Maybole is a parish in the north-west corner of the district of Carrick, Ayrshire. It is bounded by the Firth of Clyde, and by the parishes of Ayr, Dalrymple, Kirkmichael, and Kirkoswald. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).
Crosshill, Culroy, Dunure, Fisherton, Maybole, Minishant, Slateford
Blairston, Doonside, Drummellan
A small part of the parish of Maybole was divided from the rest of the parish by the estuary of the River Doon. This part was transferred to the parish of Ayr. See affected properties and landholders. (1892: Boundary of counties and parishes in Scotland as settled by the Boundary Commissioners under the Local Government Act, 1889, by Hay Shennan)
PRE-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
POST-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
The parishes of Maybole and Kirkbride were united soon after 1571.
Maybole. The vicarage of Minibole, now called Maybole, belonged to the Cistercian Nunnery of North Berwick. Its church was dedicated to St Cuthbert, and contained a chapel of St Ninian founded in 1431. There was a chapel in the parish on the lands of Auchendrane. Within the bounds were two early dedications, probably chapels, St Muireach's, at the place called St Murrays, and St Kenneth's, at Kilchenzie. On Lammas day, the first of August, a fair was held at Maybole. In the town are the ruins of St Mary's Collegiate Church of Maybole, founded in 1371, by Sir John Kennedy of Dunure, the earliest foundation of the kind in Scotland. Maybole Church was rebuilt in 1808.
Kirkbride. The church of Kirkbride belonged to the Nunnery of North Berwick. It was dedicated to St Bride. The old churchyard are its ruins is used for burial.
Disjoined Quoad Sacra Parishes:
Fisherton. Mission services were begun here about 1820. In 1842, a constitution was granted to the chapel and a district assigned to it. The parish of Fisherton was disjoined from Maybole, 16 July 1862.
Maybole West. A church was built here about 1840 by Sir Charles Dalrymple Fergusson of Kilkerran, Bart. The parish was disjoined from Maybole and Kirkoswald, 2 July 1862.
Includes ministers, licentiates, assistants, readers, and clerks.
Maybole and Kirkbride (QO)
Fisherton (QS)
Maybole West (QS)
(1928: Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, by Hew Scott, D. D.)
Parish registers turned over to the Registrar-General, as a result of the Registration of Births, Deaths, and Marriages (Scotland) Act of 1854. The letters B. D. and M. indicate Births (or Baptisms), Deaths (or Burials), and Marriages (or Proclamations of Banns) respectively. Numbers indicate separate volumes or books. Note: These records are by no means complete or without damage; consult the Detailed List of the Old Parochial Registers of Scotland (1872) to learn more about the condition of the records.
| OPR and RD Numbers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date Range | Name | Number | Type |
| 1712-1854 | Maybole | 605 | OPR |
| 1855-1971 | Maybole | 605 | RD |
| 1972-2005 | Maybole | 683 | RD |
| 2006-2008 | Maybole, South Ayrshire | 683 | RD |
| 2009 | South Ayrshire, Maybole | 683 | RD |
| 2026 | South Ayrshire Council; Maybole Community Council | ||
(2009: Parishes and Registration Districts of Scotland - Old and New, National Records of Scotland)
Local community councils (2026) are provided as a potential source of additional information for settlements within the original boundaries of the parish. (Source)
Statistics from informal and official censuses
Brown, Campbell, Dick, Dunlop, Gibson, Hannah, Hunter, Kennedy, Watson, Wilson
Note: Names appearing in research materials, other than censuses. Simple names (First name, surname only) have been omitted unless they appear associated with large properties. All women's names, and men's names with occupations, military ranks, or peerage titles are included.
By the Reverend Dr James Wright.
"Maybole consists of a town and of a landward parish. In the town of Maybole, there are 800 examinable persons, that is, at or above eight years of age. The country part of this parish is very large and populous; there are about 1700 examinable persons. Among this numerous body of people, consisting of 2500 persons, at and above the age of eight years, there are only three Seceders, two women and one man.
The woollen manufacture is carried on, in Maybole, to a greater extent than is commonly known. Eighty looms are employed in the town and country parish, in weaving woollen cloth for blankets; and all these looms, except a very few are in the town. These looms employ, in the course of the manufacture, about 300 persons."
(This section contains excerpts, at times restructured or paraphrased, from an article appearing in Statistical Account of Scotland, Sir John Sinclair, 1791-1799)
Primary Sources:
Statistical Account of Scotland (1791-1799), Volume 3, p. 219
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 5, Section I, p. 348
See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.
