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Sketch XXXVIII
THE GRAHAMS OF FINTRY
GREAT BARONS
DESCENDED OF
MONTROSE
FROM
SIR WILLIAM GRAME,LORD OF KINCARDINE circa
1404-1424
Like the Inchbrakies
and Garvocks this ancient family has descended in line male to the 20th century without a break.
For its descent
from the founder we refer the reader to the Sketch of Descent" where it may be traced from the 5th
to the 5th centuries, when Sir William Grame Lord of Kincardine, married, for his second
wife, a Princess of the Blood –Royal Mariota, daughter of King Robert III; Crawford tells us this lady had first married
George, Earl of Angus, "a valiant man"; the Lady Mariota was left by him a widow with a little boy William, who became Earl
of Angus, and a daughter who became ancestress, by her marriage with Sir William Hay of Lockhart, of the Earls of Tweedal.
On his death, she married Sir James Kennedy; the Lady Mariota married for her third husband the ancestor of the Grahams of
Fintry, and for her fourth, Sir William Edmonstone of Duntreath!
Sir William
Grame of Kincardine and his second wife had five sons.
The eldest was
ROBERT
OF STRATHCARRON
FIRST
GREAT BARON OF FINTRY IN STIRLINGSHIRE
For this Robert, exchanged the lands of Strathcarron for those of Fintry; these latter lands were in
turn exchanged for others in Forfarshire of a different name; it appears the Grahams of Fintry always retained that designation
no matter what lands were sold or exchanged. It is stated this concession is in the original charter, and when the first Duke
of Montrose in the reign of Queen Anne, took with other titles, that of Baron Fintry, a courteous requet was made to David
Graham, then 10th of Fintry regarding the matter.
An indenture
between Patrick, Lord Graham, and Robert Graham, styled of Ballargus in 1460, grants to Robert the Lordship of Fintry. It
is a matter for regret that masses of the family documents are in Capetown and inaccessible for this work, so that many facts
of interest are necessarily excluded from this sketch which must remove the personality from much of the history of the family,
but owing to the assistance of Mr Graham of Fintry many of the documents in England have been placed at my disposal.
Robert, first of Fintry, married Jonete; she was the daughter of Richard Lovel of Balumlie in Forfarshire,
by his wife, Catherine, the famous daughter of Sir Henry Douglas of Lochleven. She it was who thrust her beautiful arm into
the bolt of the door in her endeavour to prevent the assassins reaching King James I; her daughter, Jonete Lovel and Robert
Graham had three sons and two daughters; we pass for the moment Robert and his heir and take the younger children. (David
his eldest son died without issue).
John Graham
of Balorgus, his second son, became ancestor of the Grahams of Claverhouse and of Duntroon.
Elizabeth, his eldest daughter, married John Erskine of Dun; and his second daughter Margaret married
Andrew Haliburton of Pitcur. Robert Graham married a second time, a
lady of the name of Matilda, by her he had no children.
Amongst the
family papers is a letter from "Ballumie," dated 1699, a printed notice is affixed which states that Mr Erskine (who purchased
Fintry from the 12th Laird, altering its name to the older one of Linlathen) has placed a stone
coffin slab, bearing the arms of Fintry and Lovell of Ballumie in the burial-place of the Fintry Grahams. This memorial in
stone commemorating the marriage of the first laird of Fintry was discovered built into the "Castle of Mains."
ROBERT,
SECOND GREAT
BARON OF
FINTRY
His seal in the year 1478 is represented in Mr D. Laing’s ancient Scottish
Seals, and was exhibited in the Heraldic Exhibition of Edinburgh in 1891.
He married Lady
Elizabeth Douglas, daughter of Sir George Douglas, "a man of great parts," as Crawford tells us. He concluded a peace at Berwick
between the English and Scotch, and was made Warden on the East and Middle Marches; in 1457 James II sent him to subdue the
East of Douglas, then in rebellion, for his services in this matter and many others,
Sir George was given grant of the Barony and Lordship of Douglas and succeeded his nephew as Earl of Douglas. Robert Graham's indenture or cotract of marriageis betweeen himself
and the Lord Dougals, Earl of Angus, his future brother in law; this points to the fact that the fathers of both bride and
bridegroom were dead at the date of the marriage.
The contract goes on to state that "Robert of Fintrie" has to wife Elizabeth of Douglas, sister to the Earl;
or failing her, Margaret; whom failing, Pelys; whom failing, Elysoum; and that should Robert predecease the marriage, then
David, his brother-german should marry whichever of the four sisters was "most expedient". The document which I have seen
is dated 1476.
Robert’s
marriage to Elizabeth took place. Her elder sister Anne had married William, Lord Grame, Robert’s second cousin, and
became the mother of the first Earl of Montrose.
The unusual
point in the endenture is that the contract is between the second son Robert in the first place, David, who is the eldest
son (as stated above)coming second. As Robert is styled "of Fintrie" in the contract it would appear that David must have
been a younger and not an elder brother as stated in the family pedigree.
DAVID
THIRD GREAT
BARON OF FINTRY
It is stated that David’s marriage took place with a daughter of the first Earl of Montrose, by
his first wife, and he was put in possession or had sasine of "Fyntrie" Stirling, in 1495, and "Bocklify-Graham and Fyntrie"
in 1500, and had by his wife at least one son.
WILLIAM
GRAHAM
FOURTH
GREAT BARON
He married first, Katherine Bethune, daughter of John Bethune of Balfour, and sister of David, the famous
Cardinal Archbishop of St Andrews, and Chancellor of Scotland. William Graham and his wife Katherine had three sons of whom
we know David succeeded; Walter and James were the two younger.
William married
secondly Katherine Murray, but we know of no children by her; he was given charters of many lands, notably that of Bocklivy-Grahame,
with its Milltownes, lands, etc., lying in the lordship of Menteith, which the King, for good service and for money paid,
erected into the barony of Bocklivy-Grahame, 13th July 1541. William’s eldest son was
SIR DAVID GRAHAM
FIFTH GREAT
BARON
He was knighted by one of the James’s, Kings of Scotland (probably James VI) and married Margaret
Ogilvy, daughter of James, fourth Lord Ogilvy, and by her had a family of three sons and one daughter, David, William, and
James; their daughter Alison married John Crichton of Innernyte.
A letter dated
at the Castle of Stirling 1584, bearing the autograph of King James VI, states, that understanding Sir David Graham of Fintry,
Knight, is "aiget and subject to divers infirmities and sickness of body where withal he may not sustain the paines and travels
of our wars without extreme personal danger," the king, with consent of his Secret Council, grants permission to David to
remain at home provided he sends his sons for him accompanied by his usual armed attendants.
