The Kilmarnock Banking Company was a small provincial bank established in 1802 by a partnership consisting of James Fairlie of Bellfield, Mungo Fairlie of Holmes, Patrick Ballantine of Castlehill, Ayr, George Douglas of Rodinghead and William Parker of Asloss (who also acted as cashier and manager).
When the partnership was dissolved and taken over by Hunters and Company of Ayr in 1821, one of the conditions was that the latter establish an agency (i.e. branch) in Kilmarnock. This was accordingly set up under the management of Charles D. Gairdner, whose son (also Charles) was later to rise to prominence as general manager of the Union Bank of Scotland. Management of the business at Kilmarnock did not always run smoothly, and a disagreement between Gairdner and one of the local partners, Quintin Kennedy, became so heated that in 1830 the latter withdrew from the partnership and formed a rival company - the Ayrshire Bank (subsequently absorbed by the Western Bank of Scotland in 1845).
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