Guthrie of Kingennie and Pitforthie
Meet the Guthries of Kingennie & Pitforthie
The Guthries of Kingennie and Pitforthie are one documented paternal family associated with two different Angus estates. Kingennie, near Monifieth, was the family’s earlier landed centre. Its sale in 1600 ended Guthrie possession there, but not the family itself. In the following generation, James Guthrie, son of William Guthrie of Kingennie and Elizabeth Fethie, became associated with Over Pitforthie near Brechin.
The surviving evidence reaches back into the fifteenth-century Kingennie title sequence. On 5 March 1478, Archibald, Earl of Angus, granted a charter naming William Guthrie as son and heir apparent of Malcolm Guthrie of Dundee, with Marion or Marjory Strachan. Later charters, judicial proceedings, and title papers trace the estate through succeeding generations of the family.
Kingennie
The title evidence documents successive Guthrie interests at Kingennie through William Guthrie and Janet Arbuthnot, Ninian Guthrie and Katherine Moncrieff, the slain heir William and Marion Mauld, and finally William Guthrie and Elizabeth Fethie.
The Family Survives the Sale
Kingennie was sold to Alexander Wedderburn in 1600. Brechin deeds recorded in 1610 and 1612 then identify James Guthrie as the son of the deceased William Guthrie, formerly of Kingennie, and Elizabeth or Bessie Fethie.
Pitforthie
James later appears in contemporary records in and of Over Pitforthie. His marriage to Janet Lyon, widow of John Wemyss of Pitforthie, brought the family into a new property history entirely separate from the former Kingennie estate.
The Sale of Kingennie Was a Property Transition — Not the End of the Family
A contract dated 6 September 1600 provided for the sale of Kingennie to Alexander Wedderburn, clerk of Dundee. A revised agreement of 1 November 1600 valued the lands and mains at 11,200 merks, with a further 4,800 merks allotted to clearing reversions and other burdens.
The conveyance ended more than a century of documented Guthrie possession of Kingennie. It did not extinguish the paternal family, and the subsequent Brechin records provide the documentary bridge into the next generation.
The Documentary Bridge from Kingennie to Pitforthie
The strongest evidence connecting the two phases of the family is found in the Brechin Commissary Court Register of Deeds. A 1610 entry names Bessie Fethie, relict of the deceased William Guthrie, with James Guthrie their son. Two further entries in 1612 identify Elizabeth Fethie as relict of the deceased William Guthrie, sometime of Kingennie, and again identify James as her son.
These records directly connect James with the final documented Kingennie household. Contemporary evidence later places that same family at Over Pitforthie.
How Pitforthie Entered the Family Story
James married Janet Lyon of Easter Ogil, widow of John Wemyss of Pitforthie. Janet’s daughters by her first marriage, Catherine and Margaret Wemyss, inherited Wemyss interests in Pitforthie.
Contemporary records place James and Janet at Over Pitforthie. The later Genealogie of Ogil adds the family account that James obtained Pitforthie through Janet’s Wemyss daughters and heirs. Because that genealogy is later than the events it describes, it is used here as corroborating family evidence rather than as a substitute for the contemporary deeds.
A Large Pitforthie Household
The reconstructed household of James Guthrie and Janet Lyon contains eleven children. Nine baptisms survive in the Brechin parish register between 1622 and 1636. Their eldest son William and an older daughter, Janet or Jonet, are identified through other documentary evidence.
Several of those children carried the family into the ministry, later landholding, and interconnected Angus families, including the Guthrie, Skinner, and Rait branches explored later in this profile.
An Important Genealogical Distinction
No direct paternal-line descent from the Guthries of Guthrie has yet been proved for the Kingennie family. The documentary paternal line presently begins with the Kingennie family itself.
The Genealogie of Ogil reports a separate connection with the Guthries of that Ilk through Janet Lyon’s maternal ancestry. If that tradition is correct, it belongs to James and Janet’s children through their maternal ancestry and must not be converted into a paternal Kingennie pedigree.
The central story is therefore continuity of family rather than continuity of estate. Kingennie was sold. Pitforthie was acquired through a different sequence of family and property transactions. The documentary link joining them is James Guthrie himself — securely identified as the son of the last documented Kingennie couple and later found within the Pitforthie records.
Family at a Glance
The Kingennie and Pitforthie records preserve a substantial multigenerational family, but not every link in the early Kingennie succession is stated explicitly. Some relationships are directly documented; others are reconstructed from successive titles, services, marriage provisions, and later records identifying descendants.
The overview below therefore shows both the documentary backbone and the places where the surviving evidence still requires caution.
The Kingennie Succession
Malcolm Guthrie & Marjory Strachan
Marjory inherited Kingennie and Carntown through the Strachan family. A 1478 charter names William as son and heir apparent of Malcolm Guthrie, while a 1484 judicial proceeding explicitly identifies Marjory Strachan as Malcolm’s spouse.
William Guthrie & Janet Arbuthnot
William and Janet are directly documented together in the Kingennie title. The 1511 charter placed them in conjunct fee, and the following 1512 sasine carried the grant into effect.
William is understood to be the son and heir apparent named in 1478, although the later records do not repeat his parentage.
Ninian Guthrie & Katherine Moncrieff
After a temporary disruption caused by the forfeiture of the Earl of Angus, Kingennie was restored to Ninian Guthrie and his heirs in 1529. One-quarter of the lands and mill was reserved to his wife Katherine in liferent.
No record presently identified expressly calls Ninian the son of William Guthrie and Janet Arbuthnot. His placement follows the Kingennie title succession rather than a direct parentage statement.
William Guthrie & Marion Mauld
Alexander Lauder of Omachie slew a William Guthrie described as Ninian’s heir. The later succession identifies a younger William as Ninian’s grandson, while the 1600 sale papers identify Marion Mauld as that younger William’s mother.
No single located record expressly calls Marion the wife or relict of the slain William. Their placement as a couple is therefore strongly supported, but reconstructed.
William Guthrie & Elizabeth Fethie
Ninian’s 1580 settlement expressly identifies William as his grandson. Elizabeth was secured in a liferent interest and is explicitly described as William’s wife in a later charter.
Brechin deeds recorded after William’s death directly identify James Guthrie as the son of William and Elizabeth/Bessie Fethie.
James Guthrie & Janet Lyon
James provides the secure genealogical bridge from Kingennie to Pitforthie. Contemporary records place James and Janet at Over Pitforthie, including a 1628 contract naming James as fiar of Over Pitforthie.
Their reconstructed household contains eleven children.
The Eleven-Child Pitforthie Household
Nine baptisms of children of James Guthrie and Janet Lyon survive in the Brechin parish register. Separate evidence identifies their eldest son William and an older daughter Janet or Jonet, whose baptismal entries have not been located.
Children Who Shaped the Next Generation
The Rev. William Guthrie of Fenwick
William was treated as the expected heir to Pitforthie after his father’s death. The property was judicially apprised from him in 1653; the resulting decree was later assigned to his brother David.
David Guthrie & Margaret Livingstone
David, a documented son of James and Janet, received the formal government grant of Pitforthie on 27 July 1655 after the assigned apprising. David and Margaret had six presently identified children.
Margaret Guthrie & the Skinner Connection
James and Janet’s daughter Margaret Guthrie married the Rev. Laurence Skinner of Brechin. Their daughter Margaret Skinner later married her first cousin, the Rev. James Guthrie, son of David Guthrie and Margaret Livingstone.
Janet Guthrie & the Rait Connection
The older daughter Janet or Jonet Guthrie married the Rev. William Rait. Their descendants later became territorially associated with Pitforthie, although the precise legal route by which the Rait interests attached to the property remains unresolved.
The Family Did Not End with the Loss of the Estates
David Guthrie and Margaret Livingstone had six presently identified children, including several sons. Their eldest known son, the Rev. James Guthrie, married his first cousin Margaret Skinner and had nine recorded children — seven sons and two daughters.
Other sons and grandsons also survive in the documentary record. Their later descendants have not all been traced, so the end of Guthrie ownership at Kingennie or Pitforthie must not be interpreted as extinction of the paternal family.
How to Read This Family
The profile distinguishes between estate succession and genealogical descent. A person succeeding to Kingennie or appearing at Pitforthie is not automatically treated as the child of the previous landholder unless the record itself states the relationship or the reconstruction is clearly identified as such.
The strongest directly stated relationships include William as son and heir apparent of Malcolm, the younger William as Ninian’s grandson, James as son of William and Elizabeth Fethie, and David as a lawful son of James of Pitforthie. The intervening uncertainties remain visible rather than being silently converted into a traditional pedigree.
The Lands: Kingennie & Pitforthie
Kingennie and Pitforthie were separate estates in different parts of Angus. Kingennie lay near Monifieth, northeast of Dundee. Pitforthie lay northeast of Brechin.
The family connection between them is genealogical rather than territorial. The Guthries sold Kingennie in 1600. In the next generation, James Guthrie — son of the final documented Kingennie couple — became associated with Over Pitforthie through an entirely different chain of property and family transactions.
Kingennie
The family’s earlier estate. The documentary title sequence connects the Strachan inheritance with the Guthries from the fifteenth century until the final sale in 1600.
Pitforthie
A later family association. James Guthrie first appears specifically in connection with Over Pitforthie, one of several separately described divisions of the property.
Kingennie
Historical records use several forms of the name, including Kingany, Kinganie, Kynganie, and Kingenny. The estate included more than a single farm. Surviving title descriptions refer to the lands and Mains of Kingennie, manor-place, orchards, mill and mill lands, together with Carntown and ground later called the Crymbillis or Trumbillis of Kingennie.
Before the Guthries
- 20 Sep 1443 — Andrew Parker of Kingennie granted a charter of alienation to William Strachan of Dundee.
- 7 Jan 1443/44 — James, Earl of Angus, confirmed the Parker-to-Strachan charter.
- 21 Sep 1458 — George, Earl of Angus, granted a charter to Elizabeth Inglis, spouse of William Strachan.
- 16 Apr 1464 — Marjory de Strazawquhyn was found heir to her deceased sister Elizabeth in Kingennie and Carntown.
The Guthries Enter the Kingennie Title
The earliest presently identified Kingennie charter naming a Guthrie successor is dated 5 March 1478. Archibald, Earl of Angus, granted the lands to William Guthrie, son and heir apparent of Malcolm Guthrie of Dundee, with Marion or Marjory Strachan.
Later title records follow successive Guthrie interests through the sixteenth century until the estate was conveyed to Alexander Wedderburn in 1600.
Kingennie Castle & the “Castle Guthrough” Tradition
Kingennie was historically associated with a fortified residence or castle, and printed descriptions show that substantial parts of the structure were still recognizable long after the Guthries had left the estate.