DAVID
SIXTH OF FINTRY
Married Barbara,
daughter of Sir James Scott of Balwearie. This lady, a lineal descendant of the celebrated Sir Michael Scott, was a cousin
of Margaret Scott (the heiress of Monzie, who married first Drummond of Carnock and then Patrick the third Great Baron of
Inchbrakie). David had two sons, David, and James who was called "Captain James Graeme of Monorgan" and Craigo; he is mentioned
in the Register of the Privy Council. It will be remembered these lands of Craigo had been held by the first Great Baron of
Inchbrakie. This David, the sixth, unhappily became involved with his kinsman the Earl of Angus, and the Earl of Errol, with
other Roman Catholics, to overthrow the established religion of the country; this plot was called the "Spanish Blanks." Previous
to 1578, Robert Graeme, younger of Inchbrakie, Archdeacon of Ross, David of Fintry’s kinsman, had been cautioner for
him to the tune of 5000 merks, in company with William Graham of Claverhouse and Robert Graham of Thornik. David Graham must
have been a man of fine intellect; anyone who has seen the quaint little album on which are emblazoned the coats and signatures
of his friends (probably also his fellow-conspirators), must feel that he had more cultivated tastes than were usual at that
period; he paid the penalty of his conviction or temerity, and a quaint old journal records that on "Thursday, Feb, 15th, Sir David Graham of Fintry was capitally convicted and on Friday was beheaded at the Mercat Cross
of Edinburgh, 1592." William Guthrie continues if Sir David had not made "his confession he would have been tortured as poor
George Ker had been and he therefore chose the more easy death by execution."
By this date,
Fintry had several cadets established in various parts of the country. We have already mentioned John Graham, son of the first
of Fintry who founded the House of Claverhouse, from whom spring Duntroon and Balorgus. There had also been younger sons of
William the fourth of Fintry, Walter and James, and also William and James of the fifth of Fintry; of course it was not necessary
that each of these should have founded a house; but an old genealogy of Orkney states that besides those already mentioned,
the Grahams of Pottento, Gogar and Claypots were all descended of Fintry, while James the second son of this David the sixth
is styled of Monorgan and Craigo.
The eldest son
of Sir David, sixth of Fintry succeeded as:
DAVID
SEVENTH GREAT
BARON OF FINTRY
He was a devoted Royalist, and James VI granted him a charter of all his lands in 1594 (two years after
the unhappy death of his father in Edinburgh) He married Mary, a daughter of James Haliburton of Pitcur; they had two daughters:
Margaret married
to William Mackintosh of that Ilk;
And a second
daughter who married James Kinloch who succeeded his father in 1617; this lady’s Christian name has not come down to
posterity.
Like the Graemes
and Grahams, the Kinlochs were Royalist, with the result that attainder followed and family papers were hopelessly scattered,
but the above presumption that it was the daughter of David, seventh of Fintry, whom James Kinloch married is based on the
fact that his son Sir David Kinloch the first baronet is stated to "have married his cousin Margaret Graham of Fintry," she
was daughter of the Royalist James eighth of Fintry; and it is most likely that James Kinloch would call his eldest son David
after his wife’s father, Graham of Fintry. Two sons were born to David 7th of Fintry
and Mary Halliburton;
John &
James
who succeeded
in turn to the lands of Fintry; it is in 1626 we again meet David’s name, attending the funeral of his chief (the father
of the great marquis) who died on 12th November of that year, and in 1629 when the young earl
is visiting his various kinsmen and friends, Fintry is one of the country houses where he is a welcome guest. At this period
Fintry is one of Montrose’s curators and sends him the gift of a hawk, the messenger gets 29s.0d.
David’s
signature is on a discharge in 1632, by Montrose to the lands and barony of Culgask, which now belonged to the Oliphants of
Gask; he spells his name David Grahame of Fintre, and he is still alive in 1666, as we shall show later on; meanwhile he was
devoted to the royal house of Stewart and (like all Montrose’s kinsmen) to his chief.
Charles I sends
him the following (David was granted Sheriff of Forfarshire in 1637 and is desired to do his utmost to put down the unlawful
meetings in that country; it was one of the strongholds of the covenanting party.)
CHARLES R.
Trusty and
welbeloved We greet you well. Hearing of some unlau meetings and convocations of our subjects within the Sherrifdom of Fforfarr:
Our pleasure is that bt ye charge you have of Us as Sherriff thereof you stopp all such unlau meetings within the same, and
in so far as in you lyeth, all such Companies of people not being warranted by lau authoritie as intend to pass through the
same, or any part thereof, And to this effect that you raise to yor assistance all or good subjects within that Shire, whereof
do not you fail, as you will answer at yor highest perrill. We bid you farewell. From or Court at Whitehall 27 February 1639.
To or trusty
and welbeloved
Our Sherriff
of Fforfarr
Again, while
Charles I, is staying with his court at Oxford, from whence he dispatched Montrose to Scotland, he sends David the following
letter, it is addressed –
To our Right
trusty and
Well beloved
Councillor
David Graham
Laird of Fintry
Signed Charles
R.
Trusty and
well-beloved Counsillour We greet you well. Whereas there is a desperate Rebellion burst forth in that Our Kingdome by the
Procurement of some few that have so farre prevailed with divers of Or subjects there, as to make them ryse in Armes and enter
into this Kingdom to give Ayde and Assistance to such as have risen up against us here; We are constrained (for eschuing the
imminent and unavoidable Danagers, wherewith, by this means the subjects of both Kingdomes are threatened) to employ the Power
and forces of such, as, Wee are confident, have in horrour and detestation those treacherous and disloyall Proceedings against
the Violence and malice of those that ayme so directly at the Ruine of Us and Our Authority. Wherefore being particularly
informed of your good affection towards Us and Our service We behoved to take speciall notice thereof, and withal to incite
you to give Proofe and evidence thereof at this tyme, by concurring and helping those that Wee have authorized with Commissions
within the bounds wherein you shall have your residence, Whensoever any Opportunity shall be offered and you required by them
for that effect. Wherein not doubting but to find your forwardnesse, and in all things else to be imparted to you from them,
concerning the good of our Affayres, We bid you heartily Farewell. Given at our Court at Oxford the 5th
day of February in the Nynteenth years of our Reigne.
This letter
was written about 1646.
About the same
period Montrose is staying at his house of Kincardine, he writes to David Graham of Fintry’s brother who, it will be
remembered, is called James Graeme of Monorgan and Craigo, and desires his assistance for arranging matters at Old Montrose.
