'Cockburn03'
Index links to: Lead / Letter
Families covered: Cockburn of Choicelee (Chouslie), Cockburn of Cockburn, Cockburn of Ryslaw
[This page was originally named Cockburn2. It was renamed as part of a review of the Cockburn family. Please note that that review has not yet been completed.]
| The following note will be redone in due course. There is (or at least was) much confusion regarding the ancestry of the later baronets 'of that ilk' (of Cockburn). We follow what is reported in BP1934 on the grounds that what it said is still being reported in BP1999 but we are nervous about rejecting the pedigree given in TCB which is normally reliable and which appears to have taken trouble investigating this family. The difference centres on the ancestry of John Cockburn of Kilkenny who BP1934 and BP1999 show was of the family 'of that ilk' whereas BP1870 & TCB show him as of the family of Ryslaw. Because of this disagreement, TCB shows that the line of the baronets 'of that ilk' failed but the line of the baronets of Ryslaw did not whereas BP1934 shows it the other way around. A complication is that one of the baronets, presumably not being aware of his true pedigree, believed that his baronetcy arose from his succession to the baronetcy of Ryslaw (when that line failed) on the grounds that he was "heir male collateral" of that line whereas in fact (we think, if BP1934 is right) it was because he was a normal successor to the baronetcy 'of that ilk'. Such confusion may have been exacerbated by the apparent facts that the limitations (the succession) of the Ryslaw baronetcy are unknown - indeed, it is not certain that it was ever created - so, assuming that it was created, it is not clear whether or not claims to the succession of that baronetcy would have been valid if that line had in fact died out. Research into this family would not have been helped by the fact that some of the Ryslaw baronets (the last ones?) lived mostly in the Low Countries rather than in Britain. |
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| William Cockburn of Cockburn, Berwickshire (d 1564) | |||||||||||||||
| m. (before 30.12.1530) Isobel Home (dau of Sir David Home of Wedderburn) | |||||||||||||||
| TCB suggests that there was another generation, another William, between the above William and ... | |||||||||||||||
| 1. | Alexander Cockburn 'of that ilk' of Cockburn (d 10.03.1583) | ||||||||||||||
| Cockburn-Wood identifies Alexander's wife as Helen, dau of Sir Alexander Hepburn of Whitsome. BP1934 identifies her as ... | |||||||||||||||
| m. Helena Hepburn (d 12.08.1587, dau of Sir Patrick Hepburn of Bolton) | |||||||||||||||
| A. | William Cockburn 'of that ilk' of Cockburn (d 1600) | ||||||||||||||
| Cockburn-Wood identifies William's wife as Margaret, dau of Alexander Home of Manderston by Janet, dau of George Home of Spot. BP1934 identifies her as ... | |||||||||||||||
| m. Helen Renton (dau of John Renton of Billie) | |||||||||||||||
| i. | William Cockburn 'of that ilk' of Cockburn (a 1608) | ||||||||||||||
| m. (03.05.1596) Elizabeth Kincade (dau of John Kincade (Kincaid) of Warriston) | |||||||||||||||
| a. | John Cockburn 'of that ilk' of Cockburn (b 1598, d 1652 (or 1656)) | ||||||||||||||
| Cockburn-Wood identifies John's wife as Margaret, dau of Rev. John Spottiswoode of Longformacus. BP1934 & TCB identify her as ... | |||||||||||||||
| m. (10.1626) Elspeth Oliphant (dau of Sir William Oliphant of Newtown) | |||||||||||||||
