Business in Muirkirk in years gone by

Muirkirk business in 1837
(extracted from the Pigot Directory)

The Post Office

• Adam McCaul, Post Master
  The English and south letters arrived via Douglas every afternoon at 1.30 were despatched every morning at 8.30
  Letters from Kilmarnock arrived every morning at 8.30 and were despatched every afternoon at 1.30.

INNKEEPERS AND VINTERS

• Begg, Margaret
• Gigson, James
• Johnstone, John
• Kay, Robert, (Black Bull)
• Taylor, Samuel
• Thomson, Archibald, (Mason's Arms)

SCHOOLS

• Callum, Robert
• Iron Works Company School, William Brydon, master
• Johnston, William
• McCarthy, James
• Muir, James

SHOPKEEPERS AND TRADERS

• Aird, William, miller and sawyer
• Bailey, Margaret, dress maker
• Begg, John, smith and farrier
• Blackwood, James, joiner
• Blackwood, Marion, dress maker
• Brown and Wilson, stone masons
• Brydon, Thomas, shopkeeper
• Dollan, Margaret, draper
• Ferguson, John, manager of colleries
• Fletcher, Janet and Ann, millners and dress makers
• Forrest, John, shopkeeper
• Gibson, James, shopkeeper
• Gibson, Margaret, dress maker
• Gray, David, surgeon
• Hamilton, Andrew, draper
• Harkness, James, boot & shoe maker
• Holm, David, tailor
• Lapraik, John, cooper
• Lennox, Margaret, dress maker
• McCaul, Adam, merchant and stamp distributor
• McClonnachan, John, shoe maker
• McGhee, Margaret, dress maker
• McKerrow, John, ironmonger
• Meikle, James, blacksmith
• Muir, Joseph, grocer & spirit dealer
• Muirkirk Iron Company, Thomas Carswell and William Falconer, resident partners
• Reid, Alexander, tailor
• Robertson, Daniel, draper
• Robertson, John, tailor
• Smith, Hugh, boot and shoe maker
• Smith, James, boot and shoe maker
• Smith, Wm., boot and shoe maker
• Swinton, John, joiner and glazier
• Taylor, Samuel, shopkeeper
• Telford, Thomas, tailor
• Thomson, Robert, grocer
• Thomson, William, tailor
• Whyte, James, manager of the Duke of Portland's tile &c works
• Whyte, Thomas, baker and joiner

CARRIERS

• To Ayr, John Lambie, from the Black Bull every Monday and Thursday
• To Cumnock (Old), John Kerr, from the Black Bull, every Tuesday and Friday, and Robert Latts every Thursday
• To Edinburgh, Robert Latts, every Saturday
• To Glasgow, James Ronald, from his house, every Monday and Thursday
• To Kilmarnock, John Kerr, from the Black Bull, every Tuesday and Friday
• To Ochiltree, John Lambie, from the Black Bull, every Monday and Thursday