To my loving
cossing – Mr James Graeme of Craigo
Loving Cossing,
There be so much amiss and so many abuses committed touching my directions ther at Old Montrose (as Robert Graeme in the same
will show you at greater length) as I must intreat you to take the peanes to goe and put ane order to them – in such
ane way as you shall think most fitt – for the particulars I will be sparing and only remitt you to what you may leave
att greater length and continuo –
Yr very
loving chief, Montrose.
Kingcardine.
October 20, 1642.
I must earnestly intreat you to contrive that Mackintosh doe not dishonor himself and wrong us all by being
thus abused with Argyle.
Montrose (afterwards the Great Marquis) is much annoyed with this Mackintosh who is married to a daughter of
David, seventh of Fintry, and the niece of James Graeme of Craigo, and who inclines to follow Argyle.
It is strange that most of the cadets of Fintry spelt their name correctly (as shown by the above letter), but
the head of that house spelt it with the "aha."
In 1647 David is a creditor of Montrose with James Graham of Monorgund.
Montrose has left the country by this date and no doubt settlements of various kinds are in progress.
All the Graemes and Grahams had, in 1645, obtained a remission in favour of any debt Montrose owed to them previous to the
forfalture of the Marquis's estates.
It is to this matter that the following letter refers, written and addressed to Montrose's kinsmen by himself:
Honerable and loving Friendes
Tho' I refrained hitherto writing from the apprehension that I had that it might doe you wrong, yett
being obleidg to it by this exigent I could not conceave that any can mistake themselves or me so far as to ground any exceptions
upon it to your prejudices. Wherefor I must take hold of this opportunity to show you the astonishment I have that peoples
malice should be so injust and endless that after I have suffered them (by my obedience to his Mas. commands, and willing
desyre to the peace and quiyett of that unhappy kingdome which they will have, yett still to be miserable) to ruine and sak
my oune fortunes, that yett they wold cast also gainst all those of my freiendes, to smart me more than by my oune wounds,
as particularly appeares by their procedure against my nephew the Lord Napeir, whose father being bound with others for some
of my debts, they yett (and tho absent from the country) perseus for the whole not out of any favour they intend to others,
but making this one a preparative they will use this as a leading case to fall on every one of you for the same kind, and
study your ruines to satisfy their malice against me, and meantyme reserve my estate to be disposed on att ther oune pleasure
whill according to all laues both deviyne and humaine, itt should att the worst be imployed for satisfaction of creditors
and liberating of all partyes burdened, which is all I desyre for if non suffer injustly for me, what they can doe against
myself cannot move me much, Wherefore I most earnestly intreat you that as you tender my honor and your oune creditts and
saifties to use all possible meanes to resist this, and pleade that all may be taken in according to justice and equity, and
my estait burdeinged with it till it be consumed or the last farding defrayed, for you may with much raison make account that
if please God I live but so little I shall have very bad fortune to be put from my estait and not repaire it, and on the other
part if ther be ane other fatality (as I am confident ther will not) then injustice must prevaile and you cannot be able to
stop its current. So lett me again intreat you to save yourselves, and let no man be sufferers for me, so far as my
oune can go (chiefly in this particular) and trust me to God and my oune fortunes which cannot disappoint. Wishing your
people ther may calme ther malice and lett ther experience make them more wyse, for if innocency and patience cannott prevaile,
itt may be I light upon a vertus that will be found fitter for ther temper. So wishing you all happiness, I am,
Your most loving chieff,
Montrose. Orleans,
October, 1647.
For my honerable and luving friendes the Lairds of Fintry, Morphy Inchbrakie, Gorthy, Balgowan, Craigo
and others.
What a quaint turn in the sentence where he trusts "your people may calme their malice!" Montrose
will not touch a penny of his estate until his kinsmen are freed from their burdens.
In 1650 the Great Marquis is murdered for loyalty to his king, and after that we find David's name in a
will of Forret's (Montrose's old tutor) in 1652, to whom he owes some money; and again when he writes a letter to "his brother
the Laird of Monorgan," dated from Kirremur the 4th of August that year.
In October 1654 Cobbet grants at Dundee a pass to James Graham, the second son of David, who has found obligations
that he would remain passive, this Captain James figures again as a witness in the following document, when David Graham of
Fintry "gives a charter with John 'fiar' of Fintry, with consent of Dame Jean Scrimgeour wife of John," to James Graham
of Monorgund, of the lands of Erlestradiche in the regality and barony of Kirriemuir, Forfar; and one of the witnesses is
Captain James Grahame, David's second son. It would appear from this that Monorgan was not yet in the hands of Fintry's
son, but in his uncle James's. When the Great Obsequies of Montrose occur, it is this David, seventh of Fintry, who bears
the Purse, and James, his second son, now called James Graham of Bucklivy who bears the Arms in mourning. Once more
we meet David Graham, seventh Laird of Fintry, his estates have been much wasted by the Montrose wars, as have been those
of all his kinsmen; he sells the Barony of Bochlyvie-Grahame, with all its towns, lands, etc., to James Graeme, the second
son of Graeme of Monzie (a grandson of Inchbrakie and Miss Scott of Monzie), this with the consent of his sons John, "fiar"
of Fintry, and James Graham (now) of Monorgan, his second son; the original charter with the remains of the Great Seal attached,
lies before me, 8th Feb. 1666.
By this date James, first of Monorgund, is dead, for David's second son James has succeeded to those lands;
and on 15th December 1664, Agneta Grahame had been retoured heir to her father James Grahame of Monorgund; and four years
later (1669) we find the same lady is the spouse of William Lindsay " fiar" of Edzell.
In 1666 David of Fintry must have been well on in years, he had succeeded his father in 1592 and was, we believe,
married at that date; but his successor and eldest son is not served heir to his father David till Sept. 11th, I675.
JOHN
EIGHTH
OF FINTRY
There seems little to relate. One of the pedigrees state "he was a man of profuse
and lavish disposition, and spent a great part of his patrimony during the Civil Wars therefore impoverishing his estates";
that may be, but it depends upon the view taken of the Civil Wars whatever the motive which animated him was worthy or not;
his father appears to have done much the same. John married Jean, a daughter of the Hereditary Constable of Dundee and Royal
Standard Bearer, Sir James Scrimgeour; Sir James was afterwards raised to the Peerage as Viscount Dudhope in 1641; his grandson
was created Earl of Dundee; these titles are in abeyance, represented by Frederick Scrymgeour of Wedderburn and Birkhill.
It was while the "boy Earl" of Montrose was staying with John Graham of Fintry’s father-in-law, that we find in him
that touch of nature which makes the whole world kin. Sir James’s gardener supplies a flower for "my Lord on Sunday,"
and gets 12a. for his pains, and the Earl goes, bedecked as a young gallant should be, to church at Dundee, where he bestows
his alms! We can picture him clearly at this age by Jamieson’s portrait of him when a bridegroom of nineteen.
