John Porterfield (abt. 1513 - 1573)

Born about 1513 in Scotland

Ancestors

Husband of Beatrice (Cunninghame) Porterfield — married about 1540 in Scotland

Husband of Janet (Knox) Porterfield — married 1545 in Scotland

Descendants

Died 10 Dec 1573 at about age 60 in Scotland

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Biography

John Porterfield was first of the Porterfields to be laird of the lands of Duchal, near Kilmacolm in Renfrewshire, Scotland.

John acquired the Duchall Estate from John, the Lord Lyle in 1544 by purchase. He also received the lands of Porterfield from his brother, Alexander Porterfield.

John apparently killed one of his neighbors, John Brisbane of Branchill. Records of the time are unclear as to the disposition of the court case. The matter was heard locally and then forwarded to Paisley for further action. No disposition of the case has been found in extant records.^[1]

In 1553, John presented a charter to the bailie David Lindsey.^[2]

On October 1555, John was present for a transfer of funds from Alexander, Earl of Glencarne (Glencairn) to Cuningham of Craigends.^[3]

In 1555, a dispute between John Porterfield and others in parish against Robert, Lord Sempill is also recorded. The dispute probably arose from differences in faith as John and his allies were of the Reformed faith (Protestant) and Lord Sempill was of the Old Church (Catholic). John and over 140 of their servants and tenants gathered at Carsemeadow to plot the removal of Lord Sempill. The plot went astray and Porterfield and his group were brought up on charges in the court at Edinburgh. The case was dropped for lack of evidence.^[1]

On 11 July 1570, the "Instrument of sasine of the maine of Darnley and the lands of Myretoun and pertinents in favour of John Porterfield and Jean Knox his wife upon the precept of Mathew Earl of Lennox Lord Darnley" granted the lands of Darnley to John Porterfield and his wife Jean Knox.^[4]

Family

John first married to Beatrix Cunningham in 1540. He later married Jean Knox in 1545.^[5][6][7] The children of John (and their mother) vary based on the sources. See further discussion in the Research Notes section

The children of John are assumed to be as follows:

From his first wife Beatrix Cunningham:

• William, his successor^[5][7]
• Gabriel^[5]
• Helen (Marion,^[5] /Helena/Margaret) all seem to be the same person who married James Maxwell of Calderwood. ^[8] Unclear why there are so many given names reported.

From his second wife of Jean Knox:

• John of Greenend - History of the County Ayr, cites a 1708 source (Duchall MS) indicates Jean is his mother. So does Crauford (1710). Other source have him as the son of Beatrix.^[5]
• Elizabeth - married Archibald Campbell of Gallan in Dunbartonshire.^[5] Elizabeth in some sources is cited as the wife of Maxwell of Calderwood. This appears most likely to be the above Marion.

Death

He died 10 December 1583 in Scotland.^[9]

Other accounts related to his death mention John died before 18 June 1578 when he was mentioned as the deceased husband of second wife Jean in a charter. She is also mentioned in another about the same matter on 18 June 1578.^[10][11]

Research Notes

Children of John

The reported number of children and mother of John's children are reported differently by different sources. All sources mention William as the son Beatrix. After that, there are significant differences.

The Porterfields (1947)^[12] and Crauford (1710) report the following issue.

• Beatrix Cunningham of Craigends.
  • William
• Jean Knox
  • Gabriel
  • John
  • Elizabeth (wife of Sir James Maxwell of Calderwood)

Kilmacolm: A Parish History (1898) lists the following children:^[1]

• Beatrix Cunningham of Craigends.
  • WIlliam
  • Gabriel
  • Marion (wife of Maxwell of Calderwood)

• Jean Knox
  • No children mentioned

British Baronetage (1811)

• Beatrix Cunningham of Craigends.
  • Elizabeth and several sons. Elizabeth is mentioned as the spouse James Maxwell of Calderwood

