|
1116 |
In the diocese of
Glasgow. Amongst the Churches found to belong to the See of Glasgow by the
inquest appointed by David, Prince of Cumbria, was Planmichael or
Llanmichael. |
| 1179 |
In a Bull granted by
Pope Alexander III confirming the title to the Chapter of Glasgow, mention
is made of the Church of Chermicdh. |
| 1181 |
A subsequent Bull of
Confirmation includes the Church of Kermichael, granted by Lucius III. |
| 1186 |
A further Bull by Urban. |
| 1296-1361 |
Robert de Jedworth
was appointed Rector. The first named Parson or Rector. |
| 1306 |
Robert the Bruce, after
his accession, granted a charter to Sir James Douglas of the whole lands
of Kirkmychel. |
| 1319 |
Sir James Douglas
appointed an unnamed cleric as Parson. |
| 1362-1451 |
Richard Dawrog
appointed Rector of Carmichael. |
| 1450-1457 |
James Lindsay,
Rector. |
| 1457-1458 |
Thomas Meldon,
Rector. |
| 1457-1458 |
Quintin Weir,
Parson. |
| 1458-1462 |
William de Lander (Lawder),
Rector. |
| 1462 |
John de Rynde (Rhind). |
| 1465-1481 |
Adam Weir, Rector. |
| 1481-1506 |
Alexander Inglis
(Ingles). |
| 1506-1511 |
Thomas Boyd,
Rector. |
| 1511-1545 |
Thomas de Merton,
Rector. Witness to a confession by James IV in 1511 of a grant of the lands
of Meadowflat in Covington which had been made by the late John Lindsay,
Laird of Covington to John Carmichael. |
| 1528 |
Lord Douglas being
forced into exile by James V, the patronage of the Church was given to
William Carmichael, then, upon his death in 1530, to his son John. |
| 1542 |
Following the death of
James V, and having regained favour, the patronage was returned to Lord
Douglas. |
| 1545-1560 |
Andrew Charteris,
Rector. Witnessed a charter, confirmed by Queen Mary, concerning the Lands
of Torrens, granted by James Hamilton in 1545/6. |
| 1560 |
All church property
reverted to the Crown. |
| 1560 |
George Douglas. |
| 1560-1569 |
George Landels. |
| 1569-1574 |
Ninion Swan. Admitted as
Exorter. |
| 1574-1586 |
John Leverance. Elder minister of
Douglas, under obligation to pay the reader at Carmichael. |
| 1586 |
James Fotheringham. |
| 1589 |
Andrew Walker. Presented by William,
Earl of Angus. |
| 1589-1597 |
Robert Landels (Laurelles). |
| 1597-1607 |
John Symington. |
| 1607-1639 |
James Heighe (Haig or Heggie). |
| 1639-1640 |
Robert Nairne M.A. He was an
'Expectant' (a Divinity student preparing for a licence to preach)
employed by the Town Council of Edinburgh to preach in vacant parishes.
He failed to read the national Covenant to the parishioners in Carmichael,
demitted office, and died insane. |
| 1640 |
William Hamilton M.A. Presented by
William, the Marquis of Douglas. |
| 1640-1650 |
Alexander Livingstone M.A. He
was inducted by the Presbytery. |
| 1647 |
James Semple. |
| 1650-1663 |
James Hamilton M.A. His was 'The
Ministry of Troubled Times'. He was fined by the Privy Council on 8th
June for failing to observe the anniversary of the Restoration, a year
after he had been 'indulged' in the parish. There was also a
complaint that he was baptising children from neighbouring parishes.
He was expelled from manse, church, parish and livings, deprived by Act of
Parliament on 11th June 1662 and Decree
of the Privy Council on 1st October of
the same year because he would not 'own or submit to the Bishops'. |
| 1665-1666 |
Alexander Foulis M.A. (Faulds)
Appointed by Alexander, Bishop of Glasgow. |
| 1666-1669 |
John McQueen. |
| 1669-1672 |
Peter Peirson M.A. (Penson).
