Port Montgomerie, Port-Patrick
Portpatrick is a parish on the west coast of Wigtownshire. It is bounded by the Irish channel, and by the parishes of Leswalt, Inch, and Stoneykirk. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).
Colfin, Craigenlee, Dinvin, Enoch, Lochans, Portpatrick
Knockinaam Lodge
PRE-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
POST-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
Before the Reformation there was a place of worship here dedicated to the Apostle of Ireland, and called Chapel Patrick. To it was joined a district known as the Black Quarter of Inch. In 1628 Chapel Patrick was rebuilt, and in the same year the Black Quarter was disjoined from Inch and erected as the parish of Port Montgomerie. This name it took from Hew Montgomerie, Viscount Montgomerie of the Great Ardes in Ireland, upon whose lands of Portree the church had been placed. Popular feeling, however, clung to the old name of the local patron saint, and, after two or three years, the new parish was named Portpatrick. In 1842 the heritors built another parish church on a new site. At Kilantringan in the Black Quarter of Inch there was a Chapel of St Ninian.
Includes ministers, licentiates, assistants, readers, and clerks.
(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 |
| 1720-1854 | Portpatrick | 896 | OPR |
| 1855-1966 | Portpatrick | 896 | RD |
| 2009 | Dumfries and Galloway, Stranraer | 870 | RD |
| 2026 | Dumfries and Galloway Council; Portpatrick 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
Baird, Cain, Campbell, Douglas, Glass, Milroy, Muir, Smith, Stewart, Vint
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 Mr John M'Kenzie, Minister of the Parish.
"The return to the inquiries made by Dr Webster (1755), regarding the population of the parish of Portpatrick, about forty years ago, was 551 souls. It has since considerably increased. It appears from an enumeration recently made, that there are in the country part of the parish, 484, and in the town, 512, souls, so that the whole population amounts to 996.
Manufactures have not yet made their way to Portpatrick. Ship-building is the only one as yet attempted. The town, which is in a great measure supported by the concourse of travelers, has in a peculiar manner felt the benefit of these improvements. Almost every house is an inn, where strangers may find accommodation suited to their circumstances. The money they leave is the great fund out of which the inhabitants pay their rents, and support their families."
(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 1, p. 37
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 4, Section III, p. 129
See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.
