NOTE BY PBG TO SUPPORT THE RELEASE OF CRICHTON06 & CRICHTON07 INTO THE 'PROPER' DATABASE ON 22.07.25.

As indicated at the top of Crichton06, back in 2017 I did a lot of work to produce a DRAFT of Crichton06. However, what I produced was nowhere near good enough to launch into the 'proper' database. In late May 2025 I revisited the page and turned to 'RedBookScot', the impressive series of volumes by Gordon MacGregor (for more on which see under 'RedBookScot' on Sources & Acknowledgements). Volume 4 of that series, 2025 edition, contains articles on 9 branches of Crichtons of which 4 are relevant to Crichton06. The last one I turned to was that on 'Crichton of Cluny'. I saw that MacGregor had not determined precisely how that line connected to the rest of the family. Looking at what I had worked on back in 2017 led me to revisit 'Life of James Crichton of Cluny commonly called The Admirable Crichton' (Patrick Fraser Tytler, 1819). In looking for that in my files I came across 'Life of the Admirable Crichton Revisited' by Brian Lawrence Dreadon (#3 here) and realised that the author had kindly provided me with a copy of his book when he published it (online) in August 2018. I was embarrassed to discover that that copy had been submerged in one of those waves of distractions that too often make me lose sight of correspondence. I did not work on the book immediately and then, I must admit, completely forgot about it. At the beginning of June 2025 I was delighted to find the book again and to make contact with Brian again. I am pleased to confirm that his work supported almost of all what was given in 'RedBookScot'. The few differences in interpretation of some dates are not worthy of concern and the few additons (and some omissions) of younger children appear to have largely arisen from Dreadon's occasional inclusion of data from 'Balmerino and its Abbey' (James Campbell, 1867, p261+). The works of Gordon MacGregor & Brian Dreadon, and their friendly & useful correspondence on these families, enabled me to completely redo what I had on the Crichtons of Cranston Riddell and their cadets. My sincere thanks to them both.

'INTRODUCTORY NOTE' THAT WAS SHOWN AT THE TOP OF THE DRAFT PAGE THAT WAS RELEASED ON 03.08.17. IT IDENTIFIES MOST OF THE SOURCES THAT HAD BEEN USED FOR THAT DRAFT. NOTE THAT THIS NOTE HAS BEEN WHOLLY SUPERSEDED BY THE COMPLETE REVISION OF CRICHTON06. IT IS SHOWN 'FOR INTEREST ONLY'. RESEARCHERS OF THIS FAMILY MAY BE INTERESTED TO SEE HOW I APPROACHED THIS FAMILY BACK IN 2017 AND WHAT SOURCES I USED FOR THAT RESEARCH.

