Lords Maclellan of Kirkcudbright
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The title Lord Kirkcudbright was bestowed on Sir Robert Maclellan of Bombie in 1633 by King Charles I of England on a visit to Scotland.
"The Maclellans were from the earliest times staunch Royalists, and zealously supported the successive kings of Scotland in their contests with their turbulent and too powerful nobles".
Sir John (Maclellan) de Bondeby, was with Scottish rebel Sir William Wallace in the year of 1298, during the battle of Falkirk, after which he sailed with Wallace from Kirkcudbright for France, to seek the support of the French king Philip, in his struggle against Edward I of England.
This name is said to have derived from 'son or servant of gillie', of St. Fillan, or "Mac Gille Fhaolain." Fillan or "faelchu", is old Irish for wolf.
The MacLellan family was numerous in Galloway in the later half of the 14th Century and gave its name to Balmaclellan, MacLellan's town, in the Stewartry of Galloway. It is understood that the Balmaclellan lands were given to John MacLellan by James III, king of Scotland, in 1466 on John MacLellan's intention to provide a site for a church there abouts. By the beginning of the fifteenth century there were no fewer than fourteen knights of that name then living in Galloway.
Consequent upon, and sometime after the murder of Sir Patrick Maclellan by the 8th Earl of Douglas at his stronghold of Threave in 1452, family feuding without the King's authority led to the forfeiture of the Maclellan Barony of Bomby, along with other collateral estates.
Not long afterwards however in 1455 some Bombie lands were recovered, when King James II, of Scotland, with support from the Maclellans, undertook the siege of Threave Castle, and won a victory over the 'Black Douglas' clan. (see also Kirkcudbrightshire: history).
Those who held the title were:
- Robert Maclellan, 1st Lord Kirkcudbright
- Thomas Maclellan, 2nd Lord Kirkcudbright
- John Maclellan, 3rd Lord Kirkcudbright
Robert Maclellan died in 1641, leaving only a daughter; he was succeeded by a nephew, Thomas Maclellan, who in turn died without children and the title passed to a cousin. His son, the 4th Lord, died childless in 1669. The estate had been sold to pay family debts, but the title was reclaimed in 1736 by James MacLellan, and passed down to the 9th Lord, becoming dormant on his death in 1832. The title Lord Kirkcudbright was bestowed on Sir Robert Maclellan of Bombie in 1633 by King Charles I of England on a visit to Scotland).
For many generations the family of Maclellan remained one of the oldest houses in the South of Scotland, during which time they were the largest land owners in Eastern Galloway with the office of Sheriff or Steward repeatedly in their possession even until Buchanan wrote during the reign of James II, they were "among the first in Galloway both for descent and power."
The origins of the family of Maclellan although ancient are uncertain. The family may descend from Ireland or the Western Isles, but it has been further argued that they were descended from Thomas Macduallan, the natural son of Alan, Lord of Galloway.
It has oft been retold how A Sheriff of Galloway, one sir Patrick Maclellan of Bombie, then the head of his family, and a staunch royalist declined an invitation to join William Douglas, the 8th Earl of Douglas, (b1425-d1452) along with the Earls of Ross and Crawford and Ormond in a powerful alliance against the young Scottish King James II.
In 1471 a charter granting possession of Loch Fergus with some lands was granted to a William Maclellan of Bombie.
His son, Thomas Maclellan was in due course awarded similar grants of land during 1490-1500. Thomas, who died in 1504, was married to Agnes (dau of Sir James Dunbar of Mochrum), by whom he had three sons. The eldest of these being, Sir William Maclellan of Bombie, in his time one of the most accomplished of his peers in Scotland, until his life was cut short when he fell at the battle of Flodden.
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Thomas Maclellan son of Sir William Maclellan.
Sir William Maclellan's son, Thomas, was killed at Edinburgh by the Barons of Drumlanrig and Lochinvar, with whom he had a feud. It was a son of this Thomas Maclellan, also named Thomas Maclellan, who built the existing Castle of Kirkcudbright.
Sir Thomas Maclellan of Bombie, Provost of Kirkcudbright.
Thomas Maclellan, 'Lord Kirkcudbright', (d 1597) was the son of William Maclellan and Rosina Agnew. This Sir Thomas Maclellan of Bombie, Provost of Kirkcudbright (pron. Ker-kil-bri) held a position in the Royal Household from 1580 and was wed to Grissel Herries, before 1582.
In 1569 the land and buildings of Kirkcudbright convent were acquired by Sir Thomas Maclellan of Bombie, most of which he had demolished. Using the stone from the convent and stone from the ruins of the old castle of Kirkcudbright, to his credit, he had built one of the grandest houses then found in Scotland. (completed in 1582).
"The ivy-grown ruins of the old Castle of Kirkcudbright ... cannot boast of any great antiquity, having been erected in the days of Queen Mary of Scotland". (1553-1562) (Dumfries & Galloway Standard, November, 1891).
John Maclellan, 3rd Lord Kirkcudbright
John Maclellan, 3rd Lord Kirkcudbright was a zealous Royalist and so restrained his tenants to fight in the name of the King, consequently the villages of Dunrod and Galtway were much reduced.
After the Restoration he: "sanctioned a riot by the people of Kircudbright to prevent an Episcopalian minister taking over the church in the town". He died in 1664, his fortune in tatters.
William Maclellan, 4th Lord Kirkcudbright.
