The county has 16 entire quoad civilia parishes. These, with reference to the wards, are:--Upper Ward--Abbey Paisley, Kilbarchan, Houston, Erskine, Inchinnan, Renfrew, Neilston, Lochwinnoch, Eastwood, Mearns, Eaglesham, and Cathcart. Lower Ward--Innerkip, Greenock, Port Glasgow, and Kilmalcolm. The divisions of Paisley (4) and Greenock (3) and the quoad sacra parishes of Barrhead, Bridge of Weir, Caldwell, Cardonald, Elderslie, Greenbank, Johnstone, Levern, Linwood, Thornliebank, Gourock, Langbank, and Newark, are also included. All the parishes in the Lower Ward and Erskine are in the presbytery of Greenock and synod of Glasgow and Ayr; and all the others--with the exception of Cathcart and Eaglesham, which are in the presbytery of Glasgow--are in the presbytery of Paisley in the same synod. Including mission churches, there are 62 places of worship in connection with the Established Church, 41 in connection with the Free Church, 34 in connection with the United Presbyterian Church, 2 in connection with the United Original Seceders, 2 in connection with the Reformed Presbyterian Church, 7 in connection with the Congregational Church (with which the Evangelical Union was amalgamated in 1897), 5 in connection with the Baptist Church, 1 in connection with the Wesleyan Methodist, 9 in connection with the Episcopal Church, and 14 in connection with the Roman Catholic Church. In the year ending September 1894 there were in the county 149 schools, of which 115 were public, with accommodation for 51,269 children. These had 47,941 on the rolls, and an average attendance of 40,385. The county is governed by a lord-lieutenant, a vice lieutenant, 30 deputy-lieutenants, and about 200 justices of the peace. The sheriff-principal is shared with Bute, and there is a sheriff-substitute for each ward. The sheriff court for the Upper Ward is held at Paisley every Tuesday during session, and for the Lower Ward at Greenock every Friday. Sheriff small debt courts are held weekly at Paisley on Thursday, and at Greenock weekly on Wednesday. Justice of peace small debt courts are held at Paisley every Friday, at Greenock every Thursday, at Port Glasgow every alternate Monday, at Pollokshaws on the first Monday of every month, at Johnstone on the second Tuesday of each month, and at Lochwinnoch on the first Saturday of each month; while quarter sessions are held at Renfrew on the first Tuesday of March, May, and August, and the last Tuesday of October. The County Council is composed of 60 members, being 58 for as many electoral divisions, and 2 for the burgh of Renfrew. The divisions are classed into two districts, Upper and Lower--the former containing 41 representatives and the latter 17. The police force, exclusive of the burghs of Greenock, Johnstone, Paisley, Port Glasgow, and Renfrew, which have separate forces, consists of 80 men (1 to every 881 of the population), under a chief constable, with a salary of £357 a year. In 1894 the average number of registered poor was 3224, with 1820 dependants, while the total expenditure for parochial board purposes amounted to £56,405. All the parishes are assessed, and there are poorhouses at GREENOCK and PAISLEY. The proportion of illegitimate births averages about 5 per cent., and the average annual death-rate is about 20 per 1000. Connected with the county is the 4th battalion of the Princess Louise's Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (formerly the Royal Renfrew Militia), with headquarters at Paisley; a battalion of artillery volunteers, with headquarters at Greenock; and three battalions of rifle volunteers, with their headquarters at Greenock, Paisley, and Pollokshaws. By the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885, the county was separated into two divisions Eastern and Western, each of which returns one member to serve in parliament; one is returned for Greenock another for Paisley; and Port Glasgow and Renfrew have a share in a third. The parliamentary constituency of the Eastern Division in 1895 was, 11,006; of the Western, 8597. Valuation, inclusive of railways, but exclusive of burghs (1674) £5764, (1815) £265,534 (1843) £474,568, (1876) £583,741, (1884) £781,195 (1896) £515,234. Pop. (1801) 78,501, (1811) 93,172 (1821) 112,175, (1831) 133,443, (1841) 155,072, (1851 161,091, (1861) 177,561, (1871) 216,947, (1881) 263,374; (1891) 230,812, of whom 110,520 were males and 120,292 were females. These were distributed into 48,075 families, occupying 46,805 houses with 127,08; rooms, an average of 1.81 persons to each room. Of the 230,812 inhabitants 3223 males and 1640 female., were connected with the civil or military services of professions, 656 men and 7881 women were domestic servants, 10,984 men and 484 women were connected with commerce, 3828 men and 894 women were connected with agriculture and fishing, and 50,388 men and 24,391 women were engaged in industrial handicrafts or were dealers in manufactured substances, while there were 23,774 boys and 23,841 girls of school age. Of those engaged in industrial handicrafts 7339 men and 15,992 women were connected with the manufacture of textile fabrics, and 7942 men and 177 women were connected with the working of mineral substances. Of those connected with farming and fishing 3683 men and 829 women were connected with farming alone, and 768 farmers employed 1142 men, 618 women, 372 boys, and 197 girls.
