Guthrie of Halkerton
Meet the Guthries of Halkertoun
This is an Angus family. The Halkertoun discussed on this profile lay immediately south-west of Forfar and should not be confused with the better-known Halkerton associated with the Falconer family in Kincardineshire.
The Guthries of Halkertoun can be followed through more than two centuries of charters, sasines, retours, testaments, court records, parish registers, and ecclesiastical papers. Those records reveal a family whose history is considerably more complicated than the neat sequence of numbered lairds found in the traditional published pedigree.
That traditional pedigree places James Guthrie, brother of Sir David Guthrie, at the head of the Halkertoun line and therefore connects the family directly to the Guthries of Kincaldrum. James certainly existed: a contemporary charter of 1472 explicitly identifies him as Sir David’s brother. What has not yet been found is a contemporary record calling James of Halkertoun or identifying the subsequently documented Patrick Guthrie as his son.
Source: RMS II, no. 1104 , 23 Feb 1472 — James Guthrie is identified as brother of Sir David Guthrie; the charter does not style James of Halkertoun.The surviving evidence actually complicates the traditional account. A William Guthrie of Halcartoun appears at Forfar in 1471—before the record naming James—while Patrick Guthrie of Halkertoun is documented by 1491. In 1493 Patrick resigned the lands so that sasine could be given to Alexander Guthrie, his son and apparent heir. That instrument supplies the first secure parent-to-child link in the surviving Halkertoun evidence.
Key evidence: RMS II, no. 1028 , 8 May 1471 — William Guthrie de Halcartoune; Acta Dominorum Concilii, p. 198, 21 May 1491 — Patrick Guthrie of Halkertoun; Laing Charter La.V/49 (Calendar of the Laing Charters, no. 214, p. 55), 18 May 1493 — Alexander Guthrie, son and apparent heir of Patrick.Where this reconstruction begins: the generational pedigree on this profile begins with Patrick Guthrie of Halkertoun, not because he was necessarily the first Guthrie to possess the lands, but because he is the earliest person from whom the surviving records presently allow us to construct a documented succession.
Source basis: Acta Dominorum Concilii, p. 198, 21 May 1491; Laing Charter La.V/49, 18 May 1493. The 1493 instrument is the first surviving Halkertoun record presently identified that explicitly states a parent-to-child relationship.From Patrick onward, the documentary trail becomes increasingly detailed. It reveals successive Alexanders, a sixteenth-century household preserved in surviving testaments, the 1606 retours that anchor several generations at once, and an especially revealing seventeenth-century succession in which the Halkertoun estate passed from a grandfather to a son and grandson, returned to the father when that grandson died, and then moved sideways to the father’s younger brother, Gideon Guthrie.
Gideon’s descendants carried the family story beyond Halkertoun itself. Among them was Rev. Gideon Guthrie, whose early eighteenth-century family account preserved information about his immediate relatives and recent ancestors. His writings, however, must be distinguished from the documentary notes later added by record searcher Henry Paton and from the traditional pedigree repeated in published genealogical works.
About the name: the place appears in the records under several spellings, including Halkertoun, Halcartoun, Halkerton, and Hakertoun. This profile uses Halkertoun as its standard form while preserving historical spellings when quoting or discussing individual records.
The Succession at a Glance
Once the uncertain fifteenth-century beginning is set aside, the records reveal a surprisingly detailed Halkertoun succession. The family did not always pass neatly from father to eldest surviving son: deaths during a father’s lifetime, liferents, provisions, resignations, and collateral succession all played a part.
Patrick Guthrie of Halkertoun
The first member of the succession presently established by contemporary evidence. He is documented as of Halkertoun by 1491. On 18 May 1493 he resigned the lands so that sasine could be given to his son and apparent heir, Alexander.
Spouse: Janet Guthrie
Documented 1491–1493 Father of Alexander Sources: Acta Dominorum Concilii, p. 198, 21 May 1491; Laing Charter La.V/49 (Calendar of the Laing Charters, no. 214, p. 55), 18 May 1493.Alexander Guthrie — son and apparent heir of Patrick
Received sasine of Halkertoun in 1493. He is probably the Alexander Guthrie of Halkertoun appearing in litigation of 1516. By 1542 he was deceased, when another Alexander Guthrie was summoned as his heir.
Documented son and heir Sources: Laing Charter La.V/49, 18 May 1493, for Alexander as Patrick’s son and apparent heir; NRS GD45/16/560, 13 Aug 1516, for the later Alexander of Halkertoun litigation; RMS III, no. 3086 , 1542, identifying a later Alexander as heir of the deceased Alexander of Halkertoun.Alexander Guthrie of Halkertoun
Identified in 1542 as heir of the deceased Alexander Guthrie. He remained prominent in Forfarshire records for decades. In 1571 he resigned lands for new infeftment to his son William and William’s wife Christian Moncur. His testament was made at Halkertoun in December 1577.
Spouse: Agnes Lindsay
His testament also names his children Gideon and Lya Guthrie, while William appears as his son and apparent heir.
Heir recorded 1542 Father of William Key evidence: RMS III, no. 3086 , 1542, for succession from the deceased Alexander; Henry Paton’s Charter-Chest abstract for the 1571 resignation to William and Christian Moncur; NRS CC8/8/6, testament made 27 Dec 1577 and confirmed 18 Feb 1577/8.William Guthrie of Halkertoun
Son and apparent heir of Alexander. The 1571 resignation associates him directly with the estate. He died in February 1580.
Spouse: Christian Moncur
His 1583 testament dative names William, Adam, and Euphamie Guthrie among his lawful children. A separate 1581 sasine establishes Alexander Guthrie as his heir in Halkertoun.
Father of Alexander Sources: Henry Paton’s Charter-Chest abstracts for the 1571 resignation and the 1581 sasine identifying Alexander as heir of his father William; NRS CC8/8/12, testament dative of William Guthrie, confirmed 6 Jun 1583.Alexander Guthrie of Halkertoun
Served heir to his father William in 1581. A resignation of 1589 is followed by the appearance of Isobel Guthrie, his widow, who renounced her liferent with consent of their son Harie. Alexander’s brother William is expressly identified in a Privy Council record of 1591.
Spouse: Isobel Guthrie
Heir to William Father of Harie/Henry Source basis: Henry Paton’s Charter-Chest abstracts for the 1581 and 1589 Halkertoun instruments; 1591 Privy Council material identifying William Guthrie as Alexander’s brother. The original Charter-Chest instruments remain priority records to relocate.Henry “Harie” Guthrie of Halkertoun
In 1606 Henry was served heir to William Guthrie of Halkertoun, his grandfather, and in another retour to Alexander Guthrie of Halkertoun, his great-grandfather. Those two records independently anchor several generations of the pedigree.
Spouse: Margaret Ogilvie
Their documented children include John, Gideon, and Margaret Guthrie.
