The Colhouns of Crosh, Part 3: Scottish Origins

Recap

As I mentioned when I began this series, I believe I have found a new and well-supported genealogical connection between the Colhoun of Crosh family in Ireland and an ancestral family branch in Scotland.  In the last two posts, I have tried to lay the groundwork for this new proposal.  In this post, I will describe it in detail.

In the first post of this “Colhoun of Crosh” series, I tried to establish:

• That the James Colhoun listed (as “James Cacone”) near Alexander McCausland on the 1631 muster roll from the Newtownstewart area of Co. Tyrone is the Scottish-born founder of the Colhoun of Crosh family in Ireland; more specifically, that he was the father of the William Colhoun of Newtownstewart who married Alexander McCausland’s daughter Catherine.
• That James was the brother of John Colhoun of Letterkenny, who appears on several 17^th century records including as an overseer of the will of Alexander McCausland from 1674.
• That John Colhoun of Letterkenny was the probable father of Peter/Patrick Colhoun, who moved back and forth between Aughnish and Letterkenny in Co. Donegal and Newtownstewart in Co. Tyrone, both areas with ties to the Mountjoy family.

In the second post of the series, I tried to establish:

• That the Alexander McCausland mentioned above was the son of Patrick McCausland and his wife Agnes Colquhoun, of Caldenoch in Dunbartonshire, Scotland.
• That Patrick’s will of 1616 mentions other Colquhouns in addition to his wife, Agnes.
• That for centuries, the McCausland family of Caldenoch had been closely associated with, had been feudal tenants of, and had married into, the Colquhoun of Luss family.

Hopefully I was able to convince you of at least some of those ideas.  I will now try to put the pieces together to show how all this can be used to establish a continuous male lineage of the Colhoun of Crosh family. 

Agnes and Robert Colquhoun

The pedigree of the McCausland family that I included with the last post showed three intermarriages with Calhouns.  The first marriage I mentioned was between Catherine McCausland and William Colhoun (from the “Colhoun of Crosh” family) in Ireland.  A second, probably occurring about 1538, was between one of the early 16^th-century barons of Caldenoch and Marjory Colquhoun, who I argued was a daughter of the Colquhoun of Luss; as this was probably a second marriage for both parties, there is a good chance that Marjory was not an ancestor by blood of the later McCauslands.  The third, perhaps occurring in the late 1580s, was between Patrick McCausland and Agnes Colquhoun.  As Patrick and Agnes were the parents of Alexander McCausland, determining Agnes’s identity is critically important.

Some secondary sources state that Agnes was the daughter of Sir Humphrey Colquhoun, 14^th/16^th of Luss, who was assassinated in 1592, but this is not true.  Sir Humphrey died leaving three daughters:  Jean, Margaret, and Annas (see Fraser vol. 1, pp. 163-166 and 168, and references therein).  Some may mistake Agnes for Annas, but Annas married Colin Campbell of Carrick in 1610, and the other two daughters are also accounted for (ibid).  Agnes was indeed the daughter of a Humphrey Colquhoun, but not that Humphrey.  James Dennistoun’s research dated June 1828 (PRONI D669/52) states that Agnes was the daughter of Humphrey Colquhoun of Tullichintaull.  I don’t know what sources Dennistoun used or how he came to this conclusion, but I believe he was 100% spot-on.

Recall that Patrick McCausland’s will of 1616 mentions two other Colquhouns in addition to his wife, Agnes: Alexander Colquhoun, 15^th/17^th of Luss, to whom money was owed, and Robert Colquhoun of Ballernick, who was named as an executor of the will (although he declined the position).  The appearance of the Colquhoun of Luss is perhaps not surprising since he was Patrick McCausland’s feudal superior, hence the money owed.  Robert Colquhoun of Ballernick, on the other hand, was almost certainly a very close relative given that his surname was the same as Patrick’s wife and that he was named an executor of the will.  I propose that Robert was Agnes’s brother, and I will show evidence to support this.

Excerpt from the legacy portion of Patrick McCausland’s estate records. First line reads, “At Caldonoche the second day of August 1616.” Boxed in red are the following names: (1) executor “Ro’t Colquhoune of Balornok”, (2) spouse “Agnes Colquhoune”, and (3) sons “Ro’t & Alex’r McCausland”.