In the nineteenth century, Alexander J. Warden referred to the old Castle of Kingennie. He noted that although alterations had been made, the south front remained unaltered and portions of the walls were of considerable thickness. This is important evidence that surviving structural remains were still visible in the 1800s.
A later municipal source provides an even more explicit description. The Dundee Official Handbook (1923), p. 80, referred to the “remains of an ancient keep” at Kingennie. Historic Environment Scotland’s site record preserves that citation.
The separate name “Castle Guthrough” comes from the nineteenth-century Ordnance Survey Name Book. The occupier of Kingennie Farm pointed out a nearby site and stated that a castle there had borne that name. The surveyors could find no other local informant who knew it and therefore did not place “Castle Guthrough” on the map.
The evidence should therefore be separated carefully: the existence of an old fortified structure at Kingennie is supported by nineteenth- and early twentieth-century descriptions. What remains uncertain is whether “Castle Guthrough” was ever its historical name, and there is presently no evidence that the Guthrie family themselves used that name.
The End of Guthrie Possession
In 1600, William Guthrie of Kingennie, his wife Elizabeth Fethie, and his mother Marion Mauld participated in the agreements by which Kingennie passed to Alexander Wedderburn.
The sale ended Guthrie possession of the estate, but the surviving Brechin deeds show that the family itself continued through William and Elizabeth’s son James Guthrie.
Pitforthie
Pitforthie lay northeast of Brechin. Seventeenth-century records place it within the barony of Kethick and sheriffdom of Forfar. Historical spellings include Pitforthy, Petforthie, Perforthie, and related forms.
Pitforthie Before James Guthrie
The property already had a substantial history before the Guthries became associated with it. John Wemyss held interests at Pitforthie, and his daughters Catherine and Margaret Wemyss inherited interests derived from their father’s family.
Their mother, Janet Lyon, subsequently married James Guthrie. The later Genealogie of Ogil states that James obtained Pitforthie through Janet’s Wemyss daughters, while contemporary records independently place James and Janet at Over Pitforthie.
Marriage Did Not Automatically Convey Pitforthie
James did not become proprietor of Pitforthie simply by marrying Janet Lyon. Nor was Pitforthie inherited from his Kingennie ancestors. The property interests held by Janet’s Wemyss daughters and the later rights held by James required separate legal transactions.
By the 1620s, contemporary records style James “in” or “of” Over Pitforthie. A contract dated 5 June 1628 names Janet Lyon with James Guthrie, fiar of Over Pitforthie.
One Name, Several Property Divisions
The surviving records do not describe Pitforthie as one indivisible holding. They distinguish several portions:
James first appears specifically with Over Pitforthie. Later Rait, Ochterlony, and other property records preserve separate interests in different portions. A person styled “of Pitforthie” therefore should not automatically be assumed to have possessed every division at the same time.
David Guthrie’s 1655 Grant
After Pitforthie was judicially apprised from the Rev. William Guthrie in 1653, the decree was assigned to his brother David Guthrie.
On 27 July 1655, the Protector formally granted Pitforthie to David, expressly identifying him as a lawful son of the deceased James Guthrie of Pitforthie. The grant included the lands, manor-places, teind sheaves, and other teinds, subject to the former proprietor’s legal right of redemption.
Later Pitforthie Property Records
The surviving records continue to distinguish individual portions of Pitforthie after the principal Guthrie period:
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28 Feb 1666 — NRS GD45/18/1494
Tack concerning Easter Pitforthie. -
27 Sep 1697 — NRS GD45/16/2977
Rental concerning Pitforthie. -
22 Jun 1714 — NRS SIG1/139/58
Crown grant concerning Over Pitforthie. -
1718 — NRS SC5/75/2
Inventory recording buildings at Nether Pitforthie.
Brechin Parish Evidence
The children of James Guthrie and Janet Lyon associated with Pitforthie appear in the Brechin Old Parish Register. These baptisms document the family’s relationship with the parish and community.
They do not prove that the children were born at the Pitforthie manor or that every baptismal ceremony took place there.
The Essential Property Distinction
Kingennie and Pitforthie should never be presented as one continuous Guthrie estate. Kingennie came into the family through the Strachan title sequence and was sold in 1600. Pitforthie already had Wemyss and other interests before James Guthrie became associated with Over Pitforthie in the next generation.
What continued from one place to the other was the family — not the land. That distinction is fundamental to understanding both the genealogy and the later property evidence.
Family & Property Timeline
This timeline follows both the family succession and the changing property history. The two do not always move together.
Kingennie passed through a long sequence of title instruments before its sale in 1600. The family then continued through James Guthrie, whose later association with Pitforthie arose through an entirely separate property history.
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1443–1464
The Pre-Guthrie Kingennie Title
The surviving title sequence begins with Andrew Parker of Kingennie, who granted the lands to William Strachan of Dundee on 20 September 1443. The grant was confirmed in January 1443/44.
Later instruments involve Elizabeth Inglis and the Strachan family. On 16 April 1464, Marjory de Strazawquhyn was found heir to her deceased sister Elizabeth in Kingennie and Carntown.
Sources: NRS GD137 Kingennie title inventory; The Wedderburn Book, Vol. II, nos. 240(a–c) and p. 3. -
1478–1484
Malcolm Guthrie, Marjory Strachan & Their Heir
A charter dated 5 March 1478 names William Guthrie as son and heir apparent of Malcolm Guthrie of Dundee, with Marion or Marjory Strachan.
On 22 May 1484, a judicial proceeding explicitly identifies Mariore or Marjory Strachan as the spouse of the deceased Malcolm Guthrie.
Sources: The Wedderburn Book, Vol. II, p. 30, no. 240(d); Acts of the Lords Auditors, 22 May 1484, NRS PA2/4, f. 65v. -
1511–1512
William Guthrie & Janet Arbuthnot in Conjunct Fee
On 5 December 1511, William Guthrie and Janet Arbuthnot were granted Kingennie and Carntown, with the mill of Kingennie, in conjunct fee.
A sasine dated 5 November 1512 records the formal possession of William Guthrie of Kynganye and Janet Arbuthnot, his spouse.
Sources: NRS GD137/2341, charter, 5 Dec 1511; NRS GD137/1980, sasine following precept GD137/1978, 5 Nov 1512; The Wedderburn Book, Vol. II, no. 240(e). -
1528–1529
Ninian Guthrie Loses — Then Regains — Kingennie
The forfeiture of the Earl of Angus temporarily brought Kingennie into Crown hands. On 5 September 1528, it was granted to William Wod of Bonytoun.
On 2 September 1529, after Wod resigned the property, James V restored Kingennie and its mill to Ninian Guthrie and his heirs. One-quarter was reserved in liferent to Katherine Moncrieff, Ninian’s wife. Sasine followed on 20 October.
Sources: NRS GD137/2343, 5 Sep 1528; Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, Vol. III, charter 832, 2 Sep 1529; NRS GD137/2345, sasine, 20 Oct 1529. -
c. 1562
The Kingennie Heir Is Slain
Alexander Lauder of Omachie slew a William Guthrie described as the heir of Ninian Guthrie of Kingennie. A contract of assythment was subsequently arranged.
Later evidence identifies Ninian’s eventual successor William as his grandson and Marion Mauld as that younger William’s mother. This strongly supports — but does not expressly prove — the reconstruction of Marion Mauld as wife of the slain heir.
Sources: NRS RD1/5/384 and GD137/639; later Kingennie succession and sale records. -
25 Aug 1580
Ninian Settles Kingennie on His Grandson
Ninian Guthrie granted Kingennie to William Guthrie, expressly described as his grandson.
Ninian and William also granted a liferent in half of Kingennie to Elizabeth Fethie, described in the settlement as William’s future spouse.
Source: The Wedderburn Book, Vol. II, p. 8, nos. 39–40, charter and following sasine, 25 Aug 1580. The Monifieth register’s reported marriage date of 21 Aug 1580 remains a chronology point requiring examination of the original records. -
1600
Guthrie Possession of Kingennie Ends
A contract dated 6 September 1600 provided for the sale of Kingennie to Alexander Wedderburn. A revised agreement of 1 November valued the lands and mains at 11,200 merks, with another 4,800 merks allocated to clearing reversions and burdens.
William Guthrie, his wife Elizabeth Fethie, and his mother Marion Mauld all participated in the transaction.
Sources: Kingennie title and sale papers, NRS GD137; The Wedderburn Book, Vol. II, pp. 15–20. Principal dates: 6 Sep, 1 Nov and 5 Dec 1600. -
1610–1612
James Guthrie Is Identified as Their Son
Brechin registered deeds identify Elizabeth or Bessie Fethie as relict of the deceased William Guthrie, sometime of Kingennie, and James Guthrie as their son.
These records provide the secure genealogical bridge from the last Kingennie household to the later Pitforthie family.
Source: NRS CC3/9/3, Brechin Commissary Court Register of Deeds, indexed entries 118, 310 and 318. Full images or transcriptions remain desirable. -
1622–1636
The Children of James Guthrie & Janet Lyon
Nine baptisms of their children are recorded at Brechin between 1622 and 1636. Separate evidence identifies eldest son William and the older daughter Janet or Jonet, producing a reconstructed household of eleven children.
Sources: Brechin Old Parish Register, Scotland’s People parish 275; Brechin property, commissary and ministerial records for William and Janet/Jonet. -
1623–1628
James & Janet at Over Pitforthie
Brechin and property records style James Guthrie “in” or “of” Over Pitforthie. A contract dated 5 June 1628 names Janet Lyon with James Guthrie, fiar of Over Pitforthie.
The use of “Over Pitforthie” matters because it was one separately described division of a larger property complex.
Sources: Brechin deeds and associated property records, 1623–1628. The exact archival item number and complete transcription of the 5 Jun 1628 contract remain research targets. -
By 10 Nov 1650
Death of James Guthrie of Pitforthie
James’s testament was recorded under 10 November 1650, establishing that he was deceased by that date.
The later succession proceedings identify the Rev. William Guthrie and David Guthrie as his sons.
Source: Brechin Commissary Court testament records, testament of James Guthrie of Pitforthie, recorded under 10 Nov 1650. The original testament remains a priority record for fuller examination. -
1653–1655
Rev. William Guthrie → David Guthrie
On 9 August 1653, Pitforthie was judicially apprised from the Rev. William Guthrie, acting for himself and as charged to enter heir to his deceased father James. The proceeding was brought by Robert Arbuthnott for a debt of 36,565 merks and costs.
Arbuthnott subsequently assigned the apprising decree to William’s brother David Guthrie. On 27 July 1655, the Protector granted Pitforthie to David, expressly calling him a lawful son of the deceased James Guthrie of Pitforthie.
