New Kilpatrick - History

History

The parish system was introduced to Scotland in the 13th century. In about 1227, the church and lands of Kilpatrick were gifted to Paisley Abbey by Maldowen, Earl of Lennox. The name Kilpatrick is an Anglicised form of the Gaelic Cille Phàdraig - literally "Patrick's Churchyard". The alternative anglicised form "Kirkpatrick" is occasionally used in old texts. It is therefore reasonable to assume that a church dedicated to St Patrick gave the area its name before the transfer to Paisley Abbey. The parish remained under the supervision of the Abbey until the Reformation in 1560.

At the Dissolution, the Church property fell into the possession of Lord Sempill. Eventually the lands were conferred on Lord Claud Hamilton (a boy of ten), ancestor of the Dukes of Abercorn. His son James Hamilton was created Lord Abercorn on 5 April 1603, then on 10 July 1606 he was made Earl of Abercorn and Lord of Paisley, Hamilton, Mountcastell and Kilpatrick.

Kilpatrick was split into two parishes - Old (Wester or West) and New (Easter or East) by an Act of Parliament on 16 February 1649. This division is of note because this was a split of both the ecclesiastical and civil parishes and the wealth and stipend of the original parish was shared between the two new parishes. It was more common for new parishes to have "daughter" status, with wealth retained by the central, or cathedral church.

Since 1649 a succession of parishes have been separated from the original, with Drumchapel, Knightswood and Temple now within the City of Glasgow, while Milngavie and Baldernock lie in Dunbartonshire and Strathblane in Stirlingshire, and Drumry is considered part of Clydebank.