Glimpse history through old images of Kilbirnie, North Ayrshire, Scotland.
Crawfurd Mausoleum
In April 1890, architect C. Johnstone made careful drawings of the Crawfurd Memorial, when the structure was being repaired. It still stands today, known as the Crawfurd Mausoleum or Crawfurd Tomb.
Captain Thomas Crawfurd was an officer famed for the storming of Dumbarton Castle in 1571. A grateful King James VI granted him the lands of Jordanhill, near Glasgow, as a reward.
Thomas Crawfurd died on 3rd January 1603, and is buried close to the Crawfurd Mausoleum, on the side that is inscribed.
The mausoleum stands a few yards from the south side of the church, and is a sandstone structure with a flat roof.
The inscription starts with “GOD SCHAW YE RICHT”, the motto of the Crawfurd family. Then there is a shield identifying the Crawfurd and Barclay families, with a hilted and pommelled sword, and a helmet of an esquire as the crest.
Underneath reads:
HEIR LYIS THOMAS CRAVFVRD OF IORDANHILL SEXT SON TO LAVRENCE
CRAVEVRD OF KILBIRNY AND IONET KER HIS SPOVS ELDEST DOCHTER TO
ROBERT KER OF KERRISLAND 1594
Inside the tomb were placed recumbent statues of Thomas Crawfurd and his wife, Janet Kerr, seen through the apeture in the east side of the structure, and faintly lit by a slit in the south side.
Old Photos of Kilbirnie
Enjoy a video showcase of old photos of the North Ayrshire town.
Old Photographs Kilbirnie Ayrshire Scotland – tourscotland on YouTube
Hamilton Gray Park
Hamilton Gray Park, the son of Samuel Park and Isabella Gray, was born in Kilbirnie, Scotland, on 25th November 1826.
He was baptised there in November 1840, and was soon appointed as a Teacher. Three months later he became a Priest, and shortly after was named an Elder.
Elder Park presided over the Kilbirnie branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints until his emigration to Utah.
Along with a group of church followers, referred to as saints, he left Britain from Liverpool on 4th September 1854, on board a ship called the North Atlantic. David Sudworth, the president in charge of the group, fell seriously ill during the voyage, so Hamilton Park took over his duties.
Two years after his arrival in Utah, Elder Park became the business manager for President Brigham Young, and held that position until May 1869.
As we learn on page 669 of “Latter-day Saint biographical encyclopedia : a compilation of biographical sketches of prominent men and women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”, published in 1901:
..”he was closely connected with
most of the enterprises of that master
mind in developing the resources of the
country. Thus he assisted in opening
up canyons north, east and
west of the
city, building flouring and saw-mills,
constructing the first overland
telegraph line spanning the continent from
In the
spring of 1869 he was called on a mis-
sion to Great Britain; he left home in
May and arrived in Liverpool, England,
June 9th of that year; labored a
months as a traveling Elder in Scot-
land and subsequently presided over the
Glasgow conference, including the
whole of Scotland.
He returned home
in charge of a large company of Saints,
which sailed from Liverpool July 12,
1871, and arrived in Salt Lake City Aug.
4th following.
Later in 1871 he was appointed to act as second counselor to
Bishop Edwin D. Woolley, in the 13th
Ward, which position he filled till 1876,
when, being on a second mission
Great Britain, he resigned. At the
request of Pres. Brigham Young he be-
came business manager for his son Jos.
A. Young, in which position he com-
bined farming, coal-mining, railroad-
ing, etc.
Being called on another mission to Great Britain, he left home in
October and arrived in Liverpool, England, Nov. 12, 1875.
He succeeded Elder David McKenzie in the presidency
of the Scotch mission, and returned
home in charge of another company of
Saints, which sailed from Liverpool
Sept. 19th and arrived in Salt Lake City Oct. 6, 1877.
Since his return from his last mission he has been in the employ
of Z. C. M. I.
In his missionary experience abroad Elder Park
has witnessed many marvelous manifestations
of the power of God in the healing of
the sick, the rebuking of evil spirits,
and has even seen the dead raised under the administrations of the Elders.
At home he has been an active laborer
in the Ward Y. M. M. I. A. and Sunday school.
For eight years he labored as
a home missionary in the Salt Lake
Stake, where he also, by appointment
of the late Pres. Joseph Young, labored
for a number of years
among the mass
quorums of Seventies as their president.
From 1882 to 1891 he acted as a clerk of the Thirteenth Ward.
When the Bishopric of the 13th Ward was re-
organized, after the death of Bishop
Millen Atwood, in 1891, Hamilton G.
Park was ordained a High Priest by
Pres. Joseph F. Smith and set apart as
first counselor to Bishop Nelson A.
Empey, which position he held for nine
years, or until 1900, when he was called
to the position of second counselor in
the presidency of the High Priests quo-
rum in the Salt Lake Stake of Zion,
which office he still holds.
Elder Park is one of Zion’s most faithful and trust-
worthy sons; his zeal and integrity in
the interest of God’s cause has been
continuous and unfaltering, and his
influence for good has been felt in
every locality where he has resided,
and on all his missions both at home
and abroad.
As an employee for many
years in Z. C. M. I., he has been and
is at the present time entrusted with
some of the most responsible duties of
a financial nature in that institution. A
few years ago he changed his place of
residence from the 13th to the 18th
Ward.