Retours of 1606 Sources: Forfarshire Special Retours, no. 52, 8 Nov 1606; General Retours, no. 270, 8 Nov 1606. Together they identify Henry as heir to William, his grandfather, and Alexander, his great-grandfather.John Guthrie — styled fiar, liferenter in 1640, later of Halkertoun
Eldest son and heir of Henry. His 1628 marriage contract identifies him in that position. The 1640 instruments style John fiar, but the settlement itself places him in liferent while John’s eldest son Henry held the estate in fee.
First spouse: Elizabeth Lindsay • Second spouse: Isobel Philp
Elizabeth Lindsay was the mother of John’s eldest lawful son, Henry “Harie” Guthrie.
Styled fiar • liferenter in 1640 Sources: NRS GD254/380 , marriage contract, 7–25 Nov 1628, identifying John as eldest son and heir of Harie Guthrie of Halkerstoun; Particular Register of Sasines, Forfar, vol. I, fols. 324–325, 1640, for the three-generation liferent/fee settlement.Henry “Harie” Guthrie — son and prospective heir of John
The 1640 sasines place this younger Henry in fee as the eldest lawful son of John Guthrie and the deceased Elizabeth Lindsay. He therefore stood to inherit Halkertoun ahead of his father’s younger siblings.
He died before April 1654. The resulting succession did not move forward to another generation: instead, his father John was formally served heir-male and of provision to his deceased son.
Fee-holder 1640 Died before 1654 Sources: Particular Register of Sasines, Forfar, vol. I, fols. 324–325, 1640, placing Harie in fee as John’s eldest lawful son by the deceased Elizabeth Lindsay; service of heir, 5 Apr 1654, showing Harie was then deceased.John Guthrie of Halkertoun — the estate returns to the father
On 5 April 1654 John was served heir-male and of provision to his deceased son Harie. Contemporary records consequently style John himself of Halkertoun.
This reversal is important: a pedigree that simply lists successive lairds can make it appear that two different men named John or Harie are required when the records instead document an inheritance moving back one generation.
Service of heir 1654 Key evidence: service of heir, 5 Apr 1654, by which John was served heir-male and of provision to his deceased son Harie; Particular Register of Sasines, Forfar, vol. IV, fol. 281, July 1654, for the subsequent Halkertoun conveyance to Gideon.Gideon Guthrie of Kynneries and later of Halkertoun
Younger son of Henry “Harie” Guthrie and Margaret Ogilvie, and brother-german of John Guthrie. Gideon first appears prominently with territorial interests at Kynneries. In July 1654 John conveyed Halkertoun to him, and by 1657 Gideon was styled of Halkertoun. Crown material followed in 1662.
Spouse: Agnes Jonken / Junkin
Their eldest lawful son was Henry “Harie” Guthrie, whose marriage arrangements with Margaret Sibbald were underway in 1657.
Of Halkertoun by 1657 Father of Harie Sources: Particular Register of Sasines, Forfar, vol. III, fol. 162, 1649, identifying Gideon as brother-german of John; vol. IV, fol. 281, July 1654, for John’s conveyance of Halkertoun to Gideon; NRS SIG1/63/74, 1 Jul 1662, and RMS XI, no. 269.Henry “Harie” Guthrie and Margaret Sibbald
Harie is expressly identified as the eldest lawful son of Gideon Guthrie. His marriage arrangements with Margaret Sibbald, the only lawful daughter of Mr David Sibbald of Kair, brought the next generation into the documentary record. The couple appear again in Crown documentation of 1662.
Spouse: Margaret Sibbald, daughter of Mr David Sibbald
Marriage arrangements 1657 Crown record 1662 Sources: 1657 marriage-settlement material identifying Harie as Gideon’s eldest lawful son and Margaret as the only lawful daughter of Mr David Sibbald of Kair; NRS SIG1/63/72, 3 Mar 1662, and RMS XI, no. 221.David Guthrie — John’s son by Isobel Philp
Later records show that the death of John’s elder son Harie did not end John’s male line. On 13 December 1670, David Guthrie, John’s son by his second wife Isobel Philp, was served heir-male of Henry “Harie” Guthrie, fiar of Halkertoun, John’s son by Elizabeth Lindsay.
Henry Paton’s Charter-Chest abstract also reports a 26 November 1670 disposition by David, with John’s consent, of Halkertoun and its mill to George Gray, sheriff-clerk of Forfar, and Jean Erskine, his wife. The later title history therefore continued beyond Gideon’s 1654 conveyance and 1662 Crown charter.
Heir-male to Harie, 1670 Original 1670–1671 instruments still to inspect Sources: Forfarshire Retour no. 445, 13 Dec 1670; Forfar Register of Sasines index, Series 3, vol. IV, fols. 344 and 346; Henry Paton, Appendix B.The Later Halkertoun Family
The family continued beyond Harie and Margaret Sibbald into the generations that produced the Halkertoun ministers, including Rev. Gideon Guthrie, and ultimately the eighteenth-century descendants who remembered themselves as representatives of the House of Guthrie of Halkertoun. That continuing family identity should be distinguished from the estate’s later legal title, which entered the David Guthrie / Gray–Erskine sequence in 1670–1671. Those later generations are developed individually in the full generational section rather than compressed into this overview.
Source basis: parish and ecclesiastical records; Rev. Gideon Guthrie’s early eighteenth-century family account; later monumental evidence for the continuing Halkertoun family identity.Halkertoun in the Angus Landscape
Halkertoun lay in the countryside immediately south-west of Forfar, within the network of Angus estates in which the Guthries appear repeatedly in fifteenth-, sixteenth-, and seventeenth-century records. Its proximity to other Guthrie-associated places is particularly clear on this seventeenth-century map of the district.
Why the location matters: the map places Halkertoun and Kincaldrum within the same relatively compact Angus landscape. That geographical proximity makes later associations between their Guthrie families understandable, but it does not by itself prove the traditional pedigree connecting the two lines. For the Halkertoun family, the genealogy below will therefore begin with the people whose relationship to the estate can actually be demonstrated from contemporary records.
How Halkertoun Was Held
The designation “of Halkertoun” identified members of this family with the lands they possessed. It did not mean that Halkertoun was held independently of every higher feudal authority. The surviving records instead show the estate passing through a succession of legal relationships with its superiors while remaining in Guthrie hands.
1493 — Patrick Resigns the Lands
On 18 May 1493, James Stewart, Earl of Buchan and Lord of Auchirhous, gave sasine of the lands of Halkertoun to Alexander Guthrie, son and apparent heir of Patrick Guthrie of Halkertoun. Patrick had resigned the lands into the Earl’s hands while reserving his own liferent and the terce belonging to his wife, Janet Guthrie.
