'Fairlie1'
Index links to: Lead / Letter
Families covered: Fairlie of Braid, Fairlie of Bruntsfield, Fairlie of Fairlie (Fairley of Fairley)
[The sections below were originally launched on 19.02.15 within a Draft page (which was last updated on 22.06.20). They were moved here after review led to acceptance that there was little chance of our making a significant improvement to any of them in the near future and that they were 'good enough' to be promoted into the main database.]
| Robertson reports that "This ancient family, now extinct, is descended from Robert de Ross, a branch of the Rosses of Tarbet, who ... are stated to have been proprietors of the lands of Fairley, in the neighbourhood, from whence they took their name." Note that, on Crawford06, Robertson is contradicted by the later Paterson. | |||||||||||||||
| John Fairley 'of that ilk' of Fairley, Ayrshire (a 1540) probably succeeded by ... | |||||||||||||||
| 1. | David Fairley 'of that ilk' of Fairley (d 1596) | ||||||||||||||
| m. Catherine Crawford (dau of Lawrence Crawford of Kilbirny by Helen, dau of Sir Hugh Campbell of Loudoun) | |||||||||||||||
| A. | Margaret (or Agnes) Fairley | ||||||||||||||
| Robertson shows Margaret m. Sir Robert Crawfurd, later Fairley of Fairley (son/heir of William of Drumsoy) whom we show just below. We now follow Paterson who shows her as mother of that Robert by ... | |||||||||||||||
| m. William Craufurd of Drumsoy (a 1577) | |||||||||||||||
| B. | Marion Fairley | ||||||||||||||
| m. John Stewart of Ascog | |||||||||||||||
| C. | Elizabeth Fairley | ||||||||||||||
| m. Robert Boyd of Portincross | |||||||||||||||
| d.+ | other issue - John, William | ||||||||||||||
| 2. | Marion Fairley (a 1580) | ||||||||||||||
| m1. Thomas Boyd of Linn (brother of Lord Boyd) | |||||||||||||||
| m2. James Stewart of Bute (d 1570) | |||||||||||||||
| 3. | Elizabeth Fairlie possibly of this generation, could be a generation earlier | ||||||||||||||
| m. Arthur Montgomery of Greenfield & Stane (b c1510?) | |||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
| Sir Robert Crawfurd, later Fairley of Fairley (d by 1655, son/heir of William of Drumsoy by Margaret Fairlie) | |||||||||||||||
| m. Agnes or Margaret Paterson appears not to have found much about Robert's wife, merely stating that Craufurd (precursor to Robertson) named her Agnes "though some call her Margaret" | |||||||||||||||
| Robertson (Ayrshire) reports that Robert (shown as married to Margaret Fairley, above) had a son Robert but Commoners, whilst mentioning that Sir Robert "appears to have been succeeded, in Fairlie, by a Robert Craufurd, alias Fairlie, conjectured to be his son" (that possibly referring to his grandson), reports that they had "several daughters, of whom two are named," including Agnes, heiress of Drumsoy who married her 1st cousin. Paterson reports that suggestion but notes that it "is somewhat doubtful" given the dates. Provisionally, in the absence of a 'better' suggestion by Paterson, we follow Robertson with that suggestion. | |||||||||||||||
| 1. | Sir John Fairlie of that ilk (d by 1661) not mentioned by Commoners or Paterson | ||||||||||||||
| m. (c1605) Marion Crawfurd (dau of Thomas Crawfurd of Jordanhill) | |||||||||||||||
| A. | Robert Fairlie of that ilk apparently succeeded by ... | ||||||||||||||
| i. | Adam Fairlie of that ilk (a 1661) | ||||||||||||||
| Robertson reports that "The next I find any notice of, was William Fairley of that Ilk, whose second son John, married Barbara Mure, the heiress of Caldwell". This appears to be confusion with the William Fairlie 'of that ilk' shown below. | |||||||||||||||