In 1654 John
was still "fiar" there had been "articles" between General Monck and "Sir Robert Graham, Laird of Morphie," for the second
Marquis of Montrose, known as "James the good" (the boy who refused his release from the Tolbooth of Edinburgh) which are
also signed by the heir of Fintry.
John Graham
and his wife Jean Scrymgeour had no surviving issue, and he was succeeded by his brother.
JAMES
SECOND OF
MONOGAN
NINTH OF FINTRY
Like his father
David, the seventh of Fintry, James was a close adherent to the royal cause, and the trust and confidence reposed in him by
the Great Marquis is aparent in the following letter:-
Most loveing Cossing,
Tho' I have judged it against the tymes to hazard any correspondence of this kynde, yett being informed
of all your peanes and endeavours in all my affairs ther, I cannot but adventure to give you thanks, and with all desyre (that
since it has pleased God my children doe come for your disposing that ar my friends) you may be pleased to take such present
cair so as they may be in the pour of non but your selves (as 1 make no doubt but you have already done) untill I be able
to acquaint you with my further resolution, so with my wishes for all your wealdfairs I am your most loveing Chieff,
Montrose.
Vien, Austria.
Jan.24, 1648.
For the Laird of Monorgan.
It is possible that the above letter was written to the James of Monorgan who was in the charter of 1655,
and uncle of this James, ninth of Fintry, but it cannot be better placed than here, nothing can detract from the undoubted
loyalty of the nephew afterwards ninth of Fintry as shown by the following permit given him in 1654 from General Monck, and
other papers.
Permitt the berearer hereof, Captain James Graham, sonne to the Laird of Fentry the elder (who is included
in the earl Marquis of Montrose's capitulacon) to passe to his father's house, or;elsewhere in Scotland; and to repasse without
molestation . He doing nothing prejudiciall to the Commonwealth, and to have with him his servants, horses (not exceeding
the value limited by proclamation) his sword and necessaries.
Given under my hand and sealls at Dalkeith
21 Novbr. 1654 George Monck.
To all officers and soldrs and other whom these may concerne.
Like Oliphant Laird of Gask, Graham of Fintry and Monorgan is a Roman Catholic; in the year 1662 he also
is granted a Lenten dispensation "with those at his own table" to take meat during the season of that fast.
It is dated at Edinburgh, Feb. 1662, and signed by Blakall.
His loyalty is again shown by Charles II.'s Commission to him as Major of the Forfarshire Regiment (under Lord
Southesk); his brother John is still laird of Fintry.
(signed) Charles R.
CHARLES THE SECOND, by the Grace of God, King of Scotland, England, France and Ireland, Defender of
the Faith, &c. To Our Trusty and Well-Beloved, James Graham of Monorgan, Greeting ; We do hereby constitute and appoint
you to be Major of that Regiment of foote appointed to be raised, within the shyre of Forfar, whereof the Earle of Southesk
is Colonell. You are therefore carefully and diligently, to discharge the duty of a Major, by exercising the said Regiment
in armes both officers and soldiers, and to keep them in good order and discipline. Commanding them hereby, to
obby you, as their Major, And yourself to observe such orders and directions as you shall from time to time receive from your
Colonell, or other superior officers according to the discipline of Warre. Given at Our Court at Whitehall the 2nd day
of Decr. 1669, and of Our reigne the 21st years.
By His Majesties Command.
(signed) Lauderdeall.
At the head of the original document is Charles's handwriting; it is on parchment and has a well-preserved
seal attached. Later on he was appointed Lieut.-Colonel in place of Carnegie of Bonnymoone when the Earl of Kinghorne
was Colonel. James Graham of Fintry and Monorgan married Anne, daughter of Hay of Keilour; Keilour lies close to Balgowan
and was owned by the Hays for a time; it was bought from them about 1700 by one of the Graemes of Gorthie; the Hays of Keilour
were a branch of the Earls of Errol and ultimately succeeded to the title.
James and Anne Graham appear to have been holding the position of guardian or curator to James the third Marquis
of Montrose, who in 1678 seems to have taken French leave and is bent on going abroad, a step which Monorgan has not hitherto
approved. The following letters bear apology on their face!
London, 7th of March.
Madam,
I should not leave this place without acknowledging the great obligations I owe your Ladyship particularly
for the extraordinary care you have had of my sisters' education?I cannot be unsensible of the continuall trouble they give
you but I know your generosity to be such, that you will undergoe that trouble which will so much advantage them, and so infinitely
oblige
Madam Yr most humble and faithfull servant
Montrose.
For the Lady Monorgan.
1678.
London, January 27.
Sir,
I was very much troubled that the advertisement I got to come hither should have been so suddain and unexpected
that I had no time to aske your advice anent my coming, but it troubles me a great deale more that I could hav no occasione
to know your opinion anent my going abroad for since I can get nothing done in my business at this time, & considering
the many advantages of travell and the great repute it is in here, it is almost everybody's opinion here that I should go
for some time to France and therefore I being very confident that since the case is thus fare altered you will be of ane othere
mind than you were formerly of. Am resolved to see Paris but where ever I be I shall always continou-
Your most affectionate cousin and servant Montrose.
Be pleased to present my most humble to yr Lady & to conceall this from my ant and sisters till wt the
next post I shall be able to give them an account of it for the Laird of Monorgan.
In the letter to "Lady" Monorgan the Marquis refers his sisters; the youngest, Grizel, married afterwards
William, second son of Lord Cochrane and was the mother of Mrs Smythe of Methven Castle.
James, the ninth Laird of Fintry, and his wife, Miss Hay, had five children;
(1) David, their heir;
(2) a son William, who in 1691 married Agnes, daughter of Sir William Foulis of Ingelby, Yorks; (their daughter
married George Gray of Huntingdon); this William was a military man and attained the rank of Colonel; the daughters of the
ninth laird were
(3) Isabella, married to Mylne of Mylnefield;
(4) Jean, married to Fletcher of Balinashe; and
(5) Margaret, married to her cousin, Sir David Kinloch of Kinloch, first bart. The Brechin records in
April 1698 speak of a Hendrie Graham of Monorgan, godfather of Henry Edgar of Kaythick, afterwards third and last Bishop of
Fife, he must have been second son of the ninth laird.
It is stated
that James, ninth of Fintry, refused a baronetcy from Charles II; it is certain either he or his father did so; these baronetcies
were offered by Charles after 1662; David of Fintry his father was then alive, and would more probably be the recipient; like
Graeme of Inchbrakie he declined it; the prefix of "Sir" in the seventeenth century had no attraction for the great barons
of Scotland.
