THE WIFE of REV. JAMES GUTHRIE, MINISTER of LAUDER & STERLING

Any quick internet search for Rev. James Guthrie’s wife will inform you that Jane Ramsey was a daughter of “Ramsay of Shielhall” in Angus.



There is no indication in any of the records that she is the daughter of William Ramsay, 1st Earl of Dalhousie and Lady Margaret Carnegie. For one thing, as an earl’s daughter, she would have the title of “lady”, which would probably have been noteworthy. A list of their children does not include Jane Ramsay, and he had no children with his second wife.

JANE’S BIRTH: between 1616 – 1637
Calculating an estimated DOB for Jane (Ramsay) Guthrie being bet. 20 and 40 at the time of her son William Guthrie’s birth = 1616-1637.

MARRIAGE to REV. JAMES GUTHRIE: between c.1650-c.1655

We also don’t know exactly when she married Rev. James Guthrie. Her daughter Sophia could have been older or younger than William. Both were probably under 10 years old in 1661at the time of their father’s execution. We can estimate a DOM of about 1650-1655. Although Shielhill is located in Angus, there is no guarantee that the marriage took place there. By 1650, James had been appointed as minister of the Church of the Holy Rood at Stirling. The location of the marriage ceremony is probably in one of those locations.

HISTORY of SHIELHILL:
Shiellhill was a small estate near Kirriemuir in Angus, “beautifully situated on the banks of the South Esk. The Castle stood on the top of a romantic rock, and part of it forms the walls of the cottages which now occupy its place.

Prior to about 1630, Shielhill belonged to the Lindseys. John Ramsay of Balnabreich purchased the eastern portion of Balnabreich and Shielhill about that time (probably late 1620s) from George Lindsey, Earl of Crawford. You’ll find Ramsay of Shielhill is also documented as Ramsey of Balnabreich because he had already been laird of the western portion for some time. [Angus or Forfarshire, p.120]

Shielhill is “beautifully situated on the banks of the South Esk. Lindsay property down to 1629, it was then sold to John Ramsay of Balnabreich. The Castle stood on top of a romantic rock, and part of it forms the walls of the cottages which now occupy its place.” [Kirriemuir, Electric Scotland]

FATHER of JANE?:
This tells us that “Ramsay of Shielhill” was also known as “Ramsay of Balnabreich”

John Ramsay of Balnabreich and Shielhill is a good candidate to be Jane’s father.

Possible OPR Birth/Baptism:
Jeane Ramsay, daughter of Jone Ramsay 29 Dec 1616 in Monifieth, which is the date listed on the current profile. It is the only entry within the time period estimated for her birth with a father named John. The original document is mostly illegible, so I can’t tell if there are other clues there.

HISTORY OF BALNABREICH:
Balnabreich is a residence in Angus situated near the remains of St Vigeans Chapel. Arbirlot Parish church is 2.5 miles SE of Balnabreich.

The history of its lairds actually begins in 1465 when Sir David Guthrie of that Ilk bought the lands of Balnabreich. He granted a charter to his natural son, Malcolm of Guthrie, on 4 Feb 1472.


The Lindsays acquired Careston at the end of the 16th century, including half of Balnabreich. The lands went through various ownership until on 30 Oct 1629, George Lindsay, Earl of Crawford, heir of Sir John Lindsay, took over, and about that time sold the lands of Shielhill, in the parish of Kirriemuir, and Easter Balnabreich to John Ramsay, who had been laird of western Balnabreich for some time. [Angus or Forfarshire]

DEATH OF JOHN RAMSEY / BROTHERS?:

The estimated 1630 date may have been rounded up because in 1629, Alexander Ramsey son lawful of the late John Ramsay of Balnabreich, and brother to the late James Ramsay, son natural to the said late John, his father, petitioned for whatever his deceased father had given his now also deceased (half) brother James, who had been killed in the conflict at Newburn, being a trooper in the company under the commandment of Captain Graham.

MORE CLUES / A NIECE
:
I estimate Jane Ramsay’s marriage to James Guthrie bet. 1650-1655. If her DOB was in 1616, she would have been 34 – 39, which actually makes sense on a couple of levels. Maybe James was just too busy being a rogue minister to focus on having children, but if Jane was in her mid-late thirties at the time of her marriage the fact that they only had 2 would not be surprising. The other thing is that the time frame of the marriage, if it was around 1650, is when James became minister of Sterling. Presumably, it was a situation with of greater social prominence than Lauder. He might have felt that the role required a wife.

During an unidentified year, Jane was visited by a niece named Isabella Ramsay, the daughter of William Ramsey of Shielhill, and therefore Jane’s brother. Isabella’s age is not given, but she was described as very young, but apparently old enough to decide she would become a presbyterian. This did not go down well with her father who was “rigidly adherent to the Episcopalian interests in Scotland.” Isabella remained firm in her convictions, and so her father disowned and disinherited her. The girl took shelter in the Guthrie home with her aunt until she married Gilbert Wilson. The couple are noted as parents to Rev. William Wilson (b. 16 Nov 1690 Glasgow – See OPR) a Covenanter Minister and a founder of the Associate Presbyterian Church.

In 1661, Rev James Guthrie was executed, and the following year Jane and Sophie were imprisoned in1666 and sent to the Shetland Islands. The timing of her niece’s visit, return, and marriage to Gilbert Wilson is fuzzy. 

The wiki page on Rev William Wilson, their son, reveals Isabella died in 1705, and Gilbert in 1711. He was the proprietor of a small estate near East Kilbride, underwent persecution and the loss of his lands during the reign of Charles II. He went to Holland, but returned during the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688 when James VII was replaced by his daughter Mary II and her husband William II as joint monarchs of Scotland and England. At this time the Church of Scotland was re-established as Presbyterian rather than Episcopalian. Gilbert Wilson and family settled in Greenock where he became the Comptroller of Customs. 

This tells us that Rev. William Wilson’s birth in 1690 was likely one of Isabella and Gilbert’s younger children. One born after their return from Holland. Apparently, they named their son after William of Orange.

BANISHMENT & A BRIEF RETURN:

Holland was the location that Jane had hoped the privy council would send her and her daughter Sophia when they were confined and awaiting banishment, but it is unknown whether her petition to change the location from the Shetland Islands succeeded. 

She was at least able to receive communications from friends who informed her about her son William’s illness in 1669. He may have died then, but an OPR record for 1674 suggests it may have been when he was about 18.

We have no information on Sophia’s fate after 1666.

How long did Jane live?

The only place I found listing anything about her death is the Wikipedia page for her husband. It says “Jane, (buried in Greyfriars, 15 March 1673)”. I have not found which of their sources they found that date.

NEEDED: Fact-gathering on John Ramsay of Balnabreich and Shielhill and his potential family members listed above.

SOURCES:

BUCHANAN, R., Howie, J., HOWIE, J. (1876). The Scots Worthies: their Lives and Testimonies… A supplement “Ladies of the Covenant”… Revised and Corrected by James Howie, A. M. with an Historical Introduction … by … Robert Buchanan. With Plates. United Kingdom: London; Glasgow [printed]. 
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Scots_Worthies_Revised_and…

Warden, A. J. (1884). Angus Or Forfarshire: The Land and People, Descriptive and Historical. United Kingdom: C. Alexander & Company.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Angus_Or_Forfarshire/-DoPAAAAY…

M’Pherson, Rev. J. G. (1885. Strathmore Past and Present, “Chapter 15: Kirriemuir”. https://electricscotland.com/history/strathmore/chapter15.htm

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Register_of_the_Privy_Coun… Ramsay of Balnabreich”