John Brownlee (son of Thomas Brownlee and Janet Young)18 was born Abt. 1665 in Scotland18, and died 1767 in Scotland18. He married Janet Hamilton on Jan 1692/93 in Scotland18. Notes for John Brownlee: [jamesbrownlee.FTW] !He was the third laird of Torfoot. The land in Avondale was deeded to John Brownlee, the first laird by Anne, Duchess of Hamilton in 1659. John the first laird was married to Helen Hamilton. the first laird died in 1695 and was succeeded by Thomas Brownlee, whose wife was Janet Young. Thomas died in 1713 and was succeeded by this John. From Lois Brownlee,Heres what I found out about our Brownlee ancestors on my trip to Scotland, May-June, 1998. Our Brownlees lived there in the 1500s, 1600s and 1700s. Most of what I learned had to do with our 7 greats grandfather, Thomas Brownlee, the second Laird of Torfoot. Thomas lived an adventurous, daring and dangerous life thats well documented and fairly easy to trace. Briefly again, Thomas was the second laird of Torfoot. (Laird meant he was a landowner.) Torfoot is still a farm, now owned by the Drummonds, Billy and Carolyn. Thomas was a Covenanter, a member of the Presbyterian religious movement of his time. A librarian at the East Kilbride library in Lanarkshire told me, Your grandfather was a very brave man. (By being a Covenanter) he defied the king, which in the 1600s was not something many people would have dared to do. Thomas fought in the Battle of Drumclog near his home, Torfoot. The Covenanters won this battle. But they lost at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge. There, Thomas was wounded, captured and force-marched to Edinburgh. He was imprisoned in Covenanters Prison in Edinburgh Kirkyard. Five months later he was taken from Edinburgh Kirkyard to the harbor and Leith Docks. He was put on a ship, the Crown of London, to be transported to Barbados to be a slave there.But the ship wrecked in the Orkney Islands off Mull Head near Scarva Taing about 9 p.m. the night of December 10, 1679. Two hundred Covenanters drowned that night, unable to escape from below decks. Theres a monument to them at the shipwreck site. But Thomas managed to escape, swim to shore, scramble up the dirt cliffs and survive. He made his way back to his home, Torfoot, in Strathaven in southwest Scotland, regained his lands and died there at age 73. When Thomas died, his first-born son John became the third laird of Torfoot. John was the father of Archibald, our first ancestor to come to America (Pennsylvania) in 1752. A Visit to Torfoot Caroline Drummond and her husband Billy are the current owners of Torfoot.Its still a farm, a dairy farm. Carolyn invitied me back at 1 p.m. Sunday to visit and talk about Thomas. She had pages of Brownlee information for me. But I had already photocopied the same 50-60 pages about the Brownlee family in Scotland at the East Kilbride Library on Saturday. Caroline Drummond shared as well the names from her guest book of Brownlees who had visited Torfoot over the years. Theres quite a long list of them. She was familiar with the deed to Torfoot and mentioned she believed John and Thomas were gifted with Torfoot. They didnt buy it, she felt, because the deed says it was granted and deeded to them. Theres some debate about this. Brownlee family researchers in Ameica believe John may have first rented, then bought the land from Anne, the good Duchess of Hamilton. Regardless of whether Brownlees bought or were given Torfoot, being on the land meant Brownlees lived better than most, the librarian at East Kilbride said. Your great grandfather was a laird and owned land in Scotland which made him definitely middle class, he said. To reach Torfoot from the Drumclog Church, go left (south) a quarter mile or so off A 71. Torfoots newer house and the barns are visible from the church. The original Torfoot home, the Auld Hoosie, is a 16th?, 17th? century stone cottage, small in size and just past the white house near the road. Such cottages are still common in Scotland. DRUMCLOG BATTLEFIELD MONUMENT The Covenanters won this battle. Both the battle and the battlefield are well remembered here. The first Sunday in June each year they hold a Conventicle or church meeting much like the one that brought on the battle. The Conventicle is a combination open air church service and picnic held at the battlefield near the Drumclog Monument. The monument is beside a narrow country road. The inscription reads In Commemoration of the Victory obtained on this Battlefield on Sabbath, the 1st of June, 1679 by our Covenanting Forefather over Grahame (correct spelling) of