Stewarts of Balquhidder

[Ryk]

From our Callander transcriptions:

[charmian]

Dear Ryk,
Interesting little piece posted by John MacFarlane and I have looked very carefully at the family tree of the Laggan Stewarts. Try as I may, I just cannot get Margaret/Agnes to fit. She would have to have been born around 1789 -92 if we suppose her to be around 20 years at the time of the elopement.
According to the dates in question I get the nearest dates on the family tree to be:

Robert Stewart in Balmeannoch (b. 1726) m Christian Mary MacLaren.
Robert’s siblings were Margaret b. 1727 and James b. 1730.

Robert and Christian Mary had 6 children. (1) Jean b. 1761 (2) Janet b. 1762 (3) James Stewart, 1765-1852 tenant in Laggan m Mary Stewart. (4) John born 1767 (5) Robert b. 1770 (6) William 1776-1860.

James and Mary Stewart (she was possibly his cousin – but don’t know) had 4 children
(1) John Stewart 1823 – 1911 (my grandfather) (2) Robert 1821-1900 (3) Christian 1825-81 (4) Mary b. 1828.
I work out that James must have been 58 in 1823 when his first born, John was born. This is not impossible ... or do I mean unlikely .. as my father was around that age when I was born!! Amazing these facts that turn up

Always interesting to try and find new connections, but I can't find any MacFarlanes I'm afraid.
Charmian Stewart of Laggan

[charmian]

Ryk,
I was so intent on my own family tree, that I didn't look until afterwards at all the wonderful research you have produced... or maybe some of it was mine too . though yours is much wider.
However of course I agree with you that James Stewart was the first of Laggan, and I have never heard of a Margaret or Agnes, except Margaret b. 1727, sister of Robert Stewart, which is far too early and before the family moved to Laggan.
Charmian

[Ryk]

Charmian

Thanks for your input. You are absolutely correct that there is no place for Agnes/Margaret to fit into what we know of your family tree as it stands. However, my suggestion above is that *IF* the MacFarlane account is correct then it's possible that there could have been an elder cousin branch of your family that may have held Laggan prior to your great-grandfather and that your great-grandfather acquired Laggan when the elder cousin line became extinct with the disinherited heiress, Agness/Margaret.

Of course this is a big "if" and purely hypothetical. The other possibility is that the MacFarlane account is wrong. We don't know how reliable it is. But if my hypothesis is correct, then "John Stewart Gentleman of Laggan" could be an elder second-cousin to your great-grandfather, James 1st of Laggan, and theoretically it could mean that James was actually 4th of Laggan, but first in your direct line.

It wouldn't be unreasonable to consider that this line would not be recorded in your family records as, if I recall correcly, your family records really only traced James' ancestors and descendants. It didn't trace any of his own sibling or cousin lines.

However, the bigger concern for me is that, as of yet, we haven't found any supporting OPR records for this line prior to 1811. That gives me cause to doubt the reliability of the MacFarlane record.

Hopefully Andrew will chime in here with some more information on the source of his quote.
_________________
Ryk Brown
Descendant of the Stewarts of Dalveich (Ardvorlich)
Sliochd Iain Dubh Mhor

[clanman]

Hi guys,

Thought this might turn out to be bit of a curly one for you.

Original text as submitted came from a manuscript currently being written by Chevalier Terrance Gash MacFarlane in the US. His information was provided by the descendant of the McFarlane involved, a John Stewart McFarlane.
I recieved the follwing in an e-mail from John Stewart McF. when expaining his line for inclusion in my own website database.

"My immediate line starts on your web database at Duncan 3rd baron of Glenralloch. You have one son listed for Duncan (Dugald), when there in fact 3 sons. I am descended from one of them (Duncan), the other was John who became the Schoolmaster of Gartmore.

My great great Grandfather James was the co-founder of the Clan MacFarlane Society and it's President in 1915.

You will also note that I am related to the Royal Stewarts of Dundurn through my 4xgreat grandfather who eloped with the daughter of John Stewart (hence my family middle name).

Terrance and I figured this all out over several weeks of joint data-mining. He has many letters from my great great grandfather & other information and I had done research in Scotland at the Registry office, parish records etc. plus had family information."

I suggest Ryk's hypothesis may be correct and that by disowning his daughter John either passed on or sold Laggan to another branch of the family.

