Looking for history of Kings of Barra Castle

[still_looking]

Protocol books (as far as I know) are the records of legal transactions. They'd  have been produced by the advocate as a result of his work. Not availabl online that I know of unfortunately.

There is mention of Alexander King in connection with a James King being provided with a chaplainry in Glasgow. He might turn up in the Fasti* which may be online.

*Fasti Ecclesiasti Scoticanae (probably spelt wrongly as it's off the top of my head, this is one of the principal sources for information about clergy in Scotland but it probably depends on which church they belonged to).

Beyond the quote I mentioned earlier your best bet for making the connection between Alexander King senior and Barra would be to find a legal document that mentions him in connection with them.

I would have thought that making the connection between Alexander senior and Alexander junior would be more straightforward. Have you looked at Sasines for Edinburgh? Sasines are land/property transactions they normally give indications of familial connections e.g. there's definitely one which shows the connection Between Alexander King and his daughter Maria (Mary) who owned Mary King's close.

I've not come across mention of Adam yet but I haven't had a look at the Edinburgh records as yet.

S_L

[Kylie B]

Hi S_L
THanks so very much for all this help.
I have not heard of Fasti so I will do a search and see what I can find there. My Alexander Jnr seems to have had a brother called James who was an advocate, so could well be that he also had an uncle called James...

And I have not heard of the Sasines- are they online? Again I will do a search and see what I can find.

I have the testament of Alexander Jnr which talks of heads of cattle and acres near Drydane, but there does not seem to be any mention of any family, other than naming his brother, James King advocate of Edinburgh, his executor.  I wonder if the will of Alexander Snr would be any more helpful (but of course we would have to find it, and then interpret it and I had a terrible time reading Alexander Jnrs).

Kylie B

[still_looking]

Not sure whether its the whole thing or not but a copy of the fasti can be found at archive.org (as can the blackhall book that I mentioned earlier). The fasti ecclesiae scoticanae is specific to the Church of Scotland.

According to a protocol book that I've got a copy of they were essentially abstracts of legal deeds and transactions.

One of the King family of Barra was an advocate in Aberdeen, I can't be certain but I think his name was Andrew. He's listed in the Spalding club publication that lists Advocates in Aberdeen. It was only a one line entry but apparently he was thrown out after he slew a member of the Seton family. I believe that had a lot to do with the eventual transfer of land ownership.

Not certain if the Sasines themselves are online, I suspect that the indexes to them might be as they were printed some time ago and may turn up in either google books or archive.org.

Another source which might be helpful in providing clues is the catalogue of the national archives of scotland (www.nas.gov.uk). You occassionally get a summary of the item's content rather than a single line entry.

I don't know if there are records available for early advocates in Edinburgh. The society of advocates was created some time later.

S_L

[Kylie B]

Thanks so much- will see what i can find
Kylie B

[still_looking]

Inverurie book

http://www.archive.org/details/inverurieearldom00daviuoft

page 103 is a brief, potted history of the KIng family. First mention I've seen of a Ross King.

No mention of a link but it might help when looking elsewhere and trying to make sense of it all.

S_L

[Kylie B]

Thanks for this one.
It at least gives a direct lineage, although from reading it, I suspect my lot must be from perhaps a brother of William Snr, father of James, or of James.

I have Alexander Snr in Edinburgh as an advocate around the 1550's, so he could have been a brother of William King- served as the heir of James King in 1547, or perhaps a brother of William King- heir of James King in 1577.

So- lots more clues needed to piece them all together.

Also- have found a reference to a James King who was an advocate in Aberdeen- might be related to the Adam king of Aberdeen you found??

Kylie B

[still_looking]

I'll check again for the exact details for the advocate in Aberdeen. Not sure that the publication is available online or not.

S_L

[Kylie B]

THanks!
I have been checking out a eerage of Scotland book that mentions the King family.
From what I can gather William King owned land near Aberdeen, and in Barra in the 1440's. His son James inherited and passed Barra to his son William in 1507.
William married Marjory Barclay. They had a son William who became heir in 1547. That William married Janet Grier and they had 2 sons- JOhn and James.

James inherited Barra in 1548 (this seems very close to his fathers inheritance only the year before....). James had 4 sons- William, James (advocate of Aberdeen), Alexander (advocate of Edinburgh, who was murdered by George and John Seton- and had 3 known sons- Alexander, Adam and James, all advocates), and finally David of Orkney.

So as far as I can tell, my Alexander was the grandson of Alexander killed by the Setons.....That Alexander married a Janet Douglas, and was also known as Alexander King of Burnhouse.  HIs sons were Alexander, Adam and James. Alexander Jnr then had sons- Alexander of Drydane, Adam and James, and possibly a daughter Janet who married James Mossman. Alexander of Drydane then had at least one daughter, Margaret, whom I beleive married David Heriott the goldsmith....or perhaps I have one too many generations in there...

 

[still_looking]

which peerage book?

I came across your other thread about Dryden, if you still need the testament's transcribed then let me know. I'm no expert but I'm happy to have a go and do have a textbook that can help.

S_L