Source: University of Edinburgh, Laing Charter La.V/49 , 18 May 1493; published as Calendar of the Laing Charters, no. 214, p. 55.1640 — Within the Barony of Essie
In 1640, Halkertoun and its mill were held of John, Earl of Rothes, and John, Earl of Kinghorn, described in the sasine record as superiors of the barony of Essie. Henry “Harie” Guthrie arranged the succession with his son John in liferent and John’s eldest lawful son Henry in fee. The settlement also reserved older Henry and Margaret Ogilvie’s liferent in half the lands and Isobel Philp’s liferent interest in the mill and mill lands.
Sources: Particular Register of Sasines, Forfar, vol. I, fols. 324–325; instruments dated 19 Mar and 1 Apr 1640, recorded 6 Apr 1640. The surviving published abstracts are preserved in Henry Paton’s documentary appendix to Gideon Guthrie: A Monograph.1662 — A Crown Charter to Gideon
On 1 July 1662, King Charles II granted a Crown charter to Gideon Guthrie of Kynneries of the town and lands of Halkertoun, with its mill and associated rights. The charter again describes the property as lying within the barony of Essie and sheriffdom of Forfar and provides that the lands were thereafter to be held of the Crown.
Sources: NRS SIG1/63/74, 1 Jul 1662; RMS XI, no. 269 . The charter also recites the earlier Halkertoun succession through Henry and John before the rights passed to Gideon.Possession and superiority were not the same thing. A Guthrie could be the heritable proprietor of Halkertoun while the lands were held under another lord or superior. Changes in the named superior therefore do not necessarily represent changes in the Guthrie family occupying or inheriting Halkertoun.
One important distinction: the appearance of Halkertoun within the barony of Essie is a statement about the legal framework in which the lands were held. It should not be read as evidence that the Guthries of Halkertoun were the same family as the separately documented Guthries of Eassie & Hiltoun, nor does it prove a genealogical connection between those lines.
The Gap in the Early Halkertoun Pedigree
The traditional published pedigrees give the Guthries of Halkertoun a tidy beginning: James Guthrie, younger son of Alexander Guthrie of Kincaldrum, is usually made the first laird and the ancestor of the Halkertoun family. The contemporary records do not yet support that reconstruction. They tell a more complicated—and more interesting—story.
The safest starting point for the documented Halkertoun pedigree is Patrick Guthrie of Halkertoun. Patrick appears with that territorial designation in 1491 and is explicitly identified in 1493 as father of Alexander Guthrie, his son and apparent heir. Earlier Guthries associated with Halkertoun must be discussed separately until their relationship to Patrick can be demonstrated.
1471
1472
1491
1493
1516
1542
What the Traditional Pedigree Says
Traditional published genealogies identify James Guthrie, brother of Sir David Guthrie, as the first laird of Halkertoun and place him at the head of the branch descending from the Guthries of Kincaldrum.
That identification belongs to the traditional family pedigree. The record-based notes compiled by Henry Paton questioned it because a William Guthrie of Halcartoun was already documented in 1471. No contemporary record yet found calls James “of Halkertoun” or identifies Patrick as his son.
What the Contemporary Records Say
The records instead give us a William Guthrie of Halcartoun in 1471, followed twenty years later by Patrick Guthrie of Halkertoun.
They securely connect Patrick with his son Alexander in 1493, but they have not yet shown how Patrick was related to William, James, Sir David Guthrie, or the earlier Kincaldrum family.
For this profile, the pedigree therefore begins with Patrick Guthrie of Halkertoun as the first securely documented generation. William of Halcartoun and James Guthrie, brother of Sir David, remain important to the investigation, but neither will be inserted into the direct line without evidence establishing the relationship. Their possible place in the family returns in Open Questions & Further Research.
The Guthries of Halkertoun:
Generation by Generation
The surviving Halkertoun records do more than provide a succession of names. They identify spouses, younger children, brothers and sisters, widows, heirs, and—in the seventeenth century—a complicated transfer of the estate when the expected succession through John’s eldest son by Elizabeth Lindsay failed. Later records show that John’s male line itself continued through a son by his second wife. The family below is therefore reconstructed from those relationships rather than from the numbered sequence of lairds used in the traditional published pedigrees.
Patrick Guthrie of Halkertoun + Janet Guthrie
Patrick Guthrie of Halkertoun is the first man from whom the present documentary pedigree can be securely built. He appears with the territorial designation in 1491.
Two years later, on 18 May 1493, Patrick resigned the lands of Halkertoun into the hands of James Stewart, Earl of Buchan and Lord of Auchterhouse, so that sasine could be given to Alexander Guthrie, Patrick’s son and apparent heir. Patrick reserved his own liferent, while the terce belonging to Janet Guthrie, his spouse, was also preserved.
- Alexander Guthrie — expressly identified in 1493 as Patrick’s son and apparent heir.
Alexander Guthrie — Son and Apparent Heir of Patrick
Alexander received sasine of Halkertoun in 1493 during his father’s lifetime. An Alexander Guthrie of Halkertoun subsequently appears as one of the sureties in litigation dating from 1516. The chronology makes Patrick’s son a natural candidate for that man, although the later record does not repeat his parentage.
Alexanders of Halkertoun also appear in records dated 1535, 1537, and 1539. Those appearances cannot presently be assigned with certainty to Patrick’s son or to the later Alexander who had succeeded by 1542.
Alexander Guthrie of Halkertoun + Agnes Lindsay
The later Alexander can be followed through the middle decades of the sixteenth century. In 1571 he resigned lands for new infeftment to his son William Guthrie and William’s wife, Christian Moncur.
Alexander made his testament at Halkertoun on 27 December 1577 and died in January 1577/8 — January 1578 in modern reckoning. His testament names Agnes Lindsay as his lawful spouse and provides unusually useful evidence for the wider family.
- William Guthrie — son and apparent heir; married Christian Moncur.
- Gideon Guthrie — named among Alexander’s bairns.
- Lya Guthrie — named among Alexander’s bairns.
- An unidentified daughter — indicated by the appearance of John Kinninmonth as Alexander’s son-in-law.
William Guthrie of Halkertoun + Christian Moncur
William was already identified as Alexander’s son in the 1571 property settlement. He died in February 1580, leaving his widow Christian Moncur.
William’s testament dative names three children for whom Christian acted after his death: William, Adam, and Euphamie Guthrie. A separate Charter-Chest instrument of sasine dated 1581 identifies Alexander Guthrie as heir to his father William.
- Alexander Guthrie — heir to his father in the 1581 sasine.
- William Guthrie — named in the testament dative.
- Adam Guthrie — named in the testament dative.
- Euphamie Guthrie — named in the testament dative.
Alexander Guthrie of Halkertoun + Isobel Guthrie
The 1581 Charter-Chest sasine identifies Alexander as heir to his father William. By 1589 Isobel Guthrie appears as Alexander’s widow in connection with Halkertoun, with the consent of their son Harie.
A Privy Council record of 1591 separately names William Guthrie as Alexander’s brother, fitting the William already found among the children of William Guthrie and Christian Moncur.