Claverhouse and his Dragoons. How to get to the Drumclog Monument and the Drumclog Battlefield: Headed back to Strathaven from Torfoot on A-71, watch for a small sign, Outdoor Centre 2 on the left. Turn left at the sign and follow that narrower road for several miles to the monument and battlefield. The monument will be on your right. Thomas was among the 1200 or so Covenanters captured at that disastrous battle and force-marched to Edinbugh. He was imprisoned, unsheltered, for five long, brutally hard months in Edinburgh Kirkyard. We went first to the Covenanters Prison, originally a large open field. Now, only a remnant remains since houses and other buildings have taken over much of the kirkyard in the intervening 300 years. Iain Hunter unlocked the gate and we walked the remaining Covenanters Prison while he explained where they had been imprisoned and what conditions were like for them. He talked about how terrible the weather was that year adding to their hardships. The Covenanters said the bad weather seemed to say even God was against them, he told me.Neighbors felt sorry for men forced to live on bread crusts and a bit of water and they threw bread over the high wall to them, he said. He unlocked doors in the church to show me the Avondale banner Covenanters fought under at Bothwell Bridge. Your great granddfather may well have fought under that banner, he said. He took me to the corner of the churchyard where the Covenanters Memorial stands and found me a copy of the monument insciption to take with me. How to find Edinburgh Kirkyard, also known as Greyfriars Kirk, Kirkyard. Its a well known tourist site in the center of Edinburgh and not difficult to find. If you start from the High Street, walk south over the George IV Bridge. At the junction of that street with Candlemaker Row, the church will be on your right. A Visit to the Place Where Thomas Was Shipwrecked and the Monument to the Covenanters Who Died There The shipwreck of the Crown of London happened at 9 p.m. (another source says 10 p.m.) December 10, 1679 during a terrible storm with dangerous seas. The captain had been advised by locals to seek safe harbor, but he disregarded that advice. The wreck occured 300 yards from the Covenanter Memorial at Scarva Taing on Deerness.The ship broke in half on the rocks, and the crew cut down the mast to make a way to get to the rocks and to safety. By the captains orders, the Covenanters were locked below decks and 200 did go down with the ship. One sailor, in sympathy with the Covenanters cause, hacked a way out for the men locked below decks just before he abandoned ship. Some Covenanters then escaped and made their way through heavy seas to shore, despite being pushed into the sea, knocked off the rocks by the crew. The memorial is in a remote area, and down a mile-long fenced, grassy lane. He waited for me while I walked the mile down, photographed the tall monument and walked back another mile to the taxi. I stood above the dark water looking down the steep dirt cliffs, wondering what it must have been like to go into that rolling, churning water at 9 p.m. on a cold, dark December night. And how it must have been to scramble up that dark cliff in a desperate effort to live. And remember, Thomas was a big, strong man weighing 250 to 300 pounds by some accounts. Most of that was probably muscle, since people didnt eat that well in the 1600s. He was probably tall as well to carry that much weight. Asked how Thomas would have gotten bck to Mainland Scotland. He said there were ferries even in those days. And he might have gotten work, or been given a ride across, he said. However he got back to Torfoot, Thomas probably had a hard time getting to his home in Lanarkshire. If found, he could have been made a prisoner again or even shot on sight. Unless someone helped him, he would have had to live off the land and travel secretly. But Thomas did get back to Torfoot and to his family and regain his land. I dont want to muddy the waters here, but I guess I must. I am a Brownlee descendant (5th laird) whose daughter married a Cuthbertson.........these two families are extremely Covenanter in origin. Both families had ancestors on the ship, The Crown, which went down off the Orkney Islands during a deportation voyage to the US in the late 1600s. These men were the ones who, captured at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge, refused to deny their oath as Covenanters and were thus deported. Most of the men on this ship died. Thomas Brownlee lived and returned to Lanarkshire. Im not sure if the John Cuthbertson who died