     History.--The territory now forming Renfrewshire belonged to the ancient Caledonian Damnii, and afterwards formed part of the kingdom of Strathclyde. The western portion bore the name of Strathgryfe, and was by that title granted to Walter, the first High Steward of Scotland, by David I. Prior to 1404 it seems to have been included in the county of Lanark, but to have then become a separate county when King Robert III. granted to his son and heir James this barony and the other portions of his ancient patrimonial inheritance. Since that time the eldest son of the reigning monarch has, besides his other titles, been styled Prince and Steward of Scotland and Baron of Renfrew. When there is no heir-apparent these titles are merged in the crown. Traces of Roman remains and of the Roman occupation are noticed under PAISLEY. The county is associated with the defeat and death of Somerled, Lord of the Isles, in 1164, when we are told by the Chronicler of Melrose, that after landing at Renfrew, that prince was overtaken by Divine vengeance, `and was there slain with his son and an immense number of his followers by a few of the people of the surrounding district.' In a very curious Latin poem printed in the appendix to Dr. Skene's edition of Fordun (1871), the `honour and praise' of the victory is given to the exertions of St. Kentigern in return for devastations which Somerled had committed in the Glasgow district several years before, and which the bishop of Glasgow had prayed very hard that the saint might piously rebuke. During one of the many fruitless invasions of Scotland in the early years of Edward II., the English army in 1310 penetrated as far as Renfrewshire before returning. In 1489 the county was the scene of operations carried on by James IV. against some of the nobles that had adhered to his father's party, and in 1565 the Earl of Moray and the discontented barons assembled at Paisley, but marched into Lanarkshire almost immediately. Other historical events and antiquities will be found noticed particularly under the various parishes and places with which they are more immediately connected. Like most of the Scottish counties, Renfrewshire was seriously troubled with witches in the 17th century, and the case of the `Witches of Renfrew' in 1697 became very famous. The person bewitched was Christian Shaw, a girl of eleven years of age, daughter of John Shaw, laird of Bargarran, who, `having had a quarrel with one of the maid-servants, pretended to be bewitched by her, and forthwith began, according to the common practice in such cases, to vomit all manner of trash; to be blind and deaf on occasion; to fall into convulsions; and to talk a world of nonsense, which the hearers received as the quintessence of afflicted piety. By degrees a great many persons were implicated in the guilt of the maidservant, and no less than twenty were condemned, and five suffered death on the Gallow Green of Paisley, while one strangled himself in prison, or, as report went, was strangled by the devil, lest he should make a confession to the detriment of the service.'
     See also Crawfurd's Description of the Shire of Renfrew (1710), with continuations by Semple (Paisley, 1782) and by Robertson (Paisley, 1818); Wilson's General View of the Agriculture of Renfrewshire (1812); Hamilton of Wishaw's Description of the Sheriffdom, of Lanark and Renfrew (Maitland Club, 1831); Ramsay`s Views in Renfrewshire (1839); Hector's Selection, from the Judicial Records of Renfrewshire (1876-78); Archaeological and Historical Collections of the County of Renfrew (2 vols., Paisley, 1885-90); the works cited under PAISLEY, and for the witches Narrative of the Sufferings and Relief of a Young Girl in the West (1698); Saducismus Debellatus (London, 1698); A History of the Witches of Renfrewshire (Paisley, 1809; new ed. 1877); and Witchcraft Proven, Arraign'd, and Condemned (Glasgow, 1697). Ord. Sur., shs. 29, 30, 31, 22, 1865-73.