Urquhart of Cromarty

Date: 15 May 2019 [unknown]
Location: Cromartyshire, Scotland
Surname/tag: Urquhart

This Space profile is dedicated to the Urquhart Sheriff's of Cromartyshire in Scotland as an additional section to the Urquhart Name Study.

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Contents 1 Introduction 2 Sir Thomas Urquhart the Genealogist 3 Sources 4 Acknowledgements

Introduction

Urquhart is an ancient Scottish family name of great antiquity. Often with several spellings of the name, including Airchart-dan, Urchoden, Urchardan, Urchadainn, de Urchard, Orchoden, de Urquhartt, Urquhard, Urchard, Hurchard, Wrghward and Wruhurt.

Urquhart was most certainly, originally a place-name, as early members of the family were often described as "de Urquhart." There are several place-names. Urquhart Castle on Loch_Ness in the Scottish Highlands, the parish of Urquhart near Elgin, where there was a Priory. and Urquhart Parish in the Black Isle. There is also a place of the name in Fife

• Urquhart, A fairly common place name occurring 12th - 14th century, as Urchard. Also seen as Airchartan,

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Urquhart of Cromarty.

The Urquhart's of Cromarty, who began as the head of the family, owned the greater part of the shire in the Black Isle and also property in Ross, Inverness, Aberdeen, Nairn, Moray and Banff shires.

The office of Hereditary Sheriff of the shire of Cromarty was vested in them from the days of Robert the Bruce, and they possessed the "privilege of Admiralty" along the eastern coast of Scotland from Caithness to Inverness. The Urquhart family held the Sheriffship almost uninterrupted from 1357 until 1747 when because of the Jacobite Risings, heritable jurisdictions were abolished.

The first to have taken this surname appears to be WIlliam Urquhart and the first recorded charters are dated in 1338 and 1349 in favour of Adam Urquhart who is also listed in the first volume of the Register of the Great Seal. vis, :de officero vicecomitis de Crumberthe," dated 18th November 1358.

William Urquhart and Lilias Ross

William and Lilias Urquhart were the parents of Adam Urquhart.

William apparently also married Violet Cumyn, possibly the daughter of John Comyn, Earl of Buchan and Isabel, daughter of Duncan, Earl of Fyfe.^[1]

Adam Urquhart and Brigida Fleming

Adam and Bridgida Urquhart were the parents of John Urquhart.

Electric Scotland makes reference to charters referring to alternate charters between an Alexander and an Adam Urquhart and decides that there must be three generations in the period that Adam was sheriff.^[2]

John Urquhart and Agnes Ramsay

John Urquhart and Agnes Ramsay were the parents of William, the next Sheriff, Thomas, keeper of Tarnua (Darnaway Castle) and Helen Urquhart.

William Urquhart of Cromarty and Susanna Forbes

William and Susanna Urquhart were the parents of Alexander Urquhart and also William Urquhart d. d.s.p. and who married Mariota Rose of the Kilravock family.

Thomas Urquhart of Burdsyards and Florence Dunbar

Thomas and Florence Urquhart had a daughter Jean Urquhart who married George Cumine of Pitullie

Helen Urquhart who married Thomas Baird

• There is also a reference to Walter Urquhart, Parson of Kiltearne in a charter in 1439.^[3] who probably belongs in or about this generation.

Alexander Urquhart and Katherine Ogilvie

Alexander and Katherine Urquhart were the parents of Thomas Urquhart of Fisherie, John and Agnes Urquhart.

John Urquhart

Agnes Urquhart who married Hugh Rose

Thomas Urquhart of Fischerie, Laird of Cromarty This is the Thomas who married Helen Abernethy and this couple apparently had 25 sons and 11 daughters. There is no proof of this. Helen was possible as young as 15 when she married Thomas. If they had a child every two years they could have had 25 by the time Helen was 50. It is much more likely that they had 14 sons and 11 daughters. The likelihood of twins would help to contribute to the large family.

