Fasti, pt. 2
Discovering the Guthries Behind the Records
Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ gives us names, ministries, marriages, deaths, and family connections scattered across eleven volumes. The real fun begins when those clues are brought together with parish registers, wills, charters, sasines, family papers, contemporary diaries, and the other records collected throughout Guthrie Genealogy.
These Research Sketches take a closer look at the Guthries who emerge from those pages. Some were ministers and bishops, others lairds, merchants, wives, daughters, or members of family groups whose relationships are revealed only when several records are compared.
If one of these Guthries appears in your family tree, the sketch is intended as a starting place for discovering who that person was, where they fit within the wider Guthrie family, and what the surviving records can actually tell us about their life and descendants.
Along the way, we will also encounter a few genealogical mysteries. Old pedigrees do not always agree with the contemporary records, people with the same name are easily confused, and some family traditions remain tantalizingly unproven. Where questions remain, they are included here as part of the story—and perhaps as clues for the next researcher to follow.
John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray
c.1577–1649
At a Glance
Family and Ancestry
John Guthrie was a son of Patrick Guthrie, goldsmith of St Andrews, and Margaret Raitt. His family belonged to the Guthries associated with Hiltoun, placing him within the wider Guthrie kinship network long before he became proprietor of the ancestral estate of Guthrie.
John did not inherit Guthrie directly from his father. The estate passed through a complicated series of transactions involving several members and branches of the family before Peter Guthrie conveyed the lands and barony to Bishop John in 1636.
Genealogical distinction: Bishop John belonged by birth to the Hiltoun family. His later place in the succession of the Guthries of Guthrie came through his acquisition of the estate rather than through direct father-to-son inheritance of the barony.
John and Nicolas Wood
John married Nicolas or Nicholas Wood. An original marriage record has not yet been identified, but contemporary records allow much of their family to be reconstructed.
| Child | Documentary evidence | Later history |
|---|---|---|
| John Guthrie | Documented son of Bishop John; became a minister | Minister of Keith and later Duffus. Married Anna Innes on 26 December 1626 and had at least one daughter, Nicolas Guthrie. Died at Guthrie on 8 June 1643. |
| Patrick Guthrie | Identified in 1631 as the bishop’s second son; styled “fiar of that ilk” on 28 September 1643 | He was therefore alive in September 1643 and then stood as the apparent successor to Guthrie. Because he did not succeed Bishop John in 1649, the evidence strongly suggests that he died before his father. |
| Andrew Guthrie | Identified as the bishop’s third son | Joined the Royalist forces of the Marquis of Montrose and was executed for treason at St Andrews on 20 January 1646. |
| Margaret Guthrie | A 1628 marriage contract identifies her as a daughter of John, Bishop of Moray | Married David Collace, minister of Kinneddar and Drainie. |
| Nicola / Nicolas Guthrie | Her marriage contract identifies her as a daughter of Bishop John | Married Joseph Brodie, minister first at Keith and later at Forres. |
| Bathiah / Bethia Guthrie | Baptised at Edinburgh on 27 July 1623, daughter of Mr John Guthrie and Nicolas Wood | Married Francis Guthrie of Gagie on 4 May 1647. Through this marriage the estate connection passed into the Gagie branch. |
What about Lucretia? A daughter named Lucretia Guthrie appears in later pedigrees, but she has not yet been documented with the same quality of contemporary evidence as Margaret, Nicola, or Bathiah. Her identity remains a separate research question.
A Brother’s Eyewitness Account
One of the most valuable sources for Bishop John’s family is the surviving diary of his brother, Rev. James Guthrie, minister of Arbirlot. Rather than preserving a later family tradition, James recorded events involving people he knew personally.
On the death of Nicolas Wood, he wrote:
“2 July 1645 in ye evening being wednesday my brother his wyff, Nicolas Wood, dyed in Guthrie, and was buried 4 July in ye Ile of ye Kirk of Guthrie. Pretious in ye sight of ye Lord is the death of his saints.”
Nicolas therefore died at Guthrie on 2 July 1645 and was buried two days later in the aisle of the Kirk of Guthrie.
Four years later James recorded the bishop’s death:
“My brother Mr Jhonne Guthrie late Bishop of Murray, dyed in Guthrie on tuesday 23. August at 10 hours 1649. He was buried beside his wyff. I closed his eyes.”
Few surviving genealogical records bring us this close to a seventeenth-century family. Bishop John died at Guthrie on 23 August 1649, was buried beside Nicolas, and his brother James recorded that he had personally been with him at the end: “I closed his eyes.”
From Parish Minister to Bishop of Moray
John graduated M.A. from the University of St Andrews in 1597 and became reader at Arbroath that same year. He was admitted minister of Kinnell in 1599 and translated to Arbirlot in 1603.
His career then carried him beyond Angus. He was translated to Perth in 1617 and later served at St Giles in Edinburgh. His rise through the Scottish church culminated in his appointment as Bishop of Moray in 1623.
John became closely identified with royal episcopal church policy during one of the most turbulent periods in seventeenth-century Scotland. His support for Episcopacy eventually brought him into direct conflict with the Covenanters.
The Glasgow Assembly deposed him in 1638. Following resistance centered on Spynie, he was captured in 1640 and imprisoned in Edinburgh. He was later released under restrictions and eventually retired to Guthrie.
Becoming Guthrie of Guthrie
For family historians, John’s acquisition of the ancestral estate may be even more significant than his ecclesiastical career.
In 1636, Bishop John acquired the lands and barony of Guthrie from his kinsman Peter Guthrie. This was not a straightforward hereditary succession. The estate had moved through several members of the wider family during the preceding years.
For purposes of distinguishing the succession, Guthrie Genealogy counts Bishop John as 11th of Guthrie. This numbering is a modern genealogical reconstruction rather than a title used in the contemporary records.
Patrick as apparent heir: On 28 September 1643, Patrick Guthrie was styled “fiar of that ilk” when he presented Patrick Lyell to the kirk of Guthrie. The record shows that Patrick was alive at that date and occupied the position of apparent successor to his father in the estate.
The succession nevertheless changed before Bishop John’s death. Patrick did not become Guthrie of Guthrie when his father died in August 1649. Instead, the estate connection continued through Patrick’s sister Bathiah Guthrie and her husband Francis Guthrie of Gagie.
Likely death of Patrick Guthrie: No death record for Patrick has yet been located. His designation as fiar of that ilk in September 1643, followed by his failure to succeed his father in 1649 and the subsequent descent through Bathiah, strongly suggests that Patrick died between 28 September 1643 and 23 August 1649. This remains a reconstruction from the succession evidence rather than a directly documented death date.
Bathiah had married Francis Guthrie of Gagie on 4 May 1647. Their marriage became genealogically important because it joined Bishop John’s connection with the barony to another established male Guthrie line.
Why Bathiah matters: Bishop John belonged by birth to the Hiltoun branch. Bathiah’s marriage to Francis Guthrie of Gagie created the bridge through which their descendants continued the principal Guthrie of Guthrie succession.
The Margaret–Lucretia Question
Later pedigrees sometimes name Lucretia Guthrie as a daughter of Bishop John, and some accounts appear to place her where contemporary records identify Margaret Guthrie.
Margaret rests on considerably firmer evidence. A 1628 marriage contract identifies Margaret Guthrie explicitly as a daughter of John, Bishop of Moray, and as the wife of David Collace.
The Collace family itself later contains the name Lucretia, creating a plausible opportunity for names or generations to have become confused in later genealogical accounts.
Current evidence:
Margaret Guthrie — Documented.
Lucretia Guthrie — Unproven as a separate daughter of Bishop John.
Lucretia should therefore not be substituted for Margaret as David Collace’s wife. Whether she was another daughter of Bishop John or entered later pedigrees through conflation remains unresolved.
Was James Guthrie, the Covenanter Martyr, His Son?
A persistent genealogical claim identifies Rev. James Guthrie, minister of Stirling, as a son of Bishop John.
The surviving evidence reviewed for this project does not establish that relationship.
Some early accounts describe James of Stirling as a son of a laird of Guthrie, but they do not identify Bishop John specifically. Later genealogies appear to have converted this uncertain description into a precise father-and-son relationship without providing contemporary documentation.
The chronology creates an additional problem. Bishop John did not acquire the Guthrie estate until 1636, long after James of Stirling was born. A statement that James was the son of a “laird of Guthrie” therefore cannot automatically be interpreted as identifying Bishop John.
Current conclusion: Rev. James Guthrie of Stirling should not be included among Bishop John’s children unless independent documentary evidence establishing the relationship is discovered. His ancestry is considered separately in his own Research Sketch.
Genealogical Conclusions
- John Guthrie was a documented son of Patrick Guthrie, goldsmith of St Andrews, and Margaret Raitt.
- His birth family belonged to the Hiltoun branch of the wider Guthrie family.
- He married Nicolas Wood, and several of their children can be independently documented in contemporary records.
- Margaret, Nicola, and Bathiah are securely supported as daughters of Bishop John.
- Patrick and Andrew are independently identified by their positions among the bishop’s sons.
- Patrick was living on 28 September 1643 and was styled “fiar of that ilk,” showing that he was then the apparent successor to Guthrie.
- Because Patrick did not succeed his father in 1649 and the estate instead descended through Bathiah, the available evidence strongly suggests that Patrick died between September 1643 and August 1649.
- The status of Lucretia Guthrie as a separate daughter remains unproven.
- Bishop John acquired the lands and barony of Guthrie in 1636; he did not inherit them directly from his father.
- Bathiah Guthrie’s marriage to Francis Guthrie of Gagie joined the bishop’s estate connection with the branch whose descendants continued the principal Guthrie of Guthrie succession.
- No satisfactory documentary evidence presently establishes James Guthrie, minister of Stirling, as Bishop John’s son.
- The diary of John’s brother Rev. James Guthrie of Arbirlot provides unusually personal contemporary evidence for the deaths and burials of Nicolas Wood and Bishop John.
Questions Still to Explore
- Can an original marriage record or marriage contract for John Guthrie and Nicolas Wood be located?
- Can a death, testament, sasine, or other record be found for Patrick Guthrie between September 1643 and August 1649?
- Can Lucretia Guthrie be independently documented as another daughter of Bishop John?
- Can the descendants of Margaret Guthrie and David Collace clarify how the name Lucretia entered later family pedigrees?
- Can the descendants of Nicola Guthrie and Joseph Brodie be reconstructed more fully?
- What was the original source for the later claim that James Guthrie of Stirling was a son of Bishop John?
Sources and Further Reading
- Hew Scott, Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ — entries relating to John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray, his ministries, and members of his family.
- National Records of Scotland, GD188 — Records of the Guthrie Family of Guthrie, including marriage-contract and family material relating to Bishop John and his children.
- National Records of Scotland, GD188/14/1 — presentation dated 28 September 1643 by Patrick Guthrie, fiar of that ilk, in favour of Patrick Lyell to the kirk of Guthrie.
- Diary of Rev. James Guthrie, Minister of Arbirlot, Dundee Archives, BRMS 3/DC/46 — contemporary accounts of the deaths and burials of Nicolas Wood and Bishop John Guthrie.
- Records of the Parliaments of Scotland — proceedings associated with Bishop John Guthrie and his son Andrew.
- Guthrie Genealogy, Guthries of Guthrie.
- Guthrie Genealogy, Guthrie of Gagie.
- Guthrie Genealogy — related Special Collections and Research & Resources material.
William Guthrie, Minister of Fenwick
c.1620–1665
At a Glance
Family and Ancestry
William Guthrie was the eldest son of James Guthrie of Pitforthie and Janet Lyon of Easter Ogil. His father was the documented son of William Guthrie of Kingennie and Elizabeth Fethie, providing William with a traceable paternal ancestry through the Guthries formerly associated with Kingennie.
The surviving records do not establish that the Kingennie paternal line was a cadet branch of the Guthries of Guthrie. A separate family tradition places Guthrie-of-Guthrie ancestry in the maternal line through Janet Lyon’s mother, who was said to have been a daughter of Guthrie of that Ilk.
Genealogical distinction: William’s documented paternal line leads through Pitforthie to Kingennie. The reported connection to the Guthries of Guthrie belongs to his maternal ancestry and should not be used to represent the Kingennie line as a proven cadet branch.
William and Agnes Campbell
William married Agnes Campbell in August 1645. She was a daughter of David Campbell of Skeldon in the parish of Dalrymple. The Fenwick parish registers identify six children born to William and Agnes.
| Child | Parish evidence | Later history |
|---|---|---|
| Margaret Guthrie | Baptized 12 April 1648 | Buried 7 July 1649 |
| Agnes Guthrie | Baptized 14 September 1651 | Married Matthew Miller of Glenlee in 1671 |
| William Guthrie | Baptized 21 August 1653 | Buried 5 April 1655 |
| Mary Guthrie | Baptized 8 July 1655 | Married the Rev. Patrick Warner in December 1681 |
| Elizabeth Guthrie | Baptized 30 July 1656 | Buried 8 February 1658 |
| John Guthrie | Baptized 19 September 1658 | Died young; apparently the John Guthrie buried 13 June 1662 |
Margaret’s burial: The Scotland’s People search index renders the parent’s name in the 7 July 1649 burial entry incorrectly. Examination of the original register shows the familiar abbreviation “Wm Guthrie”, identifying Margaret as the daughter of William Guthrie.
An early memoir of William independently states that six children were born to the couple but that only two daughters survived him. These were Agnes, wife of Matthew Miller of Glenlee, and Mary, wife of the Rev. Patrick Warner.
William therefore left no surviving male Guthrie line. Documented descent from William and Agnes must continue through Agnes Miller or Mary Warner.
Education and Ministry
William received the degree of Master of Arts from the University of St Andrews on 5 June 1638. He studied philosophy under James Guthrie, later minister of Stirling, and divinity under Samuel Rutherford.
He was licensed to preach in August 1642 and subsequently served as tutor or governor to the eldest son of John Campbell, Earl of Loudoun. After preaching at Galston, William received a call to the newly established parish of Fenwick and was ordained there on 7 November 1644.
His ministry became associated with practical religious instruction and pastoral work among his parishioners. His best-known and securely attributed publication is The Christian’s Great Interest, which circulated widely in Scotland and beyond.
Removal from Fenwick
William’s ministry at Fenwick ended during the Restoration settlement of the Scottish church. His suspension was intimated on 20 July 1664, followed by his deprivation on 24 July 1664 after he declined to conform to Episcopacy.
The suspension and deprivation were related but distinct events and should retain their separate dates.
Pitforthie and the Family Estate
Later biographical accounts sometimes simplify the Pitforthie succession as a voluntary transfer from William to his younger brother David. The surviving legal record describes a more complicated process.
On 9 August 1653, Pitforthie was judicially apprised from William, acting for himself and as charged to enter heir to his deceased father, James Guthrie of Pitforthie. The proceeding took place at the instance of Robert Arbuthnott. The resulting decree was assigned to William’s brother David.
On 27 July 1655, the Protector granted Pitforthie to David Guthrie, expressly identifying him as a lawful son of the deceased James Guthrie of Pitforthie.
Property conclusion: David’s acquisition followed an apprising decree and its assignment to him. The legal record does not support describing the transaction simply as William voluntarily making over the estate to his brother.
Final Return to Angus
An early memoir states that the death of one of William’s brothers brought him back to Angus in 1665. The brother is not named. He cannot have been David Guthrie, who remained alive for many years afterward, and the available evidence does not justify assigning the statement to another particular brother.
William died at Brechin on 10 October 1665 in the manse of his brother-in-law, the Rev. Laurence Skinner. Skinner was married to William’s sister Margaret Guthrie.
William was buried in Brechin Cathedral, where the memoir places his grave “under Pitforthy’s desk.”
Genealogical Conclusions
- William belonged to the documented Kingennie-to-Pitforthie family line.
- His parents were James Guthrie of Pitforthie and Janet Lyon of Easter Ogil.
- He and Agnes Campbell had six children documented in the Fenwick parish registers.
- Only their daughters Agnes and Mary are known to have survived into adulthood.
- William left no surviving male Guthrie line.
- Pitforthie passed to his brother David through an apprising decree and subsequent legal grant rather than through a simple voluntary conveyance.
- The brother whose death reportedly brought William back to Angus in 1665 remains unidentified.
Sources and Further Reading
- Hew Scott, Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, Volume III, especially pages 93–94, 100, and 373. Read Volume III.
- National Records of Scotland, Fenwick Old Parish Register of Births and Baptisms, parish number 592/10, pages 10, 12, 14, 16, and 19.
- National Records of Scotland, Fenwick Old Parish Register of Deaths and Burials, parish number 592/50, pages 57, 61, 64, and 70.
- Select Biographies, Volume II, early memoir of William Guthrie. Read the volume.
- William Guthrie, The Christian’s Great Interest. Read at HathiTrust.
- Register of the Great Seal under the Commonwealth, charter 450, 27 July 1655. View the charter entry.
- Guthrie Genealogy, Guthrie of Kingennie and Pitforthie.
James Guthrie, Minister of Stirling
c.1612–1661
At a Glance
James and Jane Ramsay
James Guthrie married Jane Ramsay, who was associated with the Ramsays of Shielhill. Although James became one of the best-known Covenanter ministers of his generation, the surviving genealogy of his own household is surprisingly small.
Two children are presently documented:
| Child | Evidence | Later history |
|---|---|---|
| William Guthrie | Identified in the Edinburgh death record as the son of the late Rev. James Guthrie, minister of Stirling | Born about 1656–1657; died at Edinburgh on 14 April 1674. No wife or children have been documented. |
| Sophia Guthrie | Documented daughter of James Guthrie and Jane Ramsay | Survived her father and later appears with her mother in government proceedings associated with prohibited Covenanter literature. Her eventual fate remains uncertain. |
Jane survived her husband and continued to experience the consequences of his political and religious position. She and Sophia were later caught up in government proceedings involving prohibited Covenanter literature. Jane died in 1673 and was buried at Greyfriars, Edinburgh.