James of Monorgan
died and was succeeded by his eldest son,
DAVID GRAEME
TENTH OF FINTRY
This baron of
Fintry received a bond of relief of various large sums of money from many of his kinsmen; besides James, Marquis of Montrose,
Earl of Kincardine and Lord Graham and Mugdock, the names of the following Grahams figure in the deed: John Grahame of Killearne,
James Graham of Orchill, Mungo Graeme of Gorthy, John Graham of Dougaldston, David Graeme, tutor to Gorthie, Clerk of the
Bills, James Graeme of Bucklyvie, (of Inchbrakie), John Graham, son of the deceist John Graham, Commissary Clerk of Dunblane
and "Director depute of the Chancellorie", and state that they have "paid and contented". Mr William Graham of Kilmarnock
50,000 Scots, and to James Boswell of Auchinleck, 13,000 pounds sterling, English money, it is signed by the Marquis on the
15th April 1704. Amongst the witnesses are Thomas Graham, late brigadier in the Horse Guards,
and Mungo Buchanan, W.S. David the tenth of Fintry married Anne Moray of Abercairny; she was the eldest daughter of Annas
Graeme (daughter of the famous Black Pate of Inchbrakie who was the bosom friend of the Great Marquis) and Sir Robert Moray
of Abercairny, one of the wealthiest of the great barons of Perthshire; her younger sister married Graeme of Garvock, thus
the Abercairny, Fintry, Garvock and Inchbrakie children were all (early in the 18th century)
first cousins to each other and to the young Margaret, Baroness Bairne, who married in 1693 Lord William Murray, son to the
Marquess of Atholl.
David Graham
and Anne Moray, his wife, had 13 children:
Only one son
survived; the daughters were:
Anne, married
Gardyne of Middleton and Sutton;
Margaret married
Carnegy of Balnamoor and secondly to Nairne of Dunsinane;
Isabella to
Duncan of Ardownie;
Agnes to Robertson
of Carnoustie;
Jane to Rutherford;
Grizel to (?)
Graham; she left no issue
Mary to Guthrie
of Cleppington;
Elizabeth to
Stewart, who left no issue,and
Lillias to Wallace,
who left no issue.
There appears
to another daughter whose name is not given in the pedigree quoted from;
David the 10th of Fintry appears to have gone out in 1715, against William of Orange. His protection from the
Duke of Argyll dated at Dundee 4th February 1715, is among the Fintry papers.
ROBERT GRAHAM
ELEVENTH OF
FINTRY
The only son
of David and Anne Moray, was married the 20th February 1735 at Dundee to Margaret Murray of
Ochtertyre; she was born in 1716 and was one of the 19 children of Sir William Murray of Ochtertyre (10th
in line and 3rd baronet) and Mrs Catherine Fraser, daughter of Lord Lovatt.
I give their children as written in an old MS pedigree
of Ochtertyre most carefully kept and which has generally been found to correct; the marriages, etc. in brackets attatchewd
to their names, are from a family pedigree of Fintry which gives no dates.
Ann born at Dundee Jan. 1736 (married Fletcher of Balanisloe)
Katherine born
at the Mains, 1737, (she died unmarried at Linlathen at the residence of her brother, April 13th 1764 and is called Miss Kathy
Graham, second daughter of the late Robert Graham of Fintry).
Elizabeth married
Douglas of Brigton
Margaret born
at the Mains 1739 (married Alex Bower of Kilcaldrum)
Amelia born
at Foulis, November 1740 (not mentioned)
Helen born at
Foulis 1742; (died unmarried)
David born at
Foulis 1744 (H.E.I. Company’s service)
This pedigree
omits the birth Robert (12th of Fintry) probably in 1741/43.
There was also
a son James born 1756; he died at Naples in 1779 a captain in the Atholl Highlanders.
Their grandmother,
Catherine Fraser, had been the daughter of Lord Lovat by the Lady Amelia Murray, daughter of the first Marquess of Atholl,
whose wife, Lady Amelia Stanley, was daughter to the Earl of Derby and his Countess, Charlotte de la Tremouille, Queen in
Man; the grahams of Fintry own a piece of the wedding dress of this celebrated lady who commanded personally the defence of
Lathom Castle during the absence of her husband, the Earl of Derby.
These marriage
connections account for the following among the Fintry papers.
In 1663 Mungo
Murray, brother to the Earl of Atholl, signs a bond in 1663, at the Canongate, Edinburgh, for money due by him to William
Murray of Ochtertyre.
Also there is a bond which details the purchase of a horse by Lord Mungo Murray from William, Lord Nairne, "our
brother German," which costs loo merks on 23rd June 1799.
Another and more interesting paper gives a full account of the battle of Galashiels, when the Chevalier St George
acting with the Spanish, failed in an invasion of Scotland in April 1719. Their force consisted of 400 Spanish and 1000
Highlanders. The Marquis of Tullibardine (the Jacobite son of the Whig Duke), the Earl Marischall and Seaforth were leaders.
Robert Graham died at his house of Linlathen, Forfar, on October 21st, 1756, aged fifty-five, and was succeeded
by his son; his widow died at Bridgetown, 24th January 1793.
ROBERT.
TWELFTH AND LAST OF FINTRY LANDS.
The first notice I find is on March 10th, 1773. A county meeting is held at Forfar and Robert Graham of Entry
and Mr Graham, younger, of Methie are publicly thanked for their spirited behaviour in assisting to stop the outrages of the
mob.
He married a second cousin of his own (the grand-daughter of Miss Isabella Graham, sister of tenth Laird of
Finery), by name Margaret Elizabeth Mylne of Mylnefield, at Dundee, Robert Graham of Fintrie to Miss Peggy Mylne, second daughter
of T. Mylne of Mylnefield, Esq., April 12th 1773.
The family pedigree states this laird was very improvident and sold the estates. Finny was sold to Mr David
Erskine and the stipulation was made it should be called by its original name of Linlathen, the family retaining in this manner
the designation "of Fintry."
Robert Graham then resided at Balgowan where he may have acted as supervisor to that estate during the long
and continued absence of Thomas Graeme, Colonel of the 9oth Regiment, afterwards Lord Lynedoch. There is a mass of correspondence
between Thomas Graeme and this Robert, twelfth of Fintry, which I have not seen, so am unable to throw any light on his reason
for residing at Balgowan, beyond the fact that they were great friends; in the cursory search time has permitted, no relationship
is traced of blood between Robert and Thomas Graham.
The following letter from Lord Lynedoch is given as being of a specially interesting nature, recording as it
does the death of the great General, Sir John Moore; Lynedoch, who at this time commanded the 90th Regiment, was near him,
John Graham being his aide-de-camp.
