Buteshire

Contents

Cumbraes

"CUMBRAY, parish, consisting of Great Cumbray Island, in Buteshire. The island is separated from Ayrshire by a sound 1 1/4 mile wide; commences opposite Largs; measures 3 1/2 miles in length southwards, with a breadth of about 2 miles; comprises 2841 acres; has a low flat beach, steep banks, and a hilly interior, with extreme altitude of about 450 feet above sea-level; and contains on its south end the town of Millport. Real property in 1880-81 £15,947. Pop. 1856. Established, Free and United Presbyterian churches, a Baptist chapel, and a cathedrine Episcopal church are in Millport. There are 2 schools for 389 scholars, and 1 of them for 325 is new."

"CUMBRAY (LITTLE), island in West Kilbride parish, but within Buteshire. It lies fully a mile south-west of Great Cumbray; is about a mile long and 1/2 mile broad; rises to a height of 420 feetabove sea-level; had anciently a culdee cell, succeeded by a Romish chapel; and has now a lighthouse of of 1826, a disused previous lighthous, and a ruined ancient watch tower. Pop. 23."
[From The Gazetteer of Scotland, by Rev. John Wilson, 1882.]

Towns and Villages

Church Records

The parish church records are held in the General Register Office for Scotland in Edinburgh, and copies on microfilm may be consulted in local libraries and in LDS Family History Centres around the world.

Records in the old parish registers (OPRs) for the Cumbraes parish span the following years:

Births or Baptisms ~ 1730-1854
Marriages or Banns ~ 1782-1854
Deaths or Burials ~ no records