- Henry / Harie Guthrie — documented son and successor.
Henry “Harie” Guthrie of Halkertoun + Margaret Ogilvie
On 8 November 1606, Henry Guthrie of Halkertoun was served heir to William Guthrie of Halkertoun, his grandfather. A special service on the same date made him heir in specified lands to Alexander Guthrie of Halkertoun, his great-grandfather.
Those two services independently confirm the middle succession: Alexander → William → Alexander → Henry.
Henry married Margaret Ogilvie. By 1640 the couple were arranging Halkertoun for the next two generations: their son John received a liferent interest, while John’s son Henry was placed in fee.
- John Guthrie — styled fiar in the 1640 instruments, but holding a liferent under that settlement; later of Halkertoun.
- Gideon Guthrie — brother-german of John; later of Kynneries and Halkertoun.
- Margaret Guthrie — documented daughter; married James Ogilvie, fiar of Newton.
John and Gideon Guthrie — Two Brothers in the Halkertoun Succession
John was Henry’s eldest documented son and heir. His 1628 marriage contract identifies him in that position. The 1640 instruments style him fiar, while the settlement itself places John in liferent and his eldest son Henry in fee.
His first wife was Elizabeth Lindsay, whom he married under a contract dated in November 1628. After her death he married Isobel Philp.
- Henry / Harie Guthrie — son of John and Elizabeth Lindsay; placed in fee in 1640.
- David Guthrie — son of John by his second wife, Isobel Philp; served heir-male in 1670 to his half-brother Henry, John’s son by Elizabeth Lindsay.
Gideon was John’s younger brother and is explicitly described as his brother-german. His early territorial style was of Kynneries.
Gideon married Agnes Jonken / Junkin, widow of Walter Keith. Her son by that earlier marriage, Alexander Keith, later appears acting for his mother in property matters.
Harie’s death ended the expected succession through John and Elizabeth Lindsay’s son, but it did not end John’s male line. On 13 December 1670, David Guthrie, John’s son by Philp, was served heir-male of Henry Guthrie, fiar of Halkertoun, the son of John and Elizabeth Lindsay. The retour explicitly identifies Henry as David’s brother.
Henry Paton’s Charter-Chest abstracts also report a 26 November 1670 disposition of Halkertoun and its mill by David, with the consent of his father John, to George Gray, sheriff-clerk of Forfar, and Jean Erskine, his wife. January 1671 sasines then record David’s heirship and the Gray/Erskine interest.
This does not erase Gideon’s documented 1654 conveyance or his 1662 Crown charter. It shows that the later title history was more complicated than a single permanent sideways transfer. The original 1670–1671 instruments remain important records to examine together.
Henry “Harie” Guthrie — John’s Son and the Expected Heir
John and Elizabeth Lindsay’s son Henry was the next intended heritable proprietor. The 1640 arrangement gave John the liferent while placing the younger Henry in fee.
Henry died before April 1654. John was then formally served heir-male and heir of provision to his own deceased son. A July instrument describes the younger Henry as John’s only son by the deceased Elizabeth Lindsay and as the heritable proprietor of Halkertoun.
Gideon Guthrie of Kynneries and Halkertoun + Agnes Junkin
In July 1654 John Guthrie conveyed Halkertoun to his younger brother Gideon Guthrie of Kynneries. Within a few years Gideon was being styled of Halkertoun, although the older Kynneries designation continued to appear in some formal records.
Gideon married Agnes Junkin, widow of Walter Keith. In 1661 Agnes received sasine in the mill and mill-lands of Halkertoun, with her son Alexander Keith acting as attorney. Gideon is explicitly styled of Halkertoun in records of the 1660s.
- Henry / Harie Guthrie — expressly identified as Gideon’s eldest lawful son; married Margaret Sibbald.
- Patrick Guthrie — included as a younger son in the later Halkertoun family pedigree; no contemporary record yet found securely identifies him.
Henry “Harie” Guthrie + Margaret Sibbald
Harie was the eldest lawful son of Gideon Guthrie. His marriage contract with Margaret Sibbald was dated 22 October 1657, followed by a pre-marriage sasine the next day and their marriage at Arbuthnott on 3 November.
Margaret was the only lawful daughter of Mr David Sibbald of Kair. A later settlement placed Harie and Margaret in Castletown and Waterstoun, confirmed by Crown charter in 1662. The family therefore acquired those interests through the Sibbald marriage rather than as a simple continuation of the Halkertoun estate.
- David Guthrie — born about 1658; later of Kair and Castletown; minister of Glenmuick.
- Jean Guthrie — baptized 13 Nov 1660, Arbuthnott; a Jean Guthrie buried there in 1716 is probably the same woman, but the burial entry does not identify her father.
- Rev. Gideon Guthrie — born 24 May 1663 at Castleton of Fordoun; second son.
- Anna / Anne Guthrie — recorded in the later family account; no baptism presently located.
- Margaret Guthrie — baptized 24 Jan 1667; buried 9 Aug 1717, explicitly described as daughter of Henry Guthrie of Castleton.
- Isobel Guthrie — baptized 24 Feb 1668; buried 10 May 1711, explicitly described as daughter of Henry Guthrie of Castleton.
David Guthrie of Kair and Rev. Gideon Guthrie
David, the elder son, entered the ministry and became minister of Glenmuick. On 19 July 1683 he married Margaret Arbuthnot at Arbuthnott, where the register styles him “Mr David Guthrie the younger, laird of Kair.”
Margaret was the daughter of Alexander Arbuthnot of Pitcairly and Margaret Haliburton. David died 15 November 1697.
- Henry Guthrie — served heir in 1698.
- Alexander Guthrie — born 1685; died young; documented in the Arbuthnott OPR.
- Harry Guthrie — died aged about fourteen.
- Margaret Guthrie — documented in the Arbuthnott OPR; married William Stuart of Inchbreck.
- Ann / Anne Guthrie — documented in the Arbuthnott OPR.
- Jean Guthrie — married Rev. William Seton.
- Isobel Guthrie — married a Seton, merchant in Edinburgh.
Gideon was born at Castleton of Fordoun on 24 May 1663 and described himself as the second son of Harie Guthrie and Margaret Sibbald.
His later ecclesiastical career carried him through Fetteresso, Brechin, the Episcopal controversies, and the political turmoil surrounding the 1715 Rising. For this family history, however, his greatest importance is that he left a near-contemporary account of his own family and its recent past.
Gideon married Anne Melville / Melvin in 1706.
- William Guthrie — born 7 Jan 1708; later an author.
- Harie / Hary Guthrie — born 5 Jan 1709; writer in Edinburgh.
- Margaret Guthrie — born 13 Sep 1711; died 7 Aug 1715.
- Isobel Guthrie — born 3 May 1713; died 14 Sep 1714.
