GENUKI: Gorbals, Lanarkshire

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Description & Travel
Gazetteers
Genealogy
Historical Geography
History
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" Gorbals, par., Glasgow, on S. side of river Clyde, 25 ac., pop. 5567; P.O., called Gorbal's Cross. "

From John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles, 1887

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Church History

Dates of Old Parish Registers
b.1771-1854
m.1771-1854
d.nil

Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Gorbals which are provided by:

Gazetteers

GORBALS, a parish, in the suburbs of the city of Glasgow, chiefly in the county of Lanark, but partly in the Upper ward of the county of Renfrew; containing 48,275 inhabitants, of whom 10,200 form the population of the civil parish of Gorbals, or Gorbals proper, and the remainder are included in that of the civil parish of Govan; the whole number of 48,275 being regarded as ecclesiastically in the parish of Gorbals. This place, originally called Bridgend, from its situation at the extremity of a bridge over the Clyde connecting it with Glasgow, was anciently part of the parish of Govan, from which it was separated in 1771. At that time it comprised only about fourteen acres, but there were subsequently added the lands of Rea, Little Govan, and the Prebend of Polmadie, containing about 600 acres, and also that part of Govan called the Barony, a tract of 400 acres, belonging to the corporation of Glasgow, the patrons of Hutcheson's Hospital, and the Trades' House. The whole of the rural district is arable land, with a small proportion of meadow and pasture; the soil is rich, and the moors have been brought into profitable cultivation. The crops are wheat, oats, potatoes, and turnips; abundance of manure is obtained from the city and suburbs, and every recent improvement in agriculture has been adopted. The population is partly agricultural, but chiefly employed in the various manufactures of Glasgow. Gorbals, with the adjacent lands, was formed into a burgh of barony and regality at a very early period, and in 1607 was bestowed by the Archbishop of Glasgow upon Sir George Elphinstone, who in 1611 obtained from James VI. a charter confirming the grant.

In 1647 his successor conveyed it to the magistrates and town council of Glasgow, who are still superiors of the burgh and barony, the former of which includes the old parish of Gorbals and part of the parish of Govan, and the latter comprises the districts of Hutchesontown, Laurieston, Tradeston, and Kingston, which are described under their respective heads. An act was passed in 1S46 for better supplying with water the barony or regality of Gorbals, and places adjacent.

The burgh is governed by four bailies, annually appointed by the inhabitants, and two of whom may be continued in office for a second year. Their jurisdiction is exercised chiefly in matters of police, in which they are assisted by commissioners under the police statute; they have no corporate rights or exclusive privileges. The police buildings comprise a spacious hall and courthouse. A court for the trial of civil causes not exceeding thirty shillings, in which the process is either ordinary or summary, and a court for the recovery of debts not above forty shillings, are held before the bailies occasionally, the town-clerks of Glasgow acting as assessors. Both the burgh and barony are within the parliamentary boundary of the city; the number of £10 householders is 1635. The annual value of real property in the parish is £150,202. Gorbals is ecclesiastically in the presbytery of Glasgow, synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and in the patronage of the heritors and the kirk session: the stipend is £250; there is neither manse nor glebe, in lieu of which the minister has an allowance of £25 per annum. The church erected in 1771 was subsequently purchased for the district of Kirkfield, and a larger and more commodious edifice built for this parish in 1813, at an expense of £350; it is a handsome structure, and contains 1460 sittings. There are places of worship for members of the Free Church, the United Presbyterian Church, and Wesleyans. A school, in which are about 140 children, is supported by the kirk session, who pay the master a salary of £50, for the gratuitous instruction of the children of the parish. There is also a school for girls, established in 1833, under a bequest of £2000 by Mrs. Waddell of Stonefield: the patronage is vested in the magistrates, and the minister and elders of the kirk session of Gorbals, with preference to children of the name of Macfarlane; the mistress has a salary of £20, with a house, coal, and candles.

Ask for a calculation of the distance from Gorbals to another place.

Genealogy

Gorbals has long been part of the City of Glasgow, so the Glasgow pages are essential reading.

Historical Geography

"... The parish of Gorbals consisted at first of a small district disjoined from  the neighbouring parish of Govan, and erected into a separate parish by  the Court of Teinds in 1771. To this district a much larger portion of  Govan, comprehending what is now the most populous portion of Gorbals,  was at a subsequent period annexed quoad sacra, by the Presbytery of Glasgow. The parish of Gorbals, thus constituted, was, in 1834, divided by  the Presbytery into two parishes of unequal size, the smaller of which was  attached as a parish quoad sacra, under the name of Kirkfield, to a Chapel of Ease within its bounds.

The parish churches of the United District may be divided into three  classes, of which the first includes those of the Inner-High, Barony, and  Gorbals. The churches of Barony and Gorbals were built, and are now  maintained by the respective heritors of their parishes quoad civilia, according to the law for the building and upholding of parish churches. The  church of the Inner-High, or original parish of Glasgow, is part of the  ancient cathedral, which belongs to the Crown, and is maintained at the  public expense. It appears, however, that the Corporation of Glasgow,  having been, at some period, at the expense of fitting it up with pews, have  ever since exacted a seat rent, according to rates fixed by themselves,  although their right to do so is doubted by some of the parishioners. The  ministers of the Inner-High and the Barony are endowed out of the teinds  of the parish of Glasgow ; and the minister of Gorbals receives, along with  a grant of L.100 per annum from Exchequer, a stipend from the heritors,  which they pay, not out of their teinds, (these being all liable to the minister of Govan, to which Gorbals originally belonged) but out of seat rents. ..."

Extract from "Second Report of the Commissioners of Religious Instruction, Scotland" : W. and A. K Johnston, 1837, Edinburgh.

History

One famous son of the Gorbals area was Sir Thomas Lipton.

Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference NS591644 (Lat/Lon: 55.851727, -4.252878), Gorbals which are provided by:

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