Key Evidence

Three entries in the Calendar of State Papers appear to document the same Alexander Guthrie.

On 6 June 1551, the Scottish government requested an English safe conduct for Alexander Guthrie and David Forster, both burgesses of Edinburgh, with two companions. They were authorized to travel between the two realms for one year. The entry confirms Alexander’s civic status and intended cross-border movement but does not state the purpose of the journey.

On 21 October 1560, Thomas Randolph reported that it had been “written from Edinburgh by Alexander Guthrye” that Lord Sempill and the laird of Blaneherne had embarked at Dunbar for France. This establishes Alexander as the source or writer of that particular information. It does not prove that he composed Randolph’s letter or held a formal intelligence appointment.

On 28 July 1569, Alexander represented Edinburgh at the Convention held at Perth. He was one of three Edinburgh commissaries, alongside James Barroun and Alexander Clerk.

Cross-Source Evidence

Edinburgh records identify Alexander as a burgess and guild brother admitted on 10 January 1549 and subsequently as the burgh’s Common or Town Clerk. On 9 February 1579/80, he resigned the clerkship because of age and infirmity. His eldest son, Master Alexander Guthrie, succeeded him the following day.

Alexander married Jonet Henderson or Henryson. Their documented family included Master Alexander, his successor, and John Guthrie, later Clerk of South Leith. Alexander died in 1582; his testament was confirmed on 6 December 1583.

Genealogical Significance

The State Papers extend Alexander’s documented activities beyond routine civic administration. They place him in cross-border travel, the circulation of politically important news, and national burgh representation.

Later pedigrees connect him with Sir William Guthrie of Lunan, but the records reviewed do not identify his father or territorial origin. That ancestry remains unproven.

References

• Volume 1, page 186: safe conduct, 6 June 1551
• Volume 1, page 490: news written from Edinburgh, 21 October 1560
• Volume 2, page 664: commissioner at Perth, 28 July 1569
• Three Generations of Alexander Guthrie: Edinburgh’s Common Clerk Dynasty
• University of Edinburgh archival profile

Key Evidence

On 9 July 1565, Thomas Randolph commended two friends—Monsieur Montgomery and William Gutthrye—to William Cecil as they prepared to pass through England to France. One lived in France, while the other had business there for himself and friends, particularly Robert Steward. The passage also discusses permission to export several geldings, although its pronouns do not establish beyond doubt that William was the intended recipient of that privilege.

In October 1573, testimony concerning silver reportedly brought from England for the Laird of Grange named “Willie” or “Wille” Guthree. The deponent had not known at the time that Guthree brought silver but had heard the allegation afterward. Guthree had apparently allowed people to believe that he was in Aberdeen, while other information placed him in Berwick.

The deposition records an allegation, not a proven finding that William smuggled or transported silver.

Cross-Source Evidence

A potentially important earlier reference appears in the Calendar of State Papers, Foreign. On 15 October 1559, John Knox asked Anne Locke to forward a letter from his wife to William Guthrie at Dieppe.

If the Dieppe resident, Randolph’s traveler, and “Willie” Guthree were one man, the records document an internationally mobile William active from 1559 through 1573. His movements would encompass a French port, travel through England, business in France, Berwick, and Aberdeen.

The dates and international connections are compatible, but none of the entries provides an occupation, residence, relative, or territorial designation that proves the identification. Merchant, courier, political intermediary, and agent are possibilities—not documented occupations.

Genealogical Significance

A consolidated identity would establish a fourteen-year career within Scottish Protestant, diplomatic, commercial, or political networks. No evidence currently makes William a relative of Alexander Guthrie, Common Clerk of Edinburgh, merely because both men were connected with Edinburgh and Randolph.

Research Suggestions

Compare the original 1565 letter and 1573 examination for handwriting, omitted wording, associates, and endorsements. Dieppe records, English safe conducts, customs accounts, and correspondence concerning Robert Steward may supply identifying details.

