Early Life
Adam Rae was the son
1 of
Hector Rae and
Agnes Stoddart. Given his marriage in 1598, Adam was probably born in the 1570s.
Career
Adam was a merchant in
Edinburgh. An entry dated 12
th May 1601 in
Edinburgh Burgesses2 reads as follows:
Burgess and Guildbrother, merchant, as eldest son to Hector R., merchant, Burgess and Guildbrother.
This link suggests he exported 2,000 barrel staves to the West Indies in 1611. More details are found in an
article in The Mariner's Mirror, volume 79, Issue 1, entitled "Scotland and the Atlantic: the Voyage of the
Jonet of Leith, December 1611", which includes:
Rae and Inglis [Thomas Inglis, a partner in the Jonet Leith's cargo] were both Edinburgh merchants, admitted as burgess and guild-brother - Rae in 1601, Inglis in 1592 - as sons of existing merchants. Both appear to have been related through their marriages to wives from the Morrison merchant family and the Jonet is likely to have taken its name from Inglis' wife Jonet Morrison. Rae died in May 1818...
Of the two, Adam Rae was by far the richer man. On his death, he left in "frie geir", his debts 'deducit' over £11,000 Scots. Much of this was made up of monies owed to him by major Scottish landowners, including Archibald, Earl of Argyll. He was therefore a man who had wide-ranging connections in Scottish society.
Family Life
Adam married
Katharine Moresoune (Morrison), on the 3
rd of May 1598 at Edinburgh. With her, he appears to have had at least four children:
- Katharine, born 1601 but who was dead by 1618
- Anna who married Sir John Carstairs of Kilconquhar in Fife
- Elizabeth, b. 16th October 1606 (see Death below) and who may have married John Halyburtoun
- Helene, baptised 25 Jan 1610 and who married Robert Sinclair
See
Death below for mention of a possible fifth daughter, Marjorie.
Death
The entry at
Ray's Tomb suggests Adam died in 1616. However he is recorded as the father of
Marjorie Rae who was baptised on the 20 December 1618, so he cannot have died earlier than March 1618. This latter date is also confirmed in
this link (Scottish Arms)
Adam Rae, proprietor of lands in the shires of Perth, Stirling, and Forfar, which were united into the barony of Pitsindie, bore the three roebucks, and was dead in 1618, leaving three daughters.
This page which lists heirs coming into property suggests that Anna inherited lands from her father on the 21
st of July 1618, so he must have died prior to that date. That same site suggests he had three surviving daughters in 1618: Anna, Elizabeth and Helen.
The article quoted above in Career indicates Adam died in May of 1618, which is the date I'll settle on.
Finally, a will for Adam is recorded dated 8 December 1619
3.
Finally finally, I think there has been a confusion in some pedigrees with a separate Adam Ray of Edinburgh (who married Helen Scot) who lived at almost exactly the same time.
Footnotes
[1] The name Hector appears on the tomb and in a burgess record for Adam
[2]
Edinburgh Burgesses, 1406-1700 (FindMyPast)
[3]
Commissariot Record of Edinburgh Register of Testaments Part II (1601-1700); will dated 8 December 1619
[4] For the registration of his coat of arms, see
Scottish Arms
Est 1575 - Abt 1618 (~ 43 years)
[1] 