Male-line conclusion: James’s son William died young in 1674, and no marriage or children have been documented for him. There is therefore no presently documented surviving paternal Guthrie line from Rev. James Guthrie of Stirling. Any demonstrated surviving descent would currently have to be sought through Sophia, unless additional children are discovered.
Education, Ministry, and the Covenanting Struggle
James studied at the University of St Andrews, where he became a regent and taught philosophy. One of the students associated with him there was his younger relative William Guthrie, later minister of Fenwick.
James entered the ministry at Lauder and was later translated to Stirling. During the political and religious struggles of the 1640s and 1650s, he became increasingly prominent in national church affairs and emerged as an important figure among the Protesters within the divided Church of Scotland.
After the Restoration of Charles II, his previous political and ecclesiastical activities placed him in direct conflict with the restored government. Proceedings against him culminated in a conviction for treason.
James was executed at the Cross of Edinburgh on 1 June 1661. His body was buried at Greyfriars, while his head was placed on public display at the Netherbow Port.
James’s trial, writings, and role in the Covenanting movement have generated an extensive historical literature. For Guthrie genealogy, however, the more difficult question is much more basic: Who were his parents?
The Parentage Problem
James was probably born about 1612, but no secure baptismal record identifying his parents has yet been located.
Early biographical accounts repeatedly describe him as a son of a laird of Guthrie. Unfortunately, that wording is not precise enough to identify a particular father. Several Guthrie men were associated with the estate during the relevant period, and later genealogists have sometimes treated “the laird of Guthrie” as though only one possible man could have been intended.
What is actually established? No contemporary record reviewed so far directly names James Guthrie’s father. The competing identifications must therefore be judged as hypotheses rather than established pedigree.
Was Alexander Guthrie, 6th of Guthrie, His Father?
Alexander Guthrie, 6th of Guthrie, married Jean Leighton of Ulishaven. The reconstructed succession indicates that Alexander left no surviving male issue, after which the family position passed to his brother William Guthrie of Memus.
That succession evidence makes Alexander a poor candidate for James’s father unless new documentation materially changes the reconstruction.
Current assessment: Alexander Guthrie is not presently a credible father for James Guthrie of Stirling.
Was Bishop John Guthrie His Father?
Modern online pedigrees frequently identify John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray, as James’s father.
The evidence reviewed for Bishop John does not support that relationship. His family can now be reconstructed from several contemporary records, and James does not appear among his documented children.
There is also a chronological problem with using the phrase “son of a laird of Guthrie” to identify the bishop. Bishop John did not acquire the barony of Guthrie until 1636, many years after James was born.
Current assessment: The identification of Bishop John as James Guthrie’s father is unsupported and should not be included in James’s pedigree without new documentary evidence.
The William Guthrie of Memus Possibility
Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ preserves a more specific proposed ancestry connecting James with William Guthrie of Memus. This is potentially important because it moves beyond the vague description “son of a laird of Guthrie.”
The difficulty is that the underlying document cited for this relationship has not yet been available for direct examination. The claim therefore remains unverified.
One major objection to it, however, can now be removed.
Later genealogical literature, including Burke’s nineteenth-century pedigree, states that William Guthrie of Memus had “no male issue.” Contemporary evidence proves otherwise.
A bond dated 28 October 1630, NRS GD205/22/48, identifies Alexander Guthrie as the eldest son of William Guthrie of Memess and also names William’s daughter Annas Guthrie.
The Forfar sasine index independently identifies Alexander as fiar of Memus and son of William Guthrie thereof. It also identifies Isobel Fenton as William’s wife and Agnes/Anne Ogilvie as Alexander’s wife.
A damaged 1641 record, NRS GD205/22/60A, further describes the deceased Alexander Guthrie, fiar of Memus, as the father of another Guthrie whose forename is obscured.
The sasine evidence may preserve the next generation in John Guthrie of Easter Memus, whose mother is named as Anna Ogilvie and whose wife was Elizabeth Lyon. John is therefore a strong candidate to have been a son of Alexander and Anne Ogilvie, although the relationship still requires direct confirmation.
The important correction: William Guthrie of Memus unquestionably did have male issue. Alexander was specifically described as his eldest son, wording that also leaves open the possibility of younger sons. The old claim that William had no male issue can no longer be used to exclude him as a possible father of James Guthrie of Stirling.
William of Memus is therefore a serious and chronologically plausible candidate for James’s father, especially because Fasti apparently preserves a source for the relationship. Direct documentary proof identifying James as William’s son, however, has not yet been found.
Why the Old Memus Pedigree Went Wrong
Burke’s Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry states that William Guthrie of Memys had no male issue and was succeeded by his cousin David Guthrie.
The first statement is demonstrably incorrect because contemporary records identify William’s son Alexander.
The error may have arisen because a later compiler attempted to reconstruct the family from the eventual disposition of the estate. That reasoning is unsafe. A landholding passing to another kinsman does not by itself prove that the previous proprietor had no sons.
Genealogical lesson: Contemporary bonds and sasines take precedence over later pedigree assumptions. The eventual ownership of an estate cannot safely be used as a substitute for direct evidence of family relationships.
James Guthrie and William Guthrie of Fenwick
There is another intriguing clue to James’s ancestry. Early biographical evidence indicates that James Guthrie of Stirling and William Guthrie of Fenwick were regarded as relatives.
William’s early memoir describes James as his “relation,” while Robert Traill uses the more specific expression “own cousin.”
This is strong evidence for a genuine family connection, but it does not tell us exactly how the two men were related.
William of Fenwick’s documented paternal ancestry runs through Pitforthie to Kingennie. No direct paternal-line connection between that family and the Guthries of Guthrie has yet been established.
William did, however, reportedly possess Guthrie-of-Guthrie ancestry through his mother, Janet Lyon of Easter Ogil, whose mother was traditionally identified as a daughter of Guthrie of that Ilk.
A possible explanation: If James of Stirling eventually proves to belong to the Memus branch, his reported cousinship with William of Fenwick may have operated through William’s maternal ancestry rather than through the Kingennie paternal line. Until James’s parentage is established, the precise relationship remains unknown.
A Different James Guthrie at Memus
The Forfar sasine index also contains an entry for James Guthrie in Ludgintone of Memus with spouse Janet Lyon.
This appears likely to refer to James Guthrie of Kingennie and Pitforthie and Janet Lyon of Easter Ogil, although the original sasine should be examined before that identification is considered proved.
Caution: The record demonstrates why an association with “Memus” cannot by itself identify a man as a member of William Guthrie of Memus’s immediate household. More than one Guthrie family could be connected with lands or settlements in the area.
Genealogical Conclusions
- James Guthrie was probably born about 1612, but his parentage remains unresolved.
- Early biographies describe him as a son of a laird of Guthrie without securely identifying which laird.
- Bishop John Guthrie of Moray is not documented as James’s father and should not presently be represented as such.
- Alexander Guthrie, 6th of Guthrie, is an unlikely father because the reconstructed succession indicates that he left no surviving male issue.
- Fasti preserves a more specific proposed connection between James and William Guthrie of Memus, but the underlying cited document has not yet been directly examined.
- The later claim that William of Memus had no male issue is demonstrably incorrect.
- William’s son Alexander Guthrie is documented and specifically described as his eldest son, leaving open the possibility that William had younger sons.
- William of Memus is therefore a plausible candidate for James’s father, but direct proof has not yet been found.
- Early writers regarded James Guthrie of Stirling and William Guthrie of Fenwick as relatives and specifically as cousins, although the exact relationship remains unknown.
- James married Jane Ramsay, and their presently documented children were William and Sophia Guthrie.
- William died at Edinburgh on 14 April 1674, with no documented wife or children.
- No surviving male Guthrie line from James is presently documented.
Questions Still to Explore
- What exact document or authority underlies Fasti’s proposed connection between James Guthrie and William Guthrie of Memus?
- Can the original Forfar sasines identify additional children of William Guthrie and Isobel Fenton?
- Was James one of William of Memus’s younger sons?
- Can John Guthrie of Easter Memus be conclusively identified as a son of Alexander Guthrie and Anne Ogilvie?
- What became of Sophia Guthrie?
- How exactly were James Guthrie of Stirling and William Guthrie of Fenwick related?
Sources and Further Reading
- Hew Scott, Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ — entries for James Guthrie at Lauder and Stirling and the unresolved ancestry reference connecting him with William Guthrie of Memus.
- National Records of Scotland, GD205/22/48, bond dated 28 October 1630 identifying Alexander Guthrie as eldest son of William Guthrie of Memess and naming Annas Guthrie as William’s daughter.
- National Records of Scotland, GD205/22/60A, damaged 1641 record relating to the deceased Alexander Guthrie, fiar of Memus, and his issue.
- National Records of Scotland, Forfar sasine material relating to William Guthrie of Memus, Isobel Fenton, Alexander Guthrie, Anne/Agnes Ogilvie, and John Guthrie of Easter Memus.
- Edinburgh death record for William Guthrie, son of the late Rev. James Guthrie of Stirling, died 14 April 1674.
- Records of the Parliaments of Scotland — proceedings relating to James Guthrie’s political activity, prosecution, forfeiture, and execution.
- Early biographies and Covenanter histories describing James as a son of a laird of Guthrie and documenting his relationship with William Guthrie of Fenwick.
- Burke, Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry — later Memus pedigree stating that William Guthrie had no male issue; contradicted by contemporary records.
- Guthrie Genealogy — Guthries of Guthrie.
- Guthrie Genealogy — Guthrie of Kingennie and Pitforthie.
Thomas Guthrie, D.D., Minister
1803–1873
At a Glance
A Guthrie Who Knew His Own Family Story
Thomas Guthrie is unusually valuable to family researchers because he wrote about his own ancestry. His autobiography, supplemented by biographical material compiled by his sons, preserves memories of the Brechin and Menmuir Guthries several generations before his own birth.
Just as importantly, Thomas did not claim descent from the historic Guthries of Guthrie. He understood his paternal family to be a separate Angus line.
Why that matters: Prominent nineteenth-century Guthries were often attached retrospectively to the landed Guthries of that Ilk simply because they shared the surname and came from Angus. Thomas himself rejected that ancestry. Modern Y-DNA evidence now independently supports his family tradition.
Thomas and Anne Burns
Thomas was the twelfth child and sixth son of David Guthrie and Clementina Cay. He married Anne Burns on 6 October 1830. Their large family extended the Brechin Guthrie line well into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
| Child | Life Dates | Known or Notable History |
|---|---|---|
| David Kelly Guthrie | 1831–1896 | Eldest known child of Thomas Guthrie and Anne Burns. |
| Christina Guthrie | 1833–1895 | Daughter of Thomas and Anne. |
| James Guthrie | 1835–1920 | Became a Royal Bank agent. Later claims associating him personally with Pitforthie have not been supported by the property records examined for this project. |
| Patrick Guthrie | 1836–1925 | Bank agent. |
| Clementina Guthrie | 1839–1880 | Daughter of Thomas and Anne. |
| Annie Guthrie | 1841–1922 | Daughter of Thomas and Anne. |
| Thomas Guthrie | 1843–1900 | Son of Thomas and Anne. |
| Alexander Guthrie | 1846–1934 | Son of Thomas and Anne. |
| Charles John Guthrie | 1849–1920 | Lawyer and judge who became Lord Guthrie. |
| Helen Guthrie | 1851–1883 | Daughter of Thomas and Anne. |
| John Guthrie | 1853–1855 | Died in early childhood. |
The Paternal Line
Thomas’s paternal ancestry can presently be reconstructed through four generations before his own birth:
Thomas Guthrie, D.D. (1803–1873)
son of
David Guthrie (1761–1824), merchant, banker and Provost of Brechin, and Clementina Cay
son of
John Guthrie of Knowhead (c.1733–1820) and Helen Wyllie
son of
David Guthrie, baptised 31 March 1683 and later associated with Kincraig
son of
David Guthrie and Janet Stewart, associated with Cookston and Balbirnie Mill.
The descent from Thomas through his father David Guthrie to his grandparents John Guthrie of Knowhead and Helen Wyllie is well supported. The preceding connection with David Guthrie of Kincraig is also supported, although the identity of David of Kincraig’s wife remains unresolved.
The earliest securely reconstructed couple in the broader paternal family is David Guthrie and Janet Stewart.
David Guthrie and Janet Stewart
David Guthrie was a tenant farmer associated first with Cookston and later with Balbirnie Mill. He and Janet Stewart appear in a substantial cluster of parish baptismal records beginning in the early 1680s.
Their recorded children include:
| Child | Baptism | Genealogical Significance |
|---|---|---|
| John Guthrie | 20 April 1682 | Recorded son of David Guthrie and Janet Stewart. |
| David Guthrie | 31 March 1683 | Thomas Guthrie’s direct ancestor; later associated with Kincraig. |
| Jean Guthrie | 21 December 1684 | Recorded daughter of the family. |
| Alexander Guthrie | 26 May 1687 | Later associated with Balfour in Menmuir; one of the ancestral branches represented in GFG17 Y-DNA testing. |
| Janet Guthrie | 5 January 1690 | Recorded daughter of the family. |
| Isobell Guthrie | 13 December 1692 | Recorded daughter of the family. |
| James Guthrie | 12 December 1696 | Apparently died young, as the name was used again. |
| Marie Guthrie | 15 February 1700 | Recorded daughter of the family. |
| James Guthrie | 11 March 1701 | Second recorded son of the family given the name James. |
| Elizabeth Guthrie | 7 May 1703 | Recorded daughter of the family. |
| Robert Guthrie | 13 January 1705 | Later associated with Bogside, Craigtown and Glenmoy; another branch represented in GFG17 Y-DNA testing. |
Why this couple matters: David and Janet are not important merely because they appear in Thomas’s pedigree. Modern Y-DNA tests from descendants of three different sons of this couple independently converge in the same genetic family group.
John Guthrie of Knowhead and Helen Wyllie
Thomas’s paternal grandfather, John Guthrie, was born about 1733 and became a tenant farmer at Knowhead in Menmuir. He married Helen Wyllie, probably about 1754.
Their known children included Alexander, Margaret, John, David, George, Isobel, Thomas, James, Charles, Robert, and Jean Guthrie. Their son David Guthrie became a merchant, banker, bailie and eventually Provost of Brechin. David and his wife Clementina Cay were the parents of Rev. Thomas Guthrie.
John Guthrie died at Menmuir on 1 October 1820, reportedly aged about eighty-seven.
The Culloden Horse Story
Thomas preserved a memorable family story about one of his farming ancestors during the movement of the Duke of Cumberland’s army toward Culloden in 1746.
According to the family tradition, the ancestor feared that his horses would be pressed into military service. The animals escaped that fate, and the episode survived in family memory long enough for Thomas to record it generations later.
Family tradition, not yet a proven identification: Thomas becomes less precise when describing these earliest generations, and later retellings appear to disagree about which David Guthrie belonged to the story. The anecdote itself is valuable family history, but the specific ancestor involved should remain unidentified until contemporary evidence settles the question.
Y-DNA — Guthrie Family Group 17
The documentary reconstruction of this family has an unusual additional source of evidence: Y-DNA.
The Guthrie DNA Project identifies this paternal family as Guthrie Family Group 17 (GFG17). Tested direct male-line descendants come from three separate sons of David Guthrie and Janet Stewart:
- David Guthrie, baptised 1683 — Thomas Guthrie’s ancestral branch;
- Alexander Guthrie, baptised 1687 — later associated with Balfour in Menmuir;
- Robert Guthrie, baptised 1705 — later associated with Bogside, Craigtown and Glenmoy.
The tested descendants belong to documentary branches that separated from one another many generations ago. Their closely matching Y-STR profiles place them in the same paternal genetic group.
Why three branches matter: The DNA evidence is not based solely on descendants of Thomas Guthrie. Male-line descendants of the Alexander and Robert branches independently match the branch descending through Thomas’s ancestor David. This provides strong genetic corroboration for the broader reconstruction of the family of David Guthrie and Janet Stewart.
Not the Guthries of Guthrie
Thomas himself stated that his paternal family was not descended from the Guthries of that Ilk. The modern genetic evidence supports that distinction.
The Brechin–Menmuir family represented by Thomas belongs to GFG17, a separate paternal genetic lineage.
Paternal-line conclusion: The direct male Guthrie ancestry of Rev. Thomas Guthrie, D.D., is not a branch of the Guthries of Guthrie. This conclusion concerns the direct paternal line. It does not rule out female-line, marital, or more distant collateral relationships between members of the two families.
Minister, Reformer, and Advocate for Children
Thomas studied at the University of Edinburgh and entered the ministry of the Church of Scotland. He later became one of the best-known Scottish ministers of the nineteenth century and an important figure in the Free Church of Scotland.
His public reputation extended well beyond the pulpit. In Edinburgh he became a prominent advocate for impoverished children and was especially associated with the Ragged School movement, which sought to provide education, food, training, and religious instruction to children living in severe poverty.
For Guthrie family researchers, however, one of Thomas’s lasting contributions is less public: he left behind an unusually rich account of the ordinary farming and trading family from which he came.
Genealogical Conclusions
- Thomas Guthrie was born at Brechin on 12 July 1803, son of David Guthrie and Clementina Cay.
- His paternal grandparents were John Guthrie of Knowhead and Helen Wyllie.
- His paternal great-grandfather was David Guthrie, baptised in 1683 and later associated with Kincraig.
- His paternal 2x-great-grandparents were David Guthrie and Janet Stewart, associated with Cookston and Balbirnie Mill.
- Thomas married Anne Burns in 1830, and eleven children are presently identified.