On Bd. Audacious In the Channel
Sunday 22 January/9 (180)
I had not time nor the power, to write from Coruna my dear Graham -for I wasalmost blind with an
attack of Opthalmia. but I directed Ld. Cathcart to communicate to you what I said to him in two lines .--Before
this can reach you, Hope’s report to Sir D. Baird will have informed you of what happened on the 16th - But
for the sad loss of the most perfect soldier and gentleman I ever knew, it war a most fortunate circumstance that the enemy
made the attack.- It was what he (Sir J. M.) earnestly wished. - I never saw him in such spirits as when their columns were
advancing and that it was evident the attack was to be a serious one- and he only regretted that there would not be daylight
enough to profit much of the advantages he anticipated as certain.
His features were so little affected by the pain of a wound which broke the upper rips and almost
tore off the left arm that I could hardly believe he was struck, till I got off my horse to help to lift him against a Bank,
and saw with horror the state of the wound which was evidently mortal?he lived however above two hours -was carried
back into Coruna in a blanket (near 3 miles) and spoke to Col. Anderson with perfect recollection about different things -particularly
enquiring about the result of the action and expressing his satisfaction at having beaten the French-asked after me and all
his aide-de-camps by name, said that Anderson knew that that was the kind of death he wished for?sent messages to his family
and friends in England?and hopes his country would be satisfied with his conduct-in short, his death like his life, was most
emplary-bespeaking that consciousness of rectitude and that invincible firmness of mind which characterised him on many occasions.-
I have since reproached myself a good deal for not having remained with him- but the case seemed desperate-it
was of much consequence to inform Hope that the command had devolved on him, and I left him in the hands of others, and was
surprised to hear after the action was over that he was still alive-
The enemy did not expect to meet with such a resistance their attack was impetuous- entirely directed against
one point(our right) in the first instance, and was in fact defeated by Lord William Bentinck’s brigade with the left
of which Sir John remained ?speaking to the 42nd and reminding them of what they had done on former occasions- while
it lasted the fire was extremely hot -the enemy had great advantages in artillery?most of ours was embarked, theirs entirely
commanded the right of our bad (but necessary) position, and it was admirably well served-with some hours of daylight.
I have no doubt but that a complete victory would have been obtained, as ‘Paget’s division had
nearly turned their left and might have been supported by Fraser’s-not at all engaged-our left was so strong as to be
almost in attaquable and therefore many men might have been drawn from it in the advance?the whole of the enemy’s position
was strong-but their left was least so-adieu.
Ever yrs,
T. G.
On the original letter is written a postscript by Sir Archibald Hope, who succeeded Sir John Moore in the command,
it runs thus
"Send me a copy of this,
" A. Hope"
Besides Graeme of Balgowan, the hero of Barossa, Rohert Graham had a warm admirer in one who (though in a humbler
walk of life) was even more celebrated, Robert Burns, Scotland’s greatest poet; Mr Graham had been a kind friend to
Burns rendering him some assistance, and the poet never forgot it.
The Grahams of Fintry possess in the first vol. of Burns’ Poems (the 1793 edition) the following dedication
in his handwriting’
TO MRS GRAHAM OF FINTRY.
It is probable, Madam, that this page may be read when the hand that now writes it, is mouldering
in the dust - May it then bear witness, that I present you these volumes, as a tribute of gratitude, on my part, ardent &
sincere; as your & Mr Graham’s goodness to me has been generous & noble!--May every child of yours, in the hour
of need, find such a FRIEND, as I shall teach every child of mine that their father found in YOU!
Robt. Burns.
Burns wrote many letters to his benefactors and sent them several of his MS. poems; amongst these are "Tam o’
Shanter- " and "The Whistle."
Robert, twelfth laird, died at Balgowan, 1812; he left a numerous family by his wife, Miss Mylne.
Robert, their eldest son, H.E.I. Company’s Service, was assassinated through the treachery of a native
chief at Benares in 1799. John, who succeeded. Thomas, entered the Royal Navy, in which service he became a captain; he married
Maria, daughter of Admiral Dundas of Dundas Manor, and died at Valparaiso in command of the Doris, 9th April 1882. He left
no children. David d.s.p.; James Scott died at Broughty Ferry, 1804; of Mr Robert Graham’s daughters seven
(married) died young. Anne married 6th September 1809, General the Honable. J. Brodrick, son of George, third Viscount Middleton
(she had by him a son who died unmarried, and three daughters; Anne, married in 1846 to Rev. William Pennefather, Rector of
Callan (son of the Right Honble. Edward Pennefather) ; Mary Elizabeth, married 1858 Right Rev. Edmund Hobhouse, D.D., Bishop
of Nelson, New Zealand; and Mary Albinia, married in 1851 to William James Dundas Cloete, Esq. Elizabeth, married to James
Keay of Snaigow; Helen, who married Judge Cloete Cape of Good Hope; Jemima, married to General Dundas of the Royal Artillery
(brother of Mrs Thomas Graham); Catherine. who married Colonel Briggs of the Indian Army; and lastly, Caroline, married Morton
Carr, Esq., of the family of Esholt and Hyton Hall, Northumberland.
JOHN GRAHAM,
THIRTEENTH OF FINTRY,
served for many years in the 9oth and 93rd Regiments; he was afterwards employed in the wars against the Kaffirs
at the Cape; he was born 24th of April 1778 he entered the 9oth when only sixteen years of age, and was present with the Expedition
to the Isle de Dun in 1795. In 1797 he joined Colonel Graeme of Balgowan, who was aide-de-camp to the Earl of Chatham, and
proceeded with him to Holland in 1799.
Raising 100 men for the 93rd (Balgowan’s "Grey Breeks") he obtained a majority, and acted with that
regiment in capturing the Cape of Good Hope in 1806; he held the command of the Rifle Corps at the Cape till 1812, when he
went home on leave of absence, and joining Balgowan (then Lord Lynedoch) went with him to Holland as aide-de-camp and private
military secretary in 1813. Resuming his command at the Cape in 1815 he was employed against the Kaffirs, a duty in
which he gained the greatest distinction, so much so, that the capital of the Eastern Provinces of the Cape Colony is named
after him (Grahamstown). Below is the order directing this from the Cape Government.
Governt. Advertisement.
His Excellency the Governor and Commander-in-Chief is pleased to notify and direct that the present Headquarter
Cantonment of the Cape Regiment situated on the Zuurevelt, where is also to be the future Residence of the Deputy Landrost
of Uitenhage, shall be henceforward designated and duly acknowledged by the name of Grahamstown-in testimony of His Excellency’s
respect for the services of Lieut.-Colonel Graham, through whose able exertions the Caffre Tribes have been expelled from
that valuable district.
