Blackness, on the coast farther east, was the seaport of Linlithgow till the rise of Bo'ness, but its small export trade now mainly consists of coal, bricks, tiles and lime.
Though Roebuck lost all his money in the coal-mines and salt works which he established at Bo'ness, the development of the mineral resources of the district may be regarded as due to him.
The carses of the Forth extend seawards as far as Bo'ness and consist chiefly of raised beaches.
Having received the ordinary education of a parish school, he was apprenticed to his uncle, a millwright, and, after qualifying himself as a ship-modeller at Bo'ness, went to London, where he found employment under John Rennie, the celebrated engineer.
West of Bo'ness the south side of the Forth is dominated by the major oil refinery at Grangemouth.