The Colquhouns of Ballernick

In volume 2 of his work, Fraser devotes chapters or sections to numerous cadet branches of the Colquhoun family.  I provided a pedigree showing the relationships of these family branches to each other in one previous post, and I highlighted members of these families who might have living male-line descendants in another.  Since then, I have noticed that not every land-owning branch of the Colquhoun family received such treatment from Fraser.  Those branches that did not may not have had as much land, or been as wealthy, or held onto the land for enough generations to warrant a dedicated chapter.  One such branch of the family is the Colquhouns of Ballernick.  Although Fraser did not devote a chapter to this branch, he provided enough scattered references to them from which to build a pedigree.  I will try to do just that here, collecting and rearranging Fraser’s references into roughly chronological order. 

Ballernick (also spelled Balernock, or in Gaelic, Balarnaig) actually comprises two properties, Ballernick-beg (“little Ballernick”) and Ballernick-mor or Meikle Ballernick (“great Ballernick”).  Both are located in Dunbartonshire, just east of Faslane on the slopes of Gare Loch.  Originally part of the parish of Luss, in the mid-17^th century they were transferred to the parish of Row (Fraser vol. 2, p. 102).  Although the family is often referred to simply as Colquhoun of Ballernick, the property from which they got the title was specifically Ballernick-mor.

Topographic map of the isthmus sometimes called the Isle of Ben-Leven. Colquhoun strongholds of Luss and Camstradden are highlighted in boxes, and several other place names relevant to this post have been added. Most of these are not marked on modern maps, as they are archaic names or refer to settlements now gone or in ruins. Source: Google Maps.

Sir John Colquhoun, 11^th/13^th of Luss and the lands of Ballernick-mor and Tullichintaull.  The association of Colquhouns with the lands of Ballernick-mor begins with Sir John Colquhoun, 11^th/13^th of Luss (d. 1536).  Sir John first married Elizabeth Stewart, by whom he had four sons (including Humphrey, ancestor of the later lairds of Luss, and Walter, ancestor of the Colquhouns of Kilmardinny) and four daughters (including Marjory, wife of Sir Duncan Campbell and also, as I propose, of Patrick McCausland of Caldonach).  He second married Margaret Cunningham, by whom he had two sons and two daughters.  As if that weren’t enough, he also had four illegitimate children, a daughter and three sons.  (See Fraser vol. 1, pp. 84-102.)  During his lifetime, he provided financially for his sixteen children by distributing at different times a number of lands to them.  Fraser reproduces two charters of particular importance here:

• Sir John’s charter to Patrick Colquhoun, one of his “natural” (illegitimate) sons, of the lands of Tullichintaull and Gortane:  “Charter by John Culquhoun of Luss, Knight, to Patrick Culquhoun, his son, of the lands of Twllichintawell and Gortane.  29^th August 1522” (Fraser vol. 2, p. 334).
• Sir John’s charter to Thomas Colquhoun, his eldest son by his second wife, Margaret Cunningham, of lands including Ballernick-mor:  “Charter by John Culquhoun of Luss, Knight, to Thomas Culquhoun, his son, of the lands of Fynart, Portcaple, and Forlinbrek, and lands of Ballernik Moir.  22d August 1532” (Fraser vol. 2, p. 335).

Besides Patrick, Sir John’s other illegitimate sons were Adam Colquhoun of Blairvaddoch and David Colquhoun of Stronratan.  I have already mentioned Adam as having sold to his probable half-sister Marjory and her husband, Patrick McCausland of Caldonach, the annual rent of the lands of Letterwald-mor, in 1543.  That same year, Adam purchased the lands of Faslane and Ballernick-mor from the Earl of Lennox, suggesting that Thomas had by that time died without heirs, with Ballernick-mor reverting to the earldom (Fraser vol. 1, p. 100).  Adam died by 1558, apparently unmarried, leaving his brother David of Stronratan sole heir to the lands of Blairvaddoch, Letterwald-mor, and Ballernick-mor (Fraser vol. 1, p. 101).  David himself died in 1559, with these lands again reverting to the earldom.  In 1564, the reversions were purchased from the earl by David’s nephew and lord superior, Sir John Colquhoun, 13^th/15^th of Luss (Fraser vol. 1, p. 121).

