Elena (Comyn) Brechin (aft. 1242)

Born after 1242 in Scotland [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died [date unknown] in Scotland [uncertain]

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Elena (Comyn) Brechin was an ancestor of a signer of the Declaration of Arbroath. Join: Scotland Project Discuss: Scotland

Biography

Birth

Elena (or Elizabeth/Isabel) Comyn was the daughter and co-heiress of Alexander Comyn, sixth Earl of Buchan and Justiciar of Scotland^[1] and Elizabeth de Quincy.^[2] As Elena's birth order is not known, but only that she was the fourth daughter of nine children, her birthdate has been estimated as occurring after 1242, given that her father was born circa 1214, with the assumption that he married around age 21 in 1235. In addition to Elena, Alexander and Elizabeth had the following issue:^[2]

• John, who succeeded his father after age 30.^[3]
• Roger
• Alexander, Sheriff of Wigtownshire and Aberdeenshire and keeper of the Castles of Urquhart and Tarwedale. He was deceased before 3 December 1308.
• William, provost of St. Mary's Church in St. Andrews.
• Marjorie, the eldest, married Patrick, Earl of March or Dunbar.
• Agnes (or Emma), who married Malise, Earl of Strathearn.
• Elizabeth, married to Sir Gilbert Umfraville, Earl of Angus.
• Margaret, who married Sir Nicholas Soulis.^[4]

Marriage

Elena married William of Brechin on an unknown date and had one child, son David de Brechin, a signatory of the Declaration of Arbroath.^[5][6]

Notable Events

On 24 August 1302 and following William's death, it seems Elena granted two tracts of land to the Lindores monks to erect a building for storage and preservation of the abbey's fuel.^[7]

Death

Elena's date and location of death are unknown.

Research Notes

The following sources were reviewed, with no additional biographical data found for Elena Brechin:

• Bain, Joseph (Ed.). (1881). Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland (Vol. II). Edinburgh: H. M. General Register House. Retrieved from Internet Archive (Available online); accessed 12 March 2022.
• Barbour, John. (1856). The Brus; From a Collation of the Cambridge and Edinburgh Manuscripts. Aberdeen: Spalding Club. Retrieved from Internet Archive (Available online) accessed 12 March 2022.
• Barrow, Geoffrey W. S. (1988). Robert Bruce & the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Retrieved from a personal copy of Pamela Lohbeck-3.
• Bruce, M. E. Cumming. (1870). Family Records of the Bruces and the Cumyns with an Historical Introduction. Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons. Retrieved from Internet Archive (Available online); accessed 12 March 2022.
• Dalrymple, David. (1797). Annals of Scotland: From the Accession of Malcolm III in the Year MLVII to the Accession of the House of Stewart in the Year MCCCLXXI, to Which are Added, Tracts Relative to the History and Antiquities of Scotland (Third ed., Vol. II). Edinburgh: Archibald Constable & Co. Retrieved from Internet Archive (Available online); accessed 12 March 2022.
• Findlater, Alex Maxwell. (2011). In E. Kennedy & F. Toolis (Eds.). Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society: Sir Enguerrand de Umfraville: His Life, Descent and Issue (Third ser., Vol. LXXXV). Retrieved from Internet Archive Wayback Machine (Available online); accessed 12 March 2022.
• People of Medieval Scotland 1093-1371.(Available online); accessed 12 March 2022.
• Thomson, Thomas. (1896). A History of the Scottish People From the Earliest Times (Vol. 1). Unknown Publisher. Retrieved from Internet Archive (Available online); accessed 12 March 2022

Sources

1. ↑ Nisbit, Alexander. (1816). A system of heraldry, speculative and practical, with the true art of blazon, according to the most approved heralds in Europe: illustrated with suitable examples of armoria figures, and achievements of the most considerable surnames and families in Scotland, together with historical and genealogical memorials relative thereto (Vol. II, pp. 77, 78). Edinburgh: W. Blackwood. Retrieved from Internet Archive (Available online); accessed 6 March 2022.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Balfour Paul, James. (1911). The Scots Peerage: Founded on Wood's ed. of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; Containing an Historical and Genealogical Account of the Nobility of that Kingdom (Vol. II, pp. 254-256). Edinburgh: D. Douglas. Retrieved from Internet Archive (Available online); accessed 12 March 2022.
3. ↑ Bain, Joseph. (1881) Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland Preserved in Her Majesty's Public Record Office, London (Vol. 2, p. 94, n. 369). Edinburgh: H. M. General Register House. Retrieved from Internet Archive (Available online); accessed 12 March 2022.
4. ↑ McMichael, Thomas. (1949). Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History & Antiquarian Society: Transactions and Journal of Proceedings 1947-48: The Feudal Family of De Soulis (p. 185). Dumfries: Council of the Society. Retrieved from (Available online); accessed 12 March 2022.
5. ↑ Balfour Paul, James. (1911). The Scots Peerage: Founded on Wood's ed. of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; Containing an Historical and Genealogical Account of the Nobility of that Kingdom (Vol. II, pp. 216, 217). Edinburgh: D. Douglas. Retrieved from Internet Archive (Available online); accessed 8 March 2022.
6. ↑ Richardson, Douglas. (2013). Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families (Vol. 1, p. 238). In Kimball G. Everingham (Ed.). Salt Lake City: Douglas Richardson. Retrieved from a personal copy of Lohbeck-3; accessed 8 March 2022.
7. ↑ Balfour Paul, James. (1911). The Scots Peerage: Founded on Wood's ed. of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; Containing an Historical and Genealogical Account of the Nobility of that Kingdom (Vol. II, p. 218). Edinburgh: D. Douglas. Retrieved from Internet Archive (Available online); accessed 12 March 2022.