Kirkbean
| Kirkbean | |
| Kirkcudbrightshire | |
|---|---|
 Birthplace of John Paul Jones | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NX978592 |
| Location: | 54°56’31"N, 3°35’36"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 643 (2001[1]) |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Dumfries and Galloway |
Kirkbean is a small village and parish on the Solway Firth coast in the very south-east of Kirkcudbrightshire. It is situated 12 miles south of Dumfries by the A710 road. As of 2001, the Parish of Kirkbean - which comprises four small villages - had just 643 residents in total.
Prominent residents
Among its most famous sons was John Paul Jones, the founder of the United States Navy, who was born in Arbigland, Kirkbean on July 6, 1747. A memorial font exists in the church, by sculptor George Henry Paulin. This illustrates USS Bonhomme Richard. Also born at Arbigland was the novelist and poet Helen Craik in 1751. The Kirkbean cemetery is the burial place of Jean Thurot (1755–1833), son of the famous Francois Thurot, French naval commodore and privateer.
Kirkbean is also the birthplace of another great seafarer, John Campbell, who was born in 1720. He went on to become a British naval officer, navigational expert and colonial governor of Newfoundland, today part of Canada.
The parish was the departure point for thousands of Scots seeking a better life in the American and Australian colonies during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Convicts were also transported to Australia from here, making the parish a rich source of genealogical history with many hundreds of thousands of people worldwide having a connection to this beautiful part of Scotland.
Natural heritage
Today, the local beaches and the bird-rich merse, where millions of seabirds live or over-winter, are part of the rich natural heritage of the parish. Visitors to the National Nature Reserve on the far side of the Nith come to watch birds on the Carsethorn foreshore, before continuing to the nature reserves at Southwick and Mersehead.
References
- ↑ KS01 Usual resident population, Kirkbean, scrol.gov.uk, 2001-04-21, http://www.scrol.gov.uk/scrol/analyser/analyser?topicId=1&tableId=&tableName=Usual+resident+population&selectedTopicId=&aggregated=false&subject=&tableNumber=&selectedLevelId=&postcode=&areaText=&RADIOLAYER=&actionName=view-results&clearAreas=&stateData1=&stateData2=&stateData3=&stateData4=&debug=&tempData1=&tempData2=&tempData3=&tempData4=&areaId=494&levelId=4, retrieved 2008-09-25
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