Great to see such a lively forum
Andrew

[Ryk]

Andrew,

Thanks for the background information on the source material. That's helpful.

The following quote lept off the page at me:

[charmian]

Yes Ryk, I was not happy about "the Stewarts of Dundurn", and I do believe I have all the Stewarts of Laggan on our family tree. We are not a large family. As we know the Stewarts of Laggan descend from Robert Stewart 3rd of Ardvorlich who had an illegitimate son, Robert Stewart. (See tree previously shown on website.
The Stewarts of Dundurn, poor souls, lie there quietly in eternal sleep. They are the deceased Stewarts of Ardvorlich and also their kinsmen the Stewarts of Laggan who have the right to be buried in the private burial ground at Dundurn. It would be hard for them to have any descendants to put it mildly.
Charmian Stewart of Laggan

[charmian]

To add a little bit. The biggest scandal in our family took place over an inheritance, and indeed it was in some ways a tragedy: It happened some years ago on an island offshore Oban. And no, it was not an elopement, but a ruined wedding.
I have fictionalised it and turned it into a romantic novel called "Highland Enchantment" by Charmian Stewart. It just might interest some of our members - love and betrayal in the Scottish highlands. Amazon US and Amazon UK have it.
Charmian of Laggan

[Ryk]

[charmian]

Ryk,
About the Stewarts of Laggan. I cannot see how there can possibly be a hypothetical "cousin" outside the descendants we know of. That seems impossible. Once you step outside the Stewarts of Laggan you step back into the Stewarts of Balmeannoch and the Stewarts of Ardvorlich. As I said previously: We are not a large family. Nor is Laggan extremely ancient. It was built sometime in 18th century. Previously on the Laggan land there was a castle called Armandave.
A few nuggets for you.....
Charmian Stewart of Laggan

[Ryk]

Ardnandamh and Laggan are the same place???? I didn't know that! I knew they were very close to each other, but I did not realize they were identical! Old maps make it appear that Ardnandamh is about 2 km south of Laggan on the bend of Loch Lubnaig. The fact that they are the same place sheds a whole new light on things!

[charmian]

Ryk, This is a very well argued hypothesis, with a lot of strong points which cannot be proved or disproved. As you conclude it is probably unlikely as the Laggan Stewarts were so closely intertwined with the Ardvorlichs.
Although stranger things have happened as in the case of the out-of-the-blue inheritance I received many years ago. This came to me as a great surprise from an unknown Stewart cousin (first cousin once removed). However when I looked I was actually able to find her on the family tree.
This was rather intricate story of an inheritance with rival claimants and which was nearly lost. It did in fact form the basis of my novel.
It is so interesting that you know about ancient Ardnandamh (good spelling!) and the settlement of the Stewarts there. What a wide-ranging knowledge you have. In fact Ardnandamh was the forerunner or maybe I should say one part of Laggan along with Stronyre which is an interesting ancient settlement also on Laggan ground. You can still see the shapes of the houses in the old stones.
The story goes that Rob Roy's wife came from Ardnandamh and was called Helen Mary Stewart. But I think this perhaps doesn't tie in to the facts. I can't remember what his wife was called, but I am sure you can put me straight on that.
There is absolutely nothing left of the castle now except a few large stones.
Charmian of Laggan

[Ryk]

[Belinda]

I think the most likely candidate is John Stewart, son of Robert Stewart and Helen McNiven, bapt in Comrie parish on 12 Nov 1767. He was the younger brother of James (b 1765) the first known Stewart in Laggan, and in my experience the younger brothers were sometimes called by their brother's title if they lived on the same property. Anyway, the title "of Laggan" does not seem to have been used for the first generation in Laggan and the early Stewarts who lived there were said to be "in Laggan", or just "Laggan" in the parish register.

Charmian do you know the extent of Laggan? In 1851 it was described as 1500 acres (10 arable, mostly Hill) and if it was long and thin it must have extended a long way along Strathyre. The township of Strathyre (is this the same as Stronyre?) is several miles north of Ardnandave Hill (modern spelling) with Laggan about midway between them. By 1881 the extent was down to 500 acres, so James Stewart's son Robert may have sold off some of it in the mean time.

Belinda

Belinda

[Ryk]