Harie Guthrie, Writer in Edinburgh
Rev. Gideon’s son Harie Guthrie became a writer in Edinburgh. His surviving monument records his death on 5 June 1794, in the eighty-sixth year of his age, and describes him as:
The wording is significant. The Guthries had long since ceased to possess the old Halkertoun estate, yet almost a century and a quarter later this descendant still publicly identified himself with the historic Angus house.
- Married Rachel Mill.
- Married Elizabeth Tytler of the Woodhouselee family.
- Children named on the monument include Alexander, William, Harie, and Anna Guthrie. Anna, described as his youngest daughter, erected the monument.
Family & Property: Succession Turns Sideways — Then Back
By the seventeenth century, the Halkertoun records allow us to see not only who belonged to the family, but how ownership was being planned from one generation to the next. That plan did not unfold as expected. A grandson was placed in fee while his father and grandfather were still living, then died before the anticipated succession could run its ordinary course. Halkertoun first moved sideways to his uncle Gideon in 1654, but later evidence shows John’s son David by his second wife re-entering the heir-male succession in 1670 before the property passed into Gray/Erskine hands.
Three Generations Provided For at Once
Henry “Harie” Guthrie of Halkertoun resigned Halkertoun and its mill as part of a planned succession. His son John Guthrie, fiar of Halkertoun, was provided with a liferent interest, while John’s eldest lawful son Henry “Harie” Guthrie, by the deceased Elizabeth Lindsay, received the property in fee.
The elder Harie and his wife Margaret Ogilvie reserved liferent rights in half of the lands. John’s second wife, Isobel Philp, also had a liferent interest secured in the mill and mill-lands.
John and Gideon Appear as Brothers
A sasine connected with the marriage of their sister Margaret Guthrie identifies John Guthrie, apparent of Halkertoun and Gideon Guthrie, his brother.
This matters because Gideon’s later acquisition of Halkertoun was not the appearance of an unrelated Guthrie family. He belonged to the same household and was John’s younger brother.
The Brothers Receive Property Together
Another sasine identifies John Guthrie, fiar of Halkertoun and Gideon Guthrie in Crachiemylne, his brother-german. Their father Henry Guthrie of Halkertoun had disposed to them, equally, the west half of Miltoun of Conan.
The phrase brother-german means that John and Gideon shared both parents, further fixing Gideon’s place in the family.
The Intended Heir Has Died
The younger Henry “Harie” Guthrie—John’s son by Elizabeth Lindsay and the man placed in fee in 1640—died before inheriting the estate in the ordinary course.
John was then served heir-male and of provision to his deceased son. In other words, the heritable interest that had been placed in the younger Harie returned to his father.
John Transfers Halkertoun to His Brother Gideon
After John had been served heir to his deceased son, he disponed the lands of Halkertoun and associated property to Gideon Guthrie of Kynneries.
The record is unusually informative. John describes himself as heir-male of provision to the deceased Harie Guthrie, his only son by the deceased Elizabeth Lindsay, and identifies that son as the former heritable proprietor of Halkertoun. The transaction was made with the consent of John’s mother, Margaret Ogilvie, and his present wife, Isobel Philp.
Gideon Is Now “of Halkertoun”
By May 1657 the records style Gideon Guthrie of Halkertoun. In October of that year, his eldest lawful son Henry “Harie” Guthrie and Harie’s promised spouse Margaret Sibbald received sasine in Halkertoun and other lands under their marriage arrangements.
By 1657 the territorial designation of Halkertoun was therefore being used by Gideon and was entering the marriage settlement of his eldest son. At this point the estate appears to have moved laterally from John to Gideon’s household. Later records, however, show that John’s male line had not ended.
The Crown Confirms Gideon’s Halkertoun Rights
A Crown charter granted to Gideon Guthrie of Kynneries included the town and lands of Halkertoun, its mill and associated rights in the barony of Essie and sheriffdom of Forfar.
The charter gives formal Crown confirmation to Gideon’s Halkertoun rights as they stood after John’s transfer of 1654. It should not, however, be treated as the final event in the property’s seventeenth-century title history.
David Guthrie Disposes of Halkertoun
Henry Paton’s Charter-Chest abstracts report that David Guthrie, with the consent of his father John Guthrie, disponed the lands of Halkertoun and its mill to George Gray, sheriff-clerk of Forfar, and Jean Erskine, his wife.
This record is important because David was not a member of Gideon’s line. He was John’s son by his second wife, Isobel Philp, and the subsequent retour identifies him as heir-male to his half-brother Harie.
John’s Son David Is Served Heir-Male to Harie
David Guthrie, son of John Guthrie by Philp, was served heir-male of Henry Guthrie, fiar of Halkertoun, John’s son by his first wife Elizabeth Lindsay, in Halkertoun and its mill.
The retour explicitly calls Henry David’s brother. Because the record names their different mothers, it establishes them as half-brothers and proves that John’s male line continued after Harie’s death.
The Gray–Erskine Interest Is Entered in the Sasine Record
The subsequent sasine sequence records David’s heirship and the interest of George Gray and Jean Erskine in Halkertoun. The Forfar sasine index independently identifies Jean Erskine as spouse of George Gray of Halkertoun, sheriff-clerk of Forfar.
Taken together with Paton’s 26 November disposition abstract, these records give us a much firmer documentary basis for the late seventeenth-century transfer of the estate than the older statement that an unidentified later “Harry” sold Halkertoun.
The 1640–1654 Succession in One View
What the 1670–1671 evidence changes: the older statement that an unidentified later Henry or “Harry” Guthrie eventually sold Halkertoun is no longer the best description of the evidence presently available. We now have a dated legal trail involving David Guthrie, son of John, followed by George Gray and Jean Erskine.
One question still remains open: how the 1670–1671 David/Gray transactions interacted with Gideon’s 1654 conveyance and 1662 Crown charter. Until the original disposition and related sasines are examined together, the profile should describe the late transfer carefully rather than forcing the records into a single simple sale narrative.
Rev. Gideon Guthrie: Minister and Family Chronicler
Among the later descendants of the Halkertoun family, Rev. Gideon Guthrie is unusually important. His life can be followed through ecclesiastical and legal records, but he also left something far more valuable to the genealogist: his own account of the Guthrie family, written during the early eighteenth century.
Marriage and Family
Gideon married Anne Melville / Melvin in 1706. His own family account records several children, including sons William and Harie, and daughters Margaret and Isobel, both of whom died young.
Harie later became a writer in Edinburgh and was remembered on his 1794 monument as representative of the House of Guthrie of Halkerton in the County of Angus.
The Fetteresso Dispute
By 1709 Gideon was involved in the religious disputes surrounding Fetteresso. Papers before the General Assembly describe petitions concerning Gideon and characterize him as an intruder or pretended preacher.
Those descriptions reflect the language used by the Presbyterian church authorities dealing with an Episcopal minister whose position they did not recognize. They are therefore evidence of the dispute, not neutral occupational descriptions.