Source: Register of the Great Seal under the Commonwealth , charter 450, 27 Jul 1655, narrating the 9 Aug 1653 apprising and subsequent assignment. -
28 Feb 1666
Easter Pitforthie Remains Separately Described
A tack concerning Easter Pitforthie demonstrates that individual Pitforthie divisions continued to have distinct legal treatment after David’s 1655 grant.
Source: NRS GD45/18/1494, 28 Feb 1666. -
1672
William Rait Is Styled “of Pitforthie”
An armorial entry describes Mr William Rait of Pitforthie. This establishes a Rait territorial association by 1672.
It does not establish whether William held the entire estate, which division he held, or exactly how and when his interest arose.
Source: NRS Register of Arms, Vol. I, p. 402Z. -
1675 / 1695
David Guthrie Was Dead by June 1675
David was already deceased by 15 June 1675, when his son James was described as a son of the deceased David Guthrie of Pitforthie.
A testament-dative ad omissa recorded in 1695 later names Margaret Livingstone as David’s relict and Mr James Guthrie, minister at Guthrie, as their son.
The 1695 record is later estate administration and must not be treated as David’s death date.
Sources: documentary reference identifying David as deceased by 15 Jun 1675; Brechin Commissary Court testament records, NRS CC3/3/8, testament-dative ad omissa, recorded under 23 Oct 1695. -
1687–1704
Rev. James Guthrie & Margaret Skinner’s Household
David’s son, the Rev. James Guthrie, married his first cousin Margaret Skinner, a granddaughter of James Guthrie and Janet Lyon through their daughter Margaret.
Their nine recorded children were baptized between 1687 and 1704 at Cambusnethan, Brechin, and Guthrie, tracing the family’s movement through James’s ministerial career.
Sources: Cambusnethan, Brechin and Guthrie Old Parish Registers; Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, Vol. V, pp. 436–438. -
1697–1718
Later Pitforthie Interests Remain Divided
Later records continue to treat different parts of Pitforthie separately rather than preserving a simple single-owner succession.
- 27 Sep 1697 — NRS GD45/16/2977: rental concerning Pitforthie.
- 22 Jun 1714 — NRS SIG1/139/58: grant involving Over Pitforthie.
- 1718 — NRS SC5/75/2: inventory recording buildings at Nether Pitforthie.
Evidence conclusion: these instruments confirm continuing separate property interests but do not yet establish a complete proprietor-by- proprietor succession for every division of Pitforthie.
What the Timeline Shows
The documentary sequence does not show one estate simply changing its name from Kingennie to Pitforthie. It shows one family surviving the loss of one property and later becoming established in another.
It also shows why later Pitforthie ownership cannot be reduced to a simple line of lairds. Over, Easter, Nether, and other described interests continued separately, and the appearance of both Guthrie and Rait territorial styles requires the underlying legal rights to be reconstructed rather than assumed.
Generation by Generation
This is one family story, but not one continuous estate. The generations below follow the documented family from Malcolm Guthrie and Marjory Strachan through the Kingennie succession, the sale of Kingennie, and the establishment of the later Pitforthie household by James Guthrie and Janet Lyon.
Some parent-child relationships are stated directly in surviving records. Others depend upon the sequence of property titles and later evidence. Those distinctions remain visible throughout.
Malcolm Guthrie & Marjory Strachan
Documented Couple The documentary Kingennie family begins with Marjory Strachan’s inheritance and Malcolm Guthrie as her husband.
On 16 April 1464, a retour found Marjorie de Strazawquhyn heir to her deceased sister Elizabeth in the lands of Kingennie and Carntown. This establishes Marjory’s succession to the properties, although the retour itself does not identify her husband.
William Named as Malcolm’s Son & Heir
A charter dated 5 March 1478 names William Guthrie as son and heir apparent of Malcolm Guthrie of Dundee, with Marion Strachan.
The evidence presently used for this charter survives through a later inventory or published abstract rather than a complete transcription of the original instrument.
The 1484 Record Establishes the Marriage
On 22 May 1484, Mariore Straithachan appeared before the Lords Auditors and was expressly identified as the spouse of the deceased Malcolm Guthrie.
She claimed that she and Malcolm had been jointly infeft in half of Machy. The proceeding establishes their marriage and shows that Malcolm was dead by this date; it does not establish the validity of the disputed Machy charter.
Marjory, Mariore & Marion
Her forename and surname appear in several forms. The sequence of the records supports treating Marjory, Mariore, Marion, Strachan, Straithachan, and related spellings here as references to the same woman.
What is established: Marjory inherited Kingennie and Carntown; Malcolm was her husband; William was Malcolm’s son and heir apparent.
Children presently proved: William is the only child presently identified by direct evidence.
William Guthrie & Janet Arbuthnot
Documented Couple · Succession Inferred William and Janet are securely documented together at Kingennie, although the later title does not repeat William’s parentage.
On 5 December 1511, Archibald, Earl of Angus, granted a charter to William Guthrie and Janet Arbuthnot, his wife, and the survivor of them in conjunct fee. The grant included Kingennie and Carntown with the mill of Kingennie.
Formal Possession in 1512
A sasine dated 5 November 1512 identifies William Guthrie of Kynganye and Janet Arbuthnot, his spouse, and records their formal possession under the earlier grant.
Together, the charter and sasine show that Janet was not merely named as William’s wife: she held a direct interest in the Kingennie title.
The Relationship to Ninian Guthrie
No record presently located expressly identifies Ninian Guthrie as the son of William Guthrie and Janet Arbuthnot. Ninian is the next documented Guthrie holding Kingennie, so his placement follows the title succession rather than a direct parentage statement.
No complete list of William and Janet’s children has yet been found.
Principal evidence: NRS GD137/2341; NRS GD137/1980; The Wedderburn Book, Vol. II, nos. 240(e) and 167.
Ninian Guthrie & Katherine Moncrieff
Documented Couple Ninian’s long tenure included the temporary loss and restoration of Kingennie, service as sheriff depute, the violent death of his heir, and the eventual settlement of the estate upon his grandson.
1528–1529: Kingennie Lost & Restored
On 5 September 1528, a Great Seal charter granted Kingennie and its mill to William Wod of Bonytoun. The record explains that the lands had been held by Ninian Guthrie under Archibald, Earl of Angus, but had fallen into royal hands following the earl’s forfeiture.
This was therefore a disruption caused by the forfeiture of Ninian’s superior — not a voluntary Guthrie sale.
Katherine Moncrieff Named in the Restoration
On 2 September 1529, James V restored Kingennie and its mill to Ninian Guthrie and his heirs after William Wod resigned the property.
One-quarter of the lands and mill was reserved in liferent to Katherine Moncrieff, Ninian’s wife. Sasine followed on 20 October 1529.
Ninian later served as sheriff depute of Forfar. A discharge dated 12 October 1562 identifies him as “Ninian Guthrie of Kingany, sheriff depute of Forfar.”
The Killing of Ninian’s Heir
Around 1562, Alexander Lauder of Omachie slew William, the heir of Ninian Guthrie of Kingennie. A contract of assythment — compensation or settlement after the killing — was subsequently arranged.
The located evidence calls William Ninian’s heir, not expressly his son. He is therefore generally reconstructed as a son of Ninian and Katherine because of the later grandfather-grandson succession.
Ninian Settles Kingennie on His Grandson
On 25 August 1580, Ninian granted Kingennie to a younger William Guthrie, expressly identifying him as his grandson.
Ninian and William also granted a liferent in half of the property to Elizabeth Fethie, William’s future spouse.
Kingennie & the Monifieth Kirk Dispute
On 12 April 1584, the Monifieth kirk register records that Ninian Guthrie of Kingany was excluded from Communion because he had not been reconciled with the kirk.
The entry does not establish Ninian’s personal theology or explain what reconciliation required. Later analysis places the episode amid wider local divisions involving property, alliances, and the earlier killing of his heir.
A testament dative and inventory for Niniane Guthrie was recorded on 10 January 1587, establishing that he was deceased by that date.
What Remains Unknown
Katherine Moncrieff’s later life and death date remain unidentified. No complete list of the couple’s children has been reconstructed.
William Guthrie & Marion Mauld
Corroborated Reconstruction This generation is reconstructed from three separate pieces of evidence rather than from one document naming the complete family.
The earlier William was killed by Alexander Lauder of Omachie around 1562 before he could succeed personally to Kingennie. Ninian remained in possession and eventually settled the estate upon his grandson.
Why Marion Mauld Is Placed Here
- The slain William is described as Ninian’s heir.
- In 1580, Ninian’s successor William is expressly called his grandson.
- The 1600 Kingennie sale papers expressly identify Marion Mauld as the mother of that younger William.
Taken together, the evidence strongly supports the slain William as the younger William’s father and Marion Mauld as his mother.
Marriage Not Expressly Stated
No record yet located expressly calls Marion Mauld the wife or relict of the slain William. Their placement as a couple is therefore substantial reconstruction, not a directly stated marriage.
Marion survived for decades after the killing and appears repeatedly in the documents surrounding the 1600 sale. A contract dated 6 September 1600 names William Guthrie of Kingennie, Elizabeth Fethie his wife, and “Marion Mauld his mother.”
Possible Additional Son — Henry Guthrie in Laws
A charter dated 23 June 1584 includes among its witnesses “Henry Guthrie, son of the laird of Kingennie.”
Henry is independently documented with Margaret Watson and as father of Robert, baptized in 1571, and Katherine, baptized in 1579, at Monifieth.
The 1584 wording establishes Henry as a son of a laird of Kingennie, but does not identify which laird. He therefore remains a possible, not proven, additional son in this generation.
William Guthrie & Elizabeth Fethie
Documented Couple William and Elizabeth were the last Guthrie couple to hold Kingennie. Their records document both the end of the family’s possession there and the parentage of the son who carried the genealogy forward.
The 1580 Marriage Settlement
On 25 August 1580, Ninian Guthrie granted Kingennie to William, expressly calling him his grandson.
Ninian and William then granted Elizabeth Fethie, described as William’s future spouse, a liferent in half of Kingennie.
A Four-Day Chronology Question
The Monifieth parish register reportedly records William and Elizabeth’s marriage on 21 August 1580, four days before the surviving title abstract describes her as his “future spouse.”
This may reflect the timing of a contract, charter, recording, or sasine rather than a genuine contradiction. The original records should be compared before attempting to explain the wording more precisely.
A further charter dated 19 March 1586 expressly identifies Elizabeth Fethie as William’s wife, removing any uncertainty about the marriage itself.
Rights Begin to Be Disposed of
During the 1590s, William disposed of various rights connected with Kingennie. On 26 October 1592, he conveyed an annualrent associated with the chaplainry of St Thomas the Martyr in Dundee to David Wedderburn.