This page is being used to pull together information on the Crichtons of Cranston Riddell (in Midlothian), Cluny (Fife), Cluny (Perthshire), Eliock (in Sanquhar, Dumfriesshire), Gilmerton, Lugton and Naughton. The information appears to include contradictions so we suspect that earlier researchers have sometimes been overly presumptuous on some issues. It appears that we still lack reliable information that could help us produce definitive pedigrees of these families. This leads us to be presumptuous ourselves but at least we report that to be the case! Note that:
(a) 'A System of Heraldry' by Alexander Nisbet (1816 edition, vol 1, p279), with this being repeated almost verbatim by electricscotland.com, reports that "David Crichton of Cranston, who is descended of Frendraught, was one of the Commissioners nominated by King James III. in the treaty of marriage with his Majesty, and Margaret, daughter of the King of Denmark." That marriage took place in 1469 so David, who would probably have been of age by then, was probably born by 1448. Frendraught (in Huntly, Aberdeenshire) came into the Crichton family through the marriage in about 1443 of William, 2nd Lord. That implies that the above-mentioned David Crichton of Cranston, the first mentioned below, was son of that William.
(b) 'Life of James Crichton of Cluny commonly called The Admirable Crichton' (Patrick Fraser Tytler, 1819), which book is referred to below as 'The Admirable Crichton', is surprisingly unclear about the ancestry of the Admirable Crichton. However, it does (p9+) report that he "was allied to a family of ancient and hereditary nobility: and it is certain that William, the third Lord Crichton, married Lady Margaret Stewart, daughter of King James the Second. By his mother, Elizabeth Stewart, he couild trace a lineal, though not a legitimate, descent from Robert, Duke of Albany, the uncle of James the First. He was connected, therefore, on both sides, with the royal family of Scotland". This suggests that he was closely connected to William, 3rd Lord Crichton.
- Because of (a) & (b), we presume that the undermentioned David Crichton of Cranston was indeed a son of William, 2nd Lord Crichton, and so we make that connection. Note that this makes his descendants cadets of the line of Frendraught, not of the line of Sanquhar. This contradicts the common report that the Crichtons of Cluny were of the House of Sanquhar. It is certainly possible that the main reason why Crichton of Cluny is thought descended from Crichton of Sanquhar was because Eliock, which was owned by the Lord Advocate, is in the parish of Sanquhar. Anther reason (seen suggested for Cluny being cadet of Sanquhar) is given by 'RedBookScot' ("Crichton of Cluny"), which we have not made use of below except as clearly identified, and is that Edward Crichton, Lord Sanquhar, and his uncle John of Ryhill and also Bishop Robert, were in 1566 confirmed as "next of kin of the father's side" of sons of Robert Crichton of Eliok. However, we have seen examples of "kin" being used quite broadly with "next of kin" being an overly-presumptuous interpretation of the term (in its context) and so, given that, according to (d) following, Cluny was passed to the Lord Advocate by Bishop George who, was of the line of Naughton, we are not fully convinced of the need to ignore that latter suggestion. Nevertheless, that makes us uneasy, particularly as "Sanquhar and the Crichtons" (Douglas Crichton, 1907, p22) clearly reports that Robert, father of the Admirable Crichton, "descended from the Crichtons of Sanquhar".
(c) www.electricscotland.com ("Crichton") suggests that Bishop George, Bishop was "a son of Crichton of Naughton". The first Crichton of Naughton, who obtained that estate after his father-in-law was killed at Flodden (1513), was Sir Peter. Provisionally, we show Bishop George as brother of Sir Peter rather than a generation later, this providing the link to later Crichtons of Naughton. However, we do so partly because of the influence of the Wikipedia article referred to in (f) below and so may be wrong.
(d) 'Fife (P&H)' (vol 2, p84) reports that in 1475 the Earl of Angus sold Cluny (Fife) to David Crichton of Cranston. Patrick of Cranston Riddell apparently succeeded and in 1521 Partick was succeeded by his son James. 'Fife (P&H)' then jumps to George Crichton of Cluny, illegitimate son of Abraham Crichton (Provost of Dunglass), who died before 1583 leaving 2 daughters, Margaret & Christian. We have not attempted to place that Abraham Crichton below. However, we have taken note of that Cranston line from David to Patrick to James. We presume that the David mentioned (a 1475) was the same as the David (a 1469). That implies that Patrick and/or James was born when his father was not particularly young.
(e) 'The Admirable Crichton' (p6) reports that Bishop George was brother of Lord Advocate Sir Robert of Eliock (in Sanquhar, Dumfriesshire) & Cluny (Perthshire). As shown below, we suspect that Bishop George was actually uncle rather than brother of the Lord Advocate. We do not take that view easily (and we reserve the right to change our mind on this at any time!) for, of all our sources, we think that Patrick Fraser Tytler (author of 'The Admirable Crichton') would have been particularly keen to avoid such a mistake.
(f) Wikipedia ("Robert Crichton (bishop)") reports (or at least it did so on 03.08.17) that Bishop Robert was nephew of Bishop George and a younger son of Sir Patrick of Cranstoun. Wikipedia also reports that Bishop Robert was Provost of St Giles in Edinburgh in 1517. To have been of adult status then, he would have been born no later than 1496. However, adult status was not always necessary (although a Provost was normally quite a senior position) but it is still likely that he would have been born no later than (say) 1500. That suggests that Bishop Robert was 2 or (at most) 3 generations after Sir David and so that Bishop George was a son or (just possibly) grandson of Sir David. Not least because of the linkage given between the Cluny branch and the Cranston branch, that article has made quite an impact on what we show below. However, we recognise that, whilst it is a fantastic resource, for genealogical matters at least Wikipedia does not hold the highest reputation for thorough research.
(g) 'Fife (P&H)' (vol 2, p85) reports that there were "at one time two distinct septs bearing the designation of Crichton of Cluny" because there was a Cluny in Fife as well as one in Perthshire. This raises the thought that some may have confused the 2 families, and it also raises the thought that there could have been 2 distinct lines of Crichtons of Cranston (which might explain some of the problems in reconciling the information we have).