Still in the Records in 1712
Gideon’s ecclesiastical difficulties did not end with the 1709 proceedings. In 1712 he appears in litigation involving Rev. John Webster, another indication that his disputed ministerial position remained an active legal and church matter.
Brechin and the Rising of 1715
The political crisis of 1715 brought Gideon into even more serious controversy. General Assembly material concerning him at Brechin accused him of intruding into the ministry there during the Rising and included allegations that he had prayed for the Pretender and drunk his health.
Other surviving papers show that his case attracted attention beyond the church courts, including a request for protection for Gideon as an Episcopalian minister.
His Most Important Legacy for the Halkertoun Story
Gideon’s greatest significance to this profile is not ultimately the controversy surrounding his ministry. Between 1712 and 1730 he wrote an account of his family that preserved information about the Halkertoun Guthries only a few generations removed from his own.
That does not make every earlier pedigree statement in the published volume contemporary evidence. The book eventually published as Gideon Guthrie: A Monograph also contains documentary notes compiled much later by record searcher Henry Paton. Throughout this profile, Gideon’s own family recollections are therefore distinguished from Paton’s record abstracts and from the traditional published pedigree.
For Gideon’s immediate family, however, his account is especially valuable because he was writing about his own parents, siblings, wife, children, and near relatives rather than reconstructing people who had lived centuries earlier. Those statements are still compared with parish, legal, and ecclesiastical records where independent evidence survives.
Open Questions & Further Research
The surviving records have substantially strengthened the Halkertoun pedigree, but several important questions remain. Some concern the family’s fifteenth-century origins; others arise because later summaries preserve references to documents that have not yet been located or independently examined. The newly reconstructed seventeenth-century title sequence also leaves a few legal relationships that need the original instruments before they can be described with complete confidence.
Who Were William, James, and Patrick?
William Guthrie of Halcartoun was already using the territorial designation in 1471. The following year, James Guthrie appears as brother of Sir David Guthrie, but without any Halkertoun designation. By 1491, Patrick Guthrie of Halkertoun is securely documented.
Were these three men related? Was William Patrick’s father, brother, uncle, or another kinsman? Did James ever actually possess Halkertoun, or was his placement at the head of the family a feature of the traditional pedigree?
Until a record connects them, Patrick remains the beginning of the proven genealogical line.
How Was the Second Alexander Related to the First?
Patrick’s son Alexander Guthrie received sasine in 1493. By 1542 another Alexander Guthrie of Halkertoun was described as heir of a deceased Alexander.
The succession is clear, but the surviving wording does not explicitly say that the later Alexander was the deceased man’s son. An original service of heir, retour, charter, or sasine might reveal the precise relationship.
Why Is Alexander Absent from William’s Testament?
William Guthrie’s testament dative names his lawful children William, Adam, and Euphamie. Yet a separate 1581 sasine identifies Alexander Guthrie as heir to his father William.
These records are not necessarily contradictory. A testament dative concerned the moveable estate, while the sasine dealt with heritable property. Alexander may already have been separately provided for, but the surviving evidence should establish that rather than assumption.
Locating the original 1581 instrument would allow its wording and relationship statement to be checked directly.
Can the Halkertoun Charter-Chest Records Be Relocated?
Several important pieces of the pedigree survive for us through Henry Paton’s extracts from the Guthrie Charter-Chest, including records from 1540, 1571, 1581, and 1589.
Paton’s work is extremely valuable, but the original instruments would allow us to verify spellings, relationships, property descriptions, witnesses, and any clauses omitted from his summaries.
Determining the present location—or fate—of these documents remains one of the most useful archival goals for the family.
How Did the 1670–1671 Transfer Relate to Gideon’s Earlier Rights?
The older question was simply when Halkertoun was sold. The evidence is now more specific. Henry Paton’s Charter-Chest abstracts report a 26 November 1670 disposition by David Guthrie, with the consent of his father John, to George Gray, sheriff-clerk of Forfar, and Jean Erskine, his wife.
On 13 December 1670, David was formally served heir-male to his half-brother Henry “Harie” Guthrie in Halkertoun and its mill. January 1671 sasine entries then preserve the David / Gray–Erskine title sequence.
What still needs explanation is how those later rights interacted with Gideon’s 1654 conveyance and 1662 Crown charter. The original disposition and related sasines should be examined together before the legal sequence is reduced to a simple one-step sale.
Why Does the August 1654 Retour Call Harie John’s “Father”?
Forfarshire Retour no. 332 and the July 1654 Halkertoun sasine identify the deceased Harie as John Guthrie’s son. Yet the published abstract of Retour no. 338, 8 August 1654, calls John heir to Harie Guthrie “his father.”
The surrounding documentary sequence strongly favors son, but the discrepancy should not simply be corrected away. It may represent an error in the original return, an error in the printed abstract, or a problem of transcription or context.
Examining the original retour would determine whether the word translated or printed as father is genuinely present in the underlying record.
Was Patrick Really a Son of Gideon Guthrie?
The traditional family material includes a Patrick Guthrie among the children of Gideon Guthrie of Halkertoun and Agnes Junkin, but we have not yet found a contemporary record securely identifying him as their son.
He should also not be confused with the much earlier Patrick Guthrie of Auchmithie, who was already an established adult landholder before this Halkertoun generation.
A baptism, marriage contract, sasine, testament, or other record explicitly calling Patrick a son of Gideon would settle his place in the family.
Most Wanted Records
- A fifteenth-century record connecting William Guthrie of Halcartoun or James Guthrie directly with Patrick.
- A service, retour, or charter stating the precise relationship between the two early men named Alexander Guthrie of Halkertoun.
- The original 1581 sasine naming Alexander as heir to William Guthrie.
- The original 1589 Halkertoun resignation and related documents concerning Alexander, Isobel Guthrie, and their son Harie.
- The original Forfarshire Retour no. 338, 8 Aug 1654, to resolve the anomalous wording that calls Harie John’s “father” rather than his son.
- The original 26 Nov 1670 disposition by David Guthrie and the related Jan 1671 sasines involving George Gray and Jean Erskine, so their relationship to Gideon’s earlier title can be reconstructed directly.
- A contemporary record establishing Patrick Guthrie as a son of Gideon Guthrie and Agnes Junkin, if that traditional relationship is correct.
The working rule for this profile is simple: an unresolved relationship remains unresolved. Traditional pedigrees are useful clues to what earlier generations believed about the family, but they will not be used to fill documentary gaps automatically. When new evidence is found, the pedigree can be expanded from the records rather than made to fit the traditional account.
Most Wanted Documents
Records That Could Close the Remaining Halkertoun Gaps
The Halkertoun pedigree is now securely documented across much of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The remaining problems are concentrated at the beginning of the line, in several important records known only through later abstracts, and in a few seventeenth-century succession instruments whose original wording matters.