Later transactions involving John Traill concerned annualrents and secured interests affecting Kingennie rather than an immediate outright sale of the whole estate.
The Sale of Kingennie — 1600
A contract dated 6 September 1600 provided for the sale of Kingennie to Alexander Wedderburn. The revised agreement of 1 November valued the lands and mains at 11,200 merks, with a further 4,800 merks assigned to clearing reversions and other burdens.
The sale papers name:
- William Guthrie of Kingennie
- Elizabeth Fethie, his wife
- Marion Mauld, his mother
Proceedings on 5 December 1600 were taken to remove the Guthries and place Alexander Wedderburn in possession. Further rights continued to be cleared after the principal conveyance.
The Family Continues After Kingennie
The sale ended Guthrie possession of Kingennie, but it did not end this family line.
Brechin deeds recorded in 1610 and 1612 identify Elizabeth / Bessie Fethie as the widow of the deceased William Guthrie, sometime of Kingennie, and James Guthrie as their son.
Children Presently Associated with William & Elizabeth
James Guthrie is directly documented as their son.
Jean Guthrie, traditionally associated with John Kinneir, remains provisional until the relevant sasines have been fully identified and examined.
James Guthrie & Janet Lyon
Documented Family James Guthrie is the secure genealogical bridge from the last Kingennie household to the Guthries later associated with Pitforthie.
Because his father had sold Kingennie in 1600, James did not inherit the former family estate. References associating him with Kingennie reflect his family origin, not later ownership of that property.
James’s Kingennie Parentage
Brechin deeds recorded in 1610 and 1612 repeatedly identify Elizabeth or Bessie Fethie as relict of the deceased William Guthrie, formerly or sometime of Kingennie, and James as their son.
Janet Lyon & the Reported Guthrie-of-That-Ilk Connection
Janet Lyon — also found as Jonet or Jean — was a daughter of James Lyon, sixth laird of Easter Ogil. The later Genealogie of Ogil states that her mother was an unnamed daughter of Guthrie of that Ilk.
If correct, this provides a maternal Guthrie-of-that-Ilk ancestry for James and Janet’s children. It does not establish that the paternal Kingennie family was a cadet branch of the Guthries of Guthrie.
Janet’s First Marriage & the Wemyss Heirs
Before marrying James, Janet was the wife of John Wemyss of Pitforthie. Their identified daughters were:
- Catherine Wemyss
- Margaret Wemyss
Following their father’s death, the daughters became heirs to Wemyss interests in Pitforthie.
James Did Not Acquire Pitforthie Merely by Marrying Janet
The relevant property rights belonged to or passed through Janet’s Wemyss daughters. Separate conveyances were required before James acquired his own territorial interest.
The precise legal sequence remains to be reconstructed from the original conveyances, sasines, and Brechin deeds.
James at Over Pitforthie
Between 1623 and 1628, James appears in Brechin and associated property records as James Guthrie “in” or “of” Over Pitforthie.
A contract dated 5 June 1628 names Janet Lyon with James Guthrie, fiar of Over Pitforthie.
The designation fiar indicates an interest in the fee, but does not by itself prove that James possessed every division of the wider Pitforthie property.
Eleven Children — Not Eight
The Brechin Old Parish Register records nine baptisms of children of James and Janet:
Andrew · Barbara · Nicholas · David · Robert · Margaret · Alexander · John · Jean
Separate evidence identifies the eldest son William and an older daughter, Janet or Jonet, producing a reconstructed household of eleven children.
The later Genealogie of Ogil names only five sons and three daughters, demonstrating that the later pedigree preserved the family connection but did not enumerate the complete household.
James was later styled more generally James Guthrie of Pitforthie. His testament was recorded under 10 November 1650, establishing that he was deceased by that date.
From One Couple to Several Documented Branches
James and Janet’s children carried the family into the ministry, later Pitforthie ownership, and several interconnected Scottish families.
Particularly important were the Rev. William Guthrie of Fenwick, David Guthrie of Pitforthie, Margaret Guthrie, wife of the Rev. Laurence Skinner, Janet Guthrie, wife of the Rev. William Rait, the Rev. Alexander Guthrie of Stracathro, and the Rev. John Guthrie of Tarbolton.
The next section examines all eleven children individually, including those whose later lives remain unidentified.
The Children of James Guthrie & Janet Lyon
The reconstructed household of James Guthrie and Janet Lyon contains eleven children. The Brechin parish register records the baptisms of nine children between 1622 and 1636.
Baptismal entries have not been located for the eldest son, William, or for the older daughter Janet or Jonet, but independent records place both securely within the family.
The parish entries document the family’s connection with Brechin. They do not establish that every child was born at Pitforthie or that every baptism occurred at the manor itself.
Select a child to expand the biographical and family details.
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1 The Rev. William Guthrie Born about 1620 · Died 10 Oct 1665
William’s baptism has not been located. His reported age of about forty-five at death places his birth around 1620. He studied at the University of St Andrews, was licensed to preach in 1642, and was ordained minister of Fenwick in Ayrshire in 1644.
William married Agnes Campbell, daughter of David Campbell of Sheldon, in August 1645.
Recorded Children
- Margaret Guthrie
- Agnes Guthrie
- William Guthrie
- Mary Guthrie
- Elizabeth Guthrie
- John Guthrie
The surviving family evidence indicates that daughters Agnes, who married Matthew Miller of Glenlee, and Mary, who married the Rev. Patrick Warner, survived to adulthood. William’s sons died in infancy or early childhood.
Following his father’s death, William was treated as the expected heir to Pitforthie. On 9 August 1653, however, the property was judicially apprised from him at the instance of Robert Arbuthnott. The resulting decree was later assigned to his brother David.
William was removed from his ministry at Fenwick in 1664. He died at Brechin on 10 October 1665. His best-known work, The Christian’s Great Interest, had already appeared during his lifetime.
Identified Son · Ministerial Evidence Sources: Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, Fenwick entry; Samuel Rutherford / Wodrow biographical tradition; Register of the Great Seal under the Commonwealth, charter 450, narrating the 9 Aug 1653 apprising. -
2 Andrew Guthrie Baptized 8 Feb 1622
Andrew was baptized at Brechin on 8 February 1622. Andrew Lyon and Andrew Milne were among the witnesses.
No later record has yet been securely connected with him.
Because the later Pitforthie succession proceeded through William and then David, Andrew may have died before the succession proceedings or otherwise ceased to possess a claim. No evidence presently establishes his death, marriage, or descendants.
Baptism Documented Source: Brechin Old Parish Register, Scotland’s People parish 275, baptism of Andrew Guthrie, 8 Feb 1622. -
3 Janet / Jonet Guthrie Born before about 1624
No baptismal entry has been located for Janet, but other records identify her as a daughter of James Guthrie of Pitforthie and as the wife of the Rev. William Rait.
Baptisms of the Rait children repeatedly identify William’s wife as Janet or Jonet Guthrie.
Janet must not be confused with her younger sister Jean Guthrie, who was baptized in 1636. Jean would have been far too young to be the mother of the earliest Rait children.
The Rait family later became territorially associated with Pitforthie. The exact legal route, timing, and extent of that property interest remain under investigation and are examined in the later Rait section.
Identified Through Family Records Sources: Brechin and Dundee parish registers for the children of Rev. William Rait and Janet/Jonet Guthrie; ministerial records; later Rait property evidence. -
4 Barbara Guthrie Baptized 1 Feb 1625
Barbara was baptized at Brechin on 1 February 1625. No later life record has yet been conclusively connected with her.
A Barbara Guthrie married Patrick Kynman on 23 October 1640, but the marriage entry does not provide enough information to prove that she was the daughter of James and Janet. That identification remains provisional.
Baptism Documented Source: Brechin Old Parish Register, Scotland’s People parish 275, baptism of Barbara Guthrie, 1 Feb 1625. -
5 Nicholas Guthrie Baptized 2 Mar 1626
Nicholas was baptized at Brechin on 2 March 1626. She was a daughter despite the modern tendency to read Nicholas as exclusively masculine.
Nicholas, Nicol, Nicoll, and related forms were used for women in early modern Scotland.
No spouse, children, or later life record has yet been securely identified.
Baptism Documented Source: Brechin Old Parish Register, Scotland’s People parish 275, baptism of Nicholas Guthrie, 2 Mar 1626. -
6 David Guthrie of Pitforthie Baptized 13 Nov 1627 · Died before 15 Jun 1675
David was baptized at Brechin on 13 November 1627. He married Margaret Livingstone, eldest daughter of Patrick Livingstone of Muretoun.
After the 1653 apprising of Pitforthie from his brother William, Robert Arbuthnott assigned the decree to David. On 27 July 1655, the Protector granted Pitforthie to David Guthrie, lawful son of the deceased James Guthrie of Pitforthie.
This is therefore a directly documented father-son relationship and a legally documented acquisition of the property.
Six Presently Identified Children
- James Guthrie
- Patrick Guthrie
- William Guthrie
- Francis Guthrie
- Margaret Guthrie
- Robert Guthrie
David was deceased by 15 June 1675. His eldest known son, the Rev. James Guthrie, later married his first cousin Margaret Skinner.
Baptism · Parentage · Property Succession Sources: Brechin Old Parish Register; Register of the Great Seal under the Commonwealth, charter 450 , 27 Jul 1655; later Brechin commissary evidence. -
7 The Rev. Robert Guthrie Baptized 4 Mar 1629
Robert was baptized at Brechin on 4 March 1629.
Ministerial accounts state that he was licensed to preach but suffered from continuing illness or a “tender constitution” that prevented him from undertaking the regular charge of a parish.
No marriage or children have yet been identified, and his death date remains unknown.
Baptism · Ministerial Evidence Sources: Brechin Old Parish Register; Scottish ministerial accounts / Fasti material relating to the Pitforthie family. -
8 Margaret Guthrie Baptized 22 May 1630 · Died 1674
Margaret was baptized at Brechin on 22 May 1630. She married the Rev. Laurence Skinner, master of the Grammar School and later minister of Brechin.
Recorded Skinner Children
- Catherine Skinner
- Janet Skinner
- Margaret Skinner
- John Skinner
- Jean Skinner
- a second Catherine Skinner
- William Skinner
- Anna Skinner
Their daughter Margaret Skinner, born 15 August 1657, later married her first cousin, the Rev. James Guthrie, son of David Guthrie and Margaret Livingstone.
That marriage reunited two descendant lines of James Guthrie and Janet Lyon: James through their son David, and Margaret Skinner through their daughter Margaret.
Laurence and Margaret Skinner’s household also sheltered Margaret’s brother, the Rev. William Guthrie, during his final illness in 1665.
Baptism · Marriage · Descendants Sources: Brechin Old Parish Register; Brechin ministerial and parish records; baptism of Margaret Skinner, 15 Aug 1657. -
9 The Rev. Alexander Guthrie Baptized 22 Mar 1632 · Died 1663
Alexander was baptized at Brechin on 22 March 1632. He entered the ministry and served at Stracathro.
He married Magdalene Carnegie, daughter of Alexander Carnegie of Cookston.
Identified Children
- May / Mary Guthrie
- Janet Guthrie
- Margaret Guthrie
- Alexander Guthrie
Alexander died comparatively young in 1663. His son Alexander represents a documented paternal branch whose later descendants have not yet been traced.
Baptism · Ministerial Family Sources: Brechin Old Parish Register; Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, Stracathro entry. -
10 The Rev. John Guthrie Baptized 21 Nov 1633 · Died before Nov 1676
John was baptized at Brechin on 21 November 1633. He studied at the University of Glasgow and became minister of Tarbolton and Barnwell.
He married Mary Haldane. Their known son was Major John Guthrie.
John was deprived of his ministry following the Restoration settlement. He later participated in the Pentland Rising of 1666, was prosecuted for treason and condemned to death in 1667, but received a royal pardon on 1 October 1667.
John’s exact death date remains unresolved. A date of 1669 is frequently reported, while evidence referring to his widow establishes only that he was dead by November 1676.
Baptism · Ministerial Family Sources: Brechin Old Parish Register; Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, Tarbolton entry; Restoration-period ministerial and legal accounts. -
11 Jean Guthrie Baptized 5 Jul 1636
Jean was the youngest presently identified child of James Guthrie and Janet Lyon. She was baptized at Brechin on 5 July 1636.
No marriage or later life record has yet been securely identified for her.
Jean should not be identified as the wife of the Rev. William Rait. The Rait family records identify his wife as Janet or Jonet Guthrie, the older sister whose baptism has not yet been found.
Baptism Documented Source: Brechin Old Parish Register, Scotland’s People parish 275, baptism of Jean Guthrie, 5 Jul 1636.
One Household, Several Paths Forward
The eleven children carried the Pitforthie family into landholding, the ministry, education, and several interconnected Scottish families.
The principal documented Pitforthie succession continued through David Guthrie. The Rait connection developed through his sister Janet, while the Skinner connection developed through their sister Margaret.
Other sons created paternal branches whose descendants remain incompletely traced — an important distinction when considering whether the Kingennie and Pitforthie male line survived beyond the period of documented estate ownership.
David Guthrie & Margaret Livingstone
David Guthrie, baptized at Brechin on 13 November 1627, was a younger son of James Guthrie of Pitforthie and Janet Lyon. He married Margaret Livingstone, eldest daughter of Patrick Livingstone of Muretoun, by 1653.
David became the next principal Guthrie associated with Pitforthie, but the estate did not simply pass to him as a gift from his elder brother William. His title arose from debt proceedings, an apprising, an assignment, and a subsequent government grant.
How David Acquired Pitforthie
Pitforthie Apprised
The property was judicially apprised from Rev. William Guthrie for an outstanding debt.
Decree Assigned
Robert Arbuthnott, fiar of Findowrie, assigned the resulting apprising decree to David Guthrie.
Formal Grant to David
The Protector granted Pitforthie to David, expressly identifying him as a lawful son of the deceased James Guthrie.
The 1655 Grant
The Commonwealth charter states that the apprising had been taken from the Rev. William Guthrie, acting both for himself and as a person charged to enter heir to his deceased father, James Guthrie of Pitforthie.
The proceeding was brought by Robert Arbuthnott, fiar of Findowrie, for a debt of 36,565 merks and associated costs.
After Arbuthnott assigned the decree to David, the Protector formally granted David the lands, manor-places, teind sheaves, and other teinds of Pitforthie, within the barony of Kethick and sheriffdom of Forfar. The former proprietor retained the legal right of redemption.
What the Grant Proves Genealogically
The 1655 charter expressly calls David Guthrie a lawful son of the deceased James Guthrie of Pitforthie.
It therefore provides unusually strong evidence for both David’s parentage and the legal route by which he obtained his interest in Pitforthie.
David Was Dead by June 1675
David was deceased by 15 June 1675, when his son James was described as a son of the deceased David Guthrie of Pitforthie.
A later testament-dative ad omissa, recorded in 1695, names Margaret Livingstone as David’s relict and Mr James Guthrie, minister at Guthrie, as their son.
Because an ad omissa dealt with estate matters omitted from an earlier administration, 1695 must not be treated as David’s year of death.
A Complication: William Rait “of Pitforthie”
An armorial entry recorded in 1672 styles a Mr William Rait “of Pitforthie.” This designation appears while David was still alive, or only a few years before the record proving David deceased.
The overlap does not prove that David had already surrendered the whole property. Pitforthie contained separately described divisions, and the precise extent and legal origin of the Rait interest remain unresolved.
The Children of David & Margaret
The Brechin parish evidence identifies six children of David Guthrie and Margaret Livingstone.
The Five Younger Children Remain Poorly Traced
The surviving evidence currently tells us much more about James than about Patrick, William, Francis, Margaret, and Robert.
Same-name records require particular caution: William must not be confused with his uncle Rev. William Guthrie of Fenwick; Francis with Francis Guthrie of Gagie; Margaret with her aunt Margaret Guthrie or cousin Margaret Skinner; and Robert with his uncle Rev. Robert Guthrie.
No marriages or descendants have yet been securely assigned to these five younger children.
The Rev. James Guthrie & Margaret Skinner
David and Margaret’s eldest known son, James Guthrie, graduated M.A. from King’s College, Aberdeen, in 1670. He later served the Bishop of Moray, acted as schoolmaster at Rathven, and received a certificate of licence from the Presbytery of Fordyce on 31 January 1678.
James was admitted minister of Cambusnethan on 16 August 1685. After the political and ecclesiastical changes of 1688–89, he eventually received a call to Guthrie and Carbuddo on 18 December 1692.
A Marriage Between Two Pitforthie Lines
James married his first cousin Margaret Skinner, born 15 August 1657, daughter of the Rev. Laurence Skinner and Margaret Guthrie.
Their shared grandparents were James Guthrie of Pitforthie and Janet Lyon. James descended through their son David; Margaret Skinner descended through their daughter Margaret.
The Reported Guthrie-of-Guthrie Connection
The Fasti describes James as a native of Angus and suggests a close connection with the Guthries of Guthrie.
His documented paternal ancestry, however, belongs to the Kingennie and Pitforthie family. The presently reported connection with the main Guthrie house may instead reflect the maternal ancestry attributed to his grandmother Janet Lyon, together with continuing social and ecclesiastical associations.
Nine Recorded Children
Parish registers document nine children — seven sons and two daughters:
- David Guthrie 15 Apr 1687 · Cambusnethan
- Laurence Guthrie 6 Mar 1689 · Brechin
- John Guthrie 18 Jul 1690 · Brechin
- James Guthrie 19 Nov 1691 · Brechin
- William Guthrie 25 Sep 1693 · Guthrie
- Robert Guthrie 25 Apr 1695 · Guthrie
- Cicill Guthrie 22 Apr 1697 · Guthrie
- Margaret Guthrie 10 Mar 1699 · Guthrie
- Alexander Guthrie 10 Jan 1704 · Guthrie
The Baptisms Trace the Family’s Movements
The baptismal sequence follows James’s career. David was baptized while his father was minister at Cambusnethan. Laurence, John, and James were baptized at Brechin during the unsettled years after James left that charge.
William, Robert, Cicill, Margaret, and Alexander were baptized at Guthrie after James’s call there in December 1692.
Alexander’s 1704 baptism is particularly useful because the original entry names James Guthrie and Margaret Skinner as his parents. Witnesses included John Guthrie of that Ilk and John Ogilvie, laird of Pitmouies.
Their presence demonstrates close social and patronage ties with the territorial Guthrie family, but does not prove paternal descent from the Guthries of Guthrie.
Parish Registers Correct the Published Household
The Fasti names only five sons: John, Laurence, David, William, and Alexander.
The parish registers additionally document James, Robert, Cicill, and Margaret, establishing the complete recorded household of nine children.
Why This Generation Matters
David’s family demonstrates why the disappearance of the Guthrie territorial designation at Pitforthie cannot be treated as the end of the paternal line.
David and Margaret had several sons, and their son Rev. James Guthrie had seven recorded sons of his own. Most of those male lines remain incompletely traced.
At the same time, the appearance of William Rait “of Pitforthie” by 1672 shows that the later property history was becoming more complicated. That Rait connection — and the related Ochterlony interests — is the subject of the next section.
The Rait & Ochterlony Connections at Pitforthie
The later history of Pitforthie cannot be represented as a simple succession from David Guthrie to one identifiable heir. By the later seventeenth century, members of the Rait family were using the territorial designation “of Pitforthie”, while surviving records continued to distinguish among Easter, Over, and Nether Pitforthie.
By the eighteenth century the Ochterlony family was also using the Pitforthie designation. What remains incomplete is the legal chain connecting these separately documented interests.
Janet Guthrie & the Rait Family
Janet / Jonet Guthrie & Rev. William Rait
The genealogical connection begins with Janet or Jonet Guthrie, daughter of James Guthrie of Pitforthie and Janet Lyon. She married the Rev. William Rait by the period in which their children began appearing in the Brechin parish register.
Janet must not be confused with her younger sister Jean Guthrie, baptized in 1636. The baptismal entries for the Rait children consistently identify their mother as Janet or Jonet Guthrie.
William Rait was a son of the Rev. James Rait, minister of Aberluthnot or Marykirk. William succeeded his father there in 1643, transferred to Brechin in 1644, became Principal of King’s College, Aberdeen, in 1661, and entered the ministry at Dundee in 1662. He died in July 1679.
Twelve Recorded Children
Parish registers document twelve children of William Rait and Janet Guthrie:
Several can be followed into adulthood. Jean married John Scrymgeour of Kirkton; Margaret married first the Rev. John Campbell of Tealing and later a Dundee burgess surnamed Kellock; William entered the ministry at Monikie; Robert became minister of St Paul’s in Dundee; and Laurence became a merchant in Dundee.
Two Men Named William Rait
The Elder William Rait
Rev. William Rait · died 1679
He was the husband of Janet Guthrie and father of the twelve children above.
An armorial entry recorded in 1672 styles “Mr William Rait of Pitforthie” and identifies him as descended from a second son of the Raits of Hallgreen.
The chronology strongly favors the elder William for this 1672 reference, although the armorial entry alone does not explain how or when his Pitforthie interest arose.
The Younger William Rait
Baptized 24 Dec 1651
This William, son of the elder William and Janet Guthrie, graduated M.A. from King’s College, Aberdeen, in 1677 and became minister of Monikie in 1680.
He married Isobel Yeaman, daughter of Patrick Yeaman of Dryburgh, on 12 April 1673.
A parliamentary act of 7 June 1690 names Mr William Rait of Pitforthie among the commissioners appointed to collect the supply in Forfarshire. Because his father had died in 1679, this reference belongs to the younger William.
A Later Clerical Descendant
One of the younger William Rait and Isobel Yeaman’s sons, James Rait, later entered the Episcopal ministry and was consecrated Bishop of Brechin in 1742.
What the Rait Evidence Does — and Does Not — Prove
The evidence establishes a Rait territorial association with Pitforthie, but it does not yet prove that the entire estate passed to William Rait through Janet Guthrie as an heiress.
David Guthrie received Pitforthie under the 1655 Commonwealth grant and was still styled “of Pitforthie” in the 1660s. The appearance of William Rait with the same territorial style by 1672 may reflect:
- acquisition of one portion of Pitforthie;
- a family settlement or transfer;
- another form of tenure or security;
- or a transaction whose instrument has not yet been identified.
Later Pitforthie Records Reinforce the Caution
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28 Feb 1666 — NRS GD45/18/1494
Tack concerning land in Easter Pitforthie. -
27 Sep 1697 — NRS GD45/16/2977
Rental of the lands of Pitforthie. -
22 Jun 1714 — NRS SIG1/139/58
Grant concerning Over Pitforthie. -
1718 — NRS SC5/75/2
Inventory recording buildings at Nether Pitforthie.
These records show that separately described Pitforthie interests continued after the principal Guthrie period. More than one person could therefore carry a Pitforthie territorial designation without necessarily possessing every part of the property.
The Ochterlony Family at Pitforthie
Alexander Ochterlony of Pitforthie
By the early eighteenth century, Alexander Ochterlony was using the territorial designation “of Pitforthie.”
Alexander, born in 1695, was a son of James Ochterlony of West Seaton and Tilliefroskie and Elizabeth Gairden. He married Elizabeth Tyrie, daughter of David Tyrie of Dunnydeer, on 1 November 1721.
Alexander died in 1736. Their identified children included:
Gilbert Ochterlony
Alexander’s eldest son, Gilbert Ochterlony, succeeded to the Pitforthie territorial designation and was also styled of Newton Mill.
A later Court of Session process preserves a feu charter granted by Gilbert on 20 September 1745 for ground forming part of the lands of the Mill of Newton.
From Pitforthie to Boston & India
Alexander’s son David Ochterlony settled in Boston, Massachusetts.
David’s son, Major-General Sir David Ochterlony, was born in Boston in 1758, entered the service of the East India Company, and was created a baronet in 1816.
This later international branch descends from the eighteenth-century Ochterlony family associated with Pitforthie; it is not a continuation of the Guthrie surname line.
The Missing Link Between the Raits & Ochterlonys
No document has yet been identified that explains precisely how Alexander Ochterlony acquired his Pitforthie interest or links that acquisition directly to either of the two William Raits.
The evidence therefore supports three separate conclusions: the Guthries held documented Pitforthie interests; the Raits later used the Pitforthie territorial designation; and the Ochterlonys subsequently did the same. What remains unfinished is the legal conveyancing sequence connecting those interests.
Male-Line Continuation & Y-DNA
The loss of Kingennie and Pitforthie does not demonstrate the extinction of this Guthrie paternal line. Numerous sons and grandsons are documented after the family ceased to possess the estates, but most of their later descendants have not yet been traced.
The earlier Kingennie records are particularly incomplete. Charters normally name the heir and the people required for a particular transaction; they rarely provide a complete list of every son and daughter.
“Untraced” Does Not Mean “Died Without Issue”
A son disappearing from the known property record is not evidence that he died young, never married, or left no descendants.
Likewise, David Guthrie’s eventual acquisition of Pitforthie does not establish that every older brother was dead or childless. David acquired the property through the 1653 apprising and subsequent assignment, not simply because he was the only surviving male heir.
Earlier Kingennie Possibilities
The Early Kingennie Generations
The surviving fifteenth- and sixteenth-century title records identify particular heirs but do not enumerate complete households.
Additional sons of Malcolm Guthrie, William Guthrie and Janet Arbuthnot, or Ninian Guthrie may therefore have existed without appearing in the surviving Kingennie succession documents.
Henry Guthrie in Laws
The 1584 description of Henry Guthrie as “son of the laird of Kingennie” places him within the wider Kingennie family, although his exact father remains unresolved.
Henry and Margaret Watson had a son Robert Guthrie, baptized in 1571, and another child baptized in 1578 whose sex is not presently established.
Robert’s later life remains untraced and could represent an additional paternal branch.
William Guthrie & Elizabeth Fethie
James Guthrie is directly documented as their son in the Brechin deeds of 1610–1612.
Those deeds do not establish that James was their only son. No complete household for the last Kingennie couple has yet been recovered.
James Guthrie & Janet Lyon
Their reconstructed household includes six identified sons: William, Andrew, David, Robert, Alexander, and John.
These sons created several potential paternal branches, only some of which have yet been followed beyond the next generation.
The Six Sons of James Guthrie & Janet Lyon
- Rev. William Guthrie of Fenwick Sons William and John are recorded in his household, but the presently reconstructed family indicates that only daughters Agnes and Mary survived to adulthood. No continuing male line is presently identified.
- Andrew Guthrie Baptized 8 Feb 1622. No later life, marriage, death, or descendants have yet been securely identified.
- David Guthrie of Pitforthie Five sons are presently identified: James, Patrick, William, Francis, and Robert. This is one of the strongest areas for continued paternal-line research.
- Rev. Robert Guthrie Baptized 4 Mar 1629. Licensed to preach, but no wife or children have yet been identified.
- Rev. Alexander Guthrie of Stracathro Married Magdalene Carnegie and had an identified son, Alexander Guthrie, whose later family remains untraced.
- Rev. John Guthrie of Tarbolton Married Mary Haldane and had a known son, Major John Guthrie. The branch continues at least one further male generation in the current research, but later descendants still require documentary reconstruction.
The Sons of David Guthrie & Margaret Livingstone
David and Margaret had five presently identified sons: James, Patrick, William, Francis, and Robert Guthrie.
- Rev. James Guthrie Married Margaret Skinner and had seven recorded sons. Numerous paternal continuations are therefore possible.
- Patrick Guthrie Identified as a son of David and Margaret; later family untraced.
- William Guthrie Identified as a son of David and Margaret; later family untraced.
- Francis Guthrie Identified as a son of David and Margaret; later family untraced.
- Robert Guthrie Identified as a son of David and Margaret; later family untraced.
Seven Sons of Rev. James Guthrie & Margaret Skinner
Their parish-register household provides the largest presently documented cluster of later male descendants.
No evidence presently establishes that all seven survived to adulthood. Equally, the absence of these men from later Pitforthie property records does not establish that they died young or without descendants.
Their marriages, occupations, residences, deaths, and possible children remain important individual research targets.
The Stracathro Branch
Rev. Alexander Guthrie of Stracathro and Magdalene Carnegie had one identified son, Alexander Guthrie.
The younger Alexander supplies a directly documented paternal branch independent of David’s Pitforthie descendants. His marriage, death, and possible children remain untraced.
The Tarbolton Branch
Rev. John Guthrie and Mary Haldane had a known son, Major John Guthrie. Current research continues the paternal line at least one further generation to a son named John whose baptism was recorded at Edinburgh in 1692.
A possible Edinburgh marriage in 1718 involving a writer named John Guthrie has been identified, but it should not yet be assigned to the man baptized in 1692 without additional evidence.
Present Evidentiary Position
Why Y-DNA Could Be Especially Valuable Here
A documented living male-line descendant of this family would carry Y-DNA inherited through the same paternal line as the historical Guthries of Kingennie and Pitforthie.
That could provide evidence addressing a question the surviving paper records have not yet answered: does the Kingennie and Pitforthie paternal family share a male ancestor with the Guthries of Guthrie or with another established Guthrie genetic lineage?
The strongest areas for descendant research include:
A useful testing candidate would first need a documented father-to-son pedigree connecting him to one of these historical men. Y-DNA could then be compared with established Guthrie DNA groups; it should not be used to substitute for the missing genealogical links in the paper trail.
No Proven Paternal Descent from the Guthries of Guthrie
The historical records developed for this profile document the paternal family through Kingennie and Pitforthie. They do not presently establish that this male line descends from the Guthries of Guthrie.
The reported connection through Janet Lyon’s mother, if correct, is a maternal relationship for the children of James Guthrie and Janet Lyon and must not be converted into proof of a shared paternal line.
A well-documented Y-DNA descendant could therefore be particularly informative, because the genetic evidence could test a paternal relationship that the surviving written records currently leave unresolved.
Present Conclusion
The paternal family cannot presently be described as extinct. What the evidence shows instead is a series of documented male branches whose later descendants have not yet been fully traced.
The disappearance of the Guthrie name from the ownership history of Kingennie and Pitforthie marks the end of territorial possession, not necessarily the end of the Guthrie male line.
What the Evidence Establishes
This profile began with a traditional family narrative linking Kingennie and Pitforthie. The surviving records now allow much of that story to be tested more precisely.
Some relationships are directly stated in contemporary deeds, charters, parish registers, and court records. Others remain carefully reconstructed. The conclusions below represent what the evidence presently supports without extending it beyond what the documents actually say.
Kingennie Came Through the Strachan Property Sequence
The surviving title history places Kingennie with Parker and Strachan interests before the Guthries appear. Marjory Strachan inherited Kingennie and Carntown in 1464.
By 1478, William Guthrie is directly identified as the son and heir apparent of Malcolm Guthrie of Dundee, with Marion or Marjory Strachan named in the same charter.
The Early Kingennie Pedigree Is Not Equally Proved at Every Step
William Guthrie and Janet Arbuthnot are directly documented together at Kingennie in 1511–1512. Ninian Guthrie and Katherine Moncrieff are directly documented there by 1529.
What has not yet been found is a record expressly calling Ninian the son of William and Janet. His placement in that position follows the property succession.
Ninian’s Heir Was Slain Before He Could Succeed
A William Guthrie described as Ninian’s heir was slain by Alexander Lauder of Omachie.
The younger William who later received Kingennie is expressly called Ninian’s grandson, while the 1600 sale papers identify Marion Mauld as the younger William’s mother.
This strongly supports the slain heir as the younger William’s father and Marion as his mother, but no located record explicitly calls Marion the slain William’s wife.
James Guthrie Was the Son of the Last Kingennie Couple
William Guthrie and Elizabeth Fethie were the final Guthrie couple to hold Kingennie before its sale in 1600.
Brechin deeds recorded in 1610 and 1612 directly identify Elizabeth or Bessie Fethie as the widow of the deceased William Guthrie and James Guthrie as their son.
This is the strongest documentary bridge between the Kingennie and Pitforthie generations.
Kingennie & Pitforthie Were Not One Continuous Estate
The Guthries sold Kingennie to Alexander Wedderburn in 1600. James Guthrie therefore did not carry Kingennie forward under a different territorial name.
His later association with Over Pitforthie arose through a separate sequence involving Janet Lyon, her Wemyss daughters, and subsequent property transactions.
James Guthrie & Janet Lyon Had a Larger Family Than the Later Pedigree Records
Nine baptisms survive in the Brechin parish register. Independent evidence adds the eldest son William and the older daughter Janet or Jonet.
The reconstructed household therefore contains eleven children, rather than the five sons and three daughters reported in the later Genealogie of Ogil.
David Guthrie Did Not Simply Receive Pitforthie from His Brother
Pitforthie was judicially apprised from the Rev. William Guthrie in 1653 for debt. Robert Arbuthnott later assigned that decree to William’s brother David.
The formal grant of 27 July 1655 then conveyed Pitforthie to David and expressly identified him as a lawful son of the deceased James Guthrie of Pitforthie.
Later Pitforthie Ownership Was More Complicated Than a Simple Line of Lairds
The records distinguish Over, Nether, Easter, and other Pitforthie interests. William Rait was using the designation “of Pitforthie” by 1672, and the younger William Rait carried the same territorial style in 1690.
Alexander and Gilbert Ochterlony later appear with documented Pitforthie interests. The precise legal conveyance connecting the Guthrie, Rait, and Ochterlony holdings has not yet been reconstructed.
Important Corrections to the Older Narrative
- Kingennie’s history does not begin with an unsupported statement that William de Strathauchin already possessed it in 1443. The documentary sequence presently begins with the Parker-to-Strachan charter of 20 September 1443.
- The relationship between Ninian Guthrie and the preceding William Guthrie / Janet Arbuthnot generation remains unproved by a direct parentage statement. The succession is plausible and well placed chronologically, but it must remain identified as reconstruction.
- Marion Mauld is directly documented as mother of the final William Guthrie, but not expressly as wife of Ninian’s slain heir. That marriage remains a strong reconstruction.
- Kingennie was genuinely sold in 1600. James Guthrie’s later appearance at Pitforthie represents continuation of the family, not continuation of the same estate.
- The Kingennie-to-Pitforthie genealogical bridge is now directly documented. The Brechin deeds name James as son of William Guthrie and Elizabeth / Bessie Fethie.
- The 1653–1655 William-to-David succession was an apprising and assigned legal transfer, not a simple gift or ordinary inheritance from one brother to the other.
- David Guthrie did not die in 1695. He was already deceased by June 1675. The 1695 testament-dative ad omissa concerns later estate administration.
- The disappearance of the Guthrie surname from the Pitforthie proprietorship does not prove extinction of the paternal family. Numerous sons and grandsons remain documented but incompletely traced.
What the Evidence Does Not Establish
- It does not yet prove a complete father-to-son pedigree for every early Kingennie generation.
- It does not prove that James Guthrie obtained Pitforthie merely by marrying Janet Lyon.
- It does not prove that every person styled “of Pitforthie” owned every division of the property simultaneously.
- It does not establish a complete legal succession from David Guthrie through the Raits to the Ochterlonys.
- It does not establish that the untraced male branches died without descendants.
- Most importantly, it does not presently prove that the paternal Kingennie-Pitforthie line descends from the Guthries of Guthrie.
The Reported Connection with the Guthries of Guthrie
The Genealogie of Ogil reports that Janet Lyon’s mother was a daughter of Guthrie of that Ilk. If accurate, the children of James Guthrie and Janet Lyon therefore possessed a Guthrie-of-Guthrie connection through their maternal grandmother.
That is quite different from proving that their father James — and therefore the earlier Kingennie line — descended in the male line from the Guthries of Guthrie.
Until documentary or genetic evidence establishes such a paternal relationship, the two propositions must remain separate.
Why These Conclusions Are Stronger Than the Older Pedigree
The reconstruction no longer depends upon a single family history. It combines several independent classes of evidence: Kingennie title deeds, Brechin registered deeds, Great Seal records, parish registers, testaments, ministerial records, and later family histories used only where appropriate.
These sources do different jobs. Property records identify heirs and legal interests. Parish registers reconstruct households. Commissary deeds supply relationships that title records omit. Later genealogies preserve useful family memory, but are checked against contemporary evidence before their statements are accepted.
The Family Story the Records Now Support
The safest reconstruction is not the story of one estate or an uninterrupted line of lairds. It is the story of a documented Angus Guthrie family whose connection with Kingennie can be traced from the fifteenth century, whose Kingennie property was sold in 1600, and whose next documented generation became established at Pitforthie through a separate family and property history.
From Pitforthie the family spread into several ministerial and collateral branches. Some are well documented for another generation or two; others disappear from the currently identified record. Their disappearance from view is a research gap, not proof of extinction.
Open Questions
The surviving evidence has resolved several important parts of the Kingennie and Pitforthie story, but it has also made the remaining gaps much easier to define.
The questions below are not placeholders for traditional pedigree assumptions. They identify specific points where an original charter, deed, parish entry, testament, sasine, or descendant line could materially change or strengthen the reconstruction.
Questions in the Kingennie Generations
Was Ninian Guthrie the Son of William Guthrie & Janet Arbuthnot?
Ninian is the next documented Guthrie holding Kingennie after William and Janet, and the chronology supports the placement. What is still missing is a record that expressly calls Ninian their son.
Who Exactly Was Ninian’s Slain Heir?
The surviving evidence identifies the man killed by Alexander Lauder of Omachie as William, heir of Ninian Guthrie.
The later grandson succession strongly suggests that he was Ninian’s son and the father of the final William Guthrie, but those relationships have not yet been stated together in one located record.
Was Marion Mauld the Wife of the Slain William?
Marion is directly identified as the mother of Ninian’s grandson William. The slain William is documented as Ninian’s heir.
Their placement as husband and wife is strongly supported by the succession, but no located record yet calls Marion the slain William’s wife or relict.
Where Does Henry Guthrie in Laws Belong?
A 1584 charter identifies Henry Guthrie as a son of the laird of Kingennie, but the wording does not identify which laird.
Was Henry a son of Ninian, a son of the slain William, or another close member of the Kingennie family? His son Robert, baptized in 1571, also remains untraced.
Why Does the 1580 Marriage Chronology Appear Out of Order?
The Monifieth register reportedly dates the marriage of William Guthrie and Elizabeth Fethie to 21 August 1580. Four days later, the 25 August Kingennie settlement describes Elizabeth as William’s future spouse.
This may be readily explained by differences between contract, ceremony, charter, or recording dates, but the original entries should be compared before deciding.
Who Was David Guthrie “in Kingany”?
A David Guthrie appears as a witness to a 1610 sasine associated with Kingennie. His exact relationship to the former landholding family has not been established.
Early Records Still Worth Recovering
The Later “William de Strathauchin” Statement
The documented Kingennie chronology now begins safely with the 20 September 1443 Parker-to-Strachan charter.
A later account also states that William de Strathauchin possessed or occupied Kingennie in 1443. The contemporary record underlying that particular statement has not yet been identified.
Can the Complete 1478 & 1511 Charters Be Examined?
Both are crucial to the Kingennie pedigree, but much of the present wording comes through archival catalogue descriptions and published inventories or abstracts.
The complete instruments may preserve witness lists, destinations to heirs, territorial descriptions, or other wording omitted from the shorter summaries.
Questions in the Pitforthie Evidence
Can the Full Kingennie–Pitforthie Bridge Be Reconstructed?
The Brechin deeds already establish James Guthrie as son of William Guthrie and Elizabeth Fethie. Records from the 1620s then place James and Janet Lyon at Over Pitforthie.
What remains incomplete is the exact conveyancing sequence explaining how James acquired his own interest there.
What More Can James Guthrie’s Estate Records Tell Us?
James was deceased by the time his testament was recorded under 10 November 1650. The original testament may identify debts, kin, property, executors, or children not visible in the index.
How Did the Rait Interest in Pitforthie Arise?
The elder William Rait is probably the man styled “of Pitforthie” in 1672, while his son William unquestionably carried the designation in 1690.
No located instrument yet explains whether the Raits acquired the whole property, one division, a security interest, or some other right — or whether Janet Guthrie’s family connection played a role in the transfer.
How Did Pitforthie Pass to the Ochterlonys?
Alexander Ochterlony is securely documented with the Pitforthie territorial designation in the eighteenth century, and Gilbert Ochterlony later held associated property rights.
What remains missing is the legal link between the Rait interests and the Ochterlony interests.
Later Family & Male-Line Questions
What Became of David Guthrie & Margaret Livingstone’s Younger Children?
Five younger children are presently identified: Patrick, William, Francis, Margaret, and Robert Guthrie.
Their later lives are poorly documented in the current reconstruction, and same-name Guthries elsewhere in Angus cannot safely be assigned to them without additional proof.
What Is the Correct Baptismal Date for Rev. James Guthrie?
The eldest known son of David Guthrie and Margaret Livingstone is securely identified as Rev. James Guthrie, later minister of Cambusnethan and Guthrie.
A conflict remains in the research over the exact baptismal date assigned to him. Until the original parish entry is conclusively identified and read, the profile should avoid fixing an exact baptismal date.
Which Guthrie Male Lines Survived?
The current evidence leaves several paternal branches open: Robert, son of Henry Guthrie in Laws; the sons of James Guthrie and Janet Lyon; the Stracathro branch; the Tarbolton branch; and the sons and grandsons of David Guthrie and Margaret Livingstone.
A documented modern male-line descendant from any of these branches could become an important Y-DNA research candidate.
Was the Kingennie Paternal Line Related to the Guthries of Guthrie?
The present documentary reconstruction does not prove a male-line descent from the Guthries of Guthrie.
The reported Guthrie-of-that-Ilk connection through Janet Lyon’s mother, if accurate, belongs to the maternal ancestry of James and Janet’s children.
The paternal relationship therefore remains a separate question — and one for which a well-documented Y-DNA descendant could eventually be especially informative.
Records Most Wanted
These are the records most likely to strengthen or materially change the present reconstruction:
- Kingennie origins: full early Parker and Strachan charters; source underlying the later William de Strathauchin statement; complete 1478 Malcolm-to-William succession charter.
- 1511–1529 succession: images of the 1511 charter and 1512 sasine; full wording of the 1529 restoration and associated precept and sasine.
- The slain heir: RD1/5/384, GD137/639, and any other record naming the killed William’s family or explaining the assythment.
- Henry Guthrie in Laws: later records for Henry and his son Robert, plus a clearer reconstruction of Henry’s father and descendants.
- The last Kingennie household: complete 1580 marriage evidence; records of other children of William Guthrie and Elizabeth Fethie; evidence for Jean Guthrie and John Kinneir; identity of David Guthrie “in Kingany.”
- The Kingennie–Pitforthie bridge: full CC3/9/3 deeds; exact 1623–1628 references; complete 5 Jun 1628 contract.
- James Guthrie’s estate: original testament; full 1653 apprising and assignment; supporting documents behind the 1655 grant.
- Later Pitforthie ownership: full GD45/18/1494, GD45/16/2977, SIG1/139/58, and SC5/75/2; Rait and Ochterlony conveyances defining each party’s interest.
- David & Margaret’s children: independent evidence for Patrick, William, Francis, Margaret, and Robert; resolution of Rev. James’s baptismal date; marriages, deaths, and descendants.
- Male-line continuation: documented descendant chains from the known and possible paternal branches identified in the preceding Y-DNA section.
A Reported 1680 Sasine Still Needs Its Exact Citation
Earlier research notes refer to a 1680 sasine that may corroborate the later Pitforthie family structure and possibly identify an additional brother.
Until its exact archival reference and wording are recovered, it should remain a research lead rather than evidence used in the pedigree.
What Makes a Useful Record Contribution?
A useful contribution should include the repository, exact archival reference, date, clear image or full transcription when permitted, and enough surrounding context to identify every person and territorial style.
Family-tree statements without a cited contemporary or well-supported historical source are welcome as research leads, but should not be treated as proof.
An Open Question Is Not an Empty Space
Several of these problems are already bounded by strong evidence. We often know exactly which relationship is missing, which property transfer must have occurred, or which generation remains untraced.
That makes the next stage of research much more targeted. New evidence can now be measured against a documented framework rather than being added to an assumed traditional pedigree.
Sources & Further Research
The reconstruction of the Guthries of Kingennie and Pitforthie is built from property records, registered deeds, parish registers, testaments, royal charters, ministerial records, maps, and later family histories.
These sources do not all carry the same evidentiary weight. A contemporary charter stating a relationship is different from a nineteenth-century pedigree repeating family tradition. Where possible, this profile identifies the form of evidence being used so readers can distinguish documentary proof from corroboration and research leads.
Contemporary Records First
Charters, deeds, sasines, parish registers, and court records provide the documentary backbone.
Abstracts Identified as Abstracts
Published inventories and catalogue descriptions are invaluable, but they may omit wording contained in the original record.
Tradition Used Carefully
Later genealogies and county histories are retained when useful, but are not promoted to contemporary proof.
Core Kingennie Evidence
The Wedderburn Book, Volume II — Kingennie Documentary Abstracts
Citation: Alexander Wedderburn, The Wedderburn Book, Vol. II (1898), especially pp. 3, 8–20 and 30.
This volume contains published abstracts and inventories of the Scrymgeour-Wedderburn family papers. For Kingennie it preserves or summarizes:
- the early Parker and Strachan title sequence;
- Marjory Strachan’s 1464 inheritance;
- the 1478 Malcolm-to-William succession charter;
- the 1511 William Guthrie / Janet Arbuthnot charter;
- Ninian’s 1580 settlement on his grandson William;
- Elizabeth Fethie’s marriage provision;
- the 1600 sale and clearing of burdens.
The Wedderburn Book, Volume I — Narrative of the 1600 Sale
Citation: Alexander Wedderburn, The Wedderburn Book, Vol. I (1898), p. 127 and accompanying notes.
Volume I supplies a readable narrative of Alexander Wedderburn’s acquisition of Kingennie, including the progressive clearing of annualrents, reversions, and other burdens.
It also helps explain why an initial figure of 10,800 merks appears in one stage of the transaction while the later accounting reaches 16,000 merks.
National Records of Scotland — GD137 Kingennie & Carntown Papers
Repository: National Records of Scotland, Papers of the Scrymgeour Wedderburn of Wedderburn Family, GD137.
Important references include GD137/1806–1824, GD137/1944–2000, GD137/2341, GD137/2343, GD137/2345, GD137/2995–2997, and associated Kingennie title papers.
These records document the Kingennie title sequence from the fifteenth century onward and include material relating to:
- the 1511 William Guthrie / Janet Arbuthnot charter;
- the 1512 sasine;
- the 1528 forfeiture;
- the 1529 restoration to Ninian Guthrie;
- the later grandson succession;
- the 1600 sale to Alexander Wedderburn.
The Kingennie–Pitforthie Bridge
Brechin Commissary Court Register of Deeds — CC3/9/3
Repository: National Records of Scotland, Brechin Commissary Court Register of Deeds, CC3/9/3.
Three indexed entries are especially important: 118, 310, and 318.
The 1610 entry names Henry Fethie of Muirhouse, Bessie Fethie relict of the deceased William Guthrie, and James Guthrie their son.
Two entries from 1612 identify Elizabeth Fethie as relict of the deceased William Guthrie, sometime of Kingennie, and James as her son.
Genealogie of Ogil — The Lyon, Wemyss & Guthrie Family Account
Citation: William Lyon, Lyon of Ogil (1870), p. 2, reproducing a genealogy said to have been written by or before 1734.
The genealogy states that James Lyon, sixth laird of Ogil, married a daughter of Guthrie of that Ilk. Their elder daughter Jean or Janet Lyon married first a Wemyss of Pitforthie and then James Guthrie, described as a son of a Guthrie of Kingennie.
It also provides the later family account that James obtained Pitforthie through Janet’s Wemyss daughters.
Great Seal & Pitforthie Property Evidence
Register of the Great Seal of Scotland
Relevant volumes of the Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum provide several essential property milestones.
- 1529 — RMS III, charter 832: restoration of Kingennie to Ninian Guthrie and his heirs, with one-quarter reserved in liferent to his wife Katherine Moncrieff.
- 1595 — RMS VI, no. 273: Wemyss interests in Over Pitforthie.
- 1597–1598: Arbuthnott interests in Nether Pitforthie.
- 1613: John Udny recorded “in Over Pitforthie.”
- 1655 — Commonwealth charter 450: David Guthrie’s grant after the 1653 apprising and assignment.
Later Pitforthie Property Records
The later property history is represented by several NRS references that distinguish separate Pitforthie interests:
- NRS GD45/18/1494 — 28 Feb 1666: tack concerning Easter Pitforthie.
- NRS Register of Arms, Vol. I, p. 402Z — 1672: Mr William Rait styled “of Pitforthie.”
- RPS — 7 Jun 1690: the younger William Rait styled “of Pitforthie.”
- NRS GD45/16/2977 — 27 Sep 1697: rental concerning Pitforthie.
- NRS SIG1/139/58 — 22 Jun 1714: grant involving Over Pitforthie.
- NRS SC5/75/2 — 1718: inventory of buildings at Nether Pitforthie.
- NRS CS237/B/2/60: later Court of Session process involving Gilbert Ochterlony.
Parish, Testamentary & Ministerial Evidence
Old Parish Registers & Commissary Court Records
The principal parish registers used in reconstructing the family are:
- Monifieth — parish 310
- Brechin — parish 275
- Cambusnethan — parish 628
- Guthrie — parish 291
These registers provide baptisms, marriages, witnesses, and household chronology for the later generations.
Commissary Court records supplement the parish evidence with testaments, estate administration, and registered deeds.
Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ & Ministerial Sources
Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ provides biographical and ministerial evidence for several members of the wider Pitforthie family, including:
- Rev. William Guthrie of Fenwick;
- Rev. Alexander Guthrie of Stracathro;
- Rev. John Guthrie of Tarbolton;
- Rev. James Guthrie of Cambusnethan, Guthrie and Carbuddo;
- the Rait ministerial family.
These accounts are especially useful when combined with parish registers, which sometimes reveal children omitted from the printed clerical biography.
Frank D. Bardgett — “The Monifieth Kirk Register”
Citation: Frank D. Bardgett, “The Monifieth Kirk Register,” Scottish Church History Society (1988), especially pp. 182 and 185–189.
Bardgett’s study places Ninian Guthrie within the local religious and political landscape and discusses:
- the killing of Ninian’s heir by Alexander Lauder;
- Henry Guthrie in Laws and Margaret Watson;
- Ninian’s exclusion from Communion in 1584;
- the underlying contemporary records used in the analysis.
Maps, Kingennie Castle & Place Evidence
Historic Maps of Angus
Kingennie Castle, the Ancient Keep & “Castle Guthrough”
Several different sources contribute to the physical history of Kingennie and should be kept distinct.
The evidence therefore supports the historical existence of a fortified or castle-type residence at Kingennie. What remains uncertain is whether “Castle Guthrough” was ever its historical name.
How the Sources Are Used
Archival Hierarchy
A catalogue entry describes a document; a printed abstract condenses it; a transcription reproduces its words; an image allows direct reading; and the original preserves the complete physical record.
Territorial Styles
“Of,” “in,” and “fiar” are not interchangeable. A territorial style must be read in the context of the particular record and legal interest.
Property Divisions
Over, Nether, Easter, the Mains, and other Pitforthie interests could be separately possessed or burdened. One division does not automatically equal the whole estate.
Variant Spellings
Kingennie appears as Kingany, Kinganie, Kyngany and Kingenny; Pitforthie as Pitforthy, Petforthie, Perforthie and related forms. Personal names vary just as widely.
Incomplete Early Families
Land records were written to convey property, not to list every child. The named heir should never be assumed to have been an only son or only child.
Parish Register Limits
Baptism is not necessarily birth, and a missing entry is not proof that the person never existed or died young.
Later Family Accounts
The Genealogie of Ogil, county histories, and other later narratives preserve valuable information, but relationship claims are tested against contemporary evidence whenever possible.
Property Is Not Lineage
The sale or loss of Kingennie or Pitforthie cannot be used as evidence that the Guthrie paternal family became extinct.
Direct Research Links
These repositories and digitized works contain the principal source material used throughout this profile.
Research Is Continuing
The principal unresolved problems and records still wanted are listed in the preceding Open Questions section rather than repeated here.
Future additions should follow the same evidence standard: identify the repository and reference, distinguish original records from abstracts or later narratives, and avoid converting a plausible relationship into a proved one without documentary support.
As new records are located, this profile can therefore expand without losing the distinction between what is documented, what is reconstructed, and what remains open.