Presented by James, Marquis of Douglas. |
| 1672-1676 |
William Sommerville M.A. Came
from Crawfordjohn. |
| 1676-1686 |
John Forrest 'Indulged'
here, instead of Tillycoultry. |
| 1686 |
William Cheyne M.A. Presented
by James, Marquis of Douglas. Admitted in September, died the
same month aged 28. |
| 1668-1688 |
Lachlan Ross M.A. Presented
by James, Marquis of Douglas. Was ousted at the restoration
of the church. Went to Ireland. Became Vicar of Mohill. |
| 1688-1694 |
The parish was vacant. On the
orders of James, Marquis of Douglas, the stipend was used to renovate the
church and manse, to build a new schoolhouse, repair a bridge and maintain
two students of philosophy at Edinburgh University. This was
effected by 1693. |
| 1679-1716 |
James Gartshore (Garthsoar)
When he died in 1745 he was Father of the Synod. |
| 1701 |
The Patronage of the church was given to
John, 1st Earl of Hyndford. |
| 1716-1747 |
James Lawrie. |
| 1747-1772 |
Rev William Miller. |
| 1750 |
At this time the old church on the
Kirkhill was closed and a new church built on its present position, known
as The' Sparra Mair' (Sparrow Moor). The outside stone stair leading
to the 'Laird's Loft' is believed to have come from the old church.
The New Church had seating for 400, with three lofts or balconies; the
Laird's or Hyndford Loft, the Eastend Loft and the Drumalbane Loft.
The heating in winter was by an open fire unit in the middle of the
church. |
| 1773-1814 |
Rev. Robert Inglis. Presented
by John, 4th Earl of Hyndford.
Son of Cornelius Inglis, a surgeon in Lanark, he married Janet Millar,
daughter of William Millar, an Edinburgh bookseller. He
compiled the first Statistical Account of Carmichael in 1795. He
also published an address on 'The Alarming State of the Country' in 1804 |
| 1814 - 1863 |
Rev. Dr. William Lamb D.D.
Presented by Andrew, 6th (and last) Earl
of Hyndford. He became Doctor of Divinity (Glasgow) in 1853.
He donated his library to the parish. It was housed in the
school and subsequently purloined by Lanarkshire County Council, despite
strenuous efforts to retain it. He left £300 to found the Lamb
Bursary in the University of Glasgow to assist any student of theology
from this parish or Pettinain, and also left money for the provision of
two new Communion Cups, similar to the others, with the intention that
four cups would speed up the service of Sacrament. He also
wrote a Statistical Account of Carmichael in 1838. |
| 1863 - 1884 |
Rev. John Cary. He left £1200
to be divided among six deserving poor people, four in Carmichael and two
in Pettinain |
| 1884 - 1918 |
Rev. James Duncan Walker Gibson B.D.
An avid ornithologist, he left a glass case containing over fifty species
of birds, stuffed by himself, to the school. He wrote a book,
published in 1897, 'Birds of Carmichael', established a Church Choir,
under James Speirs, and, in 1890, organised as excursion for his
parishoners to Edinburgh, visiting the Castle and Holyrood and a sail on
the River Forth. |
| 1902 |
The Church was completely renovated by
architect Sir John Lorimer. The two end lofts were removed and
the Lairds cut back by half. A new roof was put on and a new
parquetry floor laid. A Chancel was formed and big new windows
installed, also new bench seating, much reducing the numbers. |
| 1918 - 1948 |
Rev. Thomas Watt McAndrew.
Wrote 'A Statistical Account of Carmichael', November 1952. |
| 1948 - 1972 |
Rev. William Cumming M.A. In
1952, Carmichael was linked with Pettinain and Rev. Cumming took the
services in both churches. |
| 1973 - 1979 |
At a meeting on 23rd
March 1972 the Rev. W. Cumming announced he was retiring in September.
Then, at a meeting on 26th June 1972 the
Presbytery committee on Unions and Readjustments recommended that the
linkage of Carmichael and Pettinain be changed to a three-way linkage
which would include the parish of Covington and Thankerton.