Patrick Colquhoun of Ardinconnal and Tullichintaull, son of Sir John above.  It seems therefore that Thomas, Adam, and David all died without male heirs.  Of the brothers mentioned above, it is only Patrick Colquhoun, recipient of Tullichintaull and Gortane in 1522, whose line continued.  Patrick, often styled “of Ardinconnal”, married Isabel McAulay of Ardincaple sometime before 1528 and died sometime between 1565-1577 (Fraser vol. 1, p. 98).

Tullichintaull (also Tullich-in-Taul) was a settlement at the west end of Glen Douglas, just north of the lands of Gortan.  (See Alistair McIntyre and Tam Ward.  “The History and Survey of Several Settlement Sites in Argyll.”  North Clyde Archaeological Society, p. 5.)

Humphrey Colquhoun of Tullichintaull, son of Patrick above.  A document dated 17 January 1559 at Rossdhu names “Patrick Colquhoun of Ardinconnal, and Humphrey Colquhoun, son and apparent heir to the said Patrick” in regards to the redemption of Ardinconnal (Fraser vol. 1, p. 99).  There is also a citation:  “Protocol of Instrument of Sasine in Notarial Transumpt (Original), dated 23d April 1577, obtained from the Sheriff of Dumbarton by Humphrey Colquhoun of Tullichintaull, son and heir of the deceased Patrick Colquhoun of Tullichintaull, at Rossdhu” (Fraser vol. 1, p. 97, footnote 2).  Note that a different source states that this sasine was from 1569, not 1577 (McIntyre and Ward, “Argyll”, p. 6.)

Humphrey married Agnes Kelso, based on the following record pertaining to his son Robert:  “On 8^th October 1589, Sir Humphrey Colquhoun [14^th/16^th of Luss] was infefted in the lands of Ardinconnal, Finnart, Portincaple, Forlingbrek [Fairholmbreck], Tullichintaull, and others.  Robert Colquhoun of Ballernick acted as his attorney on the occasion; and among the witnesses was Gilchrist Macaulay, servant of Agnes Kelso in Ballernick-mor, mother of the said Robert Colquhoun” (Fraser vol. 1, p. 150).  Humphrey died by 1587 according to the record below.

Robert Colquhoun of Ballernick, son of Humphrey above.  The Cartulary of Colquhoun includes the following record dated 1587:  “Precept of clare constat by Sir Vmphry Colquhoun of Luss in favour of Robert Colquhoun of Ballernickmoir, as heir of the deceased Vmphry Colquhoun of Tullichintaull, his father, in the lands of Gortan” (McIntyre and Ward, “Argyll”, p. 6).  In 1587, Robert Colquhoun of Ballernick was likely a young man in his 20s, as he seems to have died sometime around 1640.

In 1616, Robert was named an executor of the will of Patrick McCausland of Caldonach, and it is now evident why:  he was indeed the brother of Patrick’s wife, Agnes.  The records above state that Robert was the son of Humphrey Colquhoun of Tullichintaull, and the research of James Dennistoun (PRONI D669/52B and C) states that Agnes was also the daughter of this same Humphrey.

As mentioned in a previous post, the will of Alexander Colquhoun, 15^th/17^th of Luss from 1617 mentions a bequest of 1000 merks to Robert Colquhoun of Ballernick (Fraser vol. 1, p. 231).  While there is evidence of a close relationship between the Luss and Ballernick families, it is unclear exactly why this was given.  It could have been in gratitude for support at the Battle of Glen Fruin in 1603, or it could have been compensation for the loss of land by Robert’s family.  Following that battle, and probably in the period 1603-1610, there seems to have been an exchange of lands between the Colquhoun and MacFarlane clans intended to help quell the blood feud between them.  Among the lands that transferred from Colquhoun to MacFarlane ownership were Tullichintaull and Gortan, representing a loss to the Colquhoun of Ballernick family.  (See McIntyre and Ward, “Argyll”, p. 6).