These targets are deliberately specific. Each could either prove a relationship that remains provisional, resolve a genuine conflict in the record, or recover documentary detail lost when the original Guthrie Charter-Chest material disappeared from view.
1. William, James & Patrick — Find the Missing Fifteenth-Century Link
23 February 1472: RMS II, no. 1104 identifies James Guthrie as brother of Sir David Guthrie, but does not call him of Halkertoun.
21 May 1491: Patrick Guthrie is documented of Halkertoun.
18 May 1493: Laing Charter La.V/49 identifies Alexander as Patrick’s son and apparent heir.
The Question
Was Patrick the son of James as the traditional pedigree claims? Was William an earlier member of the same family? Or do the 1471, 1472 and 1491 records represent a more complicated succession?
Why This Matters
This single gap determines whether the Halkertoun family can be securely connected to the early Kincaldrum line through James, brother of Sir David Guthrie. Until such a record is found, Patrick remains the beginning of the proved genealogy.
What We Need
Search the period roughly 1460–1495 for Halkertoun transactions naming heirs, sons, brothers or predecessors. Witness lists involving William, James or Patrick may also reveal whether the men belonged to the same immediate family.
2. The Two Early Alexanders — Prove Their Exact Relationship
The Question
Was the later Alexander the deceased Alexander’s son, grandson, brother, or another heir?
Why This Matters
The succession is clear, but the exact generation count is not. A single explicit kinship statement would remove one of the last uncertainties in the sixteenth-century Halkertoun pedigree.
What We Need
Search the original process or any associated retour, service, precept or sasine behind the 1542 litigation rather than relying solely on the Great Seal recital.
3. The Lost Guthrie Charter-Chest — Relocate the Original Halkertoun Writs
The Question
Do the original instruments still survive within an uncatalogued, transferred or differently described portion of the Guthrie family papers?
Why This Matters
Paton’s abstracts are valuable, but they may omit witness lists, seals, endorsements, exact property descriptions and kinship clauses. Recovering the originals could strengthen several generations at once.
What We Need
Trace the provenance of the “Guthrie Charter-Chest” used by Paton before the publication of Gideon Guthrie: A Monograph in 1900, then compare that provenance with the present GD188 Records of the Guthrie Family of Guthrie.
Browse NRS GD188
Researchers should also ask NRS staff specifically about provenance or former numbering associated with the Guthrie Charter-Chest.
4. The 1581 Sasine — Recover Alexander’s Original Heirship Record
The Question
What exactly does the 1581 sasine say about Alexander’s heirship, and does it explain why he does not appear among the children named in William’s testament dative?
Why This Matters
There is no necessary contradiction between the testament and the heritable-property record, but the original sasine is the best evidence for the relationship and should be examined directly.
What We Need
A complete image and transcription including Alexander’s relationship wording, property description, witnesses and all endorsements.
5. The 1589 Halkertoun Instrument — Alexander, Isobel & Harie
The Question
What exactly was being resigned or renounced in 1589, and does the original instrument provide additional detail about Alexander’s death, Isobel’s rights or Harie’s status as heir?
Why This Matters
The document is one of the principal bridges between the sixteenth-century household and the exceptionally well-documented 1606 succession.
What We Need
A complete image and transcription of the original deed and any associated sasine, resignation or liferent instrument.
6. Forfarshire Retour No. 338 — Resolve the 1654 “Father” Error
The Question
Does the original return genuinely say “father,” or is the anomaly the result of abbreviation, transcription, translation or a later printed error?
Why This Matters
The surrounding documentary sequence overwhelmingly supports John → Harie, but the conflicting wording should be resolved from the original rather than silently corrected.
What We Need
A high-quality image of the original retour and a fresh reading of the Latin kinship phrase, compared directly with Retour no. 332 and the July 1654 sasine.
National Records of Scotland Catalogue
7. Halkertoun, 1670–1671 — Recover the Gray–Erskine Transfer
13 December 1670: Forfarshire Retour no. 445 served David heir-male to his half-brother Harie.
Related sasine-index entries occur in Forfar Register of Sasines, Series 3, vol. IV, fols. 344 and 346.
The Question
How did David’s 1670–1671 title and the Gray–Erskine transfer interact with the earlier rights conveyed to Gideon Guthrie in 1654 and confirmed by the Crown in 1662?
Why This Matters
The older description that an unidentified later “Harry” simply sold Halkertoun is no longer adequate. The evidence now reveals overlapping legal rights that need to be reconstructed document by document.
What We Need
The original disposition and complete January 1671 sasines should be read together with Retour no. 445 and Gideon’s earlier title instruments.
8. Patrick Guthrie — Prove or Disprove His Place Among Gideon’s Children
The Question
Was Patrick genuinely a son of Gideon and Agnes?
Why This Matters
The relationship is plausible and traditional, but it should not be promoted to documented fact without a contemporary source. This Patrick must also remain distinct from the much earlier Patrick Guthrie of Auchmithie.
What We Need
Search household settlements, baptismal and marriage records, testaments and property documents from the appropriate later seventeenth-century generation for Patrick named with his parents or documented siblings.
Sources & Further Research
This reconstruction draws on charters, sasines, retours, testaments, court proceedings, parish registers, ecclesiastical records, and near-contemporary family material. Wherever possible, the relationships shown on this profile are based on records that actually identify the people involved rather than on a pedigree carried forward from earlier genealogical publications.
Charters, Sasines, Retours & Property Records
Includes the 1471 appearance of William Guthrie of Halcartoun and the 1472 charter naming James Guthrie as brother of Sir David Guthrie.
RMS II, nos. 1028 and 1104.
Instrument of 18 May 1493 recording sasine to Alexander Guthrie, son and apparent heir of Patrick Guthrie of Halkertoun, with Patrick’s liferent and the terce of his wife Janet Guthrie reserved.
Published in Calendar of the Laing Charters, A.D. 854–1837, no. 214, p. 55.
Extract minute from the Books of Adjournal North of Forth, dated 13 Aug 1516, naming Alexander Guthrie of Halkertoun among the sureties in a robbery case.
NRS reference GD45/16/560.
Includes appearances of Alexander Guthrie of Halkertoun and, most importantly, the proceedings identifying an Alexander Guthrie as heir of a deceased Alexander Guthrie of Halkertoun.
RMS III, nos. 1723, 1857, 2085 and 3086 as applicable to the Halkertoun chronology.
Includes the 1561 appearance of Alexander Guthrie of Halkertoun as a member of a Forfarshire assize.
RMS IV, no. 1391, 1561.
A major source for the seventeenth-century reconstruction, including the 1640 settlement across three generations, the identification of John and Gideon as brothers, the death of the younger Harie and reversal of the succession, John’s 1654 conveyance to Gideon, the later settlement upon Gideon’s son Harie and Margaret Sibbald, and the 1670–1671 David Guthrie / Gray–Erskine title sequence.