Castle of Good Hope, 14 August 1812.
by command of His Excellency the Governor.
H. Alexander,
Secretary.
He also was made Commandant of Simonstown.
Lieutenant-Colonel Graham’s life closed all too early; he died on the 17th March 1821 at the age of forty-two
from over-fatigue, brought on by his untiring exertions in the service of the Colony. He married on the 24th July 1812, Joanna
Cloete of Westerford, Cape of Good Hope, leaving a son Robert and three daughters, Johanna and Margaret; the third, Isabella,
married Sebastian Vanrenen of High Constania.
ROBERT GRAHAM,
FOURTEENTH OF FINTRY,
was for many years in the Government service at the Cape of Good Hope; in the Kaffir War of 1851-52, Colonel
Graham raised a troop known as Graham's Horse; for this he received a medal. He had married in 1846 Eliza Ann Gray; her ancestor
was Dr George Gray of Halkerton, who married Lady Jean Erskine, daughter of James, Earl of Buchan (an old branch of Lord Gray
in Angus); their grandson, George Gray of Huntingdon, married Isabella Graham, grand - daughter of James Graham of Monorgan
and Fintry (a grand-daughter of this marriage -Isabella Mylne ?married Robert, twelfth of Fintry) ; Mr George Gray married
secondly, Miss Elizabeth Baird ; their son was Colonel Charles Gray, he commanded the 75th Regiment in Guzerat, where he died
of fever; his son. Colonel Charles George Gray of the Rifle Brigade, married Jane (daughter of Colonel Grogan of Seafield),
and their daughter, Eliza Anne, became the wife of Robert Graham, fourteenth of Fintry.
They had a large family: John, their eldest son, we will take last; their second son Charles, died unmarried
in 1876, as did their fourth son, Reginald Lawrence in 1878; Robert Dundas died in 1894, he married Eliza, daughter of J.
Vique, Esq., and has left a daughter, Elysoon Douglas Graham; Mr and Mrs Graham’s daughters, Elizabeth Keay and Violet
Emily, both died young ; their third surviving daughter Roberta, married in 1892 Edward Chamley-Turner, Lieutenant of the
Ist Royal Scots, he died in September of the same year leaving no issue ,the youngest daughter, Albinia Ellen is unmarried.
The remaining children of Colonel Graham, fourteenth of Fintry, and Eliza Anne his wife, are- Francis George
Cathcart, second surviving son of Robert. fourteenth of Fintry was born in 1853; he is Civil Commissioner and Magistrate of
Grahamstown (named so after his grandfather);Francis G. Graham married in 1892 Alice, daughter of J. Flashman, Esq., and has
Kenneth Douglas, Reginald Moray, Dorothy Cathcart, Iris Lovell, Winifred Edith.
The Honble. Thomas Lynedoch, third surviving son of Robert, fourteenth of Fintry, Barrister-at-Law of the Inner
Temple, K.C. M.L.C, is the present (1903) Attorney General of Cape Colony; he was born in 1860 and married in 1891 Annye Ismena,
daughter of the Rev. J. Gavin, Chaplain to the Forces in Bengal; their children are: Robert Lynedoch, Gray Gavin Lynedoch,
and Ruth Annye.
Malcolm David, the fourth surviving son of Robert, fourteenth of Fintry, was born in 1865; is a captain in the
1st Battalion Northamptonshire Regimen, he married Helen, daughter of Dr Abercrombie; Mrs Malcolm Graham died January 1903,
their only child, John Alexander, was born 1898.
Mary Cathcart, the eldest surviving daughter of Robert Graham, fourteenth of Fintry, married, in 1874, Hercules
Tennant, Barrister-at-Law, and has issue: David Graham Tennant, Reginald Dundas Tennant, Violet Letitia Tennant, Beatrix Graham
Tennant, Marjorie Katherine Tennant. Jane Leith Hay, second surviving daughter of Robert Graham, fourteenth of Fintry, married,
in 1882, Lieutenant-Colonel Wihon, C.B., of the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders, their children are Alexander Graham Wihon
and Elizabeth E. A. Graham-Wihon.
Helen Lilias, the fourth surviving daughter of Robert, fourteenth of Fintry, married in 1889 Andrew Aytoun,
Major in the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders: Major Aytoun descends from that ancient and honourable family the Aytouns
of Inchdairnie, and is eleventh in line from that house; his grandmother was the daughter of Sinclair of Balgrygie, cadet
of the Earls of Orkney; his great-grandmother was a daughter of Lord Rollo of Duncrub; his great-great-grandmother, Euphemia,
was a daughter of Sir J. Ramsey of Whitehill; space forbids carrying on the line further here, but other mention of the Aytouns
will be found in Sketch XXXV. Mr and Mrs Aytoun have an only son, Robert Martin Graham Aytoun.
Margaret Elizabeth Keay, the fifth surviving daughter of Robert Graham, fourteenth of Fintry, married, in 1893,
Major J. Scott, Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders, and has issue: Margaret Graham Scott and Violet Albinia Scott.
Caroline Isabella, the sixth surviving daughter of Robert Graham, fourteenth of Fintry, married, in 1895, Major
L. H. Orde, East Yorkshire Regiment, and has surviving issue: Dorothy Violet Orde and Leonard Roden Orde.
Mr Robert Graham of Fintry, father of the above was Deputy-Governor of British Kaffraria from 1864 to 1867,
he died in 1887, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
JOHN JAMES GRAHAM,
FIFTEENTH OF FINTRY.
Mr Graham was born in 1847, is C.M.G., C.B., he holds the appointment of Secretary to the Law Department in
the Attorney Generals Office, Cape Town, South Africa:, he married in 1873 Anne, daughter of James Murison, Esq., and has
issue :
Robert, born 1877, Cape Civil Service; James Mackay, born 1879; Malise Patrick, born 1885; Cosmo Moray, born
1887, is in the Royal Navy; Ronald David, born 1892; his surviving daughters are Ethel Jane and Marion Kinloch.
Mr Graham represents the honourable branch of Graham of Fintry descended from Montrose before that family was
ennobled; is fifteenth in line male of Fintry and twenty-sixth in line male from William Graeme of Abercorn: Mr Graham
shares this distinction of male descent throughout, with the House of, Graeme of Garvock, and with the House of, Graeme of
Inchbrakie.
CADETS OF THE HOUSE OF MONTROSE THROUGH ROBERT,
FIRST GRAHAM OF FINTRY.
C I.AVERHOUSE.