The following attempts to pull these points together along with cross-references from elsewhere in the database. It should be viewed as speculative!

NOTE SHOWN ON THE DRAFT PAGE (DATED 03.08.17) JUST ABOVE SIR ROBERT CRICHTON OF ELIOCK & CLUNY, THE LORD ADVOCATE.

'Senators of The College of Justice' (Bruton & Haig, 1836, p176+) identifies the Lord Advocate as "Supposed to have been son of another Robert Crichton". Showing the Lord Advocate as nephew rather than brother of Bishop George contradicts 'The Admirable Crichton' but the dates seem to support him being a generation later (see the note under Bishop George below). It is of course possible that the Lord Advocate was an (illegitimate?) son of Bishop Robert. That there may have been 2 Roberts of the same generation would not have been impossible.

NOTE SHOWN ON THE DRAFT PAGE (DATED 03.08.17) JUST BELOW GEORGE CRICHTON, BISHOP OF DUNKELD.

The Admirable Crichton' (p10) reports that Bishop George "had already conveyed his lands and castle of Cluny to his brother the Lord Advocate; and, when he found himself becoming too old for the active duties of his see, he offered to resign his bishoprick in favour of another relation of the family, of the name of Robert Crichton." A note on that page then reports of that Robert Crichton that he "is called by Spottiswood, nephew to the bishop; but his lineage and history are extremely difficulty discovery. It is at least certain, that he is not the same person with Sir Robert Crichton of Cluny, second son of the Lord Advocate, and brother to the Admirable Crichton, because he is Bishop of Dunkeld in 1561, at which time Sir Robert Crichton was not born." As reported above, Wikipedia suggests that Robert Crichton, Bishop of Dunkeld, was indeed nephew of Bishop George. As Wikipedia may be relying on Spottiswood, and as Patrick Fraser Tytler (who prepared 'The Admirable Crichton') implies that Spottiswood may not be reliable on this, that throws some uncertainty on the issue.

NOTE SHOWN ON THE DRAFT PAGE (DATED 03.08.17) JUST BELOW DAVID CRICHTON WHO WAS SHOWN, AT THE TOP OF A LOWER SECTION, AS POSSIBLE FATHER OF PATRICK CRICHTON, 1ST OF THE CRICHTONS OF LUGTON. WE NO LONGER FOLLOW THAT SUGGESTION. NOTE THAT THIS WAS A DIFFERENT DAVID CRICHTON FROM THE DAVID OF CRANSTON RIDDELL WHO WAS AT THE TOP OF THE UPPER (MAIN) SECTION OF THE PAGE.

Debrett's Peerage (vol 2 (Scotland) 1790, 'Earl of Dumfries', p108) identifies David, youngest son (by Elizabeth Fleming) of William Crichton, (3rd) Lord of Sanquhar, as ancestor of the Crichtons of Lugton. That is not consistent with the following as Lord William & Elizabeth Fleming married in March 1540/1, some years after their alleged grandson was born. However, as shown on Crichton03, we believe that Debrett was confused with the lordships and it is possible that David, ancestor of the Lugton line, was originally identified as son of the 3rd Lord, whom we identify as Robert who died in/before 1520. Provisionally and speculatively, we make that connection..