Skip to main content

Week 39: Surprise #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

 Most of my recent direct ancestors and their families are noticeably working class. This is true for both my paternal and maternal sides. There are miners, blacksmiths, labourers, iron workers, carters, weavers.... 

My 2 x great grandfather John Young (1801-1879) had various occupations throughout his working life - labourer, fireman, timekeeper in an engineering works. He married his wife Janet Baillie, a pin winder, in the 1820s. Janet's father James was a labourer, surfacing roads. Pretty standard working people. 

However, go three generations further back and we find my 5 x great grandfather James Baillie marrying an Elizabeth Bradfute, the daughter of a local minister and this is where it gets interesting. Elizabeth's mother, Jean Mure, was the daughter of a certain Scottish born James Mure of Rhoddans (County Down in Ireland), part of the landed gentry, his own father being William Mure of Glanderstoun. We are no longer in working class territory. I call women like Elizabeth 'gateway' ancestors - daughters of landed gentry were very often married off to ministers while their brothers inherited their father's land.

Once you come across someone like James Mure of Rhoddans, you can usually get a lot of information from written sources and family pedigrees. So I followed his line and that's when I got a real SURPRISE!

James Mure of Rhoddans was a descendant not only of nobility but royalty! His 3 x great grandfather Sir John Mure of Caldwell married Janet Stuart, the daughter of Matthew Stuart, 11th Earl of Lennox and 2nd Lord Darnley. Matthew Stuart's wife, Elizabeth Hamilton was the daughter of James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Cadzow, 1st Lord Hamilton and Princess Mary Stuart. And Mary's father??? King James II of Scotland - my 15 x great grandfather! 

Image source: www.famouspeople.com

Now, because of the intermarrying of nobility and royalty, there are so many more famous family lines hiding in my tree and some very unscrupulous people. The historian in my family, my daughter Katie, is always helpful in giving me the historical background that I lack. The internet is extremely useful too - while reading about King James II, I came across this:

"In 1440 the two main factions fighting for control of the boy king turned to slaughter. William Crichton and Alexander Livingston arranged a meeting with their rivals, the powerful Douglases, at Edinburgh Castle. With the young king present, Crichton and Livingston murdered the 6th Earl of Douglas and his younger brother in a notorious evening that would become known as the Black Dinner."

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/articles/james_ii/

Now that struck a chord with me!! Oh yes, the 'Game of Thrones' Red Wedding was based on the murders young King James' supporters committed. That was a SURPRISE!

On a lighter note, living in Hamilton (Cadzow) myself, and having found a connection to the local nobility,  I can say that Cadzow Castle, whose ruins lie in my local country park, is now "my" castle! :)

Cadzow Castle by Ben.Allison36 on Flickr

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2025 Week 26 : Favourite name #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

 As well as researching my own family, one of the other trees I have spent a lot of time on is that of my daughter-in-law, Lucy. Whereas my heritage is Scots and Irish, Lucy's is English and therefore some of the names I came across were quite different to those found in my own tree. One of my first favourites was a Francis Badger who appeared in the 1851 census for England! He wasn't actually a relative, but an apprentice to Lucy's 3 x great grandfather and who also lodged with the family.  I did wonder how that  surname came about - did the original Badger have  a funnily shaped face? or perhaps a white streak through his hair?? Or was he just an annoying person?? I'll never know, but it was fun to find him! Francis Badger's entry at the bottom in the 1851 census for England. Source: Ancestry.co.uk However, my all time favourite name - and character - from Lucy's tree is a man named Golden Bridge ! He is Lucy's 5x great grandfather and he was born in Essex...
Post a Comment
Read more

2024 Week 19: Preserve #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

 A few years ago, I came into the possession of a family bible. It was the family bible of my paternal grandparents, John McAra and Christina Walker. Until her death in 2018, the bible had been in the hands of my Aunt Inez, widow of my Uncle Will McAra. When I started enquiring as to its whereabouts, I found that it was her grandson, John, who now had it. John himself had no real interest in it at all, so he was quite happy to hand it over to me. However, it was, to say the least, in a bit of a state. The front cover was completely detached and there were many loose pages as the spine of the book was also damaged and detached. I had no choice but to take it to a book repairer in Glasgow, where it was repaired as best it could be. The bible itself had been originally published in Glasgow in the late 19th century. In Victorian times it was common for Christian families to have such a large bible in which they could record events such as births, marriages and deaths. The one I have al...
1 comment
Read more

2025 Week 12: Historic Event #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

The Battle of Arbroath, one of Scotland's bloodiest battles, was fought in the summer of 1345 between rival claimants to the post of Baillie of the Regality. The Baillie of the Regality chosen by the monks of Arbroath Abbey at that time was Alexander Lindsay. This post gave Lindsay power and prestige and he was responsible for upholding the law in the lands around the abbey. However, like many men in positions of authority both past and present, he chose to abuse his position of power and his fighting men caused mayhem within the walls of the Abbey. This led to the monks deciding to replace Lindsay with Alexander Ogilvy, who had hereditary claims to the position, but who unfortunately was Lindsay's enemy ... and my 15 x great-uncle! His sister, Isobel had married into Clan Oliphant and, on paper at least, Isobel is my 15 x great grandmother! Of course, the appointment of Ogilvy was not acceptable to Lindsay, who then raised an army of 1000 men and marched to Arbroath Abbey to r...
1 comment
Read more