Robert, the first of Fintry, had a second son John who was given the lands of Balargus, County Forfar; his son
John became of Claverhouse; his great-grandson George left a son William Grahame of Claver’s, as these lands are commonly
called; he married Lady Jean Carnegie, daughter of the first Earl of Northesk ; their eldest son was John Grahame, the famous
Viscount Dundee. Napier’s "Life" records all interesting matter of the hero of Killiecrankice while young readers may
be referred to Aytoun’s famous "Burial March of Dundee" with its interesting notes.
The Historical MSS. Commission Report states that there are numerous letters in the Monteith muniments written
by Claver’s "which far excel in force of expression and classical allusion, the style of ordinary correspondents." Sir
Walter Scott’s hasty condemnation that Claver’s spelling would disgrace a chambermaid, is thus for ever refuted,
Claver’.s had more than the ordinary education of the day.
After his death at Killiecrankie, the widowed Viscountess Dundee married Alexander Livingstone Kilsyth (called
Viscount Kilsyth) and with her infant son met a tragical fate in Holland : a Mr Stewart writes that the chamber above the
room in which the Viscountess was sitting in the Castle of Antwerp at Utrecht, was stored with peat for fuel to 300 tons’
weight and that the joists of her chamber suddenly gave way; the Viscountess with her infant son and maid were buried in the
ruins ; her husband was injured and so was Mr Walkinshaw of Barrowfield, but not fatally; another letter states the bodies
were embalmed; this accident occurred on 16th October 1695 ; one hundred years later they were discovered in the family vault
of Kilsyth in remarkable preservation ; " Bonnie Dundee’s" only son had died in infancy, 1689.
GRAHAMS OF DUNTRUNE.
These are a branch from Claverhouse and claimed the title of Viscount Dundee, which lies dormant, attainted
in 1746.
In the indices of this volume (page 662) will be found the will of Graham of Duntroon, son of James Graham "sometime
chamberlayne to Claverhouse; the last heir-male, Alex. Graham of Duntrune, died between 1802-1804.
He was succeeded by his four sisters: Anna and Alison died unmarried: Clementina married Gavin Drummond (twelfth
child of James Drummond. second Laird of Keltie, by his wife Christian Hally of Kennedder) a captain in the 42nd Regiment,
and left an only daughter Clementina Drummond; the fourth and youngest sister, Amelia, married Patrick Stirling, merchant;
they left three children?I. Wiliam Stirling-Graham, which latter he assumed on succeeding to Duntrunne, he died without issue
on 19th December 1844. II. Clementina Stirling Graham, who succeeded to Duntrune, and was the author of "Mystifications."
III. Jean, who married John Mortlock Lacon, lieutenant 72nd Highlanders, son of Sir Ed. Lacon, first Baronet: their eldest
son, John Edmund Lacon, succeeded to Duntrune on the death of his aunt Clementina Stirling-Graham in 1877, and by his marriage
with Miss L. M. Sherwell. left an only son, Frederick Graham-Lacon, he married Miss Anne M. Hopper and died in 1875. Captain
Graham-Lacon died 1894. Duntrune is now represented through the distaff by the only child of Frederick Graham-Lacon, Ida Clementina,
who married James A. Wigan of Oakwood, Maidstone.
CADETS OF VARIOUS HOUSES.
It has been already stated that the Grahams of Pottento, Gogar and Claypots and Creekie were cadets of Fintry.
The family of the Grahams of Methie were also descended from Fintry; many notices of this family have come to the author’s
knowledge and various other cadets bear the arms and motto of Fintry, Inckbrakie, and Balgowan.
Among those holding the Fintry Arms I may mention a Patrick Graham who settled in Ireland early in 1700-10;
his son held a small property named Clough and had a son William born in 1809. A doctor of Theology of the University of T
tringen and member of the Royal Irish Academy, a learned Hebrew and Arabic scholar, as well as a noted and eloquent preacher
; he held a pastoral charge in Dundonald, Belfast. He married, 1839, Annabella Fynn, daughter of John Fynn, Esq., J.P., Bally-magihhon,
Cong. County Mayo, but eventually became a missionary to the Jews at Damascus and Bonn on Rhine. He was the author of "The
Jordan and the Rhine," with other works. He left three sons:
2. William J. F. Graham, Major in the Prussian Guards, Berlin, married Florence, only daughter of Francis Kellor,
Esq., Imperial German Consul at Southampton. Their children are : William F. Graham, born 1886 ; Francis H. F. Graham, born
1889; John C. Graham, born 1893 ; Frederick G. Graham, born 1896 ; Charles Graham, born 1898, and a daughter.
3. William John Campbell Graham, M.D. of Bonn and F. R. Coll. of Surgeons, Edinburgh. He married Mary Jessie,
daughter of Stephen Ponder, Esq. (seventh in direct line) of Elm Lodge, Hampton-on-Thames. He was president of the Thames
Conservancy and a great mover of the endeavour to restore salmon to that river. They have a son, John Victor Fynn Graham,
and four daughters. Dr Graham is a physician in Medan, Sumatra.
Mr William Graham and Miss Fynn’s eldest son is the Rev. Francis Graham, M.A., Oxon. Ex-scholar of Lincoln
Coll., Oxon. late Rector of Stanningfield, married to Hester, eldest daughter of Philip Johnston, Esq. of Dalriada, Belfast,
descended of the Johnstons of Annandale. The Rev. Francis Graham bears the arms of Graham of Fintry.
The bookplate of a Thomas Graeme shows the Inchbrakie arms, the new grant of 1650 giving the broken wall, with
the arms of Blenman of Croscombe, Somerset, impaled. Jonathan Blenman, Esq., was H.M. Attorney-General for Barbadoes in the
eighteenth century. It is possible he may have been of the Drynie branch from Inchbrakie. One of these commanded a regiment
in the West Indies (see page 543).
THE GRAHAMES OR GRAEMES OF KNOCDOLIAN, PANHOLES, CRAGIE.
ARE ALL CADETS OF THE NOBLE HOUSE OF MONTROSE.
On the Grahams descended from Malise, first Earl of Menteith it is impossible to touch on a volume of the space;
they form a numerous clan of many houses.
With deep regret I have turned from the story of the Southern Grahams of Esk of Netherby, of Norton- Conyers,
and of Kirkwall, etc. this must be told by some worthier voice than mine, who can better sing the history of that borderland,
where every billowing hill unfolds a story, and every " keep" its tales of have and hate!
And lastly the Irish Grahams, a clan as free and bold as wide and large as any, must claim an historian whose
pen can search deep into the history of that ancient race; to all and each we must bid adieu with the motto that will surely
stir within us a throb of kinship:
"I COME OF THE GRAEMES: A PEOPLE OF ANCIENT AND HOT BLOOD." (Sir Walter Scott)
______________
FINIS
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