In 1631, Robert Colquhoun of Ballernick purchased the lands of Bannachra from Alexander, brother of Sir John Colquhoun, 16^th/18^th of Luss (Fraser vol. 2, p. 64).  The lands of Ballernick and Bannachra were mentioned as being in Robert’s possession in 1639 when the parish of Row was formed (Fraser vol. 2, p. 102).  Robert likely died that year or in 1640, when his son Humphrey became infefted in this same property.

In addition to Humphrey, Robert had a daughter named Christian or Christina.  The first wife of Robert Colquhoun, 10^th of Camstradden was Mary Macaulay, eldest daughter of Alexander Macaulay in Ballernick-mor (Fraser vol. 2, p. 201).  Their son and Robert’s successor, Alexander Colquhoun, 11^th of Camstradden, married secondly Christian, daughter of “Robert Colquhoun in [sic] Ballernick” (see Fraser vol. 2, pp. 208-209).  This may have been a second marriage for Christian as well, assuming she is the same person as the “Christina” in the following reference:  “This latter Quentin Lindsay [in possession of Bonhill 1641] was married to Christina, eldest daughter of Robert Colquhoun of Ballernick, and had an only daughter, Anne, upon whom he settled the estate in 1660, on condition of her marrying some gentleman bearing the name and arms of Lindsay” (Joseph Irving.  The Book of Dumbartonshire, vol. II.  Edinburgh: W. and A. K. Johnston, 1879, p. 174.)

Fraser mentions Robert one other time, in the context of the 1647 marriage of Walter Stewart and Jean, daughter of Sir John Colquhoun, 16^th/18^th of Luss.  The minister performing the ceremony was admonished by church authorities for doing so without the consent of the bride’s father.  As Sir John died in 1647, this may have been because he was either ill or deceased at the time of the wedding.  The minister stated that in fact “he had received her father’s consent, through Robert Colquhoun of Ballernick” (Fraser vol. 1, p. 251).  This reference is cryptic in that I believe Robert died between 1639-1640, as I stated above.  Possible explanations include:  Robert did not actually die by 1640 but survived until at least 1647; this is a mistaken reference to Humphrey Colquhoun of Ballernick; or, Robert had a son of the same name not mentioned elsewhere by Fraser, and this record refers to the son.

Humphrey Colquhoun of Ballernick, son of Robert above.  As mentioned, Robert Colquhoun of Ballernick purchased the lands of Bannachra in 1631.  “His son Humphrey and his wife, Margaret Sempill, were infefted therein in 1640” (Fraser vol. 2, p. 64).  In 1656, “Humphray Colquhoun of Balernik” was among numerous Colquhouns subject to a letter of complaint by the provost and bailies of Dunbartonshire (Fraser vol. 1, p. 264).  In 1659, Humphrey is mentioned as heritor of the lands and castle of Bannachra when it was transferred from parish Row to Luss (Fraser vol. 2, pp. 62-63).  Interestingly, Fraser indexed Humphrey as “Colquhoun, Humphrey, fourth of Ballernick” (Fraser vol. 2, p. 398).  He does not similarly refer to him as “fourth” in the text, nor any other members of the family with ordinal numbers, so this may have been the remnant of a reference system that Fraser considered but abandoned by the time of publication.

Robert Colquhoun of Ballernick, son of Humphrey above.  Fraser states, “Humphrey’s eldest son, Robert, married in 1664, for his second wife, Jean, eldest daughter of Mr. John Darleith, in Dumbarton.  His first wife was Margaret Sydserf” (Fraser vol. 2, p. 64).  “After the decease of her husband, Robert Colquhoun of Ballernick, Jean Darleith having married, secondly, Robert Colquhoun, son of Alexander Colquhoun of Camstradden, sold, with the consent of her second husband, by disposition dated 10^th April 1675, to Aulay Macaulay, her liferent and conjunct-fee in the lands of Easter and Wester Bannachra” (Fraser vol. 2, p. 66).  Robert’s estate records are dated 27 April 1675.  Records cited below show that Robert had a brother named Archibald Colquhoun.

