The
church is believed
to have been founded
in 1170 A.D. by the
Monks of Newbattle
Abbey.
Legend has it that a
pilgrim, doing
penance for a sin,
was made to carry a
huge stone Eastwards
from Glasgow. When
he couldn’t carry it
any more, he was to
sit it down and
build a church on
that very spot. This
became the site of
the Old Monkland
church.
However the present
building was built
in 1790
at a cost of only
£500, and, as since
enlarged, contains
902 sittings.
James Baird
1802 - 1876
James Baird
©1995-2009 Gazetteer
for Scotland
Foundryman and
industrialist. Born
in Old Monkland
(North Lanarkshire).
With his elder
brother, Baird
founded William
Baird & Co which
went on to become
the largest
producers of iron in
Britain. He made use
of the blast furnace
developed by James
Beaumont Neilson
(1792 - 1865) and by
his death the
company ran more
than thirty of these
furnaces.
Baird was elected as
Conservative Member
of Parliament for
the Falkirk Burghs
(1850-57), which was
the same seat his
brother had served
just four years
previously.
While Baird was
strongly against any
trade-union
activity, he paid
for the education of
his workers and
encouraged their
moral and religious
development. He also
gave the enormous
sum of £500,000 to
the Church of
Scotland during his
lifetime. In
addition, he
contributed
generously to the
building of
individual churches
in Glasgow and
Aberdeen.
In 1852, he acquired
the Greenfield
Estate, near Ayr,
renaming it
Cambusdoon. He
bought the Knoydart
Estate in 1857.
Baird served as
Deputy-Lieutenant of
Ayrshire and
Invernesshire.
He died at
Cambusdoon.
William Baird |
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