- Thomas personally stated that his paternal family did not descend from the historic Guthries of Guthrie.
- The family belongs to Guthrie Family Group 17.
- Matching Y-DNA profiles are found among documented paternal descendants of three sons of David Guthrie and Janet Stewart: David, Alexander, and Robert.
- This multi-branch Y-DNA evidence strongly corroborates the reconstructed common paternal family.
- The identity of the wife of David Guthrie of Kincraig remains unresolved.
- Thomas’s Culloden horse story should be retained as family tradition, but the particular ancestor involved has not yet been securely identified.
- The ancestry of David Guthrie, husband of Janet Stewart, has not yet been securely extended another generation.
Questions Still to Explore
- Who was the wife of David Guthrie of Kincraig?
- Can the Kincraig-to-Knowhead relationship be strengthened further through estate, kirk-session, sasine, or testamentary records?
- Which Guthrie ancestor was actually involved in the 1746 Culloden horse story?
- Can the ancestry of David Guthrie, husband of Janet Stewart, be securely extended another generation?
- Can additional documentary branches of GFG17 be identified among the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Guthries of Angus?
Sources and Further Reading
- Hew Scott, Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ — entries relating to Rev. Thomas Guthrie, D.D., and members of the Brechin Guthrie family.
- Thomas Guthrie, Autobiography of Thomas Guthrie, D.D., with biographical continuation and family material prepared by his sons.
- Scotland Old Parish Registers — records from Brechin, Menmuir, Cortachy, and neighboring Angus parishes relating to the Guthrie family.
- Civil-registration and census records relating to Thomas Guthrie, Anne Burns, their children, and later descendants.
- Settlement and testamentary records concerning John Guthrie of Knowhead.
- Civic, financial, and family records concerning David Guthrie (1761–1824), merchant, banker, bailie, and Provost of Brechin.
- Guthrie DNA Project — Guthrie Family Group 17 (GFG17), including documented direct paternal descendants through the David, Alexander, and Robert branches of the family of David Guthrie and Janet Stewart.
- Guthrie Genealogy — related Brechin, Menmuir, Research & Resources, and Guthrie DNA Project material.
Alexander Guthrie, 8th of Kincaldrum
d. c.1633
At a Glance
Family and Marriage
Alexander Guthrie was the eldest son and heir of David Guthrie, 7th of Kincaldrum, and Katherine Blair. He belonged to the final generation of Guthries expected to continue the family’s long possession of Kincaldrum, an estate associated with the family since the fifteenth century. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}
His paternal grandparents were Alexander Guthrie, 6th of Kincaldrum, and Alice Douglas of Glenbervie. His only presently identified sibling is a sister, Elizabeth Guthrie. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}
Alexander married Mariote or Marion Graham, daughter of Sir William Graham, 4th of Claverhouse, and Agnes Lundy of Balgony. The Red Book of Scotland places their marriage contract in October 1615 and cites archival reference C2/60/75. The precise archival instrument has not yet been examined directly.
Research caution: The Graham marriage is well supported by the later pedigree citation, but the underlying C2/60/75 record remains an important research target. Until it is located, details of the contract should not be expanded beyond what the cited source actually establishes.
Why “8th of Kincaldrum”?
The designation “8th of Kincaldrum” is a modern genealogical identifier. Contemporary charters and legal instruments did not number successive Guthrie proprietors in this way. The numbering is retained because several generations repeat the names Alexander and David and would otherwise be very easy to conflate.
Alexander’s father David had himself received the lands and barony of Kincaldrum during the lifetime of his own father. On 22 July 1593, Alexander Guthrie, 6th of Kincaldrum, granted the whole lands and barony to his son David, a transaction later confirmed under the Great Seal. :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}
The same pattern was intended for the next generation. Under Alexander’s 1615 marriage arrangements, David was bound to put Alexander in fee of the barony of Kincaldrum. Alexander therefore acquired a legal interest in the estate during his father’s lifetime and could properly appear as its fiar and heir. :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}
Genealogical point: Alexander did not need to outlive his father in order to belong in the reconstructed succession. Being placed in fee could give the next generation a heritable interest while the elder proprietor remained alive and continued to exercise rights over the estate.
The Kincaldrum Line
Alexander stood at the end of a reconstructed Kincaldrum succession extending back to the fifteenth century:
Alexander Guthrie, 1st of Kincaldrum
→ David Guthrie, 2nd of Kincaldrum / 1st of Guthrie
→ Alexander Guthrie, 3rd of Kincaldrum / 2nd of Guthrie
→ Alexander Guthrie, 4th of Kincaldrum
→ David Guthrie, 5th of Kincaldrum
→ Alexander Guthrie, 6th of Kincaldrum
→ David Guthrie, 7th of Kincaldrum
→ Alexander Guthrie, 8th of Kincaldrum
The earliest identified holder in this reconstruction acquired Kincaldrum from the Wemyss family in 1446. Over succeeding generations, the Kincaldrum branch became closely intertwined with the family holding the barony of Guthrie. :contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6}
Numbering caution: This sequence is a modern research tool rather than terminology found in the original records. Its purpose is to distinguish repeated names and generations, not to suggest an uninterrupted father-to-son inheritance at every step.
Kincaldrum and the Barony of Guthrie
Alexander’s father David was more than the proprietor of Kincaldrum. During the early seventeenth century, David acquired interests in the barony of Guthrie, bringing the Kincaldrum branch directly into the complicated history of the principal Guthrie estate. Alexander participated with him in some of these property transactions. :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7}
The traditional pedigree can make this period look like a straightforward hereditary succession after the failure of another male line. The surviving property evidence is more complicated. Ownership, fee, wadset, disposition, and territorial styling could represent different legal interests and should not automatically be treated as equivalent.
Property caution: The early seventeenth-century relationship between Kincaldrum and the barony of Guthrie is best reconstructed transaction by transaction rather than forced into a simple sequence of inherited lairdships.
Transactions with Patrick Guthrie
David and Alexander were involved in a series of transactions concerning the barony of Guthrie with Patrick Guthrie, David’s brother. The reconstructed sequence presently includes:
| Date | Transaction | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 1624 | Two wadsets involving portions of the barony of Guthrie | Shows the Kincaldrum family’s active financial and proprietary interest in the Guthrie estate. |
| 22 May 1629 | Further transaction concerning the whole barony of Guthrie, including patronage of the kirk | Alexander was still alive and involved during the larger restructuring of the estate. |
| 1633 | Absolute disposition of the barony to Patrick Guthrie | Forms part of the final transfer away from David and Alexander’s interest in Guthrie. |
Alexander’s participation is genealogically useful because it shows that he was not simply a son named in a pedigree. He possessed a legal interest in the family’s property sufficient for his participation or consent to matter. :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8}
The 1633 Chronology Problem
The final year of Alexander’s life contains a documentary problem that remains unresolved.
The reconstructed Kincaldrum history places Alexander’s death before his father and associates that death with David’s sale of Kincaldrum to Sir John Blair of Balgillo on 29 November 1633. :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9}
Yet a later account of the Guthrie transaction states that on 12 December 1633 the barony of Guthrie was irredeemably disponed by:
“David and Alexander, his son”
Taken literally, those statements cannot both describe Alexander personally executing transactions in that order if he had already died before the November sale.
Possible explanations: Alexander’s death date may be imprecise; the November transaction may have completed an arrangement begun before his death; the December deed may recite an earlier agreement in which he participated; or a later published account may have compressed several legal stages into one date. The original November–December 1633 instruments are needed before the chronology can be resolved.
The End of the Kincaldrum Tenure
Following Alexander’s death, his father David sold the barony of Kincaldrum to Sir John Blair of Balgillo in 1633. This brought the Guthrie family’s direct possession of Kincaldrum to an end after nearly two centuries. :contentReference[oaicite:10]{index=10}
The sale should not be read simply as proof that the family had “run out of heirs.” Alexander’s apparent death without surviving issue was clearly important, but the wider record also shows the family restructuring debts, wadsets, and property interests involving both Kincaldrum and Guthrie.
Historical turning point: Alexander’s generation marks the end of the old Guthrie tenure of Kincaldrum. The branch did not disappear from the records, but its long territorial association with the estate came to a close.
Did Alexander and Mariote Have Children?
No children of Alexander Guthrie and Mariote Graham have presently been identified. Later pedigrees generally describe Alexander as dying without issue, and no contrary primary evidence has yet emerged. :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11}
That conclusion deserves the same caution applied elsewhere in the Guthrie research. A later statement of “no issue” should not automatically be treated as proof that no child was ever born.
Current conclusion: It is safest to say that no surviving issue of Alexander Guthrie and Mariote Graham is presently documented. If Alexander did leave lawful surviving heirs, however, their absence from the subsequent Kincaldrum succession would require explanation.
Genealogical Conclusions
- Alexander Guthrie was the eldest son and heir of David Guthrie, 7th of Kincaldrum, and Katherine Blair.
- He married Mariote / Marion Graham, daughter of Sir William Graham, 4th of Claverhouse, and Agnes Lundy.
- Their marriage contract is dated to October 1615 in The Red Book of Scotland, which cites archival reference C2/60/75.
- The marriage arrangements required David Guthrie to place Alexander in fee of the barony of Kincaldrum.
- Alexander was therefore the recognized fiar and heir of Kincaldrum during his father’s lifetime.
- The designation 8th of Kincaldrum is retained as a modern genealogical identifier rather than a contemporary numbered title.
- Alexander participated with his father in transactions involving the barony of Guthrie.
- He appears to have died about 1633 and to have predeceased his father.
- No surviving children are presently documented for Alexander and Mariote.
- After Alexander’s death, David Guthrie sold Kincaldrum to Sir John Blair of Balgillo, ending the family’s long possession of the estate.
- The apparent conflict between Alexander’s presumed death and the December 1633 disposition naming “David and Alexander, his son” remains unresolved.
Questions Still to Explore
- Can the original C2/60/75 marriage-contract record for Alexander Guthrie and Mariote Graham be located and examined?
- Was Alexander formally infeft in Kincaldrum following the 1615 contract, and if so, when?
- In which contemporary records does Alexander appear as “of Kincaldrum,” “younger of Kincaldrum,” or “fiar of Kincaldrum”?
- Can Alexander’s death be dated more precisely?
- What exactly occurred between the 29 November and 12 December 1633 property transactions?
- Can primary evidence be found explicitly addressing whether Alexander and Mariote left surviving issue?
Sources and Further Reading
- Hew Scott, Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ — Guthrie entries relating to the Kincaldrum and Guthrie families and their associated property relationships.
- The Red Book of Scotland, Volume IV — Graham of Claverhouse pedigree, identifying Mariote Graham as the wife of Alexander Guthrie of Kincaldrum and citing marriage-contract reference C2/60/75.
- National Records of Scotland — charters, sasines, wadsets, contracts, and dispositions relating to Kincaldrum and the barony of Guthrie.
- Register of the Great Seal of Scotland — confirmations relating to the transfer and settlement of Kincaldrum and associated Guthrie lands.
- Guthrie Genealogy — Guthrie of Kincaldrum.
- Guthrie Genealogy — Guthries of Guthrie.
Guthries of Guthrie
Guthrie, Angus | 15th–17th centuries
At a Glance
A Family Estate, Not a Straight Pedigree
The Guthries of Guthrie are easiest to understand if we separate two ideas that are often treated as though they were the same thing: family descent and possession of the estate of Guthrie.
The lands and territorial designation passed in several different ways. At some points a son followed his father. At others the succession moved to a grandson, brother, distant cousin, or another collateral branch. The estate was also transferred through sales, wadsets, dispositions, and a carefully constructed marriage settlement.
Genealogical distinction: “1st of Guthrie,” “2nd of Guthrie,” and the later numbered designations used here are modern tools for identifying successive holders of the estate. They should not be read as evidence for a single uninterrupted father-to-son Y-chromosome lineage.
The historical line securely associated with the lands of Guthrie begins with David Guthrie of Kincaldrum, who received a Crown charter of the lands in 1465. Earlier Guthries certainly existed, including members of David’s own family, but the origins of the surname and the relationships among those earliest families remain incompletely understood.
The Succession at a Glance
| Holder | Relationship / Branch | How the Succession Moved |
|---|---|---|
| David Guthrie, 1st of Guthrie | Son of Alexander Guthrie of Kincaldrum | Received Crown charter of the lands of Guthrie in 1465 |
| Alexander Guthrie, 2nd | Son of David | Inherited the estate after David’s death |
| Andrew Guthrie, 3rd | Grandson of Alexander | Succeeded after Alexander and Alexander’s eldest son David were killed at Flodden |
| Alexander Guthrie, 4th | Son of Andrew | Father-to-son succession |
| Alexander Guthrie, 5th | Son of Alexander 4th | Father-to-son succession |
| Alexander Guthrie, 6th | Son of Alexander 5th | Father-to-son succession; no surviving male heir presently known |
| William Guthrie of Memus, 7th | Brother of Alexander 6th | Lateral succession from brother to brother |
| David Guthrie of Kincaldrum, 8th | Distant cousin from the Kincaldrum branch | Purchased the lands of Guthrie from William |
| Patrick Guthrie, 9th | Younger brother of David 8th | Acquired the barony through wadset and later absolute disposition |
| Peter Guthrie, 10th | Son of Patrick | Served heir to his father |
| John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray, 11th | Collateral Hiltoun branch | Purchased the barony from Peter Guthrie in 1636 |
| Francis Guthrie of Gagie, 12th | Husband of Bishop John’s daughter Bathiah; descended from the Gagie branch | Deliberate charter settlement upon Francis and Bathiah |
| John Guthrie, 13th | Son of Francis and Bathiah | Served heir to his father and continued the later territorial line |
The important pattern: The estate moves through father-to-son inheritance, grandfather-to-grandson succession, brother-to-brother succession, purchase by a cousin, financial transfer to a brother, sale to another collateral Guthrie, and finally a deliberate marriage settlement. That is why the territorial sequence cannot safely be substituted for a biological pedigree.
David Guthrie, 1st of Guthrie
David Guthrie was already an important royal servant and landholder before acquiring Guthrie. His career included service as royal treasurer, comptroller, clerk of rolls, ambassador, captain of the guard, sheriff, and eventually Lord Chief Justice of Scotland.
On 25 March 1465, David received a Great Seal charter of the lands of Guthrie following resignation by David, Earl of Crawford. A royal licence dated 14 September 1468 authorized him to construct a tower or fortalice there.
David reportedly married first an unnamed daughter of Sir Thomas Maule of Panmure and later Janet Dundas, daughter of Sir Archibald Dundas and Agnes Borthwick.
Children associated with the second marriage include:
- Alexander Guthrie, his heir;
- Elizabeth Guthrie, who married Alexander Maule.
David also had a recognized natural son, Malcolm Guthrie, to whom he granted Balnabreich.
Earlier ancestry: David’s prominence is well documented, but his own paternal ancestry and the origins of the Kincaldrum Guthries remain less securely reconstructed than later pedigrees sometimes suggest.
Alexander Guthrie, 2nd of Guthrie, and the Flodden Succession
David’s son Alexander Guthrie succeeded him in 1474.
Older pedigrees identify Margaret Lyon of Glamis as Alexander’s wife and often treat her as the mother of his children. The chronology does not support that interpretation. Margaret Lyon was contracted to James Rynd in 1495 and was still identified as his widow in 1500.
Pedigree correction: Alexander must have had an earlier unidentified wife who was the mother of the children already belonging to the next generation. Margaret Lyon cannot safely be assigned as mother of all of Alexander’s issue.
Alexander and his eldest son David Guthrie were both killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. The estate therefore passed not to another son of Alexander, but to his grandson:
Andrew Guthrie, later 3rd of Guthrie.
Meanwhile another son of Alexander continued the separate Kincaldrum branch. This division would become important more than a century later when descendants of that collateral line returned to possession of Guthrie.
Andrew Guthrie, 3rd of Guthrie
Andrew Guthrie was the grandson of Alexander 2nd and son of the David Guthrie killed at Flodden.
An instrument of sasine dated 15 May 1514 restored Andrew to the lands as heir of the deceased laird. He married Christian Gardyne of Gardyne.
Their known heir was:
- Alexander Guthrie, later 4th of Guthrie.
Reading legal records carefully: Heirship formulas in sasines and retours do not always describe the biological generation with modern genealogical precision. Relationships should be reconstructed from the full family and chronological context rather than from a single formula.
Alexander Guthrie, 4th of Guthrie, and Isobel Wood
Alexander Guthrie married Isobel Wood. His surviving testament is one of the strongest genealogical records for this generation.
The presently reconstructed family includes:
| Child | Known Identity | Genealogical Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Alexander Guthrie | Legitimate heir | Later 5th of Guthrie |
| William Guthrie | Of Ravensbie and Eastertown | Founder of the Gagie branch that later returned to the principal succession |
| James Guthrie | Mariner and burgess of Dundee | Documented younger son |
| Gabriel Guthrie | Provost and Parson of Guthrie | Documented younger son |
| Elizabeth Guthrie | Daughter | Named in the family evidence |
| Margaret Guthrie | Daughter | Named in the family evidence |
| Alexander Guthrie | Illegitimate son | Distinct from the legitimate heir of the same name |
Same-name warning: This generation contained two sons named Alexander—one legitimate and one illegitimate. A record naming only “Alexander Guthrie, son of Alexander Guthrie of Guthrie” cannot safely be assigned to the heir without additional identifying evidence.
Alexander Guthrie, 5th of Guthrie, and Agnes Falconer
The next Alexander married Agnes Falconer of Halkerton, daughter of Sir Alexander Falconer and Elizabeth Douglas, on 15 April 1567.