| B. | Jane Fairlie | ||||||||||||||
| m. (by 1621) Duncan Crawfurd of Drumsoy (cousin) | |||||||||||||||
| 2. | Agnes Crawfurd or Fairlie, heiress of Drumsoy | ||||||||||||||
| m. Robert Crawfurd (cousin) | |||||||||||||||
| 3. | Janet Crawfurd or Fairlie | ||||||||||||||
| m. William Cathcart of Carbieston | |||||||||||||||
| 4.+ | other daughters | ||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
| Of the following family, Muir remarked that they "have assumed the distinction of that Ilk, or chief of the name; though there is reason to believe that they are no-wise connected with it, but altogether a distinct race." Anderson reports that William Fairly of Bruntsfield purchased the lands of Dregohrne which (quoting Craufurd) "he got by a new charter cald fairly (sic), and styled himself of that ilk, though he had no relation to the family of Fairly of that ilk". Paterson, reporting Nisbet, states that "it is probable that Fairlie of Brunstfield, in the same neighbourhood, was a cadet of" the family of Braid. | |||||||||||||||
| John Fairlie, 1st of Bruntsfield (d before 24.02.1607, burgess in Edinburgh) | |||||||||||||||
| m. Elizabeth Watson | |||||||||||||||
| 1. | Sir William Fairlie of Bruntsfield (d before 31.03.1626) | ||||||||||||||
| A. | William Fairlie of Bruntsfield & Restalrig | ||||||||||||||
| i. | William Fairlie of Bruntsfield & Little Dreghorn (Ayrshire) (d before 22.05.1696) | ||||||||||||||
| a. | William Fairlie of Dreghorn (renamed Fairlie), 'of that ilk' | ||||||||||||||
| m. Jean Mure (b 04.1678, d 03.09.1724, dau of William Mure, last of Rowallan, m2. David, 1st Earl of Glasgow) | |||||||||||||||
| (1) | William Fairlie 'of that ilk' of Fairlie (d by 1744) | ||||||||||||||
| m1. Catherine Brisbane (dau of Thomas (sb John?) Brisbane of that ilk) | |||||||||||||||
| (A) | Alexander Fairlie of Fairlie (d unm 1803) | ||||||||||||||
| (B) | Margaret Fairlie of Fairlie | ||||||||||||||
| m. Sir William Cuninghame of Auchinskeith, later of Robertland, Bart | |||||||||||||||
| m2. (sp(s)) Elizabeth Craufurd (dau of John Crauford of Craufurdland, m2. John Howieson of Braehead) | |||||||||||||||
| (C) | daughter (d infant) | ||||||||||||||
| (2) | John Fairlie (Collector of Customs at Ayr) | ||||||||||||||
| m. _ Bowman (dau of John Bowman of Ashgrove) | |||||||||||||||
| (A) | Elizabeth Fairlie or Fairley | ||||||||||||||
| m. (1760) George, Lord Reay | |||||||||||||||
| b. | John Fairlie | ||||||||||||||
| m. (sp) Barbara Mure, heiress of Caldwell | |||||||||||||||
| c. | Elizabeth Fairlie (d c1742) probably of this generation | ||||||||||||||
| m. (24.01.1688) William McKerrell of Hillhouse (d 11.05.1705) | |||||||||||||||
Main source(s):
(1) For the upper section : 'A Genealogical Account of the Principal Families in Ayrshire' (George Robertson, vol 1, 1823, 'Fairley of Fairley', p346+) with support/contradiction from 'History of the County of Ayr' (James Paterson, vol 1 (1847, p327+) & vol 2 (1852, p302))
(2) For the middle section : 'A Genealogical Account of the Principal Families in Ayrshire' (George Robertson, vol 1, 1823, 'Fairley of Fairley', p347+) with contradiction from Commoners (vol 2, 'Craufurd of Auchinames', p384+), 'History of the County of Ayr' (James Paterson, vol 1, 1847, p327+)
(3) For the lower section : 'History of the County of Ayr' (James Paterson, vol 2, 1852, 'Fairlies of Dreghorn, afterwards called Fairlie', p23+), 'The Historie and Descent of the House of Rowallan' (written by Sir William Mure, Knight, of Rowallan in/by 1657, edited/published by William Muir in 1825, p102+)
Back to top of page