| (1) | William Cockburn 'of that ilk' of Cockburn (dsp 03.1663) | ||||||||||||||
| (2) | Sir James Cockburn 'of that ilk', 1st Bart (b 07.11.1628, bur 03.01.1704) | ||||||||||||||
| BP1934 reports that James was "created a baronet of Scotland by warrant 24 May, 1671". TCB reports that "the patent, however, not being signed, "though officially docqueted as duly put on record"." Cockburn-Wood notes that James "assumed the title" (apparently on the disposition of Sir Archibald Cockburn of Langton, Bart) but that other records are inconsistent as his designation. | |||||||||||||||
| m. (08.01.1658) Grissel Hay (dau of Alexander Hay of Barra) | |||||||||||||||
| (A) | Sir William Cockburn 'of that ilk', 2nd Bart (b 11.09.1662, bur 10.01.1751, 2nd son) | ||||||||||||||
| Cockburn-Wood identifies William's wife (m. 19.04.1701) as Elizabeth, dau of David Hepburn of Humbie, and their children as James (only son, left one son, William who d 1810) and Jean, Helen, Elizabeth & Isobel. BP1934, supported by TCB, identifies his wife and children as follows. | |||||||||||||||
| m. Helen Lermonth (d 28.11.1764, dau of Mark Lermonth) | |||||||||||||||
| (i) | Sir James Cockburn 'of that ilk', 3rd Bart (d 13.03.1780, Lt. Colonel) | ||||||||||||||
| m(1). (08.04.1764) Mary Rochead (d 05.09.1766, dau of Robert Rochead of Masterton) | |||||||||||||||
| (a) | Sir William James Cockburn 'of that ilk', 4th Bart (d unm 09.01.1800, Lt. Colonel) | ||||||||||||||
| p/(m2). Phoebe Sharman of Cork (d 1798) | |||||||||||||||
| (b) | Sir James Cockburn, '5th Bart' (dsp) | ||||||||||||||
| Sir James assumed the title but there were doubts about his legitimacy. | |||||||||||||||
| (c)+ | other issue (dsp) - George (d 25.10.1800), Robert (d 07.1800) | ||||||||||||||
| (ii) | Grissell Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| m. John Greenfield (Captain) | |||||||||||||||
| (iii)+ | other issue - Jean, Helen, Elizabeth, Isobelle | ||||||||||||||
| (B) | John Cockburn of Kilkenny (b 22.04.1675, d 12.12.1758, surgeon, 4th son) | ||||||||||||||
| Alternative ancestries for John or his sons William & James, as suggested by TCB ('Cockburn of Ryslaw') and BP1870 respectively, are reported on Cockburn01. | |||||||||||||||
| m. (1720) Martha Rich of Kilkenny (d 14.01.1756) | |||||||||||||||
| (i) | William Cockburn (b 1721, d 07.06.1776, Archdeacon of Ossory) | ||||||||||||||
| m. (10.12.1763) Susanna Savage | |||||||||||||||
| (a) | Frances Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| m. E. Pidgeon (vicar of St. John's, Kilkenny) | |||||||||||||||
| (b) | Mary Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| m. _ Proctor (Maj. General) | |||||||||||||||
| (c)+ | other issue (d unm) - William (d infant), Susanna (bpt 22.11.1462), Elizabeth | ||||||||||||||
| (ii) | Sir James Cockburn 'of that ilk', 5th Bart (b 1723, d 09.06.1809, Quartermaster General in North America) | ||||||||||||||
| BP1870 ('Cockburn of Cockburn and Ryslaw') suggests that Sir James was not a baronet but that his son inherited the baronetcy of Ryslaw. We follow BP1934 which makes no mention of the claim in respect of Ryslaw. | |||||||||||||||
| m. Laetitia Little (d 11.11.1804, dau of Luke Little of Carlow) | |||||||||||||||
| (a) | Sir William Cockburn 'of that ilk', 6th Bart (b 1769, d 19.03.1835, Lt. General) | ||||||||||||||
| m1. (01.06.1791) Eliza Anne Creutzer (d 30.06.1829, dau of Col. Henry Frederick Creutzer of Mannheim by Eliza Jacob) | |||||||||||||||