Their family is considerably larger than many older pedigrees indicate. Current documentary evidence supports sons including:
- Alexander Guthrie, later 6th of Guthrie;
- William Guthrie of Memus, later 7th of Guthrie;
- Samuel Guthrie, litster, merchant and burgess of Edinburgh;
- Hercules Guthrie, merchant and burgess of Edinburgh;
- Henry Guthrie, burgess of Montrose;
- John Guthrie.
Edinburgh apprenticeship records explicitly identify Samuel and Hercules as sons of Alexander Guthrie of that Ilk. Alexander 6th’s 1615 testament also names his brothers John and William.
Pedigree expansion: Contemporary records demonstrate that this generation contained younger sons omitted from traditional published pedigrees. Their absence from Burke or another later pedigree cannot be treated as evidence that they did not exist.
Alexander Guthrie, 6th of Guthrie
Alexander Guthrie married Jean Leighton of Ulishaven.
His 1615 testament names his wife Jean, their daughter Emma Guthrie, and his brothers John and William. No surviving male heir is presently known.
The territorial succession therefore moved laterally to Alexander’s brother:
William Guthrie of Memus.
William Guthrie of Memus, 7th of Guthrie
William married Isabella Fenton. Her parentage, marriage date, and later life remain unresolved.
Older pedigrees frequently claim that William had “no male issue.” Contemporary evidence proves otherwise.
A bond dated 28 October 1630, NRS GD205/22/48, identifies Alexander Guthrie as the eldest son of William Guthrie of Memess and also names William’s daughter Annas Guthrie.
The expression “eldest son” necessarily indicates the existence of at least one additional son.
A further record dated 1641 concerns the deceased Alexander Guthrie, fiar of Memus, father of another Guthrie whose forename is obscured by damage.
Major pedigree correction: William of Memus unquestionably had male issue. This removes one of the principal objections formerly raised against the possibility that Rev. James Guthrie, Minister of Stirling, might have been one of William’s younger sons. The relationship remains unproved, but it can no longer be dismissed because William supposedly had no sons.
William sold the lands of Guthrie to his distant cousin David Guthrie of Kincaldrum. Crown confirmation followed on 24 July 1630.
The Kincaldrum Branch Returns
The purchaser was David Guthrie, 7th of Kincaldrum, reconstructed here as 8th of Guthrie.
David and William of Memus were collateral relatives whose lines traced back to the earlier Kincaldrum/Guthrie family. David married Katherine Blair in June 1594.
Their presently documented children include:
- Alexander Guthrie, fiar and reconstructed as 8th of Kincaldrum;
- Elizabeth Guthrie.
David’s acquisition of Guthrie was followed almost immediately by another redistribution of the estate. Beginning in the 1620s, David and his son Alexander transferred interests in the barony to David’s younger brother Patrick Guthrie.
On 22 May 1629, David, with consent of Alexander, wadset the whole barony of Guthrie to Patrick. The arrangement became absolute and irredeemable in December 1633.
Not an ordinary inheritance: Patrick did not become Guthrie of Guthrie because his elder brother’s branch had become extinct. David and Alexander were both involved in transferring the estate to him through financial and legal transactions.
Patrick Guthrie, 9th of Guthrie
Patrick Guthrie had already built a career independent of the estate. He served as Regent and later Subprincipal at King’s College, Aberdeen, before becoming minister of Kinbattock and later Logie-Buchan.
He became proprietor of Guthrie through the transactions with his brother David and nephew Alexander, culminating in the absolute disposition of December 1633.
Patrick’s wife appears in a contemporary 1628 record as Jean Blak. A highly plausible Aberdeen marriage entry dated 14 June 1613 records Patrik Guthrie and Jeane Blakburne. The frequently repeated surname Blackwood has not been independently verified.
Best current reconstruction: Patrick’s wife should presently be recorded as Jean Blak, probably Jeane Blakburne. “Jean Blackwood” is a later genealogical form rather than the name established by the contemporary evidence.
Patrick’s only securely identified child is:
- Peter Guthrie, later 10th of Guthrie.
Important identity correction: Nicholas/Nicolas Guthrie who married David Ogilvy and was associated with Pitmoweis belongs to the family of the separate Patrick Guthrie of Pitmoweis, who died by January 1618. She should no longer be included as a daughter of Patrick, 9th of Guthrie.
Peter Guthrie, 10th of Guthrie
A service of heir dated 24 May 1636 identifies Peter Guthrie as heir to his father, Mr Patrick Guthrie, minister of Logie-Buchan, in the lands formerly constituting the barony of Guthrie.
This provides direct documentary evidence for:
Patrick Guthrie, 9th of Guthrie
↓
Peter Guthrie, 10th of Guthrie
No wife or children have yet been securely identified for Peter.
In 1636 he transferred the barony to another collateral member of the wider family:
John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray.
John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray, 11th of Guthrie
Bishop John belonged by birth to the Hiltoun branch of the wider Guthrie family. He was a son of Patrick Guthrie, goldsmith of St Andrews, and Margaret Raitt.
He married Nicolas Wood and acquired the barony of Guthrie in 1636.
One of his sons, Patrick Guthrie, was alive on 28 September 1643, when he was styled “fiar of that ilk.” The designation shows that Patrick then occupied the position of apparent heir to the estate.
Patrick nevertheless did not succeed when Bishop John died in 1649.
Likely chronology: No death record for the bishop’s son Patrick has yet been located. His status as fiar in September 1643, followed by his failure to succeed his father in 1649, strongly suggests that he died between those dates. The conclusion remains a reconstruction from the succession evidence rather than a documented death date.
Bathiah Guthrie and Francis Guthrie of Gagie
Bishop John’s daughter Bathiah or Bethia Guthrie was baptised at Edinburgh on 27 July 1623. She married Francis Guthrie of Gagie on 4 May 1647.
Francis was not an unrelated husband who acquired the estate simply by marrying a Guthrie heiress. He was already a male-line Guthrie through the Gagie branch, descended from William Guthrie of Ravensbie, younger son of Alexander Guthrie, 4th of Guthrie, and Isobel Wood.
The Gagie branch returns: A branch that had separated from the principal territorial succession generations earlier was deliberately brought back into it through the marriage of Francis Guthrie and Bathiah Guthrie.
Bishop John’s Deliberate Settlement
The estate did not simply fall to Bathiah because she happened to be a surviving daughter.
Register of the Great Seal, Volume 11, Charter 565, confirmed on 4 March 1664, records an earlier charter granted by the deceased Bishop John settling the lands and barony upon Francis Guthrie of Gagie and Bathiah Guthrie his wife in conjunct fee.
The charter established the following order of succession:
- the male heirs of Francis and Bathiah;
- failing them, the male heirs of Francis;
- failing them, Mr Patrick Guthrie, son of Bishop John, and his male heirs;
- failing them, Mr James Guthrie, minister of Arbirlot, and his male heirs;
- finally, the male heirs whatsoever of Bishop John.
This changes how the succession should be described: Bishop John deliberately constructed a settlement designed to keep the estate among male Guthries. Francis and Bathiah were placed first, but Francis was himself a Guthrie of the Gagie branch. The arrangement therefore reunited the territorial estate with an older male-line cadet family.
Francis Guthrie, 12th, and John Guthrie, 13th
Francis Guthrie became the effective successor under Bishop John’s settlement. He and Bathiah had one presently known son:
- John Guthrie.
Francis died by 1665. Their son John was subsequently served heir to his father and continued the territorial succession as 13th of Guthrie.
From this point, the succession again proceeds more conventionally through descendants of Francis and Bathiah.
What the Records Have Changed
Comparison of the surviving contemporary evidence with older published pedigrees has produced several important corrections.
- Margaret Lyon cannot be the mother of all children attributed to Alexander Guthrie, 2nd of Guthrie. An earlier unidentified wife is required by the chronology.
- William Guthrie of Ravensbie / 1st of Gagie belongs to the family of Alexander Guthrie, 4th of Guthrie, and Isobel Wood.
- Samuel and Hercules Guthrie are securely documented sons of Alexander Guthrie, 5th of Guthrie.
- William Guthrie of Memus did have male issue. His son Alexander is specifically identified as his eldest son.
- Patrick Guthrie, 9th of Guthrie, was not Patrick Guthrie of Pitmoweis.
- Patrick, 9th of Guthrie, was not Patrick Guthrie the St Andrews goldsmith, father of Bishop John.
- Patrick 9th’s wife is documented as Jean Blak and is probably the Jeane Blakburne of the 1613 Aberdeen marriage record; the later “Blackwood” form is not presently supported by contemporary evidence.
- Nicholas Guthrie, wife of David Ogilvy, should not be assigned to Patrick 9th. She belongs to the separate Pitmoweis family.
- Bathiah’s role in the succession was the result of a deliberate charter settlement, not simply an automatic female inheritance.
- The numbered succession describes possession of the estate, not an uninterrupted paternal biological lineage.
DNA Context
No Y-DNA result presently establishes the genetic profile of the historic Guthries of Guthrie.
Guthrie Family Group 1A (GFG1A) remains the strongest current candidate. Tested lineages within that group include a documented paternal descendant of the Guthries of Craigie and an American Guthrie lineage descending from Patrick Guthrie and Agnes Foord. Their documentary lines converge farther back through the family of James Guthrie, merchant, and Christian Scott.
The Y-DNA evidence indicates a deeper paternal relationship compatible with the historical period in which the Guthries of Guthrie and their collateral branches developed.
Important limitation: No tested male-line participant yet has a documentary pedigree extending securely back to a historically identified Guthrie of that Ilk. GFG1A may ultimately prove to represent the family’s paternal genetic profile, but that conclusion remains unproven.
Genealogical Conclusions
- The securely documented territorial history of the Guthries of Guthrie begins with David Guthrie’s 1465 charter.
- The estate did not pass through one uninterrupted father-to-son line.
- The early Guthrie and Kincaldrum families divided into separate branches after the generation affected by the Battle of Flodden.
- The Kincaldrum branch later returned to ownership of Guthrie through David Guthrie, 8th of Guthrie.
- The estate then passed by financial and legal transaction to David’s brother Patrick Guthrie, 9th of Guthrie.
- Patrick’s son Peter Guthrie succeeded him and transferred the barony to John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray.
- Bishop John’s son Patrick was apparent heir in 1643 but probably died before his father.
- Bishop John deliberately settled the estate upon his daughter Bathiah and her husband Francis Guthrie of Gagie.
- The Gagie marriage brought an older male Guthrie branch back into the territorial succession.
- The later published pedigrees remain useful guides, but several significant claims have now been corrected by contemporary charters, sasines, testaments, bonds, and civic records.
- No Y-DNA result yet proves the historic paternal profile of the Guthries of Guthrie.
Questions Still to Explore
- Where did the Kincaldrum Guthries originate before the earliest securely reconstructed generations?
- Who was the earlier unidentified wife of Alexander Guthrie, 2nd of Guthrie?
- Can the parentage and early life of David Guthrie, 1st of Guthrie, be established more securely?
- What became of the illegitimate Alexander Guthrie, son of Alexander 4th?
- What became of Emma Guthrie, daughter of Alexander 6th and Jean Leighton?
- Who were Isabella Fenton’s parents, and when did she marry William Guthrie of Memus?
- What became of William of Memus after the sale of Guthrie?
- Who were William of Memus’s younger sons?
- Can the proposed identification of Rev. James Guthrie of Stirling as one of William’s sons be proved or disproved?
- Can the exact death date of Patrick Guthrie, son of Bishop John, be identified between September 1643 and August 1649?
- Can a documented direct male-line descendant of the historical Guthries of Guthrie eventually be located for Y-DNA testing?
Sources and Further Reading
- Hew Scott, Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ — entries relating to members of the Guthrie, Kincaldrum, Memus, Hiltoun and associated clerical families.
- National Records of Scotland, GD188/1/1 — Writs of the Lands of Guthrie.
- Register of the Great Seal of Scotland — charters and confirmations relating to Guthrie, Kincaldrum and associated estates, including the settlement confirmed as RMS Volume 11, Charter 565.
- National Records of Scotland — sasines, retours, services of heirs, testaments and property records relating to the Guthries of Guthrie and collateral branches.
- National Records of Scotland, GD205/22/48, 28 October 1630 — bond identifying Alexander Guthrie as eldest son of William Guthrie of Memus and naming Annas Guthrie.
- National Records of Scotland, GD205/22/60A, 1641 — damaged record concerning the deceased Alexander Guthrie, fiar of Memus, and his issue.
- Edinburgh burgess and apprenticeship records — evidence identifying Samuel and Hercules Guthrie as sons of Alexander Guthrie of that Ilk.
- National Records of Scotland, GD137/1842, 14 January 1628 — Mr Patrick Guthrie and Jean Blak his spouse.
- Scotland Old Parish Registers, Aberdeen — probable marriage of Patrik Guthrie and Jeane Blakburne, 14 June 1613.
- St Andrews Commissary Court, CC20/4/6 — testament of the separate Patrick Guthrie of Pitmoweis, recorded 24 January 1618.
- Records of the Parliaments of Scotland and Privy Council material relating to members of the family.
- Burke and other later published pedigrees — useful as research guides but checked against contemporary evidence.
- The Red Book of Scotland — selected marriage and pedigree material.
- Guthrie DNA Project — Guthrie Family Group 1A, presently the strongest candidate for the historic paternal genetic group but not yet proven.
- Guthrie Genealogy — Guthries of Guthrie.
- Guthrie Genealogy — Guthrie of Kincaldrum.
- Guthrie Genealogy — related Gagie, Hiltoun, Special Collections, Research & Resources, and DNA material.
Henry Guthrie, Bishop of Dunkeld
c.1600–1676
At a Glance
A Bishop with Two Different Fathers
Henry Guthrie’s public career is comparatively easy to trace. His family origins are not. Two substantial historical sources give him two different fathers, and the contradiction has never been satisfactorily resolved.
Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ identifies Bishop Henry as a son of Henry Guthrie, minister of Bendochy. George Crawfurd’s biographical introduction to the 1748 edition of Henry’s Memoirs, however, says that his father was Mr John Guthrie, minister at Coupar-Angus, a younger son of the family of Guthrie of that Ilk.
The central genealogical problem: These two pedigrees cannot both be correct as written. Neither should be quietly discarded simply because the other appears in a familiar printed source. Each preserves evidence that still needs to be traced back to its underlying records.
Education and Ministry
Henry was born about 1600, with Coupar-Angus traditionally given as his birthplace. He studied at the University of St Andrews and received his M.A. on 16 July 1620.
He subsequently served as tutor and chaplain in the family of the Earl of Mar. By 1625 he was minister of Guthrie, the Angus parish associated with the territorial family of that name.
On 13 May 1632 he was translated to Stirling.
Henry’s career then became entangled in the political and religious divisions of seventeenth-century Scotland. The Commission of Assembly deposed him on 14 November 1648 for malignancy. He was later restored by the Synod on 12 July 1655 and admitted minister of Kilspindie on 7 April 1656.
After the Restoration settlement, Henry was appointed to the See of Dunkeld on 29 June 1665 and consecrated bishop on 24 August 1665.
He remained Bishop of Dunkeld until his death in 1676, which occurred before 20 December of that year.
The Fasti Parentage: Henry Guthrie of Bendochy
Fasti explicitly describes the bishop as:
“son of Henry G., min. of Bendochy”
The elder Henry Guthrie had a clerical career that fits the bishop’s geographical background remarkably well. He had earlier been rector of Dunnichen, was presented to Collace in 1582, transferred to Bendochy in 1595, and also had charge of Coupar-Angus for a period.
Fasti reports that this elder Henry married Elizabeth Small and had the following children:
| Child | Identification in Fasti | Genealogical Significance |
|---|---|---|
| James Guthrie | Writer to the Signet | Reported son of Henry Guthrie, minister of Bendochy |
| Henry Guthrie | Bishop of Dunkeld | The identification at issue in the competing parentage traditions |
| Elizabeth Guthrie | Married William Small | Reported daughter of the Bendochy minister |
Importantly, Fasti does not present this family without references. It cites the Perth Sasine Secondary Register, i.41, i.296, and vi.483 for material concerning the family.
Why this pedigree deserves serious consideration: The Bendochy minister is chronologically appropriate, worked in the correct geographical area, and actually had charge of Coupar-Angus—the very place later tradition associates with Bishop Henry’s birth. In addition, Fasti cites specific sasine records rather than offering the relationship without a source.
The weakness is equally important: those underlying sasines have not yet been directly examined. We therefore do not yet know exactly what relationships they state.
The Elizabeth Small Problem
The Bendochy reconstruction contains its own complication.
An Old Parish Register marriage entry at Kettins on 17 May 1618 records a marriage between Henry Guthrie and Elspit Small.
If this man was the minister of Bendochy, a marriage in 1618 is difficult to reconcile with Bishop Henry having been born about 1600 if Elspit or Elizabeth Small was his mother.
Possible explanation: The 1618 marriage may represent a later marriage of the elder Henry rather than the marriage that produced Bishop Henry. If so, Fasti may have correctly identified the bishop’s father while incorrectly allowing the later wife to appear as though she were necessarily the bishop’s mother.
That possibility cannot yet be proved, but it means the 1618 marriage does not by itself eliminate the Bendochy minister as Henry’s father.
The Crawfurd Parentage: Mr John Guthrie
The competing pedigree appears in George Crawfurd’s “Life of Henry Guthry, Late Bishop of Dunkeld,” prefixed to the Glasgow edition of Henry’s Memoirs published in 1748.
Crawfurd gives a much more specific ancestry. He says Henry descended from the ancient family of Guthrie of that Ilk and was:
grandson of an Alexander Guthrie of that Ilk
↓
son of Mr John Guthrie, a younger son of that family and minister at Coupar-Angus
↓
Henry Guthrie, Bishop of Dunkeld
Crawfurd also identifies Coupar-Angus as Henry’s birthplace.