References

• Volume 2, page 180: Randolph’s commendation, 9 July 1565
• Volume 4, page 620: examination concerning silver, October 1573
• State Papers Foreign: William Guthrie at Dieppe, 15 October 1559

Key Evidence

An English intelligence report concerning French affairs placed “Monsieur Gyttry” in the Beauce with 1,500 horsemen. The calendar states that he had taken Beaugency, an important Loire crossing. He appears in the same report as the Huguenot commander François de La Noue, who was operating in Bas-Poitou with infantry and cavalry.

The entry establishes the rendered name, military command, approximate date, and French location. It does not provide Gyttry’s forename, nationality, family, birthplace, or a Scottish connection.

Evidence Favoring a French Identification

French historical sources identify a contemporary Huguenot commander named Jean de Chaumont, sieur de Guitry. Guitry was a French territorial designation, and accounts of the religious wars place a Monsieur de Guitry among prominent French Protestant captains and within the same broad military movement as La Noue.

The forms Gyttry and Guitry are close, while the style “Monsieur,” the exclusively French setting, the large cavalry command, and Guitry’s documented military standing collectively favor this interpretation.

The available comparison does not yet independently attribute the precise seizure of Beaugency and command of 1,500 horsemen to Jean de Chaumont. The identification therefore should not be treated as conclusively proven.

Evidence Preserving the Guthrie Possibility

The spelling could be an English correspondent’s localized or phonetic rendering of Guthrie. Scottish Guthries are independently documented traveling and working in France: William Guthrie was at Dieppe in 1559, William Gutthrye was commended for travel to France in 1565, and Saunders Guttry was imprisoned at Dieppe in 1566.

Consequently, foreign location and French styling cannot by themselves exclude a Scottish officer. No known Scottish Guthrie has yet been connected with this particular cavalry command, however.

Genealogical Significance

If Gyttry were a Guthrie, the entry would document unusually prominent Scottish military service in France. If he were the sieur de Guitry, it remains a valuable example of how a genuine foreign name can resemble a Guthrie variant in English diplomatic papers.

Research Suggestions

Examine the original intelligence report for its spelling, handwriting, endorsements, and the correspondent’s treatment of other French names. French military narratives and Huguenot correspondence should be searched for the commander who occupied Beaugency with cavalry during the same period.

References

• Volume 5, pages 110–111: Monsieur Gyttry in the Beauce
• State Papers evidence for Guthries in France
• Historical discussion of Jean de Chaumont, sieur de Guitry
• Monsieur de Guitry among prominent French Protestant captains

Key Evidence

Among maritime claims collected in December 1587 was an account of an event dated 15 September 1575. An Amsterdam ship called The Abye, owned and commanded by Thomas Upton, was traveling from Hull toward Scotland when it was spoiled in Grimsby Road in the Humber.

The alleged attacker was John Hall of Newcastle, captain of The Falcon. English cloth and other merchandise valued at £200 were reportedly taken.

Three witnesses were named:

• Robert Anderson, aged 60
• Robert Guthrie, aged 40
• Andrew Gardiner, aged 40

Robert’s stated age places his approximate birth around 1535. The date applies to the reported maritime incident; the surviving calendar entry appears among material assembled or presented approximately twelve years later.

Genealogical Significance

The age is the entry’s strongest genealogical contribution. It provides a chronological marker by which Robert can be compared with other men of the same name.

His presence in the Humber connects him with an east-coast shipping event involving Hull, Newcastle, Amsterdam, and a Scotland-bound vessel. It does not establish that he was Scottish or that he was a mariner, merchant, passenger, cargo owner, or member of the ship’s crew. He may have witnessed the seizure from another vessel or from the anchorage.

No record presently identifies him securely with an Edinburgh, Angus, Arbroath, or landed Guthrie family.

Research Suggestions

The original claim, related depositions, admiralty proceedings, and customs records for Hull, Grimsby, Leith, and other Scottish east-coast ports may identify the witnesses’ residences or occupations.

References

• Volume 9, page 511: Robert Guthrie and the spoiling of The Abye
• Close Rolls and State Papers: full entry and maritime context

Key Evidence

In November 1586, David Stewart of Vezines appeared before William Makartney and William Rutherfurde, bailies and magistrates of Leith, and “John Guthré, our notary.”

Stewart executed a bond acknowledging assistance received from Thomas Murray while Stewart had been detained in Edinburgh during the plague. The instrument provided for repayment in France and survives in a French copy.