To make this
possible the Rev. Mr. Thompson of Covington was encouraged to retire to
produce a vacancy there. Several meetings later a vacancy
committee was set up to look for a new Minister for the new linked
charges. They selected the Rev. J. A. R. McKenzie, who
was inducted as the first Minister of the new triple linkage on Wednesday
29th August 1973 in Covington Church at
7.30 pm. |
| 1980-1984 |
Rev. Brian Ramsey B.D., D.P.H. |
| 1985-1990 |
Rev. Andrew Lammie B.D. |
| 1992 - 1994 |
Rev. Mary Morrison M.A., B.D. |
| 1994 |
The Rev. Mary Morrison left the triple
linkage in January 1994 and the charge became vacant again. The
Presbytery Committee on Unions and Readjustments stepped in again and,
because of dwindling congregations, proposed a union of the three
Churches. This was a big step. It meant all the
assets would become joint property of the new united Church and one Manse
and two Church Buildings would have to be sold or otherwise disposed of.
Again after many meetings, this was agreed and the deal was also to link
the new Church with Symington. When unions take place in The
Church of Scotland a new neutral name is always selected and at a meeting
on 2nd March1995 the name Cairngryffe was
selected and agreed unanimously.
The selection of one building to become the new place of worship took
two visits by two different sets of arbitrators, the first set picking
Covington Church, then the second set selecting the Carmichael building. |
| 1995 -1999 |
Rev. John Brown M.A., B.D. |
| 2001-2010 |
Rev. Dr. Graham Houston B.Sc., B.D.,
M.Th., Ph.D. A former Convenor of the Scottish Bible
Society, in 2008 he published a book entitled 'Leading by Example -
Peter's Way for The Church Today'. He retired through ill health on 31st
December 2010. |
| 2007 |
Alterations were made to
Cairngryffe Kirk during the period September to November 2007.
During this time the following improvements were made to the interior of
the Church. (1) 14 pews were removed, sold to members of the
congregation and replaced by 50 church chairs stained medium oak, to match
the pews, with red upholstery. This was done to give more
flexibility and allow the organ to be re-sited against the wall. (2)
A meeting room was created under the 'Lairds' gallery to accommodate 20
people for meetings and is used by the Kirk Session and the Sunday School
(thereby removing the need for them to cross to the Village Hall on cold
days). (3) The lights in the Church were replaced with new
ones 10 times brighter but using less power and all exterior lights were
also replaced. (4) All interior floors of the Church, except under
the pews, were fitted with a new red carpet to match the chairs,
including the new Session Room and the Vestry. (5) The heating was
updated by fitting additional heaters under windows and replacing some of
the older heaters. The total cost was just over £33k and was
paid for from funds held by the General Trustees in Edinburgh. |
| 2009 |
The organ was replaced with a modern one
in August of 2009. |
| 2012 |
The charge lay vacant while
Presbytery prepared a new Presbytery Plan, services being conducted by a
variety of ministers, a Deacon - Miss Anne Lyall - and a worship team of
elders. In 2012 it was proposed the two linked congregations
enter a triple linkage with the congregation of Libberton and Quothquan.
This was agreed by all three congregations at meetings on 21st October
2012 and the linkage came into effect on 1st January 2013.
Permission was given to call a new minister to the linked charge without
restriction. |
| 2014-2021 |
Rev George C Shand
MA., BD. The former minister of St Andrews Church of
Scotland in Jerusalem, he retired on 31st July 2021. |
| 2021 |
At this point the charge of
The Tinto Parishes became 'A Church without a Minister'. This at
time of much reorganisation within the Church of Scotland including
Presbytery re-organisation, resulting in Lanark Presbytery merging with
Hamilton Presbytery to form 'The Lanarkshire Presbytery' and then with
part of Falkirk Presbytery to become 'The Presbytery of Forth Valley and
Clydesdale'. The
future for the Tinto parishes lies with the outcome of the Presbytery
Mission Plan. |