Most importantly, he attaches a source to this account:
“Memorial of the Lives of the Bishops of Dunkeld, MS.”
Elsewhere Crawfurd indicates that this manuscript was in his own possession.
Why Crawfurd cannot simply be dismissed: His account was published in 1748, only about seventy years after Henry’s death, and he claimed to be using an earlier manuscript specifically concerned with the bishops of Dunkeld. Later Victorian biographies mostly repeat Crawfurd rather than providing new independent evidence.
Could John Have Been a Son of Guthrie of That Ilk?
If Crawfurd’s pedigree is substantially correct, the most plausible candidate for the unnamed grandfather is Alexander Guthrie, 5th of Guthrie, husband of Agnes Falconer of Halkerton.
That generation is particularly interesting because modern examination of contemporary records has already expanded the family well beyond the children listed in older pedigrees.
Documentary evidence now identifies sons including:
- Alexander Guthrie, later 6th of Guthrie;
- William Guthrie of Memus;
- Samuel Guthrie, merchant and burgess of Edinburgh;
- Hercules Guthrie, merchant and burgess of Edinburgh;
- Henry Guthrie, burgess of Montrose;
- John Guthrie.
An intriguing possibility: The discovery of younger sons omitted from traditional pedigrees means that Crawfurd’s proposed Mr John Guthrie cannot be rejected merely because older published pedigrees failed to include him. A John is now independently known to belong to this generation. What has not been proved is that this John became a minister at Coupar-Angus or was Bishop Henry’s father.
The Coupar-Angus Clue
At first glance, Crawfurd’s statement that Henry’s father was a minister at Coupar-Angus seems very specific.
The difficulty is that the surviving ministerial reconstruction already places Henry Guthrie of Bendochy temporarily in charge of Coupar-Angus.
This creates an important possibility: an earlier source may have correctly remembered that Bishop Henry was the son of a Guthrie minister associated with Coupar-Angus, but the father’s forename may subsequently have become confused.
Possible reconciliation: Both traditions may preserve part of the same underlying family memory—Henry was born at Coupar-Angus to a Guthrie minister connected with that parish—but disagree over whether that minister was named Henry or John. This is only a hypothesis. The original sasines and Crawfurd’s lost manuscript are needed to test it.
The Two Pedigrees Compared
| Evidence Tradition | Proposed Father | Strengths and Problems |
|---|---|---|
| Fasti / Bendochy | Henry Guthrie, minister of Bendochy | Explicit parentage statement; correct clerical and geographic setting; elder Henry served Coupar-Angus; specific Perth sasines cited. Weakness: underlying sasines not yet examined, and the 1618 Small marriage complicates the household reconstruction. |
| Crawfurd / Guthrie of Guthrie | Mr John Guthrie, minister of Coupar-Angus | Specific three-generation pedigree; published relatively close to Henry’s lifetime; based on a cited manuscript. Weakness: manuscript not located, no contemporary ministerial record for John yet found, and no document connects the known John son of Alexander 5th directly to Bishop Henry. |
Current parentage conclusion: Neither reconstruction should presently be presented as proven. Fasti supplies the stronger trail toward contemporary documentary evidence because it cites identifiable sasine registers. Crawfurd supplies the more detailed pedigree and cites a much earlier manuscript that may once have contained valuable family information. Resolving the conflict requires returning to those underlying sources.
Henry’s Memoirs
Henry’s principal surviving work is the Memoirs of Henry Guthry, first printed after his death in London in 1702. The 1748 Glasgow edition is especially useful because it includes Crawfurd’s biographical introduction.
Ironically, Henry’s own Memoirs tell us little about his immediate family.
He refers to several other contemporary Guthries, including John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray, Bishop John’s son Andrew Guthrie, and James Guthrie, but does not describe them as his relatives.
What the silence means: Henry’s failure to call these men relatives does not prove that no kinship existed. It does, however, give us no basis for attaching prominent seventeenth-century Guthries to one another simply because they shared the surname or appeared in the same ecclesiastical circles.
Did Bishop Henry Leave a Family?
No wife or children of Bishop Henry have yet been securely established from the sources examined for this project.
Genealogical caution: This should presently be stated as “no wife or children documented” rather than “unmarried” or “died without issue.” Absence from the sources reviewed so far is not the same thing as contemporary proof that he never married or had children.
Genealogical Conclusions
- Henry Guthrie was born about 1600, with Coupar-Angus the traditional and plausible birthplace.
- He graduated M.A. at St Andrews on 16 July 1620.
- He served successively at Guthrie, Stirling, and Kilspindie.
- He became Bishop of Dunkeld in 1665 and died in 1676.
- Fasti identifies his father as Henry Guthrie, minister of Bendochy.
- George Crawfurd identifies his father as Mr John Guthrie, minister at Coupar-Angus, allegedly a younger son of the Guthries of Guthrie.
- The two parentage traditions cannot both be correct as presently written.
- The Bendochy reconstruction is supported by specific references to Perth sasine registers, but those records have not yet been directly examined.
- Crawfurd’s pedigree was reportedly based on a manuscript Memorial of the Lives of the Bishops of Dunkeld, but that manuscript has not yet been located.
- The discovery of previously omitted younger sons of Alexander Guthrie, 5th of Guthrie, and Agnes Falconer makes Crawfurd’s proposed younger-son ancestry structurally possible.
- A John Guthrie is independently documented among that generation, but he has not been proved to be the minister described by Crawfurd.
- The 1618 marriage of Henry Guthrie and Elspit Small may represent a later marriage of the Bendochy minister and therefore does not automatically exclude him as the bishop’s father.
- Bishop Henry’s mother remains unidentified.
- No wife or children of Bishop Henry are presently documented.
Questions Still to Explore
- Do Perth Sasine Secondary Register i.41, i.296, or vi.483 explicitly identify Bishop Henry as a son of the minister of Bendochy?
- Who exactly was Mr John Guthrie, minister of Coupar-Angus, in Crawfurd’s source?
- Can the documented John Guthrie, son of Alexander 5th and Agnes Falconer, be connected to the ministry?
- What became of Crawfurd’s manuscript Memorial of the Lives of the Bishops of Dunkeld?
- Was the Henry Guthrie who married Elspit Small at Kettins on 17 May 1618 the minister of Bendochy?
- If so, was Elspit a later wife rather than Bishop Henry’s mother?
- Who was Bishop Henry’s mother?
- Did Bishop Henry marry or leave children?
Sources and Further Reading
- Hew Scott, Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ — Bendochy entry for the elder Henry Guthrie and the Bishop of Dunkeld entries for Henry’s career and parentage.
- Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ citations to Perth Sasine Secondary Register, i.41, i.296, and vi.483 for the family of Henry Guthrie, minister of Bendochy.
- George Crawfurd, “The Life of Henry Guthry, Late Bishop of Dunkeld,” prefixed to The Memoirs of Henry Guthry, Glasgow, 1748.
- Henry Guthry, Memoirs, first published London, 1702; later Glasgow editions 1747/1748.
- Crawfurd’s cited manuscript, Memorial of the Lives of the Bishops of Dunkeld — present location unknown.
- Scotland Old Parish Registers — marriage of Henry Guthrie and Elspit Small, Kettins, 17 May 1618.
- William Anderson, The Scottish Nation — later biographical treatment derived substantially from the Crawfurd tradition.
- Chambers / Thomson, A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen.
- Thomas Finlayson Henderson, Dictionary of National Biography, “Guthrie, Henry.”
- Guthrie Genealogy — Guthries of Guthrie.
- Guthrie Genealogy — related Special Collections and research concerning the younger sons of Alexander Guthrie, 5th of Guthrie, and Agnes Falconer.
James Guthrie, Minister of Kirkpatrick-Irongray, and Family
c.1673/74–1756 | Kirkpatrick-Irongray, Kirkcudbrightshire
At a Glance
James Guthrie and His Family
James Guthrie spent more than sixty years as minister of Kirkpatrick-Irongray, yet the records tell us far more about his adult life than about where he came from. No baptism or contemporary record identifying his parents has yet been located.
Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ cautiously reports that James “is believed to have married” a daughter of Biggar of Barbuie. Her personal name is not supplied, and she reportedly died before 1744.
Four children are presently identified:
| Child | Documentary Evidence | Later History |
|---|---|---|
| James Guthrie | Named by Fasti as a son of the minister | Apprenticed as a Writer to the Signet in 1738. No secure later marriage, death, or family has yet been identified. |
| George Guthrie | Named by Fasti as another son | No securely attributable occupation, marriage, death, or children have yet been identified. |
| Janet Guthrie | Her 1763 marriage record explicitly identifies her as a daughter of the late Mr James Guthrie, minister of Irongray | Married James Crocket / Crockat of Holywood parish on 21 November 1763. |
| Mary Guthrie | Documented wife of Rev. Archibald Lawson, minister of Kirkmahoe | Married Rev. Archibald Lawson on 19 January 1752 and left a documented family. She reportedly died 4 March 1820. |
Best-documented descent: At present, the family of Mary Guthrie and Rev. Archibald Lawson provides the clearest documented line of descent from James Guthrie of Kirkpatrick-Irongray.
Beginning a Sixty-Year Ministry
James received his M.A. from the University of Edinburgh on 28 June 1690. He was licensed to preach on 17 May 1694 and ordained minister of Kirkpatrick-Irongray on 13 September 1694.
The surviving Kirkpatrick-Irongray kirk-session minutes provide unusually immediate confirmation of his arrival. James first appears in the volume on 16 September 1694—only three days after the ordination date supplied by Fasti.
“Irongray Church September ye 16 1694
Post preces sederunt Mr James Guthrie minister…”
He thereafter appears repeatedly presiding with the elders over ordinary parish business: care of the poor, Sabbath observance, discipline, irregular marriages, appointment of church officers, church finances, and correspondence with the presbytery.
These are not simply records proving that James held the title of minister. They show him actively embedded in the daily life of the parish almost from the moment of his ordination.
The Biggars of Barbuie
The tradition that James married a daughter of Biggar of Barbuie has an important element in its favor: the Biggars were genuinely present in James’s immediate parish community.
The contemporary kirk-session minutes name both William Biggar and James Biggar, and by 1696 specifically identify William Biggar in Barbuie.
Documented: A Biggar family associated with Barbuie was living within James Guthrie’s parish during the early years of his ministry.
That local evidence makes the Fasti tradition entirely plausible—but it does not identify James’s wife.
What remains unknown: No record examined so far gives the wife’s first name, identifies either William or James Biggar as her father, or establishes her exact place within the Barbuie family. Until such evidence appears, she should remain [unknown] Biggar? rather than being assigned a specific pedigree.
Mary Guthrie and Rev. Archibald Lawson
James’s daughter Mary Guthrie married Rev. Archibald Lawson, minister of Kirkmahoe, extending the family into another clerical household.
The Kirkmahoe parish register dates their marriage to 19 January 1752:
“Mr Archd Lawson Minr here & Mrs Mary Guthrie…”
Fasti gives the slightly different date of 27 January. Because the parish register is the contemporary record, 19 January 1752 is presently preferred.
Fasti attributes nine children to Archibald and Mary:
| Child | Present Evidence | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth Ann Lawson | Reported by Fasti | Further primary confirmation still desirable |
| John Lawson | Reported by Fasti | Further primary confirmation still desirable |
| Catherine Lawson | Reported by Fasti | Further primary confirmation still desirable |
| Janet Lawson | Kirkmahoe OPR, 9 March 1758 | Independently confirmed daughter of Archibald Lawson and Mary Guthrie |
| James Lawson | Reported by Fasti | Further primary confirmation still desirable |
| Susanna Lawson | Kirkmahoe OPR, 26 September 1762 | Register names “Mr Arch. Lawson Minr here & Mrs Mary Guthrie his spouse” |
| Gilbert Lawson | Reported by Fasti | Further primary confirmation still desirable |
| Archibald Lawson | Reported by Fasti | Further primary confirmation still desirable |
| Mary Lawson | Reported by Fasti | Further primary confirmation still desirable |
A later Fasti addition gives Mary Guthrie Lawson’s death as 4 March 1820.
Janet Guthrie and James Crocket
James’s daughter Janet Guthrie married James Crocket, whose surname also appears as Crockat.
Two parish entries preserve the marriage. Holywood records the couple under 12 November 1763, apparently as a proclamation or preliminary entry. The Kirkmahoe register records the marriage itself on 21 November 1763.
The Kirkmahoe entry is particularly valuable because it identifies Janet’s father directly:
“James Crockat in the Parish of Holywood and Janet Guthrie daughter to Mr James Guthrie late Minr of Irongray were married.”
The wording “late Minr of Irongray” fits James’s death in 1756 and removes any doubt about which James Guthrie was Janet’s father.
No baptisms attributable to children of James Crocket and Janet Guthrie were found in the parish-register searches undertaken for this sketch.
Important caution: Failure to find baptisms does not establish that Janet and James had no children. Their family remains an open line of investigation.
James and George Guthrie
The minister’s two sons are much more difficult to follow than his daughters.
James Guthrie entered Scotland’s professional legal world. Fasti records that he was apprenticed as a Writer to the Signet in 1738.
No later marriage, death, or career record has yet been securely distinguished from the numerous other eighteenth-century men named James Guthrie.
George Guthrie is named as another son, but no securely attributable occupation, marriage, death, or children have yet been identified.
DNA opportunity: James and George are particularly important research targets because a documented surviving male-line descendant of either son could potentially provide Y-DNA evidence for this otherwise unattached Irongray family.
A Very Personal Story from Wodrow
Most surviving records tell us what James did as a minister. Robert Wodrow’s Analecta gives us something much rarer: a glimpse of James describing himself.
In 1712, Wodrow recorded a story apparently told by “Mr Guthrie of Irongray.” James described a lifelong physical aversion to being near a dead body while eating or drinking.
He traced it back to childhood, when he was about six or seven years old. A landlord whom he said he “loved as a father” died while James was away. When the boy returned, he was given bread to eat just as the women began preparing the corpse. The experience affected him so strongly that even in adulthood he became ill if he tried to eat where he knew a corpse was present.
James also described a quite separate aversion to swine’s flesh. He initially could scarcely tolerate its sight or smell, but as an adult deliberately tried to overcome the reaction by eating small portions until he eventually became able to tolerate it.
A childhood clue: The man whose death triggered James’s reaction is described as his landlord, yet James also said that he loved him “as a father.” The wording may eventually offer a clue to the circumstances in which James was raised, but it does not identify his biological parents.
The Kirk-holm and Jean Biggar
A later parish account provides another interesting connection between James and the Biggars of Barbuie.
In 1750, Jean Biggar of Barbuie donated 500 merks Scots for the poor of the parish. The money was used to purchase from James Guthrie a small property adjoining the glebe known as Kirk-holm.
The property thereafter produced rental income for poor relief.
What this does—and does not—tell us: The transaction confirms that the Biggars of Barbuie remained closely associated with James’s parish throughout his long ministry and that James personally owned property beside the church lands. Jean Biggar’s benefaction does not, by itself, establish that she was related to James’s unidentified wife.
Not John Guthrie, the Earlier Irongray Minister
Two different Guthrie ministers are associated with Irongray in historical sources, and they should not be conflated.
| Minister | Period | Identity |
|---|---|---|
| John Guthrie of Irongray | Mid-17th century; dead by 1669 | Covenanter minister and field preacher who was ejected following the Restoration |
| James Guthrie of Kirkpatrick-Irongray | Ordained 1694; died 1756 | Minister whose family is reconstructed in this sketch |
No family relationship has yet been established between the two men. Their shared surname and association with the same parish are interesting, but they do not constitute genealogical evidence.
Where Did James Guthrie Come From?
This remains the largest unanswered question.
James was probably born about 1673–1674, based on the report that he died in his eighty-third year. His M.A. in 1690 indicates that he was already well advanced in his education while still a young man.
No baptism identifying his parents has yet been found, and nothing in the surviving evidence securely attaches him to the Guthries of Guthrie, Kingennie and Pitforthie, Kincaldrum, or another established family cluster.
The childhood story recorded by Wodrow hints that James may have spent part of his youth in the household or tenancy of a man he called his landlord, but that evidence is too ambiguous to support a pedigree.
Current ancestry conclusion: The Kirkpatrick-Irongray family should remain a distinct Guthrie family cluster with unresolved ancestry. Connecting it to another Guthrie line merely because of geography, ministry, naming patterns, or the earlier John Guthrie of Irongray would go beyond the evidence.
Genealogical Conclusions
- James Guthrie was probably born about 1673–1674, but his parents and birthplace remain unknown.
- He received his M.A. from Edinburgh on 28 June 1690.
- He was licensed on 17 May 1694 and ordained minister of Kirkpatrick-Irongray on 13 September 1694.
- The kirk-session minutes independently place him in the parish as minister on 16 September 1694.
- He served Kirkpatrick-Irongray for more than sixty years and died on 25 June 1756.
- Fasti reports, cautiously, that James “is believed to have married” a daughter of Biggar of Barbuie.
- The Biggars of Barbuie are independently documented in his parish, supporting the geographical plausibility of the tradition.
- His wife’s given name and exact parentage remain unknown.
- Four children are presently identified: James, George, Janet, and Mary Guthrie.
- Son James was apprenticed as a Writer to the Signet in 1738.
- The later history of sons James and George remains unresolved.
- Mary Guthrie married Rev. Archibald Lawson on 19 January 1752 and left a documented family.
- Janet Guthrie married James Crocket/Crockat on 21 November 1763; her marriage record explicitly identifies her father.
- No children of Janet and James Crocket have yet been located, but absence from the parish searches does not establish that they were childless.
- No genealogical relationship has yet been established between James and the earlier Covenanter minister John Guthrie of Irongray.