Robert Colquhoun of Bannachra, son of Robert above .  Robert, “only lawful son of Robert Colquhoun of Ballernick” (Fraser vol. 1, p. 307), was a minor in 1675 when his father died, and he was not immediately served heir to his father’s estate (Fraser vol. 2, p. 65).  Shortly after the elder Robert’s death, Sir John Colquhoun, 17^th/19^th of Luss, received from the Duchess of Lennox the property of Bannachra “by reason of ward and non-entry of the said lands through the decease of Robert Colquhoun of Ballernick.  This gift thereof was of all years bygone since the death of the said Robert, and in time coming, until the entry of the next lawful heir thereto, being of lawful age, with the relief of the said ward when the same should happen, with the marriage of Robert Colquhoun of Bannachra, son and apparent heir of the said deceased Robert, and failing of him by death unmarried, with the marriage of any other heir or heirs, male or female, that should happen to succeed” (Fraser vol. 1, p. 276; this issue is also discussed in vol. 2, p. 65).

During Robert’s minority, bonds were issued on his family’s lands, which eventually fell into the hands of James Smollett of Stainflett and Bonhill (ca. 1648-1731).  To recover the money in the bonds, James took legal action, raising letters of general and special charge “against Robert Colquhoun, son of the deceased Robert Colquhoun of Ballernick, dated 6^th December 1687, charging him to enter himself heir to his father.”  Courts ruled in Smollett’s favor, agreeing in 1690 that the total owed to him on the two bonds, for the lands of Ballernick and the lands and mill of Bannachra, totaled £5231.  (See Fraser vol. 2, pp. 65-66.)

The court decree “further decerned [Smollett] to be infefted in the said lands, etc., by Frances Duchess of Lennox, or any other the immediate and lawful superior thereof.  Soon after obtaining this decreet, James Smollett sold the lands of Ballernick and Bannachra to Sir Humphrey Colquhoun of Luss, who obtained from him a disposition of them, dated 12^th May 1691.  This purchase of the lands was afterwards confirmed in the favor of Sir Humphrey Colquhoun of Luss, by the said Robert Colquhoun, younger, with consent of Archibald Colquhoun, brother-german to the said deceased Robert Colquhoun, his father, by disposition, dated 4^th November 1692” (Fraser vol. 2, p. 66).

In 1698, Sir Humphrey Colquhoun paid Robert 2300 merks as the remainder of the price for the lands of Ballernick-mor and Bannachra.  The bond was later redeemed by Sir James Colquhoun, 23^rd/25^th of Luss, 8^th Baronet.  (See Fraser vol. 1, pp. 307 and 362.)  I have not determined what happened to Robert after the loss of his family’s lands, or whether he married or had children.

Connection to the Colhouns of Crosh

Having now worked out a pedigree of the Colquhoun of Ballernick family, we can begin to see where the Colhoun of Crosh family fits in.  In the accompanying tree, I have placed the founders of the Crosh family in Ireland, probable brothers James Colhoun of Newtownstewart and John Colhoun of Letterkenny, as sons of Robert Colquhoun of Ballernick.  There do not appear to be surviving estate records for Robert, so there is no documentary proof of these relationships at present.  However, in my opinion the circumstantial evidence is quite strong.

Pedigree of the Colquhouns of Ballernick and their relationship to the Colquhouns of Luss and Colhouns of Crosh in Ireland. Ancestors of the Colhouns of Crosh are in boldface, and those who went to or were born in Ireland are shaded in green. Not shown is Christian, daughter of Robert Colquhoun of Ballernick (d. 1640). Birth dates are to be taken as very approximate in most cases. Dates for the Colquhouns of Luss at left are the dates each served as laird of Luss. Dotted lines indicate proposed relationships that do not yet have documentary support.

The placement of James and John Colhoun in this tree does not contradict what we know about the Ballernick family, since none of the few records pertaining to Humphrey Colquhoun of Ballernick (who seems to have lived, very approximately, during the period 1595-1670) states that he was Robert of Ballernick’s only son.  As inheritor of the estate, he was clearly the eldest son, but he could well have had younger brothers, as I show here.  The Crosh family’s financial and social position in Ireland suggested to me that it originated with a branch of the Scottish gentry, and this tree is consistent with that hypothesis.