Children

1 Alexander Urquhart of Cromarty who married Beatrice Innes.

2 Thomas Urquhart of Davidson who married Christian Murray

3 John Urquhart who went to Sweden.

4 David Urquhart of Inverethy or Inverethey.

5 James Urquhart who died at Pinkie.

6 Henry Urquhart who died at Pinkie.

7 Arthur Urquhart who died at Pinkie.

8 Name Not Known Son Urquhart who died at Pinkie and was the father of Isabell Urquhart who married Thomas Meldrum.

9 Name Not Known Three other sons who died at Pinkie.

12 Name Not Known Probably Three other sons.

15 Elizabeth Urquhart m1) John Vaus m2) William Denune.

16 Helen Urquhart.

17 Margaret Urquhart.

18 Christina Urquhart who married Malcolm MacLeod of Lewis.

19 Mariobella Urquhart who married Murdoch MacKenzie 1545.

20 Agnes Urquhart who married James Innes of Toux, (brother of Beatrix who married Agnes's brother, above) 1547.

21 Catherine Urquhart who married Andrew Monro of Milntown c 1568. Their son married Christian daughter of Walter Urquhart, son of Alexander and Beatrix Urquhart, above. and Elizabeth Mackenzie

22 Name Not Known Probably Four other daughters.

Thomas Urquhart of Davidson

Second son of Thomas Urquhart of Fisherie.

Alexander Urquhart and Beatrix Innes

1 Walter Urquhart who married Elizabeth Mackenzie of Kintail.

2 Thomas Urquhart of Craighouse

3 Arthur Urquhart of Balblair

4 James Urquhart

5 Agnes Urquhart

6 Elizabeth Urquhart m William Fraser of Struy.

7 John Urquhart of Craigfintray, also known as the Tutor.

8 others.

Walter Urquhart and Elizabeth Mackenzie

1 Thomas Urquhart who married Elspeth Abernathy

Henry Urquhart and Elizabeth Ogilvie Second son of Walter Urquhart and father of Sir Thomas Urquhart.

Sir Thomas Urquhart and Christian Elphinstone Son of Henry and father of The Great Sir Thomas Urquhart.

1 Elizabeth Urquhart who married John Campbell of Calder

2 Jean Urquhart who married Alexander Abercrombie of Birkenbog.

3 Sir Thomas Urquhart the Genealogist.

4 Alexander Urquhart who married Jean Elphinstone.

5 Anne Urquhart who married Alexander Strachan of Glenkindie

6 Margaret Urquhart who married John Irvine of Brucklay.

7 George Urquhart died young

8 John Urquhart of Tillebo who married Anna Gairdyne.

9 Helen Urquhart who married Sir James Gordon of of Lesmoir.

10 Henry Urquhart

11 Mary Urquhart married Innes.

12 Name Not Known Urquhart daughter, possibly Catherine.

13 James Urquhart

14 William Urquhart

John Urquhart the Tutor

Sir Thomas Urquhart the Genealogist

• Famous for his "Urquhart Family Tree" and his many publications.
• Page 6 of the History of the Family of Urquhart says that the edition of Sir Thomas's pedigree issued in Edinburgh in 1774 was printed from a copy published in Sir Thomas's lifetime, anno 1652. Also on page 6 there is reference to the Lord Lyon of 1774 stating that the first authentic Urquhart was George Urquhart of Cromarty born 1215, whose son James Urquhart married Sophia, daughter of Macduff, Earl of Fife. No charters for the family exist until Adam Urquhart.

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Back to⇉

⇉Urquhart Name Study⇉ ⇉ The Davidston Urquhart Line⇉ ⇉The Meldrum Urquhart Line⇉ ⇉ The Craigston Urquhart Line⇉ ⇉ The Urquhart of Burdsyards Line⇉

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Sources

1. ↑ http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/manxsoc/msvol10/apx_d.htm
2. ↑ https://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/stoz/urquhar3.html
3. ↑ Macfarlane's Genealogical Collections. Vol. 2. pg.347.

See Also:

• Aberdeenshire Epitaphs..555pgs.
• Temple, W. (1894). The Thanage of Fermartyn, including the district commonly called Formartine, its proprietors, with genealogical deductions; its parishes, ministers, Churches, churchyards, antiquities,. Aberdeen: Wyllie, p 691-699.

Acknowledgements