| ((1)) | Sir William Sarsfield Rossiter Cockburn 'of that ilk', 7th Bart (b 11.06.1796, d 12.04.1858) had issue | ||||||||||||||
| m. (15.10.1823) Ann Coke (d 12.04.1879, dau of Rev. Francis Coke of Lemore) | |||||||||||||||
| ((2)) | Katherine Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| m. (06.05.1828) Edward Cludde of Orleton | |||||||||||||||
| m2. (02.07.1834, sp) Martha Honora Georgina Ricketts-Jervis (d 26.02.1865, dau of Capt. William Henry Ricketts-Jervis of Longwood) | |||||||||||||||
| (b) | Lucy Cockburn (d young) | ||||||||||||||
| (c) | Mary Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| m. John Cockburn (Colonel) | |||||||||||||||
| (d) | Margaret Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| m. _ Cole of Kilkenny (Major) | |||||||||||||||
| (iii) | Mary Cockburn (d unm before 04.07.1793) | ||||||||||||||
| (C) | Barbara Cockburn (b 22.07.1660) ## see here ## | ||||||||||||||
| m. (30.12.1680) Henry Sinclair, '10th' Lord (bpt 03.06.1660, bur 14.03.1723) | |||||||||||||||
| (D) | Grissell Cockburn (b 29.01.1674) | ||||||||||||||
| m. George Waddell | |||||||||||||||
| (E)+ | other issue - Alexander (b 31.12.1658, dvp unm), James (b 02.09.1668, d unm 1686), Anna (b 1661), Agnes (b 11.06.1664, d infant), Christine (b 11.05.1665, bur 15.11.1703), Grissell (b 03.04.1666, d infant), Agnes (b 23.06.1667, d 27.04.1719), Grissell (b 24.09.1669, d infant), Elizabeth (b 25.02.1672, d 09.1731), Issobell (b 21.07.1678, bur 21.06.1739), Bethia (b 12.08.1681, d 23.09.1731) | ||||||||||||||
| (3) | Anna Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| m. Patrick Home of Huttonhall (son of Sir John of North Berwick then Tullycastle) | |||||||||||||||
| (4)+ | other issue - Thomas, Alexander, Margaret, Catherine (d unm before 28.10.1653) | ||||||||||||||
| b. | Jean Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| c. | Elizabeth Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| m. (1620/23) Alexander Home (son of Adam (rector of Polwarth) son of Sir Pattrick of Polwarth & Kimmerghame by Elizabeth Hepburn) | |||||||||||||||
| B. | Jean Cockburn possibly of this generation | ||||||||||||||
| m. John Renton of Billie & Lamberton (b by 1547, d before 28.05.1584?) | |||||||||||||||
| C.+ | other issue - John, Alexander, Adam, Sir Patrick (Colonel), Margaret, Marion | ||||||||||||||
| 2. | Katherine Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| m. John Sinclair (son of George of Blans (cadet of Herdmanston)) | |||||||||||||||
| 3. | Agnes Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| m. Walter Chepman of Ewirland (burgess of Edinburgh, printer) | |||||||||||||||
| 4.+ | other issue - George, Isobel | ||||||||||||||
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| Christopher Cockburn of Chouslie (Choicelee) | |||||||||||||||
| m. Christopher Ellem (probably dau of John Ellem (son of Richard) by Elizabeth) | |||||||||||||||
| 1. | William Cockburn of Choicelee (Chouslie) (a 1535, d 31.03.1571) | ||||||||||||||
| m. Margaret Galbraith (dau of Robert Galbraith of Easter Winschelis) | |||||||||||||||
| A. | James Cockburn of Choicelee (Chouslie) (d 22.07.1586) the first mentioned by TCB | ||||||||||||||
| m. Marion Douglas (dau of John Douglas, baillie of Langton) | |||||||||||||||
| i. | William Cockburn of Choicelee (Chouslie) (d 1611/1628) | ||||||||||||||
| m. Sybilla Sinclair (d before 20.06.1606, dau of Matthew Sinclair of Longformacus) | |||||||||||||||
| a. | Christopher Cockburn of Choicelee (d 12.1631) | ||||||||||||||
