GREENOCK, Scotland — With the impressive three-masted ships Mir and Sorlandet side by side at the dock, some 20,000 people from Greenock and the surrounding area of Inverclyde came to the Ocean Terminal Port of Greenock on Saturday, Aug. 18, to participate in events organized in association between Sea Trek and the local Inverclyde Council.
Edinburgh Scotland Stake President, Stephen Kerr said he regarded the occasion as "an important stepping stone to a greater understanding of the Church in Scotland."
Situated at the mouth of the River Clyde, Greenock has a history of being a busy port of ship-building, lumber yards and emigration. "Emigration from Greenock was big business, starting in the mid-1700s and continuing until about 1950. People emigrated from here to Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Argentina and South Africa," said Leslie Couperwhite, of the Renfrewshire Family History Society. "This was a very busy port in the 19th century, with vessels lined up to get in."
Between 1850 and 1890, 1.5 million people emigrated through the port of Greenock. The emigrants were not all Scottish, but, from the names in the records, had come from the nations of continental Europe and Scandinavia. Many Scottish emigrants who became Church members went on to greater things in the United States. David Eccles, a pioneer industrialist from Paisley, Scotland, established sugar beet and lumber industries in Utah. David McKay, the father of President David O. McKay, was born in Thurso, Caithness, and as a young man, David O. McKay served as a missionary in Scotland between 1897 and 1899. Charles W. Nibley, Presiding Bishop between 1907 and 1925, and a counselor in the First Presidency until 1931, was born in Huntersfield. Richard Ballantyne, from Roxburgshire, established the Sunday School program in 1849. John McFarlane, author of the hymn "Far, Far, Away on Judea's Plains," and the music for "Dearest Children God is Near You," was born in Stirling in 1833. Ebenezer Bryce from Glasgow settled Bryce, near Bryce Canyon, in southern Utah.
"Most members in Scotland don't realize the depth of heritage they have. Church history is our history," said President Kerr, a fourth-generation Church member. His great-grandmother joined the Church 100 years ago but didn't emigrate because her husband didn't join. Recently, President Kerr fulfilled the invitation to offer a prayer before the Scottish Parliament.
Fifty-six missionaries and more than 100 young single adult volunteers from three stakes acted as guides around the dock, which lies only just out of sight of the location of the first baptisms in Scotland on the River Clyde at Bishopton on Jan. 14, 1840. Scotland Edinburgh Mission President Randy W. Wilkinson said, "We hope that this event will help the general public get a better feel for what the Church stands for and how good Great Britain has been to the Church."
In a 16-computer family history suite, some 40 volunteers from the Edinburgh, Paisley and Glasgow stake family history centers, including five non-members and working in shifts, gave visitors one-on-one assistance to access the Church's CD-ROM and Internet family history database. In addition to the Sea Trek facilities, several Scottish Family History Societies also had displays about genealogy.
Dutch members Elder Cornelius de Jonge and his wife, Katrina, serving as family history missionaries based in Frankfurt, Germany, were assigned to work with Sea Trek.
Many Church member emigrants came from Scotland. In the period 1850-99, 71 percent — 5,329 of 7,528 members in Scotland — emigrated and some 25 percent of members in Salt Lake City can trace their ancestry through Scotland. The third official Church emigrant company from Great Britain was, in fact, the first emigration of Scottish Latter-day Saints. A company of 50, led by missionaries Samuel Mulliner and Alexander Wright, left Liverpool on board the ship Issac Newton on Oct. 15, 1840.
Greenock had not been planned to be a major dockside event, but the council asked Sea Trek Chairman William K. Sadleir to "let us make it something big." The interest of the local council in working with the Sea Trek organization was sparked by its own initiative to build a world-class family history and visitors center in the Greenock area. Family history is very important to the Scottish people.
Among those at a reception held dockside were: newly arrived member of the Europe North Area Presidency, Elder Wayne Peterson of the Seventy and his wife, Joan; Inverclyde's Provost (Mayor) David Roach; the leader of Inverclyde Council, Alexander McGhee; member of the Scottish Parliament and Church member, Brian Adam; leader of the Scottish National Party in Parliament, Michael Russell, presidents of the Edinburgh and Paisley Stakes — Stephen Kerr and Robert W. Watson; as well as other civic and community dignitaries.
Despite late rain spoiling the otherwise warm and sunny day, thousands more returned in the evening for what was said by many locals to be the most impressive fireworks display ever seen in Greenock.
All safely back on board after their day's sight-seeing ashore, the Sorlandet passengers crowded the aft deck at 10:30 p.m. Aug. 19, to see Sea Trek's spectacular fireworks show, set to dramatic music played from shore. On its conclusion, both ships blasted their horns, and, with the pilot on board and the crew ready to let go the lines, tugs slowly pulled the Sorlandet out into the channel. Crowds of the Mir's passengers waved their farewell to those on the Sorlandet, as a Scottish pipe band marched on the pier, playing "Scotland the Brave" and "Flower of Scotland" to the departing ships. With mixed feelings, the Sorlandet passengers shouted good-byes to the crowds lining the Scottish shore, imagining the farewells of their ancestors generations earlier. The next leg of the Sea Trek expedition had begun and the famous port of Liverpool beckoned.