John Callander is the first of his line mentioned in
Burke's1, where he is designated "1st of Westertown", with a charter on his lands dated 1608.
The Baronetage of England2 states that this family is lineally descended from the Earls of Callander, the common ancestor being Alexander Callander, 3rd Earl of Callander, who was said to have had a 3rd son, John, direct ancestor of this Callander family. However it's not clear that Alexander 3
rd Earl Callander really had a son called John: neither
Wikipedia nor the
Red Book of Scotland3 nor
The Scot's Peerage4 mention a son of this name. As a final counterpoint,
Burke's Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies5 does claim that
John Callander (b. 1653, the great-grandson of
John of this page, who married
Janet Buchanan) was "a near kinsman of James, 4th Earl of Callander", but with no further detail on the supposed relationship.
In conclusion it's certainly possible that a link between the families exists, but so far such a link has proved to be not much more than legend.
Footnotes
[1]
Burke's Landed Gentry, 19th Edition, pages 132-134 (Burn-Callander of Preston-Hall)
[2]
The Baronetage of England, or the History of the English Baronets and Such Baronets of Scotland as are of English Families, by Rev. William Betham, Ipswich (1801); Volume 4, Callander of Westertown (#456)
[3]
The Red Book of Scotland, Gordon MacGregor, 2021 Edition, Volume VI, Lin-Mer; Livingston, Earl of Callendar
[4]
The Scots Peerage, by Sir James Balfour Paul, Volume 2, Edinburgh (1905); Livingston, Earl of Callendar (p360-364)
[5]
The Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England, Scotland & Ireland, by John Burke and John Bernard Burke, 2nd Edition, London (1841); Callander, of Westertown (p96)
Abt 1555 - 