| m. Jean/Janet Hume (dau of Sir Patrick Hume of Polwarth by Jane Ker) | |||||||||||||||
| (1) | William Cockburn of Choicelee | ||||||||||||||
| m. Jeane Moray (dau of Sir William Moray of Dreghorn by Elizabeth, dau of Sir James Foulis, Bart of Colinton) | |||||||||||||||
| (A) | Francis Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| m. Henrietta Murray (dau of Sir Mungo Murray of Blebo (by 1st wife, he m2. Dame Christian Hamilton)) | |||||||||||||||
| (2) | Alexander Cockburn of Blackismylne had issue | ||||||||||||||
| m. (1654) Elizabeth Cockburn (dau/heir of Robert Cockburn of Blackismylne (son of Sir James of Langton)) | |||||||||||||||
| (3) | Christopher Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| b. | Sir James Cockburn of Newbigging, later of Ryslaw (Berwickshire) (d 11.1659) | ||||||||||||||
| (1) Cockburn-Wood reports that this was the James "regarding whom the greatest misapprehension has been entertained, and the absurd bisstatements published. He appears to have been a Doctor of Medicine, and by his professions and marriages acquired some property. He was knighted after the year 1635". (2) BP1870 ('Cockburn (of Cockburn and Ryslaw)') provides a very different ancestry for him, suggesting that he was the eldest son (by Mary, dau of William Scott of Harden) of Sir John Cockburn, 1st Bart of Ryslaw, the only son (by Margaret, dau of John Spottiswood of Spottiswood) of William Cockburn of Cockburn & Ryslaw the eldest son of Alexander eldest son of John Cockburn who was the elder son (by Anna, dau of the Earl of Home) of Sir William Cockburn of Langton (d Flodden 1513). (3) TCB reports the view that Sir James was the 2nd Bart having inherited the baronetcy from his uncle Sir James (see note ## below). |
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| m1. Jane Swinton (dau of Alexander Swinton of Swinton by Margaret Home) | |||||||||||||||
| (1) | James Cockburn of Ryslaw (d 1711) | ||||||||||||||
| Cockburn-Wood (p300) reports that the lands that James inherited "were so heavily burdened that in 1710, the year before he died, he executed a provisional deed of sale .... These details serve to prove how utterly absurd the notion is that there existed an important family, Baronets of Ryslaw, and to whom, moreover, are given the lands of Cockburn." Cockburn-Wood provides no information about James's marriages & children. TCB reports the following. | |||||||||||||||
| m1. Alison Sinclair (bur 14.02.1669, dau of Sir Robert Sinclair, 1st Bart of Longformacus, by Elizabeth, dau of Sir Robert Douglas of Blackerstoun) | |||||||||||||||
| m2. (c1675) ?? | |||||||||||||||
| (A) | 'Sir' James Cockburn, '4th' Bart of Ryslaw (b 27.03.1677, d 1720, Colonel) | ||||||||||||||
| m. Catherine Van Offle of Friesland | |||||||||||||||
| (i) | 'Sir' William Cockburn, '5th' Bart of Ryslaw (dsp 1782, Lt. Colonel) | ||||||||||||||
| m. _ Van Akersdyck of Utrecht | |||||||||||||||
| (B) | John Cockburn of Kilkenny (b 12.11.1683, d 12.12.1758) | ||||||||||||||
| m. Martha Rich of Kilkenny | |||||||||||||||
| TCB suggests that James & Martha had 2 sons: William, archdeacon of Ossory, and Quartermaster-General James, but both of them are shown above as of the family 'of that ilk' . TCB identifies James as the 6th Bart of Ryslaw. | |||||||||||||||
| (2) | Alexander Cockburn of Ladiekirk | ||||||||||||||
| m. Margaret Swinton (dau of David Swinton of Lauchton (cousin)) | |||||||||||||||