In addition, note that Humphrey Colquhoun’s wife was Margaret Sempill, whom he probably married in the 1620s.  John Colhoun of Letterkenny became the “servant” (likely the estate agent) of Sir William Sempill in Ireland.  I do not yet know what the relationship was between Margaret and Sir William, but a family connection certainly explains how John could have attained the position that he did.  

Finally, and most importantly, this tree structure is strongly supported by the oral tradition within the Colhoun of Crosh family.  Recall Croslegh’s summary of this tradition (on p. x of his book):

The Irish branch [i.e., the Colhoun of Crosh family] had always retained the tradition, but it had lost all documentary record of its descent from the old Chiefs of Colquhoun.  It knew that its first ancestor in Ireland, Robert Colquhoun, had come from Luss, as a child, under the charge of his uncle MacCausland.

By the Crosh family’s “first ancestor in Ireland, Robert Colquhoun”, Croslegh was referring to the man of that name made denizen of Ireland in 1630 and grantee of the Luss family’s estate of Corkagh.  Croslegh identified this Robert, incorrectly, as a grandson of Alexander Colquhoun, 15^th/17^th of Luss.  In an earlier post, I argued instead that he was probably Robert Colquhoun later 10^th of Camstradden, as stated by Burke’s and other sources.  While this is still possible, I now feel that an equally strong if not stronger candidate is Robert Colquhoun of Ballernick, evidently another close associate of the Luss family.  I suggested that in the early years of the 1600s, the Colquhoun of Ballernick family suffered loss of property including Tullichintaull as a result of a land exchange with the MacFarlanes engineered by the Luss family.  One can imagine that the Colquhoun of Ballernick family’s brief ownership of Corkagh in 1630 was part of a complex land transaction intended to belatedly compensate them, just as the bequest from Alexander’s 1617 will might have been.  It is possible that Corkagh’s reversion to Luss ownership coincided with the Ballernicks’ acquisition of the lands of Bannachra from the laird of Luss’s brother Alexander in 1631, only a year later.

This is all speculation on my part, and I will return to Robert’s identity in the future if further evidence is found supporting either thesis.  In the meantime, this has been a long winded way of saying that the proposed tree agrees with the oral tradition in that an early ancestor of the Irish Crosh family was named Robert, even if Robert did not live “in Ireland”.  Instead, it seems to have been Robert’s son James who was the first to migrate to Ireland, and at the time he did so, Ballernick-mor belonged to the parish of Luss.  Thus, the oral tradition’s statement that this first ancestor had come “from Luss” is also accurate, even if he did not belong to the senior-most branch of the family, the Colquhouns “of Luss”.

Most importantly, the proposed tree shows Alexander McCausland as the first cousin of James and John Colhoun, explaining why Alexander and James settled near each other in Ireland and why Alexander chose John, who lived some distance away in Letterkenny, as an overseer of his will in 1674.  The 1642 muster roll of Sir William Stewart’s regiment that includes Alexander McCausland also includes several Calhouns, but not James.  I now believe that James probably died during the Rebellion of 1641, leaving his son William as a fatherless child who was taken in by (therefore “under the charge of”) Alexander McCausland.  This tree shows Alexander to have been William’s first cousin once removed, which is about as close to an uncle/nephew relationship as you can get without Alexander having been an actual uncle, as the oral tradition states.  In short, this proposed tree structure supports just about every element of the oral tradition maintained by the Colhoun of Crosh family.

There remain plenty of unanswered questions and plenty of research to be done, but I think we’re getting somewhere!

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Today marks the first anniversary of my first post to this blog. Special thanks yet again to Paul Calhoun for critical reading of this post and helpful edits, and for his valuable input into almost all previous posts over the past year. This blog has been much the stronger for his help. Please check out his own blog about the Calhoun family, calhoun.info.

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© 2024 Brian Anton. All rights reserved.

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For a list of posts, visit The Genealogy of the Calhoun Family homepage.