James Silver learned his trade as boatbuilder when he became an apprentice at Peter McLean's yard in Rosneath, a yard that McLean began operating in 1891. There, Silver worked on boats of all shapes and sizes from rowing gigs to Clyde class racing yachts. After serving his apprenticeship James Silver left before McLean sold the yard in 1906.
The first Silver yacht to roll down the slipway at Rosneath in 1910, 'Lalla II', was a 32 foot yacht with auxiliary sail built for a local yachtsman who successfully raced her coming in first in an 86 mile coastal race in 1910. 'Mona', the second yacht, built on similar lines followed in the same year.
These early successes boosted Silver's reputation with the local yachtsmen. But although they seemed to have enough work, by 1914 they were in financial difficulties and had to sell the yard. {The Photo shows James Silver standing on the right} James Silver stayed on for a couple of years managing the yard under the new ownership. However, in 1916 he left and eventually the designer, John Bain, who the new owners had hired, took over from James Silver. [Top]
After the first World War in 1919 the first of a series of popular Silver classes appeared , the Maple Leaf class. The first boat, 'Maple Leaf' was built on spec and was written up in the yachting press, and set the pace for future classes. More Maple Leaf class boats followed and many other boats of individual design until 1928 when the 42 foot 'Brown Owl' stole the show to become the next standard class motor yacht. Many more Brown Owls were to follow.
The general strike of 1926, followed by the depression of the 1930s, encouraged John Bain to adopt a new approach. Silvers were probably the first boatyard to employ the production line techniques utilised by car manufactures, which he introduced in 1928 for production of Brown Owls. In 1931 he introduced a small inexpensive 30 foot cruiser with Morris self start engine, in an effort to encourage motor car users to the water. 'June Amelia' was the first of these very basic little craft named the 'Silverette'. It was these Silverettes that kept Silvers in business through the depression when the demand for more expensive yachts had declined. They continued to be built up until 1936 and were complemented by a 36 foot version, superseded in 1937 by the MK II 36 footer.
In 1932 the first of the Silver Leaf class was introduced. The first was 'Kittiwake', she was 40 foot length overall and with the introduction of the Silver leaf made three standard classes available. In this period in the 1930s Silvers broke all records by launching three yachts in one day. Silvers although renowned for their motor yachts, after receiving an order for a 16 foot sailing yacht in 1932, followed it up in 1935 with a similar 22 foot class they named the Silver Puss, a Cat Boat! 1939 saw the advent of the Western Isles class, which was a true motor sailer. The first, 'Jetta', was a 46 footer.
During World War II Silvers, like most yards, contributed to the War effort by building motor torpedo boats, harbour patrol vessels, and ambulance launches. They resumed normal work in 1946 surprising all their rivals by building a couple of teak hulled craft! Although Silvers built motor yachts with teak hulls prior to the War, John Bain had layed in a store of teak throughout the War years by saving the excess of Admiralty supplied timber. So when other yards found a shortage in supply of the wood, Silvers already had a supply to hand!
John Bain left Silvers in 1957 selling his interest to the other partners. He continued to design yachts for several other yards. The larger Ormidales were adapted from his designs and the little Miss Silver motor sailer was designed on similar lines to one of Bain's earlier yachts. The company was voluntarily wound up on 23rd July 1971. John Bain died on April 29th 1980, he was 91 years old.
Silver and his brother set up together, teaming up with John A McCallum, a well known Clyde designer and they built their first motor yacht named 'Orchid' in a yard in Glasgow. The partnership worked well, the yacht was a great success, and was hailed as the first seagoing Clyde built motor yacht. When the yard at Rosneath came up for sale again James Silver took it over.