Maria (Johnston) Ayre

Ancestors

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Contents

Introduction

James (Jim) Johnston's favourite story was that he was descended from Scottish horse thieves who were given the choice to join in on the Ulster Plantations or face hanging in Scotland. This story is told in; 'My Kingdom for a Horse' by Thomas Mark Johnston https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Johnston-20584 (1).

The Ulster Plantation: Origins in Scotland

The exact origins of the Johnston family are complicated when one takes into account the large numbers of both Irish and Scottish septs who share the names Johnston and Johnson.

However the Donegal, Fermanagh South Tyrone Johnstons were of the Scottish border reiver (border raider) family of that name.

In Scotland the Johnston name also has a number of origins. The city of Perth for instance was often called St Johnston and families took their name from that. Another was the lands of Jonystoun in East Lothian.

The Johnstons of Anandale

By far the largest and most important of these families were the Johnstons of Annandale in Dumfriesshire, one of the great riding clans of the Scottish Borders. It is this family, scattered by James VI of Scotland (James I of England) who are the source of most of the “true” Ulster Johnstons. Their ferocity (they were known as “The gentle Johnstons) made it possible for them together with their former fellow border reivers neighbours the Elliotts and the Armstrongs, to survive the 1641 rebellion which drove out other more faint hearted families. (2).

The Wider Johnston Family.

The Johnston name has many spellings. On the family history search, it has changed spelling over the generations and centuries. What previously were thought to be separate branches are now believed to be interlinked. It has been noted that it has been spelled as it sounded and this led to the spelling differences. Not to mention the earlier De Johnstons, eg, Johnston-8731 Stephen (Johnston) de Johnston (4) and DeJOHNSTON-5 Gilbert DeJOHNSTON, (5), indicating a Norman Ancestry among others, including Viking and Northumbrian bloodlines. Variations of the name include: Bevan, Giannitelli, Giannopoulos, Hanson, Hansson, Hovannesian, Hovannesyan, Hovhannisian, Hovhannisyan, I'Anson, Ioannidis, Ioannou, Ivanenko, Ivanić, Ivanov, Ivanović, Ivanovski, Janavičius, Jānsons, Janowicz, JansenI, Jansons/Jansone, Janssen, Jensen, Johansson, Johns, Johnston, De Johnston, Johnstone, Jonavičius, Jonson, Jonsson, Jónsson, Johnsson, Jones, Jovanović, Mac Eoin, MacIain, Mac Seáin, McKeown, McKeon, McLachlan (3). This is testimony to the success and proliferation of the wider Johnston family.

Biography

Maria was born in 1971. She was the daughter of Jim Johnston and Greta Given. She passed away about 2018.

Sources

• Church records

1. My Kingdom for a Horse by Thomas Mark Johnston, Available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Kingdom-Horse-Thomas-Johnston-ebook/dp/B0BP42Z2K2/ref=sr_1_5?crid=7N6XHRTCYPPB&keywords=my+kingdom+for+a+horse&qid=1670322189&sprefix=my+kingdom+for+a+hors%2Caps%2C781&sr=8-5

2. Origins in Ulster :Scottish Plantation. Johnston. Ulster Ancestry. http://www.ulsterancestry.com/free/ShowFreePage-42.html#gsc.tab=0 (Accessed 22 December 2020).

3. Wikipedia. Johnson. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson (accessed 25 December 2020).

4. Stephen Johnston De Johnston. Wiki Tree Profile. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Johnston-8731 (accessed 25 December 2020).

5. Gilbert DeJOHNSTON. Wiki Tree Profile. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/DeJOHNSTON-5 (accessed 25 December 2020).