During the brief lifetime of this young lord, who died young in 1669, without issue, the whole of the family estate was to be seized by his father's creditors, so that at his death, when the title descended to his cousin John, eldest son of William Maclellan of Auchlane, there was nothing left to support the dignity of the title. The title was not claimed for almost another sixty years.
"The Lordship was contested between c.1720 - 1742, during which time two separate people voted as 'Kirkcudbright' in the same elections of representative peers". (James Pringle Weavers)
John Maclellan, 5th Lord Kirkcudbright.
John Maclellan was the 5th Lord Kirkcudbright, by right of his father and the eldest son of William Maclellan of Auchlane.
A citizen of Edinburgh, John Maclellan, never assumed the family title, but upon his demise in 1721 his brother became the fifth Lord Kirkcudbright, John Maclellan however did have three sons.
The eldest died before his father; and the youngest entered the Royal Navy, only to be killed in 1782, whilst fighting in an engagement against the French, and in command of the 'Superb', flagship of Sir Edward Hughes, Maclellan was highly commended in the Admiral’s despatches, ‘as an excellent officer in every department of the service.’
The second son, John, duly became the seventh Lord Kirkcudbright, (see below). His successors afterwards conceded their baronial title only by courtesy.
William Maclellan, 6th Lord Kirkcudbright.
James Maclellan was also entitled to assume the title of Lord Kirkcudbright, but in 1723 the fortunes of the family were at so low an ebb having been seized and sold by creditors. Lord Kirkcudbright made a living by keeping a small ale house under the shadow of the baronial castle of his ancestors.
The title was restored in 1736 when James MacLellan petitioned the King on the matter, but Maclellan died leaving no male descendant, and the title then devolved on William Maclellan of Borness, sixth Lord Kirkcudbright.
William Maclellan was the male heir of Gilbert Maclellan, himself one of three of the brothers of Sir William of Bombie, who fell at Flodden.
The family title passed through the MacLellans of Glenshinnoch, Auchlane, and Balmangan to William MacLellan of Borness, in about 1741 (6th Lord), "Lord Kilconbrie" who maintained a trade in Edinburgh as a glover. William MacLellan, the 6th Lord died in about 1765.
This Lord Kirkcudbright exercised the business of glover in Edinburgh, and at the election of representative peers, which he invariably attended, he turned an honest penny by supplying his brother peers with gloves. He died in 1762.
John 7th Lord Kirkcudbright.
John Lord Kirkcudbright was succeeded by his son also John Maclellan, becoming the seventh Lord Kirkcudbright, he was also an officer in the 30th regiment. Lord John transferred to the 3rd regiment of Foot, and thereafter ascended to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, a position he maintained until his retirement from the army. After his successful petition to the King, his claim to the title was accepted by the House of Lords (1773). John Maclellan, 7th Lord Kirkcudbright died in 1801, leaving two sons.
Sholto Henry, eighth Lord Kirkcudbright.
John 7th Lord Kirkcudbright was succeeded by his son Sholto Henry, the 8th Lord who died without issue, and upon his death in 1827, the title devolved upon his younger brother, Camden Grey, the ninth and last Lord Kirkcudbright.
An officer in the Coldstream Guards, he died in 1832, leaving a widow who survived him for many years dying at an advanced age, and also a daughter who acquired some recognition as a novelist, who had married to a Mr Lambert of Castle-Lambert, in Ireland.
Taking into account the extent of the Maclellan influence and estates, extending into Wigtownshire, and that the family at one time ncluded fourteen knights - Barscobe, Gelston, Borgue, Troquhain, Barholm, Kirkconnel, Kirkcormick, Colvend, Kirkgunzeon, Glenshinnoch, Ravenston, Kilcruikie, Bardrockwood, Sorbie - it is remarkable that no heir to the title of Lord Kirkcudbright should exist.
"The family possessions in Kirkcudbright have long since been alienated and the title has been dormant since the death of the 9th Lord in 1832".
The lords Maclellan:
William Maclellan I of Bombie.
Thomas Maclellan died in 1504.
The 4 sons of William Maclellan:
1) Sir William Maclellan II of Bombie died battle of Flodden.
2) Robert Maclellan of Bombie (d.abt. 1640) (fourth in descent from Sir William I).
3) Gilbert Maclellan. Bishop of Man and the Sudreys in 1321.
4) Thomas Maclellan, son of Sir William Maclellan.
Thomas Maclellan, 2nd Lord Kirkcudbright died in 1647, was the son of William Maclellan.
John Maclellan, 3rd Lord Kirkcudbright (son of above). died in 1664.
Thomas Maclellan (son of Sir William Maclellan: died in Edinburgh.
Thomas Maclellan of Glenchannoch (son of above): of Bombie, Provost of Kirkcudbright wed to Grissel Herries, died 1639-41. (or died in 1647)?-: "On 23rd July 1644 a mounted infantry regiment was raised in the parishes of Kirkcudbright and embodied under the command of the 3rd Lord Kirkcudbright, Thomas McLellan of Glenchannoch- the former Lord Kirkcudbright having died in 1641"
Thomas also Lord Kirkcudbright (d 1597) (nephew of above), a son of William Maclellan.
William Maclellan of Borness, 6th Lord Kirkcudbright son of Gilbert Maclellan, "Lord Kilconbrie" died 1765.
James Maclellan, 7th Lord Kirkcudbright died 1721.
Sholto Henry, 8th Lord Kirkcudbright; died in 1827.
With the death of his brother, the 9th Lord in 1832 the title became dormant.
The Maclellan Motto: 'Think on'.