John’s role was legal and administrative: he authenticated the proceeding as the Leith magistrates’ notary. The entry does not merely place a man named John Guthrie near Leith; it identifies his profession and his official association with its magistrates.

Cross-Source Evidence

Edinburgh burgh records securely place John within the Common Clerk family. On 10 February 1579/80, he was identified as the brother of Master Alexander Guthrie, who had just succeeded their father as Common Clerk. John and William Stewart were appointed the new clerk’s deputes.

On 30 December 1580, John received the clerkship of South Leith. His surviving protocol books cover 9 June 1579 through 26 April 1593, providing more than thirteen years of documented notarial activity. The agreement of name, occupation, location, and date securely identifies the State Papers notary with this John Guthrie.

John later served as Clerk of the Burghs. Illness interfered with his duties during 1593, when his brother Alexander assisted with his work. John was still recognized in office on 12 September 1593. His testament, describing him as clerk in Leith, was confirmed on 2 September 1596.

Genealogical Significance

The combined evidence places John in the following documented family:

• Alexander Guthrie, first-generation Common Clerk of Edinburgh
  • Master Alexander Guthrie, eldest son and succeeding Common Clerk
  • John Guthrie, brother of Master Alexander and Clerk of South Leith

• Master Alexander Guthrie, eldest son and succeeding Common Clerk
• John Guthrie, brother of Master Alexander and Clerk of South Leith

Jonet Henderson or Henryson was the elder Alexander’s widow, but the available evidence does not expressly state that she was John’s mother.

Research Suggestions

John’s original testament should be examined for a spouse, children, executors, property, debts, and other relatives not included in the published abstract.

References

• Volume 9, page 177: John Guthré acting as notary, November 1586
• John Guthrie, Clerk and Notary of Leith
• Close Rolls and State Papers: the Stewart of Vezines bond

Key Evidence

A civic letter sent from Edinburgh to William Cecil, Lord Burghley, sought redress for the spoiling of the Leith ship Thomas by English actors. The document was signed by Edinburgh officials, including the provost, treasurer, Dean of Guild, bailies, and a Guthrie.

The surviving transcription renders the final name as “L. Guthre,” while the published volume index records “Guthrie [Alexander?], Town Clerk of Edinburgh, 403.” The index therefore supplies both a probable forename and an office, while retaining editorial uncertainty.

“Guthrie [Alexander?], Town Clerk of Edinburgh, 403.”

The question mark indicates editorial uncertainty, but the index supplies both a probable forename and an office. The placement of Guthrie’s name after the listed bailies may also represent the clerk’s authentication of the civic letter rather than another unnamed magistracy.

Cross-Source Evidence

The first-generation Alexander Guthrie had resigned the common clerkship on 9 February 1579/80 and died in 1582. His eldest son, Master Alexander Guthrie, was appointed his successor on 10 February 1579/80.

The younger Alexander therefore held the appropriate office at the time of the State Papers letter. His documented responsibilities included service as Common Clerk, Procurator Fiscal, General Clerk of the Burghs, assessor, commissioner, and custodian of civic records. He remained active through at least November 1619.

The date and office rule out his deceased father. They also precede the effective service of the third-generation Alexander, who did not receive a joint grant of the clerkship until 1608.

Genealogical Significance

Correct identification preserves the distinction among three successive generations:

• Alexander Guthrie, elder, first Common Clerk; died 1582
• Master Alexander Guthrie, his eldest son and successor; active through 1619
• Master Alexander Guthrie, grandson of the first; later joint Common Clerk

The entry extends the second Alexander’s documented work into Edinburgh’s international commercial and diplomatic correspondence.

Research Suggestions

The original State Paper and any surviving Edinburgh draft or council authorization should be examined to determine whether the initial is A, L, or merely an abbreviated clerk’s signature.

References

• Volume 10, page 403: Edinburgh’s appeal concerning the ship Thomas
• Volume 10 index: “Guthrie [Alexander?], Town Clerk of Edinburgh”
• Three Generations of Alexander Guthrie: Edinburgh’s Common Clerk Dynasty