Among the cited entries: vol. I, fols. 324–325; vol. III, fol. 162; vol. IV, fol. 281; vol. V, fol. 316; and the later index entries Series 3, vol. IV, fols. 344 and 346 for the 1670–1671 sequence.
Particularly important are the 1606 services identifying Henry Guthrie’s grandfather and great-grandfather; Retour no. 332, establishing in 1654 that John was heir to his deceased son Harie; the anomalous Retour no. 338, whose printed abstract instead calls Harie John’s “father”; and Retour no. 445, establishing in 1670 that David Guthrie, John’s son by Philp, was heir-male to his half-brother Harie.
Forfarshire Special Retour no. 52; General Retour no. 270; Forfarshire Retours nos. 332, 338 and 445.
Crown signatures concerning Harie Guthrie and Margaret Sibbald, and the 1662 grant of Halkertoun and related lands to Gideon Guthrie.
SIG1/63/72, 3 Mar 1662; SIG1/63/74, 1 Jul 1662.
Crown documentation for Harie Guthrie and Margaret Sibbald and for Gideon Guthrie’s Halkertoun title.
RMS XI, nos. 221 and 269.
Henry Paton’s Charter-Chest notes report a 26 Nov 1670 disposition by David Guthrie, with the consent of his father John, of Halkertoun and its mill to George Gray, sheriff-clerk of Forfar, and Jean Erskine, his wife. The later sasine sequence and Retour no. 445 provide independent contemporary anchors for David’s heirship and the Gray–Erskine interest.
Henry Paton, Appendix B; Forfarshire Retour no. 445, 13 Dec 1670; Forfar Register of Sasines index, Series 3, vol. IV, fols. 344 and 346. The original disposition and related sasines remain priority records for direct inspection.
Testaments & Commissary Court Records
Names Agnes Lindsay as his lawful spouse; Gideon and Lya Guthrie as his bairns; William as son and apparent heir; and provides evidence for a daughter married to John Kinninmonth. It also preserves a detailed inventory of the Halkertoun household and agricultural property.
Edinburgh Commissary Court, CC8/8/6. Testament made 27 Dec 1577; confirmed 18 Feb 1577/8.
Records William’s death in February 1580, names his widow Christian Moncur, and identifies their lawful children William, Adam, and Euphamie.
Edinburgh Commissary Court, CC8/8/12; confirmed 6 Jun 1583.
Court, Council & Government Records
Provides the 21 May 1491 appearance of Patrick Guthrie of Halkertoun in proceedings concerning victual associated with the church of Restennet.
Acta Dominorum Concilii, p. 198.
Includes later sixteenth-century appearances of the Halkertoun family, including William Guthrie and the 1591 record naming William Guthrie as brother of Alexander Guthrie of Halkertoun.
RPC, vols. II and IV; relevant entries dated 1576, 1587, 1590 and 1591.
Parish Registers & Family Records
Marriage, baptismal, and burial records help reconstruct the family of Henry “Harie” Guthrie and Margaret Sibbald and the later family of David Guthrie and Margaret Arbuthnot. For David and Margaret, the Arbuthnott OPR independently documents children Margaret, Alexander, and Anne Guthrie.
Includes the marriage of Harie Guthrie and Margaret Sibbald in 1657; the marriage of David Guthrie and Margaret Arbuthnot, 19 Jul 1683; and baptismal entries for Margaret, Alexander, and Anne Guthrie, together with associated burial entries. The wider child list is supplemented by Fasti and family material rather than inferred from an unbroken baptismal series.
Identifies John as the eldest son and heir of Henry Guthrie of Halkertoun and establishes Elizabeth Lindsay as his first wife.
Contract dated 7 & 25 Nov 1628; NRS GD254/380; also cited in The Red Book of Scotland, vol. V, p. 1049.
The eighteenth-century monument identifies Harie, son of Rev. Gideon Guthrie, as representative of the House of Guthrie of Halkerton in the County of Angus and records members of his immediate family.
Harie Guthrie died 5 Jun 1794, aged 85.
Rev. Gideon Guthrie & Ecclesiastical Records
Petitions and proceedings concerning Gideon’s disputed ministry at Fetteresso in 1709.
NRS CH1/2/28/4 and CH1/2/28/5.
Legal material connected with the continuing ecclesiastical dispute.
NRS CS271/22649, 1712.
Records relating to Gideon’s activities at Brechin during the political and ecclesiastical turmoil surrounding the Jacobite Rising.
NRS CH1/2/35; GD220/5/494, 21 Apr 1715; GD45/1/196, 9 May 1715.
Used alongside the surviving ecclesiastical records for the ministerial careers of members of the later Halkertoun family.
Family Accounts & Traditional Pedigrees
Gideon’s account is especially valuable for his parents, siblings, wife, children, and other near relatives. Because he was writing about his own family within living memory, these portions are treated differently from traditions about the much earlier medieval generations.
Written 1712–1730; published 1900.
Paton extracted and summarized numerous charters, sasines, retours, testaments, and other records, including documents formerly preserved in the Guthrie Charter-Chest. His abstracts preserve several records central to this reconstruction, including the 1571, 1581 and 1589 instruments and the 26 Nov 1670 Halkertoun disposition.
Included in the 1900 publication of Gideon Guthrie: A Monograph.
Burke and other published genealogical works identify James Guthrie, brother of Sir David Guthrie, as the first of Halkertoun and present a numbered succession of lairds. These works preserve the traditional pedigree but are not treated as substitutes for contemporary records.
Consulted as evidence of the traditional family pedigree and for comparison with the documentary reconstruction.
Historical Map
Seventeenth-century map from the Atlas Maior tradition of 1662–1665, showing Hakertoun southwest of Forfar and Kincaldrum farther south. The profile crop has been cleaned for readability, with the original Hakertoun place-name emphasized in purple.
Map source: Joan Blaeu, Angusia Provincia Scotiae Sive The Shire of Angus . Profile crop: Halkertoun Map .
An important citation distinction: references to “Paton, Appendix B” on this profile mean the documentary notes compiled by Henry Paton, not statements written by Rev. Gideon Guthrie himself. Both appear within the same published volume, but they were produced at different times and represent different kinds of evidence.
Research Continues
The present pedigree should be regarded as a documented working reconstruction rather than a closed genealogy. Particularly important targets remain the original Guthrie Charter-Chest documents; the relationship among William, James, and Patrick in the fifteenth century; the precise relationship between the two early Alexanders; the original Forfarshire Retour no. 338 behind the anomalous 1654 “father” wording; and the original 26 Nov 1670 disposition with the related Jan 1671 sasines needed to explain how the Gray–Erskine transfer interacted with Gideon’s earlier Halkertoun rights.
New evidence that clarifies—or contradicts—the reconstruction will be incorporated into the profile as it is found.