- The Irongray family should remain a distinct, unattached Guthrie family cluster until stronger evidence identifies James’s ancestry.
Questions Still to Explore
- Who were James Guthrie’s parents?
- Where was he born about 1673–1674?
- Can his university records provide a place of origin or paternal identification?
- Who was the landlord whom James said he “loved as a father”?
- What was the given name of James’s wife?
- Which Biggar of Barbuie was her father?
- What became of son James Guthrie after his Writer to the Signet apprenticeship?
- What became of son George Guthrie?
- Did Janet Guthrie and James Crocket/Crockat leave surviving children?
- Can the other children of Mary Guthrie and Archibald Lawson be independently confirmed in the parish registers?
- Can a documented paternal-line descendant of James or George eventually connect this family to a Guthrie Y-DNA group?
Sources and Further Reading
- Hew Scott, Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ — Kirkpatrick-Irongray entry for Rev. James Guthrie and later additions concerning his children and descendants.
- National Records of Scotland / Scotland’s People — Kirkpatrick-Irongray Church of Scotland Kirk Session Minutes, CH2/1343/1, 1691–1700.
- Scotland Old Parish Registers — Kirkmahoe: marriage of Archibald Lawson and Mary Guthrie, 19 January 1752; baptism of Janet Lawson, 9 March 1758; baptism of Susanna Lawson, 26 September 1762; marriage of James Crockat and Janet Guthrie, 21 November 1763.
- Scotland Old Parish Registers — Holywood: marriage-related entry for James Crocket and Janet Guthrie, 12 November 1763.
- Robert Wodrow, Analecta, Volume II, p. 85 — account of “Mr Guthrie of Irongray and his peculiar antipathies,” recorded in 1712.
- New Statistical Account of Scotland — Kirkpatrick-Irongray account concerning Jean Biggar of Barbuie’s 1750 benefaction and the purchase of Kirk-holm from Rev. James Guthrie.
- Guthrie Genealogy Special Collections — Wodrow’s Analecta, Guthrie entry relating to James Guthrie of Irongray.
George Guthrie, Minister of Barr and Oxnam, and Family
fl. 1689–1700 | Ayrshire & Roxburghshire
At a Glance
George and Elizabeth Tait
George Guthrie served as minister first at Barr and later at Oxnam during the unsettled years following the Revolution Settlement. His ancestry remains unknown, but his immediate family can be reconstructed in outline from Fasti, parish records, and the surviving Oxnam kirk-session material.
His wife was Elizabeth Tait, who survived him. No marriage record has yet been located, and her parents and place of origin remain unidentified.
| Child | Evidence | Later History |
|---|---|---|
| William Guthrie | Described by Fasti as the couple’s only son | No secure marriage, occupation, death, or descendants have yet been identified. |
| Margaret Guthrie | 1718 Edinburgh record identifies her as daughter of the deceased Mr George Guthrie, minister of Oxnam | Married William Brown of Lindsaylands; documented sons James Brown and George Brown. |
His Death at Oxnam
A particularly useful discovery comes from the surviving Oxnam kirk-session account book. The opening page explains why the parish required a new minister:
“The Church of Oxnam being destitute of ane Minister by Reason of the Decease of Mr George Guthrie late Incumbent…”
The same record documents the institution of Alexander Colden on 8 May 1700. Since George was still known to be living after 23 March 1698, his death can now be narrowed to the period between those dates.
What this resolves: George did not simply disappear from the ministerial record through resignation or translation. He died while incumbent at Oxnam, creating the vacancy filled in 1700.
Margaret Guthrie and the Brown Family
George’s daughter Margaret Guthrie is the best-documented member of the next generation. An Edinburgh parish record dated 16 February 1718 names her as the daughter of the deceased Rev. George Guthrie of Oxnam and associates her with William Brown of Lindsaylands in Biggar parish.
Two children of William and Margaret have been located:
- James Brown — recorded 5 November 1720 at St Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh;
- George Brown — recorded 20 March 1722 at Edinburgh.
Documented descent: Margaret’s marriage and the baptisms of James and George Brown provide a secure descendant line from Rev. George Guthrie.
The Unresolved Son
William Guthrie is genealogically important because Fasti calls him George and Elizabeth’s only son. Unfortunately, nothing further can presently be assigned to him with confidence.
The name William Guthrie is too common during this period to attach one of the many same-name men to this family without an identifying relationship or place.
DNA potential: If William left sons and a surviving direct paternal line can eventually be documented, that lineage could provide valuable Y-DNA evidence for this presently unattached family.
Genealogical Conclusions
- George Guthrie served at Barr and later Oxnam.
- His parents and birthplace remain unknown.
- He married Elizabeth Tait, who survived him.
- Their known children were William and Margaret Guthrie.
- George died while minister of Oxnam between March 1698 and May 1700.
- Margaret married William Brown of Lindsaylands and had documented sons James and George Brown.
- William’s later history remains unknown.
- No evidence presently connects this family with another established Guthrie branch.
Questions Still to Explore
- Who were George Guthrie’s parents?
- Who were Elizabeth Tait’s parents?
- When and where did they marry?
- What became of their only son William?
- Did Margaret and William Brown have additional children?
Sources and Further Reading
- Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ — Barr and Oxnam entries.
- NRS / Scotland’s People, Oxnam Church of Scotland Kirk Session, CH2/1232/2.
- Edinburgh OPR marriage record, William Brown of Lindsaylands and Margaret Guthrie, 16 February 1718.
- St Cuthbert’s and Edinburgh OPR baptisms of James and George Brown.
- General Register of Sasines, vol. 108, p. 187 — cited by Fasti; underlying record still to be examined.
Alexander Guthrie, Minister of Terregles and Keir
fl. 1668–1717
At a Glance
Family and the Guthrie-of-Guthrie Claim
Alexander Guthrie is one of the few ministers whom Fasti explicitly describes as belonging to the “family of Guthrie of Guthrie.” That statement is important, but no record yet identifies his parents or places him within a particular generation of the territorial family.
Current position: The affiliation should be preserved as a reported family connection, not converted into a specific parentage without evidence.
Alexander married Isobel Ross, widow of Rev. Walter Mair of Kirkmahoe. Their known daughter was Anne Guthrie, who died in 1760.
When Did Alexander and Isobel Marry?
Walter Mair’s testament dative and inventory was registered on 8 April 1679, proving that Isobel’s first husband was dead by then.
Alexander had become minister of Terregles in 1678 and moved to Keir in 1681. A marriage between approximately 1679 and 1681 is therefore plausible, although no marriage record has yet been found.
Reconstruction: The 1679–1681 range is chronological inference only. It should not be presented as a documented marriage date.
Ministry through Revolution
Alexander graduated at St Andrews in 1668, received his testimonial for licence from the Presbytery of Forfar in 1675, became minister of Terregles in 1678, and was translated to Keir in 1681.
The Revolution Settlement transformed his career. He was removed from the established ministry in 1689 but continued serving within the Episcopal tradition.
By the early eighteenth century he was associated with an Episcopal meeting-house at Arbroath.
The 1715 Rising and Final Deposition
Fasti, drawing upon its cited ecclesiastical sources, associates Alexander with the political and religious conflicts surrounding the Jacobite rising of 1715.
On 5 June 1717, the Presbytery of Arbroath formally deposed him for intrusion, participation in the recent rebellion, and contumacy.
Career significance: Alexander’s ministry spans two very different Scottish church settlements: the Restoration Episcopal establishment and the post-Revolution Presbyterian establishment that displaced him.
Genealogical Conclusions
- Alexander was educated at St Andrews and licensed through the Presbytery of Forfar.
- He ministered at Terregles and Keir before continuing in the Episcopal church.
- He married Isobel Ross, widow of Walter Mair.
- Their known daughter was Anne Guthrie.
- The marriage probably occurred after Walter Mair’s death in 1679 and before or around Alexander’s move to Keir in 1681.
- Fasti describes Alexander as belonging to the family of Guthrie of Guthrie.
- His exact parentage and branch remain unresolved.
- He should not yet be inserted into a specific generation of the Guthrie-of-Guthrie pedigree.
Questions Still to Explore
- Who were Alexander’s parents?
- What original evidence supported Fasti‘s family-of-Guthrie statement?
- When did Alexander marry Isobel Ross?
- Were there children other than Anne?
- When and where did Alexander die?
Sources and Further Reading
- Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ — Terregles and Keir entries.
- University of St Andrews M.A. record, 25 July 1668.
- Presbytery of Forfar testimonial, 7 April 1675.
- NRS, Walter Mair, Testament Dative and Inventory, CC5/6/5, 8 April 1679.
- Penpont Presbytery minutes, CH2/298/1 and CH2/298/2.
- Arbroath Presbytery Register and other authorities cited by Fasti.
David Guthrie of Kair and Castletown & Rev. Gideon Guthrie
Halkerton, Castletown, Kair, Glenmuick & Fetteresso
At a Glance
A Family in Transition
Brothers David and Gideon Guthrie belonged to the later Halkerton branch, but their generation marks a shift away from the old territorial identity.
Their father, Henry “Harie” Guthrie, increasingly appears as “of Castletown,” while their mother Margaret Sibbald brought the family a connection to Kair.
Why the names change: Castletown and Kair were not merely alternative labels for Halkerton. They reflect genuine property and inheritance changes as the family’s older hold on Halkerton weakened.
David Guthrie and Margaret Arbuthnot
David was born in 1658. On 19 July 1683 he married Margaret Arbuthnot, lawful daughter of Alexander Arbuthnot of Pitcarles.
The original marriage entry is especially useful because it calls David the younger laird of Kair, demonstrating that he was already using the territorial designation by 1683.
David later entered the ministry and was admitted to Glenmuick on 11 December 1687. During the upheavals of 1688–89 he remained active, preaching to the garrison at Abergeldie Castle on 3 November 1689.
He died on 15 November 1697.
David’s Children
The family reconstructed from Fasti and Gideon’s Monograph includes children named Henry/Harry, Isobel, Jean, and Margaret, although the exact identity of the Henry/Harry entries requires care.
Open identification problem: It is not yet certain whether Fasti‘s Henry and Harry represent two different sons or two references to the same child.
Daughter Margaret Guthrie became particularly important in the property succession because she carried the Kair interest into her marriage with William Stuart of Inchbreck.
Rev. Gideon Guthrie
Gideon was born at Castletown of Fordoun on 24 May 1663. He was licensed by the Presbytery of the Mearns in 1688.
After David’s death, Gideon appeared at Glenmuick in 1698 and later became associated with Fetteresso, continuing in the Episcopal tradition after the Revolution Settlement.
He married Anne Melville in 1706. She died on 7 February 1727. Gideon died on 14 December 1732.
Gideon’s Monograph
Between approximately 1712 and 1730, Gideon composed a family Monograph preserving details of his own parents, grandparents, brother David, and the earlier Halkerton family.
Why this source matters: Gideon was writing about his own parents and grandparents within living memory. His testimony is therefore substantially stronger for those generations than a remote nineteenth-century pedigree.
Gideon identifies his mother Margaret Sibbald as daughter of David Sibbald of Kair and Jean Auchmouty, and his father Harie as son of Gideon Guthrie of Halkerton and Kynneries and Agnes Junkin.
The Earlier Halkerton Pedigree
The traditional pedigree carries the family farther back through successive Halkerton generations to the Kincaldrum family. Parts of that line are supported by property records, including a 1606 service of heir identifying Henry Guthrie of Halkerton as heir to Alexander Guthrie of Halkerton, his father.
Evidence level: The later generations around Gideon, Harie, David and Margaret Sibbald are comparatively strong. The more remote Halkerton pedigree should remain a traditional and partially reconstructed genealogy unless each generation is independently supported.
Genealogical Conclusions
- David and Gideon were brothers, sons of Henry “Harie” Guthrie and Margaret Sibbald.
- Margaret Sibbald belonged to the family of Kair.
- David married Margaret Arbuthnot on 19 July 1683.
- David was minister of Glenmuick and died 15 November 1697.
- Gideon continued in the Episcopal ministry and later served at Fetteresso.
- Gideon’s Monograph provides valuable near-contemporary testimony for the family.
- The family’s territorial identity shifted from Halkerton toward Castletown and Kair.
- The complete older Halkerton pedigree is not equally proven at every generation.
Questions Still to Explore
- What was the exact legal mechanism by which David succeeded to Kair?
- Were Henry and Harry definitely separate sons?
- Can baptismal records be found for more of David’s children?
- Can each early Halkerton generation be supported independently?
Sources and Further Reading
- Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ — David and Gideon Guthrie entries.
- Gideon Guthrie, A Monograph Written 1712 to 1730.
- Arbuthnott OPR marriage of David Guthrie and Margaret Arbuthnot, 19 July 1683.
- Guthrie Genealogy — Guthrie of Halkerton and Retours / Services of Heirs.
- Edinburgh Commissary Court testaments of Alexander and William Guthrie of Halkerton.
Patrick Guthrie, 9th of Guthrie
King’s College, Kinbattock & Logie-Buchan | fl. 1602–1633/35
At a Glance
Scholar, Minister, and Laird
Patrick Guthrie followed an unusually varied path to the Barony of Guthrie. He was not born as the senior heir. Instead, he spent roughly seventeen years in academic life before entering the ministry and later acquiring the ancestral estate from his elder brother’s branch.
He appears at King’s College, Aberdeen as a Regent by 1602 and later served as Senior Regent and Subprincipal.
King’s College
Patrick’s university career is unusually well documented. He supervised successive graduating classes between 1602 and 1619 and was serving as Subprincipal by the visitation of 1619.
Career sequence: King’s College → Kinbattock/Towie in 1619 → Logie-Buchan in 1626.
Jean Blak — Not “Blackwood”
Patrick’s wife appears in a contemporary 1628 record as Jean Blak.
An Aberdeen marriage entry dated 14 June 1613 records Patrik Guthrie and Jeane Blakburne. The chronology and setting make this a strong candidate for Patrick’s marriage.
Best current form: Jean should presently be recorded as Jean Blak, probably Jeane Blakburne. The surname Blackwood, frequently repeated in later pedigrees, has not been supported by a contemporary record.
Acquiring Guthrie
Beginning in 1624, Patrick’s elder brother David Guthrie and David’s son Alexander began transferring interests in the Barony of Guthrie to Patrick.
A major wadset followed on 22 May 1629, and the transfer became absolute in December 1633.
Not a normal inheritance: Patrick became 9th of Guthrie through financial and legal transactions while the senior Kincaldrum branch still existed. The estate history cannot be reduced to a simple brother-to-brother inheritance.
Peter Guthrie
Patrick’s only securely identified child is Peter Guthrie.
Peter was later served heir to his father and became 10th of Guthrie. In 1636 he transferred the barony to John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray.
Three Different Patrick Guthries
Patrick Guthrie, 9th of Guthrie must be kept distinct from:
- Patrick Guthrie of Pitmoweis, dead by January 1618;
- Patrick Guthrie, goldsmith of St Andrews, father of Bishop John Guthrie.
The Pitmoweis family includes Nicholas/Nicolas Guthrie who married David Ogilvy. She should not be assigned as a daughter of Patrick, 9th of Guthrie.
Genealogical Conclusions
- Patrick was a younger son of Alexander Guthrie of Kincaldrum and Alice Douglas.
- He served for many years at King’s College before entering parish ministry.
- He ministered at Kinbattock and Logie-Buchan.
- His wife is documented as Jean Blak, probably the Jeane Blakburne of the 1613 Aberdeen marriage.
- Later “Blackwood” usage is unverified.
- His securely identified son was Peter Guthrie.
- Patrick acquired Guthrie through a series of legal transactions culminating in 1633.
- His exact death date lies between December 1633 and Peter’s service as heir in May 1636.
Questions Still to Explore
- Who were Jean Blak/Blakburne’s parents?
- Did Patrick and Jean have children other than Peter?
- Can Patrick’s exact death date be identified?
Sources and Further Reading
- Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ — Kinbattock and Logie-Buchan.
- Peter John Anderson, Officers and Graduates of University & King’s College, Aberdeen.
- NRS GD137/1842, 14 January 1628 — Patrick Guthrie and Jean Blak.
- Aberdeen OPR marriage, Patrik Guthrie and Jeane Blakburne, 14 June 1613.
- NRS testament of the separate Patrick Guthrie of Pitmoweis, CC20/4/6.
- Guthrie Genealogy — Guthries of Guthrie and Guthrie of Kincaldrum.
John Guthrie of Kinedward, Anna Guthrie, and the King-Edward Family
Aberdeenshire | Late 17th–Early 18th Century
At a Glance
The Problem with Kinedward and King-Edward
The similar territorial names make it tempting to merge John Guthrie of Kinedward with the better-known King-Edward baronet family.
The chronology and surviving probate evidence show that this would be premature.
Two families must presently remain separate: John Guthrie of Kinedward and his daughter Anna form one unresolved family; the Colliston-derived baronets Sir Henry, Sir John and Sir Alexander form another documented line.
Anna Guthrie
Anna was the daughter of John Guthrie of Kinedward.
She married first Patrick Grant of Dunlugas. By 27 December 1699 she was already Patrick’s widow and entered a marriage contract with William Hunter.
William and Anna had sons including Alexander Hunter and John Hunter.
Chronological clue: Anna had already married, been widowed, and was entering a second marriage by 1699. She therefore belongs to an adult generation established well before the later Sir John Guthrie’s daughter Anne married in 1711.
The Colliston–King-Edward Baronets
The documented baronet family descends from Henry “Harie” Guthrie of Colliston and Jean Lindsay.
Their son Sir Henry Guthrie, Knight Baronet of King-Edward, married first Barbara Urquhart and later Jonet/Janet Wallace.
Sir Henry’s son Sir John Guthrie of King-Edward died in August 1722. His probate records identify his widow Mary Forbes and his son and successor Sir Alexander Guthrie.
