village in Kildalton parish, Islay island, Argyllshire, at the head of a small bay, 6 miles NNE of the Mull of Oa, 11¾ SSE of Bowmore, and 17 W by S of Gigha. Founded in 1824, and named in compliment to Lady Ellinor Campbell of Islay, it rose rapidly into importance as a place of local commerce; and on a rocky promontory near the middle of its bay is a commodious quay, constructed in 1826 and improved in 1832. It has also safe anchorage ground, and a lighthouse; is visited by the steamers which ply between Islay and Glasgow; carries on a considerable amount of fishing; and has a post office under Greenock, with money order, savings' bank, and telegraph departments, a branch of the Royal Bank, two inns, and a public school. Pop. (1841) 904, (1861) 1007, (1871) 979, (1881) 989.

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Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer