A Family Rooted in Two Angus Estates

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Kingennie and Pitforthie were two separate Angus estates, joined in this story by one family rather than by the land itself. They were geographically distinct and had separate histories of ownership before either became associated with the Guthries. Kingennie was not renamed Pitforthie, nor did the property pass directly from a Guthrie of Kingennie to a Guthrie of Pitforthie. The family held Kingennie until its sale in 1600, and the next generation established a new territorial association with Pitforthie.

The surviving Kingennie title sequence begins with the Strachan family and identifies William Guthrie as the son and heir apparent of Malcolm Guthrie in 1478. Later records follow the succession through William Guthrie and Janet Arbuthnot, Ninian Guthrie and Katherine Moncrieff, Ninian’s son William and Marion Mauld, and finally their son William Guthrie and Elizabeth Fethie.

Brechin deeds recorded in 1610 and 1612 provide the direct documentary bridge between the two estates. They identify James Guthrie as the son of the deceased William Guthrie, formerly of Kingennie, and his widow, Elizabeth Fethie.

James later appears in property records at Over Pitforthie. He married Janet Lyon of Easter Ogil, widow of John Wemyss of Pitforthie, and acquired his interest in Pitforthie through Janet’s Wemyss daughters and heirs, Catherine and Margaret. Nine children of James and Janet appear in the Brechin parish register. Their reported eldest son William and daughter Janet or Jonet bring the family’s known or reconstructed household to eleven children.

This profile follows the family from the earliest identified Kingennie titles through the later Pitforthie generations and the end of Guthrie possession. Where the surviving evidence is incomplete, it distinguishes contemporary documentation from corroborated reconstruction, later family tradition, and unresolved claims.

No direct paternal descent from the Guthries of Guthrie has been established for the Kingennie lineage through documentation or Y-DNA testing. A later family genealogy describes Janet Lyon’s mother as a daughter of Guthrie of that Ilk, which would give the Pitforthie children a reported maternal connection to that family. This tradition must not be used to represent the Kingennie paternal line as a proven cadet branch.

The Lands Behind the Family

Although their histories meet in this family, Kingennie and Pitforthie were never the same estate. Kingennie lay near Monifieth and was sold by the Guthries in 1600. Pitforthie lay northeast of Brechin and became associated with the next generation through James Guthrie, Janet Lyon, and her Wemyss daughters.

Although their histories meet in this family, Kingennie and Pitforthie were never the same estate. Kingennie lay near Monifieth and was sold by the Guthries in 1600. Pitforthie lay northeast of Brechin and became associated with the next generation through James Guthrie, Janet Lyon, and her Wemyss daughters.

Kingennie

Kingennie lies near Monifieth, northeast of Dundee. Historical records use numerous spellings, including Kingany, Kinganie, Kynganie, and Kingenny. The nineteenth-century Ordnance Survey Name Book interpreted the place-name as ceann gaineich, meaning “the Sand Head” or hill.

Kingennie existed long before the earliest documented Guthrie involvement. An inventory of its charters records the transfer of the property from Andrew Parker of Kingennie to William Strachan of Dundee on 20 September 1443, followed by confirmation from the Earl of Angus on 7 January 1443–44. A later charter dated 21 September 1458 names Elizabeth Inglis, wife of William Strachan.

Marjory Strachan was found heir to her deceased sister Elizabeth in Kingennie and Carntown in 1464. The earliest identified Kingennie charter expressly naming a Guthrie successor is dated 5 March 1478. It identifies William Guthrie as the son and heir apparent of Malcolm Guthrie of Dundee.

The Guthrie family remained associated with Kingennie through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and retained possession until the property was sold to Alexander Wedderburn in 1600.

The sale records describe much more than an isolated farm. The estate included:

• the lands and Mains of Kingennie;
• a manor-place and orchards;
• a mill and its mill lands; and
• adjoining ground formerly called Carntown and later known as the Crymbillis or Trumbillis of Kingennie.

These components reflect the residential, agricultural, and milling functions of the estate. The surviving contracts, renunciations, resignations, charters, payments, and removal proceedings associated with the sale will be examined in the Property Timeline and Document Gallery.

A possible medieval castle site has also been recorded at Kingennie, although its date, appearance, and occupants remain uncertain. The former Canmore record, now maintained by Trove.scot, classifies the site as a medieval castle and preserves references to an ancient keep and unusually thick walls. When the Ordnance Survey visited in 1958, however, no castle remains were seen. Sculptured stones associated with the seventeenth-century Wedderburn residence had reportedly been incorporated into later farm buildings.

The nineteenth-century Ordnance Survey Name Book records a separate local tradition concerning a structure called “Castle Guthrough.” The name and location were supplied by the occupier of Kingennie Farm, but the surveyors found no corroborating local knowledge and declined to place it on the map.

“Castle Guthrough” should therefore be treated as local tradition rather than the documented name of the Guthrie residence. No dependable illustration of the medieval or early modern building has been identified, and any visual reconstruction would be speculative.

Map sources: Herman Moll, The Shire of Angus or Forfar, 1745; Joan Blaeu, Angus Provincia Scotiae sive The Shire of Angus, 1662–1665.

Pitforthie

Pitforthie lies northeast of Brechin. Seventeenth-century records place it within the barony of Kethick and sheriffdom of Forfar. Historical spellings include Pitforthie, Pitforthy, Petforthie, and Petforthy.

Pitforthie also had an established history before James Guthrie became associated with it. Earlier accounts connect portions of the property with the church of Brechin and several secular proprietors before it came into the hands of the Wemyss family. John Wemyss held Pitforthie before his daughters, Catherine and Margaret, became his heirs.

After John Wemyss’s death, his widow, Janet Lyon, married James Guthrie. Contemporary records later place James at Over Pitforthie, while the Genealogie of Ogil explains that he acquired Pitforthie through transactions involving Janet’s Wemyss daughters. His interest did not arise through an automatic transfer by marriage or through continuation of the Kingennie title.

Like Kingennie, Pitforthie comprised more than a single residence. The Great Seal grant of 27 July 1655 describes its lands, manor-places, teind sheaves, and other teinds. This establishes a substantial residential and agricultural holding, although no dependable image of its seventeenth-century manor has been identified.

Pitforthie was not always treated as one undivided property. Records refer separately to:

• Over Pitforthie;
• Nether Pitforthie;
• Easter Pitforthie;
• the Mains of Pitforthie; and
• Cottertown or Cottertoun.

James Guthrie was associated particularly with Over Pitforthie before being styled more generally as James Guthrie of Pitforthie. Later records include a 1666 tack involving Easter Pitforthie, a 1697 rental of the lands of Pitforthie, a 1714 grant of Over Pitforthie, and a 1718 inventory of buildings at Nether Pitforthie.

These divisions are important when interpreting later territorial descriptions. Different people could possess, occupy, or claim rights in separate portions of Pitforthie without any one of them necessarily controlling the entire former estate. The relationship among these divisions must ultimately be reconstructed from the surviving conveyances, sasines, rentals, and estate papers.

The children of James Guthrie and Janet Lyon were recorded in the parish of Brechin. Their baptismal entries establish the family’s connection with the Brechin church and community, but they do not state that the baptisms occurred at the Pitforthie manor.

Principal property evidence: Register of the Great Seal under the Commonwealth, charter 450, 27 July 1655; NRS GD45/18/1494, 28 February 1666; NRS GD45/16/2977, 27 September 1697; NRS SIG1/139/58, 22 June 1714; and NRS SC5/75/2, inventory of buildings at Nether Pitforthie, 1718.

Family and Property Timeline

Generation by Generation

Kingennie and Pitforthie belong to one continuing family story, but they were not one continuous estate. The generations below follow the family from Malcolm Guthrie and Marjory Strachan, through the succession and eventual sale of Kingennie, to James Guthrie and Janet Lyon at Pitforthie and their later descendants.

Each generational account brings together the relationships, property transactions, parish entries, and other records supporting that generation’s place in the family. The timeline above offers a quick overview; the accounts below preserve the complete narrative, qualifications, and source citations

Malcolm Guthrie and Marjory Strachan

The documented Guthrie connection with Kingennie begins with Marjory Strachan’s inheritance and the identification of Malcolm Guthrie as her husband.

On 16 April 1464, a retour of inquest found Marjorie de Strazawquhyn heir to her deceased sister Elizabeth in the lands of Kingennie and Carntown. This establishes Marjory’s title before the earliest identified Kingennie charter naming a Guthrie heir.

A charter dated 5 March 1478 was granted by Archibald, Earl of Angus, to William Guthrie, son and heir apparent of Malcolm Guthrie of Dundee, together with Marion Strachan. The charter survives through a later inventory or abstract rather than as a complete transcription. It directly identifies William as Malcolm’s son and anticipated successor, but the abstract does not explain Marion’s relationship to William.

The records use several forms of Marjory’s name, including Marjorie, Mariore, and Marion, and several spellings of Strachan. The property sequence and the later identification of Marjory as Malcolm’s wife support treating these as references to the same woman, although the 1478 abstract does not state that relationship explicitly.

On 22 May 1484, Mariore Straithachan appeared in proceedings before the Lords Auditors and was expressly described as the spouse of the deceased Malcolm Guthrie. She claimed that she and Malcolm had been jointly infeft in half of the lands of Machy. Andrew Kinninmonth denied making or sealing the charter upon which her claim depended, so the matter was continued and witnesses were ordered to appear.

The 1484 proceeding directly establishes the marriage of Malcolm Guthrie and Marjory Strachan and shows that Malcolm was dead by that date. It records Marjory’s claim to Machy but does not, at this stage of the proceedings, establish the validity of the disputed charter.

No surviving document located to date states in a single sentence that Kingennie passed from the Strachans to Malcolm Guthrie through his marriage. Taken together, however, the records show that:

• Marjory inherited Kingennie and Carntown in 1464.
• Malcolm Guthrie was her husband.
• Their identified son William was Malcolm’s heir apparent by 1478.
• The Guthrie interest in Kingennie was established by the time of the 1478 charter.

William is the only child of Malcolm and Marjory presently identified by direct documentary evidence. The next surviving Kingennie title names William Guthrie and Janet Arbuthnot in December 1511, carrying the property succession into the following generation.

Sources for this generation:

Records of the Parliaments of Scotland — proceedings of 22 May 1484, citing NRS PA2/4, f. 65v.84, PA2/4, f. 65v.

The Wedderburn Book, Volume II, p. 3: retour of Marjory Strachan, 16 April 1464.

The Wedderburn Book, Volume II, p. 30, no. 240(d): charter naming William as Malcolm’s son and heir apparent, 5 March 1478.

William Guthrie and Janet Arbuthnot

The next Kingennie generation is represented by William Guthrie and his wife, Janet Arbuthnot. William is understood to be the son and heir apparent of Malcolm Guthrie named in the charter of 5 March 1478. Although the later records do not repeat his parentage, the continuity of the Kingennie title supports that identification.

On 5 December 1511, Archibald, Earl of Angus, granted a charter to William Guthrie and Janet Arbuthnot, his wife, and to the survivor of them in conjunct fee. The grant included the lands of Kingennie and Carntown, with the mill of Kingennie, lying within the barony of Athbetoun, regality of Kirriemuir, and sheriffdom of Forfar.

Conjunct fee gave William and Janet a joint interest in the property. The provision for the survivor meant that whichever spouse lived longer could retain the granted interest after the other’s death. The charter therefore records Janet as more than William’s named spouse: she was included directly in the Kingennie title.

A sasine dated 5 November 1512 followed upon the associated precept. It identifies William Guthrie of Kynganye and Janet Arbuthnot, his spouse, and records their formal possession of the lands described in the earlier grant. This provides both a territorial designation for William and evidence that the 1511 charter was carried into effect.

Together, the charter and sasine show that the Kingennie estate continued to include:

• The lands of Kingennie
• The lands of Carntown
• The mill of Kingennie and its associated rights

Ninian Guthrie is the next documented Guthrie associated with Kingennie. By September 1528, he was holding the property under the superiority of the Earl of Angus, and in 1529 the king granted Kingennie to Ninian and his heirs, with a liferent provision for his wife, Katherine Moncrieff.

No record presently located expressly identifies Ninian as the son of William Guthrie and Janet Arbuthnot. His placement as their successor is supported by the sequence of the Kingennie titles, but the precise parent-child relationship remains a genealogical reconstruction rather than a directly stated relationship. No complete list of William and Janet’s children has been found.

Sources for this generation:

• The Wedderburn Book, Volume II, p. 30, no. 240(e): abstract of the charter to William Guthrie and Janet Arbuthnot, December 1511.
• National Records of Scotland, GD137/2341: charter to William Guthrie and Janet Arbuthnot in conjunct fee, 5 December 1511.
• National Records of Scotland, GD137/1980: sasine following upon precept GD137/1978 in favor of William Guthrie of Kynganye and Janet Arbuthnot, 5 November 1512.
• The Wedderburn Book, Volume II, p. 20, no. 167: later inventory of the Kingennie title sequence.

Ninian Guthrie and Katherine Moncrieff

Ninian Guthrie’s long tenure at Kingennie included the temporary loss and restoration of the estate, service as sheriff depute, the violent death of his heir, and the eventual settlement of the succession upon his grandson.

On 5 September 1528, a Great Seal charter granted the lands of Kingennie and its mill to William Wod of Bonytoun. The record explains that the property had been held by Ninian Guthrie of Kingennie under Archibald, Earl of Angus, but had fallen into the king’s hands following the earl’s forfeiture. This was therefore a disruption of Ninian’s tenure caused by the loss of his feudal superior’s rights, rather than evidence that the Guthrie family had voluntarily sold Kingennie.

The interruption was brief. On 2 September 1529, James V granted the lands of Kingennie and their mill to Ninian Guthrie and his heirs after William Wod personally resigned them. The charter reserved one-quarter of the lands and mill in liferent to Katherine Moncrieff, Ninian’s wife.

The 1529 charter directly establishes the marriage of Ninian Guthrie and Katherine Moncrieff and restores Kingennie to Ninian’s hereditary succession. The associated sasine was completed on 20 October 1529.

The grant is recorded as charter 832 in Volume III of the Register of the Great Seal of Scotland. The surviving National Records of Scotland catalog entry preserves the sequence:

• Precept issued at Edinburgh on 2 September 1529
• One-quarter of Kingennie and its mill reserved to Katherine in liferent
• Sasine given 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” and records his receipt of the blench duty owed by William Ogilvy in Easter Keillor. Later historical listings also place him in that office in 1560 and 1578.

The family succession was disrupted at about the same time. Around 1562, Alexander Lauder of Omachie slew William, the heir of Ninian Guthrie of Kingennie. A contract of assythment, or compensation for the killing, was subsequently arranged. The surviving account does not explain the circumstances of the death, but it places the event within the local divisions surrounding the families of Kingennie, Omachie, Grange, and Laws.

William is generally identified as Ninian and Katherine’s son, although the located record of the killing calls him Ninian’s heir rather than expressly his son. No complete list of Ninian and Katherine’s children has been found.

The death of his heir left Ninian’s grandson as the next surviving male successor. On 25 August 1580, Ninian granted a charter of Kingennie to William Guthrie, expressly identifying him as his grandson. A sasine followed, and Ninian and William also granted a liferent in half of Kingennie to Elizabeth Fethie, William’s future spouse. These instruments show Ninian actively arranging the continuation of the estate after the earlier William’s death.

Ninian’s later years coincided with religious and political divisions within the parish of Monifieth. A study of the surviving kirk register found that the dispute was not necessarily religious alone: local property claims, family alliances, and the killing of Ninian’s heir had divided the principal landholders. On 12 April 1584, the 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 explain what reconciliation required or establish Ninian’s personal religious beliefs.

A testament dative and inventory for Niniane Guthrie was recorded on 10 January 1587. He was therefore dead by that date. Katherine Moncrieff’s later life and date of death have not been identified.

Sources for this generation:

• National Records of Scotland, GD137/2343: Great Seal charter concerning Kingennie following the forfeiture of the Earl of Angus, 5 September 1528.
• Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, Volume III, charter 832, 2 September 1529.
• National Records of Scotland, GD137/2345: sasine in favor of Ninian Guthrie, with one-quarter of Kingennie and its mill reserved to Katherine Moncrieff in liferent; precept dated 2 September and sasine dated 20 October 1529.
• National Records of Scotland, GD16/29/18: discharge by Ninian Guthrie of Kingany, sheriff depute of Forfar, 12 October 1562.
• National Records of Scotland, RD1/5/384 and GD137/639: records cited for the killing of Ninian’s heir and the resulting contract of assythment.
• The Wedderburn Book, Volume II, p. 8, nos. 39–40: charter to Ninian’s grandson William and the following sasine, 25 August 1580.
• “The Monifieth Kirk Register,” by Frank D. Bardgett: local divisions surrounding Kingennie and the Communion entry of 12 April 1584.
• National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh Commissary Court, CC8/8/16: testament dative and inventory of Niniane Guthrie, 10 January 1587.

William Guthrie and Marion Mauld

This generation is marked by the violent interruption of the expected Kingennie succession. Sometime around 1562, Alexander Lauder of Omachie slew William Guthrie, described in the surviving account as the heir of Ninian Guthrie of Kingennie.

The original records cited for the incident are a deed in the National Records of Scotland, NRS RD1/5/384, and a document among the Scrymgeour-Wedderburn papers, NRS GD137/639. A contract of assythment—a negotiated settlement or compensation following the killing—was reportedly concluded. The surviving references do not disclose the circumstances of the dispute or explain why William was slain.

The killing occurred amid local divisions involving several influential Angus families. Ninian Guthrie, who served as sheriff-depute of Forfar, remained outside the political association formed around the Durhams and Lauders. This background may help explain the wider tensions surrounding the incident, but it does not establish a motive for William’s death.

William is generally placed as a son of Ninian Guthrie and Katherine Moncrieff. The evidence presently located calls him Ninian’s heir, rather than expressly identifying him as Ninian and Katherine’s son. His position in the pedigree is therefore supported principally by the later succession:

• On 25 August 1580, Ninian Guthrie granted Kingennie to a younger William Guthrie, expressly described as his grandson.
• The contracts for the sale of Kingennie in 1600 identify Marion Mauld as the mother of that younger William.
• The intervening heir slain around 1562 is consequently reconstructed as the younger William’s father and Marion Mauld’s husband.

No single record yet located expressly describes Marion Mauld as the wife or relict of the slain William. Her placement beside him is nevertheless strongly corroborated by the combination of the murder account, the 1580 grandfather-grandson charter, and the 1600 contracts identifying her as the succeeding William’s mother.

Marion survived for nearly four decades after the killing. She appears repeatedly in the documents surrounding the sale of Kingennie in 1600. A contract dated 6 September names William Guthrie of Kingennie, Elizabeth Fethie his wife, and “Marion Mauld his mother” in the agreement to convey the estate to Alexander Wedderburn. Further contracts, renunciations, and charters executed in November again required Marion’s participation or consent.

Her involvement demonstrates that she retained a legally recognized interest in Kingennie. The surviving abstracts do not make clear whether that interest arose from liferent, terce, a marriage provision, another form of security, or some combination of rights. It should therefore not be described more precisely without examination of the original instruments.

The only child who can presently be placed in this household with substantial confidence is:

William Guthrie, later of Kingennie, directly documented as Marion Mauld’s son in 1600 and as Ninian Guthrie’s grandson in 1580. He succeeded after his father’s premature death and became the last Guthrie proprietor of Kingennie.

Henry Guthrie of Laws may also have belonged to this generation. A charter dated 23 June 1584 includes among its witnesses “Henry Guthrie, son of the laird of Kingennie.” Henry is independently recorded with Margaret Watson and as the father of Robert, baptized in 1571, and Katherine, baptized in 1579, at Monifieth. The 1584 description establishes his close connection to the Kingennie family but does not identify which laird was his father. Henry should therefore remain a possible—not proven—additional son of William Guthrie and Marion Mauld.

William’s death prevented him from succeeding personally to Kingennie. Ninian remained in possession and eventually arranged the succession in favor of his grandson. The next generation begins with that younger William Guthrie and the marriage settlement made for Elizabeth Fethie in 1580.

Sources: Frank D. Bardgett, “The Monifieth Kirk Register”, pp. 185–186 and footnote 62, citing NRS RD1/5/384 and GD137/639; The Wedderburn Book, Volume II, p. 8, nos. 39–40, and pp. 15–16, nos. 123 and 127–131; Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, Volume VI, charter 165.

William Guthrie and Elizabeth Fethie

William Guthrie and Elizabeth Fethie were the last Guthrie couple to hold Kingennie. Their marriage settlement secured William’s place in the succession, while the records of their later years document the gradual disposal and final sale of the estate.

On 25 August 1580, Ninian Guthrie granted a charter to William, expressly identifying him as his grandson. Ninian and William then granted Elizabeth Fethie, described as William’s future spouse, a liferent interest in half of Kingennie.

The Monifieth parish register reportedly records the marriage of William and Elizabeth four days earlier, on 21 August 1580. The difference in wording may reflect the sequence in which the marriage, contract, charter, and sasine were recorded rather than a genuine contradiction. The surviving abstracts do not presently explain it. What is certain is that a further charter dated 19 March 1586 expressly identifies Elizabeth Fethie as William’s wife.

William’s succession followed the death of his father around 1562. Ninian apparently retained control of the estate until arrangements could be completed for his grandson. The 1580 charters therefore served two connected purposes: they established William as the next Guthrie proprietor and protected Elizabeth’s financial interest as his wife.

During the 1590s, William began disposing of 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. This patronage had been connected with the Kingennie family since the fifteenth century.

Transactions involving John Traill followed during the later 1590s. These concerned annualrents and other secured interests affecting Kingennie rather than a straightforward transfer of the entire estate. The remaining Traill rights had to be redeemed or cleared before the Wedderburn purchasers could obtain an unencumbered title.

The principal conveyance of Kingennie took place between September and December 1600. The surviving series includes contracts, renunciations, resignations, charters, receipts, and proceedings for removal. They name three members of the Guthrie household:

• William Guthrie of Kingennie
• Elizabeth Fethie, his wife
• Marion Mauld, his mother

A contract dated 6 September 1600 provided for the sale of Kingennie to Alexander Wedderburn, clerk of Dundee. A revised agreement dated 1 November valued the lands and mains at 11,200 merks, with an additional 4,800 merks assigned to clearing reversions and other burdens affecting the property. The combined arrangements therefore represented a transaction of 16,000 merks.

The property conveyed included the lands and mains of Kingennie, the manor-place, orchards, mill and mill lands, and adjoining ground associated with Carntown and later known as the Crymbills or Trumbills of Kingennie. Elizabeth and Marion participated because each retained an interest requiring her consent or renunciation.

On 5 December 1600, proceedings were taken to remove the Guthries and place Alexander Wedderburn in possession. Additional reversions and outstanding claims continued to be cleared in 1601 and 1602. The purchasers’ title received further confirmation and sasine in 1610.

The sale ended more than a century of documented Guthrie possession of Kingennie, but it did not end the family line. Brechin deeds recorded in 1610 and 1612 identify Elizabeth—or Bessie—Fethie as the relict of the deceased William Guthrie, formerly of Kingennie. The same records directly identify James Guthrie as their son.

James is therefore the securely documented genealogical bridge between the Kingennie and Pitforthie families. He did not inherit Pitforthie from his father, nor was Pitforthie included in the sale of Kingennie. His later connection with that property arose independently through his marriage to Janet Lyon and dealings involving her Wemyss daughters.

The children presently associated with William and Elizabeth are:

James Guthrie, directly documented in the Brechin Commissary Court records as their son. He later appears “in” and “of” Over Pitforthie and became known as James Guthrie of Pitforthie.

Jean Guthrie, traditionally placed as another daughter and associated with John Kinneir. Her exact relationship to William and Elizabeth should remain provisional until the relevant sasines have been fully identified and examined.

By 1610 William was deceased, Elizabeth was his widow, and James was established in the Brechin records. The family’s territorial history was no longer centred upon Kingennie, but the documents naming James preserve the direct parentage needed to carry the genealogy forward to Pitforthie.

Sources: The Wedderburn Book, Volume II, pp. 8–9 and 15–20; NRS CC3/9/3, Brechin Commissary Court Register of Deeds; and the Monifieth Old Parish Register.

James Guthrie and Janet Lyon

James Guthrie provides the direct genealogical bridge between the last Guthrie family at Kingennie and the later family of Pitforthie. Brechin Commissary Court deeds recorded in 1610 and 1612 identify him as the son of the deceased William Guthrie, formerly of Kingennie, and Elizabeth—or Bessie—Fethie, William’s relict.

James could not succeed to Kingennie because his father had sold the estate in 1600. References that associate James with Kingennie preserve his family origin or an anticipated position in the former succession; they do not establish that he ever inherited the property. By the 1620s, the records place him at Over Pitforthie, near Brechin.

Janet Lyon—also recorded as Jonet and 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. This reported maternal ancestry may explain later descriptions of the Pitforthie children as cousins of members of the principal Guthrie family.

That relationship must be kept separate from the paternal Kingennie line. No documentary evidence presently proves that the Guthries of Kingennie were themselves a cadet branch of the Guthries of Guthrie. The reported connection to Guthrie of that Ilk belongs instead to Janet Lyon’s maternal ancestry and therefore to the children of James and Janet through their mother.

Before marrying James, Janet was the wife of John Wemyss of Pitforthie. They had two daughters:

• Catherine Wemyss
• Margaret Wemyss

Following John Wemyss’s death, Catherine and Margaret became heirs to the interests their father had held in Pitforthie. Janet subsequently married James Guthrie. No marriage entry for James and Janet has yet been located, but their household was established by the early 1620s.

The Genealogie of Ogil, written by or before 1734, describes Janet’s second husband as a son of a Guthrie of Kingennie and states that he acquired Pitforthie through her Wemyss daughters. Although composed considerably later than the events, this account agrees with the contemporary records identifying James as a son of the last Kingennie family and placing him at Over Pitforthie.

James did not acquire Pitforthie merely by marrying Janet. The property rights belonged to or passed through Catherine and Margaret Wemyss, and separate transactions were required before James obtained his own territorial interest. The precise sequence remains to be reconstructed from the original conveyances, sasines, and Brechin deeds, but the available records show that his connection arose through dealings involving Janet’s daughters and heirs.

Between 1623 and 1628, James appears in Brechin and 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 fiarindicates that James possessed or was entitled to the fee of the property, although other persons could still retain liferent or related interests.

The use of Over Pitforthie is important. Pitforthie was divided into distinct portions, including Over Pitforthie, Nether Pitforthie, Easter Pitforthie, and lands later described as the Mains of Pitforthie. James’s early territorial designation should therefore not automatically be interpreted as ownership of every portion of the larger property.

James was later styled more generally as James Guthrie of Pitforthie. His testament was recorded under the date 10 November 1650, establishing that he was deceased by then. The subsequent legal proceedings concerning the estate identify the Rev. William Guthrie and David Guthrie as his sons and preserve the next stages of the Pitforthie succession.

The Brechin parish register records the baptisms of nine children of James and Janet between 1622 and 1636:

Andrew, Barbara, Nicholas, David, Robert, Margaret, Alexander, John, and Jean Guthrie.

Baptismal entries have not been located for their eldest son William or for their daughter Janet or Jonet, but other records place both within the family. The reconstructed household therefore contains eleven children.

The later Genealogie of Ogil reports that Janet had five sons and three daughters by James. The contemporary parish and property evidence establishes a larger family, showing that the genealogy preserved the principal connection but did not provide a complete enumeration of their children.

James and Janet established the principal Pitforthie household from which several notable ministers, landholders, and interconnected Angus families descended. Their children included the Rev. William Guthrie of Fenwick, David Guthrie of Pitforthie, the Rev. Alexander Guthrie of Stracathro, the Rev. John Guthrie of Tarbolton, Margaret Guthrie—wife of the Rev. Laurence Skinner of Brechin—and Janet Guthrie, wife of the Rev. William Rait.

Sources: NRS CC3/9/3, Brechin Commissary Court Register of Deeds; Brechin Old Parish Register; Brechin Commissary Court testament records, 10 November 1650; William Lyon, Lyon of Ogil, containing the Genealogie of Ogil, p. 2; and Brechin deeds and associated property records, 1623–1628.

The Children of James Guthrie and Janet Lyon

The reconstructed household of James Guthrie and Janet Lyon contains eleven children. The Brechin parish register records the baptisms of nine of them between 1622 and 1636. Baptismal entries have not been located for the eldest son, William, or for the elder daughter Janet or Jonet, but both are identified through other records.

The baptismal entries connect the family with the parish and church of Brechin. They do not establish that the ceremonies occurred at the Pitforthie manor.

1. The Rev. William Guthrie — born about 1620; died 10 October 1665 William’s baptism has not been located, but his reported age of 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. Their recorded children were Margaret, Agnes, William, Mary, Elizabeth, and John. Most died during infancy or childhood. The only survivors were daughters, Agnes, who married Matthew Miller of Glenlee, and Mary, who married the Rev. Patrick Warner. Following his father’s death, William was treated as the expected heir to Pitforthie. The property was not transferred voluntarily and directly from William to his brother David, as some later accounts suggest. On 9 August 1653, Pitforthie was judicially apprised from William, acting for himself and as charged to enter heir to his deceased father, at the instance of Robert Arbuthnott. The apprising decree was subsequently assigned to David Guthrie, who received a government grant of the property in 1655.William was removed from his ministry at Fenwick in 1664. After a brief illness, he died at Brechin on 10 October 1665 and was buried in Brechin church beneath the Pitforthie family seat. His best-known work, The Christian’s Great Interest, was first published during his lifetime.
2. Andrew Guthrie — baptized 8 February 1622 Andrew was baptized at Brechin with Andrew Lyon and Andrew Milne among the witnesses. No later record has yet been securely connected with him.Because the Pitforthie succession eventually passed through William and then David, Andrew may have died before the succession proceedings or otherwise ceased to possess an inheritable claim. No record presently establishes when he died, whether he married, or whether he had children.
3. Janet or 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, minister successively associated with Monikie and Dundee.The baptisms of their children repeatedly identify William Rait’s wife as Janet or Jonet Guthrie. She should not be confused with her younger sister Jean, baptized in 1636. The exact number of Rait children and the identities of two men named William Rait associated with the family still require reconciliation from the original parish, ministerial, and property records.The Rait family later became territorially associated with Pitforthie, but the date, method, and extent of that acquisition remain under investigation.
4. Barbara Guthrie — baptized 1 February 1625 Barbara’s baptism was recorded at Brechin. No marriage or later life record has been conclusively identified.A Barbara Guthrie married Patrick Kynman on 23 October 1640, but the marriage entry does not contain enough information to establish that the bride was the daughter of James and Janet. That identification should remain provisional.
5. Nicholas Guthrie — baptized 2 March 1626 Nicholas was a daughter, despite the modern masculine use of the name. Nicholas and variants such as Nicol or Nicoll were used for girls in seventeenth-century Scotland.No spouse or children have been identified, and little is presently known about her later life.
6. David Guthrie of Pitforthie — baptized 13 November 1627; died before 15 June 1675 David was baptized at Brechin with several witnesses bearing the given name David. He married Margaret Livingstone, eldest daughter of Patrick Livingstone of Muretoun.After the 1653 apprising of Pitforthie, the decree was assigned to David. On 27 July 1655, the Protector granted him the lands and manor-places of Pitforthie, expressly identifying him as a lawful son of the deceased James Guthrie of Pitforthie.David and Margaret had six presently identified children: James, Patrick, William, Francis, Margaret, and Robert Guthrie. Their eldest known son, the Rev. James Guthrie, later married his first cousin Margaret Skinner, a granddaughter of James Guthrie and Janet Lyon through their daughter Margaret.
7. The Rev. Robert Guthrie — baptized 4 March 1629 Robert’s baptism was recorded at Brechin. 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 been identified. His date of death remains unknown.
8. Margaret Guthrie — baptized 22 May 1630; died in 1674 Margaret married the Rev. Laurence Skinner, who served as master of the Grammar School and later as minister of Brechin. Their children included Catherine, Janet, Margaret, John, Jean, a second Catherine, William, and Anna Skinner.Their daughter Margaret Skinner, born 15 August 1657, married her first cousin, the Rev. James Guthrie, son of David Guthrie and Margaret Livingstone. This cousin marriage joined two branches descending from James Guthrie and Janet Lyon and will be shown in the family-tree graphic.Laurence and Margaret Skinner’s household also sheltered the Rev. William Guthrie during his final illness in 1665.
9. The Rev. Alexander Guthrie — baptized 22 March 1632; died in 1663 Alexander entered the ministry and served at Stracathro. He married Magdalene Carnegie, daughter of Alexander Carnegie of Cookston.Their identified children were May or Mary, Janet, Margaret, and Alexander Guthrie. Alexander died comparatively young in 1663, leaving another clerical branch of the Pitforthie family.
10. The Rev. John Guthrie — baptized 21 November 1633; died before November 1676 John studied at the University of Glasgow and became minister of Tarbolton and Barnwell. He married Mary Haldane, and their known son was Major John Guthrie. John was deprived of his ministry following the Restoration settlement. He participated in the Pentland Rising of November 1666, was prosecuted for treason, and was condemned to death in August 1667. A royal pardon followed on 1 October 1667. His exact death date remains uncertain. A commonly reported date is 1669, while a 1676 account referring to the widow of John Guthrie, minister of Tarbolton, establishes that he was deceased by then.
11. Jean Guthrie — baptized 5 July 1636 Jean was the youngest presently identified child of James Guthrie and Janet Lyon. Her baptism was recorded at Brechin on 5 July 1636. No marriage or later life record has been securely identified. Jean should not be represented as the wife of the Rev. William Rait. The Rait baptismal records identify his wife as Janet or Jonet Guthrie, the elder daughter whose own baptism has not been found.

Together, these children carried the Pitforthie family into the ministry, landholding, education, and interconnected families of seventeenth-century Angus and Ayrshire. The principal landed succession continued through David Guthrie, while the Rait connection developed through his sister Janet and the Skinner connection through their sister Margaret.

Sources: Brechin Old Parish Register; Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, entries for Fenwick, Stracathro, Tarbolton, and Brechin; Brechin Commissary Court records; and Register of the Great Seal under the Commonwealth, charter 450, 27 July 1655.

David Guthrie and Margaret Livingstone

David Guthrie and 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’s acquisition of Pitforthie resulted from debt proceedings rather than a simple voluntary transfer from his elder brother. On 9 August 1653, the property was judicially apprised from the Rev. William Guthrie. William acted both for himself and as a person charged to enter as heir to their deceased father, James Guthrie of Pitforthie. The proceeding was brought by Robert Arbuthnott, fiar of Findowrie, for an outstanding debt.

The apprising decree was subsequently assigned to David. On 27 July 1655, the Protector granted Pitforthie to David Guthrie, lawful son of the deceased James Guthrie of Pitforthie. The grant included the lands, manor-places, teind sheaves, and other teinds of Pitforthie in the barony of Kethick and sheriffdom of Forfar, subject to the former proprietor’s legal right of redemption.

David therefore acquired Pitforthie through an assigned judicial apprising—not through an uncomplicated gift or conveyance from his brother William.

David was 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 names Margaret Livingstone as David’s relict and Mr James Guthrie, minister at Guthrie, as their son. Because this was a later administration of estate matters previously omitted, 1695 must not be treated as David’s year of death.

An armorial entry from 1672 describes a Mr William Rait of Pitforthie. His use of the territorial designation during David’s lifetime—or very shortly before David’s documented death—indicates that rights within Pitforthie require more careful reconstruction. The estate contained distinct portions, and the Rait designation does not by itself establish that David had already relinquished the whole property.

Children of David Guthrie and Margaret Livingstone

The Brechin parish register documents six children:

1. The Rev. James Guthrie, baptized 2 March 1653
2. Patrick Guthrie, baptized in 1656
3. William Guthrie, baptized in 1657
4. Francis Guthrie, baptized in 1658
5. Margaret Guthrie, baptized in 1659
6. Robert Guthrie, baptized about 1660

The surviving evidence provides substantially more information about their eldest son, James, than about the five younger children. Same-name records must be used cautiously. William should not be confused with his uncle, the Rev. William Guthrie of Fenwick; Francis with Francis Guthrie of Gagie; Margaret with her aunt Margaret Guthrie or her cousin Margaret Skinner; and Robert with his uncle, the Rev. Robert Guthrie. No marriages or descendants have yet been securely assigned to the younger five children.

The Rev. James Guthrie and Margaret Skinner

The eldest son, James Guthrie, graduated M.A. from King’s College, Aberdeen, in 1670. He subsequently served the Bishop of Moray, acted as schoolmaster at Rathven from about 1675 until 1683, 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. He left that charge during the changes accompanying the Revolution of 1688–89. On 18 December 1692 he was called to the parish of Guthrie and Carbuddo, where he continued under the protection of the Guthrie family until the Jacobite rising of 1715.

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, while Margaret Skinner descended through their daughter Margaret.

The Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae describes James as a native of Angus and suggests that he was closely connected with the Guthries of Guthrie. His documented paternal ancestry, however, belongs to the Kingennie and Pitforthie family. Any connection with the Guthries of Guthrie may instead reflect the reported ancestry of his grandmother Janet Lyon, together with the family’s continuing social and ecclesiastical associations.

Nine children of James Guthrie and Margaret Skinner are documented in the parish registers—seven sons and two daughters:

1. David Guthrie, baptized 15 April 1687 at Cambusnethan
2. Laurence Guthrie, baptized 6 March 1689 at Brechin
3. John Guthrie, baptized 18 July 1690 at Brechin
4. James Guthrie, baptized 19 November 1691 at Brechin
5. William Guthrie, baptized 25 September 1693 at Guthrie
6. Robert Guthrie, baptized 25 April 1695 at Guthrie
7. Cicill Guthrie, baptized 22 April 1697 at Guthrie
8. Margaret Guthrie, baptized 10 March 1699 at Guthrie
9. Alexander Guthrie, baptized 10 January 1704 at Guthrie

Their baptismal sequence traces the household’s movements. David was baptized while his father was minister at Cambusnethan. Laurence, John, and James were baptized at Brechin during the unsettled period following James’s departure from Cambusnethan. The five younger children were baptized at Guthrie after their father’s call there in December 1692.

The original entry for Alexander’s baptism names James Guthrie and Margaret Skinner as his parents. Its witnesses included John Guthrie of that Ilk and John Ogilvie, laird of Pitmouies. Their presence documents a close social and patronage connection with the territorial Guthrie family, but it does not establish paternal descent from that house.

The Fasti names only five sons—John, Laurence, David, William, and Alexander. The parish registers add James, Robert, Cicill, and Margaret, thereby establishing the complete recorded household of nine children.

Principal sources: Register of the Great Seal under the Commonwealth, charter 450, 27 July 1655 (view the published register); Brechin Commissary Court testament records, NRS CC3/3/8; Brechin, Cambusnethan, and Guthrie Old Parish Registers; and Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae, Volume V, pp. 436–438 (view at Internet Archive).

The Rait and Ochterlony Connections at Pitforthie

The later history of Pitforthie cannot be represented as a simple succession from David Guthrie to a single heir. By the late 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.

The genealogical connection began with Janet or Jonet Guthrie, an otherwise unrecorded daughter of James Guthrie of Pitforthie and Janet Lyon. She married the Rev. William Rait about 1646. Janet must not be confused with her younger sister Jean Guthrie, who was not baptized until 1636 and would have been only about ten years old at the reported marriage date. 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.

The parish registers document twelve children of William Rait and Janet Guthrie:

1. Jean Rait, baptized 28 August 1648 at Brechin
2. Margaret Rait, baptized 18 September 1649 at Brechin
3. Janet Rait, baptized 14 December 1650 at Brechin
4. William Rait, baptized 24 December 1651 at Brechin
5. Agnes Rait, baptized 28 February 1653 at Brechin
6. James Rait, baptized 2 September 1654 at Brechin
7. Robert Rait, baptized 21 November 1655 at Brechin
8. John Rait, baptized 14 February 1657 at Brechin
9. Catherine Rait, baptized 4 October 1658 at Brechin
10. David Rait, baptized 8 February 1660 at Brechin
11. Laurence Rait, baptized 6 July 1661 at Brechin
12. Alexander Rait, baptized 11 August 1663 at Dundee

Among the children, 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 generations named William Rait appear in the later Pitforthie evidence and must be kept separate.

The elder was the Rev. William Rait who married Janet Guthrie and died in 1679. An armorial entry recorded in 1672 describes “Mr William Rait of Pitforthie” and identifies him as descended from a second son of the Raits of Hallgreen. The chronology indicates that this was probably the elder William, although the armorial description alone does not explain when or how he obtained his interest in Pitforthie.

Their son William Rait, baptized in 1651, 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 1690 names Mr William Rait of Pitforthie among the commissioners appointed for collecting the supply in Forfarshire. Because the elder William had died in 1679, this later designation belongs to the son. He remained minister at Monikie until he was deposed in 1716 following the Jacobite rising of 1715.

One of William and Isobel’s sons, James Rait, later became an Episcopal minister and was consecrated Bishop of Brechin in 1742.

The surviving 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 had received the lands by the 1655 Commonwealth grant and was still styled “of Pitforthie” in 1663. The appearance of William Rait with the same designation by 1672 may reflect a later acquisition, a portion of the property, a family arrangement, or another form of tenure whose instrument has not yet been identified.

The property records reinforce the need for caution:

• A tack dated 28 February 1666 concerns land in Easter Pitforthie.
• A rental of the lands of Pitforthie was prepared on 27 September 1697.
• A grant dated 22 June 1714 concerns Over Pitforthie.
• An inventory made in 1718 records buildings at Nether Pitforthie.

These records show that Pitforthie continued to contain separately described lands and interests. More than one individual could therefore be associated with Pitforthie without possessing every division of the former estate.

The Ochterlony Family

By the early eighteenth century, the territorial designation had passed into another family. Alexander Ochterlony, 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 and was subsequently styled Alexander Ochterlony of Pitforthie.

Alexander died in 1736. His children included Gilbert, David, James, Alexander, Charles, Jane, and Elizabeth. His eldest son, Gilbert Ochterlony, succeeded as Ochterlony of Pitforthie 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.

Alexander’s son David settled in Boston, Massachusetts. David’s son was Major-General Sir David Ochterlony, born in Boston in 1758, who entered the service of the East India Company and was created a baronet in 1816. His family’s use of the territorial designation ultimately derived from the eighteenth-century Ochterlony association with Pitforthie.

No document has yet been identified explaining precisely how Alexander Ochterlony acquired Pitforthie or connecting his acquisition directly with either of the two William Raits. The Rait and Ochterlony territorial associations are both documented, but the legal transfer between them remains an open question.

Principal sources: National Records of Scotland, Register of Arms, Volume I, armorial entry for Mr William Rait of Pitforthie; Act for raising a supply offered to their majesties, 7 June 1690; NRS GD45/18/1494, tack concerning Easter Pitforthie, 28 February 1666; NRS GD45/16/2977, rental of Pitforthie, 27 September 1697; NRS SIG1/139/58, grant concerning Over Pitforthie, 22 June 1714; NRS SC5/75/2, inventory of buildings at Nether Pitforthie, 1718; and NRS CS237/B/2/60, William Baillie v. Gilbert Ochterlony.

Where the Male Guthrie Line May Continue

The end of Guthrie possession of Kingennie and Pitforthie was a change in property ownership, not proof that the family’s paternal line became extinct. Numerous sons and grandsons are documented, but most of their descendants have not yet been traced.

The earliest Kingennie evidence is especially incomplete. Charters and property records normally identify the heir or other people required for a transaction; they do not enumerate every child. The people shown here are therefore identified children, not necessarily the complete families of each couple.

Earlier Kingennie Possibilities

Sons of James Guthrie and Janet Lyon

Andrew’s failure to receive Pitforthie does not prove that he died young or without issue. David’s eventual acquisition arose through the legal proceedings surrounding the property and cannot by itself be treated as evidence that every older brother had died without descendants.

The Sons of David Guthrie and Margaret Livingstone

The known descendants of David and Margaret should not be reduced to the family of their minister son James. Patrick, William, Francis, and Robert represent four additional possible paternal branches for which little later research has yet been completed.

The Sons of James Guthrie and Margaret Skinner

No evidence presently establishes that these seven sons all survived to adulthood. Equally, their absence from the later Pitforthie property record does not establish that they died young or without descendants. Their marriages, residences, occupations, deaths, and children require individual investigation.

The Stracathro Branch

Alexander Guthrie, minister of Stracathro, and Magdalen Carnegie had one identified son:

The younger Alexander provides another documented paternal branch independent of the later Pitforthie succession.

The Tarbolton Branch

A possible Edinburgh marriage in 1718 involving a writer named John Guthrie requires further evidence before it can be assigned to the man baptized in 1692.

Present Evidentiary Position

Importance for Y-DNA Research

A documented male-line descendant of any of these branches could provide Y-DNA evidence for the Guthries of Kingennie and Pitforthie. The strongest research opportunities are the sons of David Guthrie and Margaret Livingstone, the seven sons of James Guthrie and Margaret Skinner, Alexander Guthrie of the Stracathro branch, and John Guthrie baptized at Edinburgh in 1692.

Any proposed testing candidate would first require a documented father-to-son line connecting him with one of these historical branches. A useful Y-DNA result could then be compared with established Guthrie DNA groups to determine whether the Kingennie and Pitforthie family shares paternal ancestry with another documented Guthrie lineage.

Present conclusion: Guthrie ownership of Kingennie and Pitforthie ended, but the evidence does not establish the extinction of the paternal family. Several documented male branches remain incompletely traced and may lead to living Guthrie descendants.

The children and relationships summarized above are drawn from the parish, property, testamentary, and ministerial evidence detailed in the preceding generational sections and the earlier Kingennie and Pitforthie research compilation.