Anne Guthrie Burnet
Sir John’s testament calls Anne Guthrie his eldest daughter of his first marriage.
On 23 October 1711, Anne married William Burnet, younger of Campfield.
Identity correction:
Anna Guthrie, widow of Patrick Grant and wife of William Hunter by 1699
≠
Anne Guthrie, daughter of Sir John, wife of William Burnet in 1711.
The Dunlugas Connection
An intriguing overlap remains. Anna’s first husband was Patrick Grant of Dunlugas, while Sir Henry Guthrie’s 1672 property interest at King-Edward included half of Dunlugas.
This may ultimately reflect kinship, property dealings, social connection, or coincidence.
What it does not prove: Shared association with Dunlugas does not establish that Anna’s father John belonged to the Colliston-derived baronet line.
Genealogical Conclusions
- Anna Guthrie was daughter of John Guthrie of Kinedward.
- She married first Patrick Grant of Dunlugas and second William Hunter.
- Her second marriage contract dates to 27 December 1699.
- The later King-Edward baronet family descended from the Guthries of Colliston.
- Sir John Guthrie of King-Edward died in 1722 and was succeeded by Sir Alexander.
- Sir John’s daughter Anne married William Burnet in 1711.
- Anna Guthrie Grant Hunter and Anne Guthrie Burnet were different women.
- No documentary bridge yet connects John Guthrie of Kinedward with the Colliston baronets.
Questions Still to Explore
- Who were John Guthrie of Kinedward’s parents?
- What precisely connected him with Kinedward?
- Was he a collateral relative of the Colliston Guthries?
- When did Anna marry Patrick Grant?
- Did Anna and Patrick Grant have children?
- Does the repeated Dunlugas connection reflect kinship?
Sources and Further Reading
- Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ — William Hunter entry.
- NRS, Sir John Guthrie of Kingedward probate records, CC1/6/3, CC1/6/6 and CC1/6/18.
- Kincardine O’Neil OPR marriage of William Burnet and Anne Guthrie, 23 October 1711.
- 1672 record for Sir Henry Guthrie of King Edward.
- John A. Henderson, Aberdeenshire Epitaphs and Inscriptions.
- Guthrie Genealogy — Guthrie of Colliston and Retours / Services of Heirs.
James Guthrie, Minister of Urquhart, and the Elgin Guthrie Family
Elgin & Urquhart, Moray | fl. 1589–1647
At a Glance
Alexander Guthrie of Elgin
Alexander Guthrie was an established burgess of Elgin by 1560/61 and served as a bailie by 1574.
His 1589 testament is the key genealogical record. It identifies his wife as Jonet Innes and names:
- James Guthrie, eldest son;
- John Guthrie;
- William Guthrie;
- Bessie/Elizabeth Guthrie.
The crucial coincidence: Alexander’s testament names an eldest son James in the same year that the future minister of Urquhart received his M.A. from St Andrews.
From Elgin Burgess to Urquhart Minister?
A James Guthrie appears among the burgesses of Elgin on 27 July 1591.
Four years later, James Guthrie became minister of Urquhart.
The minister then continued to appear in Elgin records, including documents in 1606 and 1616.
Corroborated reconstruction:
Alexander’s eldest son James, 1589
→ James Guthrie, Elgin burgess, 1591
→ Mr James Guthrie, minister of Urquhart, 1595 onward.
No single surviving document states the entire relationship, but the chronology and repeated Elgin connections make the identification highly probable.
Margaret Douglas
Fasti identifies James’s wife as Margaret Douglas, associated with the family of Alexander Douglas, minister of Elgin and later Bishop of Moray.
The Douglas clerical family is well documented in Elgin, and James repeatedly moved within the same civic and ecclesiastical circle.
Evidence caution: No primary record reviewed for this reconstruction explicitly identifies Margaret Douglas as James’s wife or names her father. Those relationships should remain attributed to Fasti until stronger contemporary evidence is found.
Known or Reported Children
Fasti names children including:
- Robert Guthrie;
- Margaret Guthrie.
Their later lives remain targets for additional primary research.
Genealogical Conclusions
- Alexander Guthrie was a burgess and bailie of Elgin.
- His wife was Jonet Innes.
- His testament identifies James as his eldest son.
- The future minister James graduated from St Andrews in the same year.
- A James Guthrie was an Elgin burgess in 1591.
- James became minister of Urquhart in 1595 and remained closely connected with Elgin.
- The identification of the minister as Alexander’s eldest son is strongly supported but not explicitly bridged by one document.
- Margaret Douglas as James’s wife remains reported by Fasti rather than independently proved here.
Questions Still to Explore
- Can a document explicitly identify the minister as Alexander’s son?
- Can James’s marriage to Margaret Douglas be documented?
- Who exactly were Margaret Douglas’s parents?
- What became of Robert and Margaret Guthrie?
Sources and Further Reading
- Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, Volume VI — Urquhart.
- NRS, Testament of Alexander Guthrie, burgess of Elgin, CC8/8/22.
- William Cramond, The Records of Elgin, Volume I.
- Register of the Privy Council of Scotland — 1606 appearance of the Urquhart minister at Elgin.
Rev. William Gallety Guthrie
Minister of Logie-Buchan and Glass | 1865–1942
At a Glance
William and Maria Ann Peters
William married Maria Ann Peters in 1888. Before entering the ministry he worked as an elementary teacher.
By 1901 he was minister at Logie-Buchan, and he later served at Glass, where he died in 1942.
Their known children include Annie Whyte, Albert John, Alexander, Margaret Isobel, and Elizabeth Paton Gloag Guthrie.
The Paternal Line
William Gallety Guthrie
↓ Alexander Guthrie & Ann Whyte
↓ William Guthrie & Isobel Cumine
↓ Walter Guthrie & Isobel Stevenson
↓ James Guthrie of Craighead & Elspet Kemp
Each generational bridge can be supported by statutory registrations, censuses, or Old Parish Registers.
Alexander Guthrie, Master Slater
William’s father Alexander Guthrie was born about 1831–32 at Monquhitter and became a successful master slater at Peterhead.
He married Ann Whyte on 24 August 1857 and died on 27 June 1881. His death registration identifies his parents as William Guthrie and Isabella/Isobel Cumine.
Cuminestown to Cullen
William Guthrie and Isobel Cumine married at Monquhitter in 1824. William died there in 1834 and was described as a fishmonger at Cuminestown.
William’s father was Walter Guthrie, whose earlier family can be traced to Cullen. Walter and Isobel Stevenson had children there before moving to Cuminestown.
Walter died in October 1797. His monumental inscription describes him as a manufacturer and praises his industry, integrity, and medical skill.
James Guthrie and Elspet Kemp of Craighead
A Cullen baptism dated 3 September 1727 identifies Walter as a son of James Guthrie of Craighead and Elspet Kemp.
James and Elspet married at Cullen on 17 March 1719. The original marriage entry describes both parties as “in Craighead.”
Their seven documented children were Thomas, Jannet, John, William, Walter, Alexander, and Margaret.
Current ancestral endpoint: The documented paternal ancestry should stop with James Guthrie of Craighead and Elspet Kemp.
Which James Guthrie?
Three plausible baptisms exist in the appropriate period:
- James, son of Alexander Guthrie — Fordyce, 1693;
- James, son of Thomas Guthrie — Cullen, 1693;
- James, son of John Guthrie — Cullen, 1694.
Do not choose yet: The Cullen candidates have the stronger geographical argument, but none is explicitly connected with Craighead. Assigning parents to James at this stage would be premature.
DNA Opportunity
This family has autosomal representation in the Guthrie DNA Project but no known direct paternal Y-DNA representative.
A qualifying male-line descendant could potentially show whether this Cullen–Cuminestown family belongs to an existing Guthrie Genetic Family or represents a separate paternal lineage.
Genealogical Conclusions
- Rev. William Gallety Guthrie belongs securely to the Peterhead–Cuminestown–Cullen family.
- His paternal ancestry can be traced through four well-supported generations to James Guthrie and Elspet Kemp of Craighead.
- James and Elspet married in 1719 and had seven documented children.
- James’s own parentage remains unresolved.
- Candidate baptisms should not yet be converted into a pedigree.
- A Y-DNA participant from the direct paternal line would be especially valuable.
Questions Still to Explore
- Which, if any, of the 1693–94 James Guthrie baptisms belongs to James of Craighead?
- Can the Cullen kirk-session minutes clarify the Craighead family?
- Can a direct paternal descendant be recruited for Y-DNA testing?
Sources and Further Reading
- Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ — William Gallety Guthrie.
- Scotland statutory registrations, censuses and OPRs for Peterhead, Monquhitter and Cullen.
- Aberdeen probate confirmation of Alexander Guthrie, 1881.
- Cullen Kirk Session, CH2/1113 series.
- Monumental inscription for Walter Guthrie of Cuminestown.
- Guthrie DNA Project.
Andrew Guthrie, Minister of Edrom and Peterhead
d. May 1722
At a Glance
Andrew and Jannet Learmont
Andrew Guthrie married Jonet/Jannet Learmont at Edinburgh on 3 June 1684.
The Edinburgh registers identify four children:
| Child | Record | Later Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Catharin Guthrie | Baptised 9 April 1685 | Witnesses place the family within an educated Edinburgh circle. |
| Helen Guthrie | Baptised 29 March 1686 | Her baptism explicitly calls Rev. Charles Kay of South Leith Andrew’s cousin. |
| Thomas Guthrie | Baptised 28 July 1689 | Later Thomas Guthrie of Blackhouse; Andrew’s only surviving lawful son. |
| David Guthrie | Born 18 August, baptised 22 August 1690 | Apparently died before Andrew; absent from the later estate succession. |
The “Preacher of the Gospell” Record
David’s 1690 baptism is particularly important because it describes his father as:
“Mr Andrew Guthrie preacher of the Gospell”
This was recorded only about seven weeks before Andrew was ordained minister of Edrom on 10 October 1690.
Identity conclusion: The marriage, successive Edinburgh baptisms, clerical witnesses, occupational description, and ordination chronology make it compelling that the Edinburgh husband of Jannet Learmont was the later minister of Edrom and Peterhead.
Edrom and Peterhead
Andrew served at Edrom until called to Peterhead in 1698 and admitted there on 19 April 1699.
Surviving NRS letters place Andrew, minister at Edrom, in Edinburgh in March 1691 and at Edrom in November 1693, strengthening the documentary bridge between the Edinburgh family and the minister.
He demitted the Peterhead charge on 30 September 1720 and died in May 1722.
Thomas Guthrie of Blackhouse
Andrew’s 1723 testament dative identifies Mr Thomas Guthrie as his only lawful son and nearest of kin.
The Edinburgh baptisms show that Andrew had also had a younger son David. The testament wording therefore means only surviving lawful son, not only son ever born.
Thomas can be followed as Thomas Guthrie of Blackhouse. He married Elizabeth Ogilvie in 1725 and had children including Helen, Janet, and Andrew.
Daughter Janet Guthrie married Ernest Mearns. A remarkable 1782 estate proceeding identifies Janet’s daughters Mary, Janet, and Margaret Mearns as great-granddaughters of Rev. Andrew Guthrie.
Secure descendant chain:
Andrew Guthrie
→ Thomas Guthrie of Blackhouse
→ Janet Guthrie Mearns
→ Mary, Janet and Margaret Mearns.
Possible Parentage at Anstruther
The strongest candidate baptism presently identified is:
Andrew Guthrie, baptised 2 August 1657 at Anstruther Wester, son of Mr David Guthrie and Margaret Adams.
The chronology is excellent, and the father’s use of “Mr” is compatible with Andrew’s educated background.
Nevertheless, no surviving record explicitly identifies the minister as their son.
Strong hypothesis, not pedigree: The 1657 Andrew is a very good candidate but should not yet be treated as established parentage.
The Charles Kay Cousin Clue
Helen Guthrie’s 1686 baptism calls Rev. Charles Kay of South Leith Andrew’s cousin.
Charles appears likely to have been the man born at Ferry Port on Craig in 1649, son of James Kay and Margaret Carstorphine.
No direct Guthrie–Kay or Guthrie–Carstorphine link has yet explained the relationship.
Potential key: Charles Kay’s explicitly stated kinship may eventually provide the best route to proving or disproving the proposed Anstruther ancestry.
Genealogical Conclusions
- Andrew Guthrie, minister of Edrom and Peterhead, was the same man who married Jannet Learmont in Edinburgh in 1684.
- Their documented children were Catharin, Helen, Thomas, and David.
- Andrew was explicitly called a preacher only weeks before his ordination at Edrom.
- Rev. Charles Kay of South Leith was described as Andrew’s cousin.
- Thomas Guthrie of Blackhouse was Andrew’s only surviving lawful son.
- The family can be followed securely into the Mearns great-granddaughter generation.
- The 1657 Anstruther baptism is a strong candidate for Andrew’s birth but remains unproved.
Questions Still to Explore
- Can Andrew be directly connected to Mr David Guthrie and Margaret Adams?
- How was Rev. Charles Kay related to Andrew?
- What became of Catharin and Helen Guthrie?
- When did Andrew’s son David die?
Sources and Further Reading
- Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ — Edrom and Peterhead.
- Edinburgh and St Cuthbert’s OPR marriage and baptisms for Andrew Guthrie and Jannet Learmont.
- NRS GD158/413 and GD158/1077 — Andrew Guthrie at Edrom.
- Aberdeen Commissary Court, CC1/6/4 and CC1/6/10 — Andrew’s estate.
- NRS CS271/25454 — Thomas Guthrie of Blackhouse.
- Aberdeen Commissary Court CC1/6/49A — 1782 great-granddaughter evidence.
- Anstruther Wester OPR baptism of Andrew Guthrie, 2 August 1657.
Samuel Guthrie, Litster and Burgess of Edinburgh
fl. early 17th century
At a Glance
Samuel Guthrie in the Fasti Research
Samuel Guthrie belongs to the wider family reconstruction surrounding the Guthries of Guthrie. Edinburgh apprenticeship records identify him directly as a son of Alexander Guthrie of that Ilk. Chronology and the reconstructed family strongly favor his placement as a younger son of Alexander Guthrie, 5th of Guthrie, and Agnes Falconer, although the apprenticeship record itself does not name Samuel’s mother or distinguish his father by modern lairdship number.
Why there is no duplicate sketch here: Samuel has already received a full Guthrie Research Sketch based on the richer Edinburgh evidence. That study reconstructs his apprenticeship, marriage, trade, twelve children, burgess family, probable brother Hercules, and the later history of several descendants.
Generational caution: The Samuel Guthrie later associated with Woodbridge, New Jersey was not the litster himself, but his grandson. The Woodbridge evidence therefore belongs to a later generation of this Edinburgh family.
Continue to the full Research Sketch:
Samuel Guthrie, Litster, and His Edinburgh Family
Alexander Guthrie, Town Clerk of Edinburgh
Three Generations of Edinburgh Common Clerks
At a Glance
Alexander Guthrie in the Fasti Research
The name Alexander Guthrie appears repeatedly in Edinburgh civic and clerical records, but these references do not belong to a single man. The Burgh of Edinburgh evidence establishes a documented succession of three generations of the same family, each named Alexander Guthrie and each connected with the office of Common Clerk or Town Clerk.
Documented succession:
Alexander Guthrie, elder
↓ eldest son
Master Alexander Guthrie
↓ son
Master Alexander Guthrie
The first Alexander served Edinburgh from at least 1551 and resigned the common clerkship in 1579/80 because of age and infirmity. His eldest son was expressly appointed as his successor. The third Alexander was in turn explicitly identified as the second clerk’s son and eventually succeeded to the office.
Why there is no duplicate sketch here: The full Edinburgh Research Sketch already separates the three Alexanders, reconstructs their civic careers and family relationships, and follows the wider household of the first Common Clerk. Repeating that material on the Fasti page would create a second version of an already well-documented family study.
Why the Family Matters
The clerkship succession is particularly valuable genealogically because the records contain unusually explicit statements of fatherhood, sonship, brotherhood, and civic succession. The first Alexander’s family also included several children who connected the household with Edinburgh’s legal, merchant, landed, and ecclesiastical communities.
The third Alexander left an additional mark on Edinburgh’s history through his archival work. In 1638 he compiled the catalogue of the town’s writs and charters later known as “Guthrie’s Inventory,” and in 1647 he was paid for preparing an alphabetical index to the council acts.
Unresolved ancestry: Later pedigrees have associated the first Common Clerk with Sir William Guthrie of Lunan or the Guthries of Lunan. The Edinburgh records reviewed so far do not identify his father, birthplace, or territorial origin, so that ancestry remains a research possibility rather than an established pedigree.
Continue to the full Research Sketch:
Three Generations of Alexander Guthrie: Edinburgh’s Common Clerk Dynasty
John Guthrie, Minister of Ratho
A seventeenth-century Guthrie whose documented family connection leads unexpectedly toward Mongerswood in Ayrshire.
Name: Mr John Guthrie
Born: About 1673–1674, inferred from his reported age at death
Father: James Guthrie
Paternal Uncle: John Guthrie, younger of Mongerswood
Ministry: Ratho, Midlothian
Admission: 16 August 1703
Died: 28 February 1756, reportedly in his eighty-third year
Known Child: Margaret Guthrie; other children were living at his death but are not named in the Fasti account
The Minister at Ratho
John Guthrie entered the ministry at Ratho, a Midlothian parish west of Edinburgh, at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Fasti records his call to the parish on 30 May 1703. An independent record preserved by the National Records of Scotland confirms that the Presbytery of Edinburgh ordained and admitted Mr John Guthrie, probationer, as minister of Ratho on 16 August 1703.