| (A)+ | issue - Alexander, Margaret, Elizabeth (bpt 22.08.1695) | ||||||||||||||
| m2. Jane Ker (dau of Andrew Ker of Lintoun) | |||||||||||||||
| (3) | Jean Cockburn (a 1661) possibly the Jean who married ... | ||||||||||||||
| m. Sir William Kerr, 3rd Bart of Greenhead (d by 03.1718) | |||||||||||||||
| (4)+ | other issue - Andrew, Henry, John | ||||||||||||||
| c. | John Cockburn of Caldra (d 1721, Colonel) | ||||||||||||||
| m1. Katherine Cockburn ("a kinswoman") | |||||||||||||||
| (1) | William Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| (2) | Katherine Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| m. James Faw of Dunbar | |||||||||||||||
| (A) | Katherine Faw | ||||||||||||||
| m. Robert Seton of Mounie (Meany) | |||||||||||||||
| m2. Marie Monylaws | |||||||||||||||
| (3) | William Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| (4) | Elizabeth Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| m. Edward Devis | |||||||||||||||
| d. | Elizabeth Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| m. Stephen Brounfield of Greenlawdene & Hardaikeris (probably son of Stephen of Greenlawdene) | |||||||||||||||
| e.+ | other issue - David, Mary, Agnes | ||||||||||||||
| ii. | James Cockburn (3rd son) | ||||||||||||||
| TCB reports that this was the James (b c1576, d 1643, MP, "apparent 2d s.") reported in Playfair's Baronetage (1811) as having been created 1st Bart of Ryslaw in 1626 but that that does not appear in various other records. Also: "There is, however, no record of any grant of land in Nova Scotia to any such person", which would have been expected given the baronetcy is alleged to have been a baronetcy of Nova Scotia. BP1934 ('Cockburn (of that ilk)') mentions that there was a James of this line who "is said to have been created a baronet of Scotland". 'The House of Cockburn' just reports that the 3rd son of this generation was a James and suggests that it was the James (2nd) son of the next generation (above) who was the alleged 1st Baronet. TCB reports that James, "1st Bart", married ... | |||||||||||||||
| m. Mary Edmonstone (dau of Sir Andrew Edmonstone of that ilk by Mary Gordon) | |||||||||||||||
| ii. | Margaret Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| m. (1601 (probably not 1616)) Alexander Home of Renton (son of Janet, dau/heir of David Ellem of Renton) | |||||||||||||||
| iv.+ | other issue - Alexander (d young?), Christopher, John, Janet | ||||||||||||||
| B. | Alexander Cockburn of Caldra (Cadra) (d before 09.07.1601) | ||||||||||||||
| m. Alison Vaus | |||||||||||||||
| i. | Patrick Cockburn of Cadra (d 1642) | ||||||||||||||
| a. | William Cockburn of Cadra (d unm) | ||||||||||||||
| ii.+ | other issue - James, John, Mark, Catherine | ||||||||||||||
| C. | Patrick Cockburn (rector of Petcokkis) | ||||||||||||||
| 2.+ | other issue - Adam, Christopher in Upsettlington (a 1541), Ninian, George | ||||||||||||||
Main source(s):
(1) For upper section (reviewed & expanded 18.01.19) : 'The House of Cockburn of that Ilk and the Cadets thereof' (Thomas H. Cockburn-Wood, 1888, p307+), BP1934 ('Cockburn') with support from TCB (vol iv, 'Cockburn (of that ilk)', p282+)
(2) For lower section (reviewed & expanded 18.01.19): 'The House of Cockburn of that Ilk and the Cadets thereof' (Thomas H. Cockburn-Wood, 1888, p288+) with a little support from BP1870 ('Cockburn of Cockburn and Ryslaw'), TCB (vol ii, 'Cockburn of Ryslaw', p330+)
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