on that ship was a direct ancestor to the Rev John Cuthbertson on PA, but surely he was at least some relation. I cannot speak for what the Brownlees were calling themselves in Illinois, but in the late 1600s they fought both at Drumclog and at Bothwell Bridge. There have been books written about the Brownlee participation at these battles and their Covenanter sympathies. Their survival through these times was no doubt aided by the Covenanter sympathies expressed by the Duchess of Hamilton, head of their clan. She was aware of the Covenanter tendancies among many of her subjects (sympathies it is said she held herself) and asked her cousin, King Charles II, to not allow his troups to search her lands. As she said it disturbs the game. From: aria99 A Brief History of Torfoot Farm Torfoot Farm is located about 7 miles southwest of Strathaven, Lanarkshire, Scotland. 1547. The Register of the Great Seal of Scotland lists tenants Joh. Brounlie and Wil. Brounlie on the lands of Glengivell, which includes Torfoot. 1637. The Rental of the Barony of Avondale lists Johnne Hamiltun and Johnne Brounlie in Toirfute. 1658, December 29. Anne, Duchess of Hamilton, with consent of William, Earl of Selkirk, her spouse, deeded 8 shilling fourpenny of the lands of Torfitt which is one part of the lands of Glengivell with houses, biggins, yards, crofts, etc. to John Brownlie in Torfitt and Thomas Brownlie his lawful son, and a like amount to Thomas Hamilton. 1659, April 5. John Young granted rights to his eldest daughter, Janet, future spouse of Thomas Brownlie, Portioner in Torfoot. 1659, June 14. Thomas Hamilton granted rights to 1/3 of his lands to his wife, Helene Brownlie during her lifetime. 1669, Apr 9. The will of Margaret Mure, spouse to the deceased John Brounly in Torfoot was probated. (It is assumed this John Brounly died at the time the property was deeded to John and Thomas in 1658.) 1679, June-July. Thomas Brownlie, Laird of Torfoot, fought in the Battle of Drumclog and, three weeks later, the Battle of Bothwell Bridge, where he was captured by the British. 1693, Jan 4. Matrimonial Contract between John Brownlie, son of Thomas Brownlie and Janet Young, and Janet Hamilton, daughter of Robert Hamilton of Burn. 1713, July 27. The Brownlie portion of Torfoot passed to John Brownlie, son of Thomas Brownlie, deceased. 1747, May 21. The Brownlie portion of Torfoot passed to Thomas Brownlie, eldest son and heir of John Brownlie. 1773, May 20. The Brownlee portion of Torfoot passed to James Brownlie, eldest son and heir of Thomas Brownlie. 1803, July 14. Disposition of James Brownlie in favor of his son, John. 1803. Romans coins are found on the lands of Torfoot. A portion of these coins remained in the Brownlee family until recently. 1823, May 22. Disposition of Trust and Deed of Settlement from John Brownlie to his brother, Alexander, with directions to convert the whole estate into money. 1831, March 2 & April 20. John Brownlie of Torfoot, now residing in Franklin County, State of Pennsylvania in USA sold the property to Jean Struthers, wife of William Dykes, Surgeon in the Royal Navy. Purchase price was 1,345 pounds. 1872, November 11. Jean Struthers Dykes sold the property to Alexander Park, resident of West Auchenlongford in County of Ayr. Purchase price 2,665 pounds. The Parish Records for Lanarkshire, Scotland include the following births at Torfoot 11 April, 1699 - John Brownlee, son of John July, 1701 - Jean Brownlee, daughter of John 14 Mar 1703 - William, son of John 4 May 1701 - Jean, daughter of Arc. 23 May 1703 - John Brownlee, son of Archibald 31 May 1709 - Andrew Brownlee, son of John 2 July, 1714 - Janet Brownlee, daughter of John 1 Nov., 1724 - Jean Brownlee, daughter of Thomas 5 Nov., 1725 - Janet Brownlee, daughter of Thomas 1 Jan., 1728 - Martha Brownlee, daughter of Thomas 10 June, 1735 - John Brownlee, son of Thomas 31 Dec., 1736 - Agnes Brownlee daughter of Thomas 25, June 1750 - Marion Hamilton, daughter of John, Portr (Portioner?) 11 Sept., 1756 - Isobel Hamilton, daughter of Andrew Pat Thomas 1335 Lakeview Avenue Winona, MN 55987 1-507-458-8227 More About John Brownlee: Record Change: 14 Nov 200018 More About John Brownlee and Janet Hamilton: Marriage: Jan 1692/93, Scotland.18 Children of John Brownlee and Janet Hamilton are: +Thomas Brownlee, b. Abt. 1700, Scotland18, d. 177318. +Archibald Brownlee, b. 09 Sep 1705, Avondale, Torfoot, Lanarkshire, Scotland18, d. 1788, Washington county, Pennsylvania18.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 00:06:21 +0000
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