NRS GD1/434/1 — 16 August 1703: An extract act of ordination and admission by the Presbytery of Edinburgh records Mr John Guthrie, probationer, becoming minister of the parish of Ratho.
He remained associated with Ratho until his death on 28 February 1756. Fasti describes him as dying in his eighty-third year, placing his birth approximately in 1673 or 1674.
The Mongerswood Connection
The most genealogically important part of the Fasti account is not John’s clerical career, but the identification of his father and paternal uncle. John is described as the son and heir of James Guthrie, while James is identified as a brother of John Guthrie, younger of Mongerswood.
| Person | Relationship / Identification |
|---|---|
| James Guthrie | Father of Rev. John Guthrie of Ratho |
| John Guthrie, younger of Mongerswood | Brother of James Guthrie; paternal uncle of the minister |
| Rev. John Guthrie | Son and heir of James; minister of Ratho |
| Margaret Guthrie | Named daughter of Rev. John Guthrie |
Primary citation still to be examined: Fasti cites Ayr Sasines, vol. vii, p. 239 in connection with the Mongerswood relationship. The underlying sasine has not yet been accessible for direct review. The relationship is therefore retained as a Fasti-supported statement with a specific primary citation, rather than expanded beyond what the published source establishes.
Wife and Children
Fasti states that John died a widower and left a daughter named Margaret, together with other unnamed children. His wife has not been securely identified.
A search of the surviving Ratho Old Parish Registers produced no Guthrie baptisms during the expected period for his children. Searches of nearby Edinburgh-area registers identified several families headed by men named John Guthrie, but most could be excluded because the fathers were explicitly described as a merchant burgess, wright, or excise officer.
Unresolved OPR candidates: Two records remain chronologically possible but unproved. In Edinburgh in 1697, a John Guthrie and Elizabeth Grant had a son John. In Haddington in 1718, a John Guthrie and Elizabeth Turner had a daughter Margaret. Neither record identifies the father as the minister of Ratho, and no marriage record has been located for either couple that would connect them to him. Neither woman should presently be assigned as John Guthrie’s wife.
What Can Be Established
Rev. John Guthrie can be placed securely at Ratho from his admission in 1703 until his death in 1756. More unusually, Fasti preserves a specific paternal relationship: he was the son and heir of James Guthrie, whose brother was John Guthrie, younger of Mongerswood.
That connection provides the outline of a Guthrie family extending beyond Ratho, apparently into Ayrshire records. For the moment, however, the minister’s wife and most of his children remain unidentified. His daughter Margaret is documented by name, but no surviving baptism has yet been securely matched to her.
Sources & Research Notes
Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ — entry for John Guthrie, minister of Ratho; provides his clerical career, death information, father James Guthrie, uncle John Guthrie younger of Mongerswood, and surviving daughter Margaret and other children.
National Records of Scotland, GD1/434/1 — “Admission of minister at Ratho Parish, Midlothian,” 16 August 1703; extract act of ordination and admission of Mr John Guthrie, probationer, as minister of Ratho.
Ayr Sasines, vol. vii, p. 239 — cited by Fasti in connection with the Mongerswood family relationship; underlying entry not yet examined directly.
Scotland’s People, Old Parish Registers — searches of Ratho and surrounding Edinburgh-area parishes. No Guthrie baptisms were found in the Ratho OPR for the relevant period. Several nearby John Guthrie households were investigated and excluded or retained only as unproved possibilities.
Research status: No wife has been established. The 1697 Edinburgh household of John Guthrie and Elizabeth Grant and the 1718 Haddington household of John Guthrie and Elizabeth Turner remain unproved candidates only.
Alexander Guthrie, Minister of Haggs and Tomintoul
From a shoemaker’s household in Arngask to the parish ministry of Tomintoul.
Name: Rev. Alexander Guthrie
Born: 1841, Arngask parish, Kinross-shire
Parents: James Guthrie, shoemaker/bootmaker, and Margaret Dow
Ministry: Haggs; later Tomintoul
Marital Status: Unmarried
Died: 29 December 1885, Manse of Tomintoul
Age at Death: 44
From Arngask to the Ministry
Alexander Guthrie was born in 1841 into a working family rooted in Arngask, where his father, James Guthrie, worked as a shoemaker. The family appears in the 1841 census at the Village of Duncrievie, with James recorded as a shoemaker, his wife Margaret, and their infant son Alexander, then only three months old.
By 1851 the household remained at Duncrievie. James Guthrie was then described as a shoemaker employing two journeymen and one apprentice, suggesting a small established business rather than a solitary trade. Alexander, age ten, was living with his parents and younger brothers William, John, and James.
1841 Census: James Guthrie, age 50, shoemaker, living at the Village of Duncrievie with Margaret Guthrie and infant Alexander.
1851 Census: James Guthrie, age 62, born Arngask, shoemaker employing two journeymen and one apprentice; household includes wife Margaret and sons Alexander, William, John, and James.
Parents and Immediate Family
Alexander’s parents are securely identified in both parish and civil records. James Guthrie and Margaret Dow were proclaimed for marriage at Arngask on 19 January 1840, both then residing in the parish. Alexander was born the following year.
His statutory death registration later confirmed that his father was James Guthrie, bootmaker, and his mother was Margaret Guthrie, maiden surname Dow. Both parents were deceased by the time of Alexander’s death.
| Family Member | Known Details |
|---|---|
| James Guthrie | Father; shoemaker/bootmaker of Duncrievie, Arngask |
| Margaret Dow | Mother; married James Guthrie in 1840 |
| Alexander Guthrie | Born 1841; later minister of Haggs and Tomintoul |
| William Guthrie | Younger brother, born about 1843 |
| John Guthrie | Younger brother, born about 1845 |
| James Guthrie | Younger brother, born about 1847 |
An Older Arngask Guthrie Family
James Guthrie, the minister’s father, can be traced one generation farther back with considerable confidence. A baptism recorded at Arngask on 26 November 1787 names a James Guthrie, son of Alexander Guthrie. The date and place agree closely with James’s later census statements, which place his birth in Arngask in the late 1780s.
The elder Alexander Guthrie had married Euphame Storrar at Arngask on 19 October 1786, approximately thirteen months before James’s baptism. The baptism itself names only the father, but the marriage chronology strongly supports Euphame Storrar as James’s mother.
Working paternal line:
Alexander Guthrie of Arngask + Euphame Storrar
↓
James Guthrie, shoemaker/bootmaker of Duncrievie
↓
Rev. Alexander Guthrie, minister of Haggs and Tomintoul
Alexander Guthrie of Arngask and His Two Families
The earlier Alexander Guthrie appears to have married twice. He first married Elizabeth Horn at Arngask in 1770. A continuous sequence of children was then baptized in the parish between 1770 and 1786.
Elizabeth Horn died on 9 May 1786, only weeks after the baptism of the youngest child in that first group. Alexander married Euphame Storrar on 19 October 1786, and three further children followed between 1787 and 1793.
| Child | Baptism | Probable Mother |
|---|---|---|
| Hendry Guthrie | 9 Dec 1770 | Elizabeth Horn |
| Isobel Guthrie | 5 Feb 1772 | Elizabeth Horn |
| John Guthrie | 22 Oct 1775 | Elizabeth Horn |
| Catharine Guthrie | 27 Sep 1776 | Elizabeth Horn |
| Jean Guthrie | 25 Apr 1778 | Elizabeth Horn |
| Euphane Guthrie | 23 Feb 1780 | Elizabeth Horn |
| Andrew Guthrie | 30 Apr 1782 | Elizabeth Horn |
| Thomas Guthrie | 27 Jun 1784 | Elizabeth Horn |
| John Guthrie | 16 Apr 1786 | Elizabeth Horn |
| James Guthrie | 26 Nov 1787 | Euphame Storrar, strongly supported |
| Alexander Guthrie | 15 May 1790 | Euphame Storrar, strongly supported |
| Marjory Guthrie | 27 Oct 1793 | Euphame Storrar, strongly supported |
Why the two-family reconstruction is persuasive: Elizabeth Horn died in May 1786. Alexander Guthrie married Euphame Storrar five months later, and the next recorded child, James, was baptized in November 1787. Although the Arngask baptisms name only the father, the marriage and death chronology provides strong support for assigning the earlier children to Elizabeth Horn and the later children to Euphame Storrar.
James Guthrie, Shoemaker of Duncrievie
James Guthrie’s life bridges the eighteenth-century Arngask family and the ministerial career of his son. His census records consistently identify him with Arngask and the shoemaking trade.
James appears to have married first Janet Simpson, with whom he had a substantially older family. Baptisms at Arngask record children of a James Guthrie in 1813, 1814, 1816, 1819, 1823, 1825, and 1829, corresponding closely with the first family reconstructed in the Guthrie Research Tree.
After Janet’s death, James married Margaret Dow in 1840. Their children included Alexander and his younger brothers William, John, and James.
Family structure: Rev. Alexander Guthrie belonged to his father’s later family and had a much older group of half-siblings from James Guthrie’s earlier marriage. This helps explain the unusually wide span of ages within the wider family.
Minister of Haggs and Tomintoul
Alexander entered the Church of Scotland ministry during the nineteenth century. Fasti records that he was licensed by the Presbytery of Glasgow and ordained to Haggs on 17 October 1872.
His stay there was comparatively brief. He later moved north to Tomintoul, where he was admitted on 9 December 1875. He remained minister there until his death a decade later.
Clerical career: Licensed by the Presbytery of Glasgow; ordained at Haggs in 1872; admitted to Tomintoul in 1875; remained minister there until his death in 1885.
Death at the Manse
Alexander Guthrie died at the Manse of Tomintoul on 29 December 1885, at the age of 44. His death was registered at Tomintoul on 4 January 1886.
The statutory record describes him as Established Church Minister of Tomintoul and confirms that he was unmarried. It also supplies the clearest surviving statement of his parentage, naming his deceased parents as James Guthrie, bootmaker, and Margaret Dow.
Statutory death record: Alexander Guthrie, Established Church Minister of Tomintoul, unmarried, age 44; died 29 December 1885 at the Manse of Tomintoul. Parents: James Guthrie, bootmaker, deceased, and Margaret Guthrie, maiden surname Dow, deceased.
Possible Earlier Parentage
Research possibility only: One attractive candidate for the birth of the elder Alexander Guthrie of Arngask is an Alexander Guthrie baptized at Forgandenny on 27 November 1744, son of John Guthrie and Isabel Wallace, who had married at Forteviot in 1735.
The candidate fits geographically and chronologically, and the later Arngask family includes children named both John and Isobel. A John Guthrie also died at Arngask in 1769, shortly before Alexander’s 1770 marriage there. None of these records, however, directly identifies the Forgandenny child as the later Alexander of Arngask. John Guthrie and Isabel Wallace therefore remain possible parents rather than established ancestors.
What This Family Adds
Fasti presents Alexander Guthrie primarily as a nineteenth-century minister, but the surviving civil, census, and parish records reveal a much fuller family story. He grew up in the household of James Guthrie, an Arngask shoemaker who operated a small workshop employing journeymen and an apprentice, and Margaret Dow.
That family can be traced with strong probability back another generation to Alexander Guthrie of Arngask and Euphame Storrar. The earlier Alexander’s two marriages and twelve recorded children place Rev. Alexander within a substantial and long-established local Guthrie network rather than leaving him as an isolated clerical figure.
The generation before Alexander of Arngask remains unresolved. The 1744 Forgandenny son of John Guthrie and Isabel Wallace is the leading candidate found so far, but the evidence is not sufficient to extend the documented pedigree beyond Alexander of Arngask.
Sources & Research Notes
Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ — entries for Alexander Guthrie at Haggs and Tomintoul; provides his clerical career, parentage, unmarried status, and death information.
Scotland’s People, Old Parish Registers — Arngask: marriage proclamation of James Guthrie and Margaret Dow, 19 January 1840.
1841 Scotland Census: James Guthrie, shoemaker, and household at the Village of Duncrievie, including infant Alexander.
1851 Scotland Census: James Guthrie, age 62, born Arngask, shoemaker employing two journeymen and one apprentice; wife Margaret and sons Alexander, William, John, and James.
Scotland’s People, Statutory Deaths: Alexander Guthrie, minister of Tomintoul, died 29 December 1885; registered 4 January 1886; parents James Guthrie, bootmaker, and Margaret Dow; unmarried.
Scotland’s People, Old Parish Registers — Arngask: James Guthrie, son of Alexander Guthrie, baptized 26 November 1787.
Scotland’s People, Old Parish Registers — Arngask: marriage of Alexander Guthrie and Euphame Storrar, 19 October 1786.
Scotland’s People, Old Parish Registers — Arngask: death/burial of Elizabeth Horn, 9 May 1786.
Scotland’s People, Old Parish Registers — Arngask: twelve baptisms of children of Alexander Guthrie between 1770 and 1793, supporting reconstruction of his families by Elizabeth Horn and Euphame Storrar.
Possible earlier ancestry: Alexander Guthrie, baptized 27 November 1744 at Forgandenny, son of John Guthrie and Isabel Wallace; John Guthrie and Isabel Wallace married at Forteviot in 1735. This identification remains unproved and is not incorporated into the documented pedigree.
Additional Guthries Not Given a Full Research Sketch
Individuals preserved in the Fasti records whose surviving evidence does not presently support a separate genealogical study.
Not every Guthrie found in Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ can be developed into a meaningful family history. Some appear only briefly as readers, vicars, ministers, burgesses, or professional men, while others can be followed through their careers but cannot yet be connected securely to parents, spouses, children, or an established Guthrie family.
These individuals have not been discarded. Their original Guthrie Entries remain in the Fasti volumes, where the source evidence and page references can be consulted. They are collected here so that future discoveries may allow some of them to be revisited.
Clergy and Early Church Officers
| Guthrie | Research Status |
|---|---|
| Alexander Guthrie Minister / Parson of Tullynessle; associated with Forbes and the Presbytery of Alford |
Fasti references originally treated as more than one possible individual were determined to concern the same minister. He was documented as parson of Tullynessle by 1594 and later served as moderator of the Presbytery of Alford. Privy Council records also place him at Tullynessle. His parents, wife, children, and wider family remain unidentified, so a full family sketch would add little beyond the surviving career record. |
| John Guthrie Banff / Boyndie |
Clerical references survive, but no sufficiently secure family reconstruction has emerged from the records reviewed. |
| Andrew Guthrie Keith |
Retained as a Fasti occurrence. Present evidence identifies his ecclesiastical role but does not establish a family group suitable for a separate sketch. |
| Andrew Guthrie Exhorter at Keith-Marnoch |
An early church-office reference without enough surviving genealogical detail to identify parents, spouse, children, or a larger Guthrie family. |
| John Guthrie Reader at Glentanar |
Preserved in the source as an early reader. No independent family evidence has yet distinguished him securely from other contemporary men of the name. |
| John Guthrie Reader at Drumdelgie |
The Fasti reference establishes his ecclesiastical role, but surviving evidence is presently too limited for a useful biographical or family reconstruction. |
| Andrew Guthrie Reader at Dunnichen |
A useful historical occurrence, but no secure family relationships have yet been recovered. |
| David Guthrie Reader at Meathie |
Retained in the Fasti Entries. No parentage, marriage, descendants, or sufficiently distinctive independent records have been identified. |
| David Guthrie Vicar of Dull |
The clerical appointment is documented, but the evidence reviewed does not presently support a separate genealogical study. |
| John Guthrie Vicar of Stracathro |
Known from his ecclesiastical appearance, but no securely reconstructed family has yet been attached to him. |
| David Guthrie Parson of Towie |
A distinct clerical occurrence, but too little family evidence survives to move beyond the source-focused Guthrie Entry. |
| John Guthrie Presented to Banff, 1597 |
The presentation is historically useful, but his identity and family relationships have not been developed securely enough for a Research Sketch. |
| Henry Guthrie Minister of Collace |
Special Collections and NRS searches did not establish his parentage or family. Numerous NRS references to Henry Guthrie of Collistoune / Colistoune concern a territorial designation and should not be confused with the minister of Collace. No evidence presently connects this Henry securely with Henry Guthrie, Bishop of Dunkeld. |
| James Guthrie Minister of Kinedward |
His clerical appearance remains useful for identifying the Guthrie presence in the parish, but surviving evidence has not yet produced a sufficiently secure family reconstruction. |
| David Guthrie Muckhart |
The available Fasti material is too limited to establish a distinct family identity beyond the ecclesiastical record. |
| David Guthrie Anstruther Wester |
Retained in the underlying Guthrie Entries. No sufficiently detailed family evidence has yet emerged to justify a separate sketch. |
| Patrick Guthrie Orkney |
An identifiable Guthrie occurrence in the northern church records, but the evidence reviewed has not yet linked him securely to a larger family group. |
Other Guthries Retained for Reference
| Guthrie | Research Status |
|---|---|
| John Guthrie Burgess of Thurso / Tacksman in Rousay |
His civic and territorial references are interesting, but no sufficiently complete family reconstruction has yet been established. |
| Major John Guthrie Edinburgh |
A distinguishable later John Guthrie, but the available material has not produced enough genealogical substance for a separate Research Sketch. |
| Patrick Alexander Guthrie | Retained in the Fasti record but not expanded into a separate study where the surviving information would largely repeat the original source entry. |
| David Guthrie, C.A. | The professional identification is preserved, but the entry does not presently lead to a family reconstruction requiring separate treatment. |
| Richard Guthrie, W.S. | Retained for reference as a distinct Guthrie occurrence. Current evidence does not warrant a full genealogical sketch. |
Research principle: Absence from the full Research Sketch series does not mean that these individuals are unimportant or unrelated to better-known Guthrie families. It means only that the records reviewed so far do not provide enough evidence to reconstruct those relationships responsibly. A future testament, sasine, parish record, family paper, or DNA-supported identification may change that assessment.