• Jean - not mentioned
  • No children mentioned

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} James Murray, James Murray, Kilmacolm: a Parish History, 1100-1898 (Paisley: Alexander Gardner, 1898), p. xx, digital images, https://books.google.com/books?id=2eI-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA242. Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 August 2016).
2. ↑ "Abstracts of Protocols of the Town Clerks of Glasgow, Volume 1", p. 54, (Glasgow: Carlson & Nichol, 1894), digital images, https://books.google.com/books?id=T5kJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA54. Accessed 5 April 2020.
3. ↑ "Abstracts of Protocols of the Town Clerks of Glasgow, Volume 1", p. 81, (Glasgow: Carlson & Nichol, 1894), digital images, https://books.google.com/books?id=T5kJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA81. Accessed 6 April 2020.
4. ↑ "Instrument of sasine of the maine of Darnley and the lands of Myretoun and pertinents in favour of John Porterfield an Jean Knox his wife upon the precept of Mathew Earl of Lennox Lord Darnley", "University of Glasgow : Blackhouse charters", https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/glaas/archives/565b7ef3-fc87-3f6f-aaac-149925faa39d?component=b13635f1-b716-375d-98ad-b0e288266c42&terms=porterfield, Accessed 1 April 2020.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5} James Patterson, History of the county of Ayr, Volume 2 (Edinburgh: Thomas George Stevenson, 1852), p. 506, digital images, https://books.google.com/books?id=OvEHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA506. Google Books (http://books.google.com : accessed 20 November 2016).
6. ↑ Rev. Charles Rogers, Genealogical Memoirs of John Knox and of the Family Knox (London: Grampian Club, 1879), p. 9, digital images, https://presbiterianocalvinismo.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/genealogicalknox0 (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 August 2016).
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Sir Bernard Burke, Royal descents and pedigrees of founders' kin, Pedigree IV, Countess of Mornington (unpaginated), https://archive.org/details/royaldescentsped00burk/page/n130/mode/1up?q=Porterfield
8. ↑ Bernard Burke, Ashworth P Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage, 76th edition (London: Harrison and Sons, 1914), p. 761, digital images, https://books.google.com/books?id=RVggAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA761 (http://books.google.com : accessed 31 August 5 2016).
9. ↑ Francis J Grant, W. S., editor, The Commissariot Record of Edinburgh: Register of Testaments - Part I, (Edinburgh: James Skinner and Company, 1897, p. 222. https://books.google.com/books?id=NzsEAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA222
10. ↑ "Summon of multiple seizures at the instance of the tenants of Darnley against Jean Knox, widow of John Porterfield, and John Cunningham of Drumshasle and the masters of the College of Glasgow", "University of Glasgow: Blackhouse charters", https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/glaas/archives/565b7ef3-fc87-3f6f-aaac-149925faa39d?component=385c66b1-ec75-32d5-98f4-60f8d082d98a&terms=porterfield, Accessed 1 April 2020.
11. ↑ "Circumduction of the term and preference of the masters of the College, pronounced by the Lords of the Council and Session, in an action of multiple poinding pursued by the tenants of Darnley against the masters, and also against Jean Knox, widow of the deceased John Porterfield, the other competitor; she having failed to prosecute diligence within the specified time, the masters are preferred to her.", "University of Glasgow: Blackhouse charters", https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/glaas/archives/565b7ef3-fc87-3f6f-aaac-149925faa39d?component=1b687686-511f-3c33-a174-17096ba518cc&terms=porterfield, Accessed 1 April 2020.
12. ↑ Frank Burke Porterfield, The Porterfields (Roanoke, Virginia: Multiprint Inc, 1947), p. 8, digital images, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89066246737;view=1up;seq=16. Hathi Trust Digital Library (https://babel.hathitrust.org: accessed 25 July 2019).

See also:

• Roberdeau Buchanan, Genealogy of the Roberdeau Family: Including a Biography of General Daniel Roberdeau, of the Revolutionary Army, and the Continental Congress; and Signer of the Articles of Confederation (Washington: Joseph L Pearson, Printer, 1876), p. 19, digital images, https://books.google.com/books?id=hVFPAAAAMAAJ&lpg=PA20. Google Books (https://books.google.com: accessed 25 March 2020). Just mentions a Porterfield (no given name) as the husband of an unnamed daughter of William Cunninghame and Giles Campbell.