Johnson / Bryans Families

Tracing the ancestry of Pamela Murdoch Bryans and Maurice Alan Johnson

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The Mysterious Patrick Campbell Esq of Killin

I'm interested in Patrick Campbell because he was the father of Beatrix Elisabeth Campbell, baptised 22nd November 1740 at Killin. Being such a common name, it is hard to establish who he was, though a few have tried, the main entry being on Rootsweb (see below). However, there is sufficient contradictory information that a more thorough piece of research is required, which is presented here.

Rootsweb

Our starting point is this entry on Rootsweb, which gives us the following (sometimes contradictory) details:

  • Patrick was also known as Peter
  • Born 1695 at Lochgoilhead in Argyll, son of Colin
  • Living in 1729 at Wester Lix and later moving to Milnmore, both near Killin
  • Died 23 Feb 1772 in Dundrave in Argyll
  • Testament Dative 5 July 1774 at Argyll Commissary Court
  • Buried at Old Kilmadock Graveyard in Perth
  • Wife Ann (aka Henrietta)
  • Twelve children are given, starting with Ann b. 1729 and ending with Henrietta b. 1753, all born in Killin

The entry also notes that he was a son of Colin Campell, and a tacksman of Lix and Milnmore in Killin, Perth in 1735, quoting NAS GD112/11/1/27.

Further it notes that Patrick's son Alexander (Comptroller of Customs at Port Glasgow) erected a tombstone for him at Old Kilmadock Graveyard with the following details inscribed:

Mr Patk Campbell, late of Dundarave Loch Fyneside, w Mrs Henrietta C. d Doune .8.1786 87, ten ss, 5 das in all, by dutiful s Alex exq comptroller customs Port Glasgow, gch Henrietta Murdoch 22 bd here.

Finally, it notes that Alexander obtained a grant of arms that indicated Patrick was descended from the Campbells of Ardkinglass.

WikiTree

There are two relevant pages at Wikitree. The first is the entry for Patrick himself, which repeats much of the information from Rootsweb. Second is this page seeking to find out where Inverchaggernay is/was. Within this second page, we have the following information:

My ancestor Patrick Campbell's death in 1774 was recorded in the Argyll Commissary Court with the note "Sometime of Inverchaggernay, thereafter at Dundrave"

Another person respondes:

It's the name of a farm near Crainlarich in Perthshire, Scotland I believe the district is Killin. Streemap link.

So what's the story, if he was "in" Inverhaggernie, then "at" Dundarave? In Scotland, that's significant. Did he inherit a castle from a distant cousin or something?

The original poster replies:

Well that's what I want to find out. He didn't inherit the castle: it was the seat of the McNaughtons until around 1689 when it came into the hands of Campbell of Arkinglas. There's a great deal on the net about how the Campbells "tricked" the MacNaughtons into losing their lands and castle, including a wonderful story of the MacNaughton Laird wanting to marry a Campbell lass, but tricked into marrying an older sister. The story goes that he then ran away with the younger sister and set up a new seat in Ireland. It's more likely the lands and castle were confiscated and handed to the Campbells, but it's a great story. What's harder to find is information about who lived at Dunderave in that period after it was acquired, which is when my Patrick was growing up. Presumably some Campbells were installed there to run the place and Patrick must have been one of them. He's mentioned in Burke's Landed Gentry as "of Dunderave" , which suggests he was "gentry". He had 15 children by two wives!! His daughter Beatrix married a James Murdoch Esquire and they called their son James Campbell Murdoch.

A final poster ("Hew") notes:

Patrick Campbell, sometime in Inverchaggerny and later at Dunderave, was apparently son of Colin Campbell, tacksman of Lix (Killin), a descendant of the Campbells of Ardkinglass. Patrick's son Archibald married Anne Campbell (date of marriage contract 1755) and they had Alexander baptised 1756 and Patrick 1757. In both baptism entries (in Killin Register) the parents are described as "in Inverchaggerny".
Hope this helps.
Hew

Independent information

Birth

Given the birth of his first child in 1729, Patrick can't have been born much after 1711 and is unlikely to have been born much before 1690 at the very earliest.

If Patrick was truly from Dunderave, then a search for births in Argyll from 1690 to 1710 yields three candidates:

  1. Son of Colin Campbell, bapt. 6 Oct 1695 at Lochgoilhead
  2. Son of Robert Campbell, bapt. 18 Nov 1695 at Lochgoilhead
  3. Son of Duncan Campbell and Elizabeth Gordon, bapt. 7 May 1700 at Inveraray and Glenaray

Lochgoilhead is at the head of Loch Goil, just 7 or 8 miles SE of Dunderave Castle

If, instead, we look in Killin (about 30 miles to the NE) in the same period we find 9 entries, any of which could be correct. In conclusion, we can find evidence that is consistent with the claim that Patrick was from Dunderave and son of Colin, but have no way of telling if this parentage is truly correct or not.

Family

We start with my ancestor Beatrix Campbell's baptismal record, which reads as follows:

Nov 22nd Patrick and Ann Campbell in Milnmore had their legitimate daughter baptised called Beatrix

Armed with this, we can find further records for the children of Patrick and Ann, as follows:

  1. Ann, b. 1729 (parents noted as "in Wester Lix")
  2. Katherine, b. 1731
  3. Mungo, b. 1733 (parents noted as "in Wester Lix")
  4. Charles, b. 1735 (parents noted as "in Milnmore")
  5. James, b. 1736
  6. Alexander, b. 1739, later of Dellingburn and Comptroller of Customs at Glasgow Port
  7. Beatrix (as above), b. 1740

In all these records, Ann is given as the mother and her maiden name is not given separately, so the implication is that she too was of surname Campbell, independently of her husband.

After Beatrix, there is a three year gap before further births continue:

  1. Isabel, b. 1743 (parents noted as "in Milnmore")
  2. Patrick, b. 1745
  3. Colin, b. 1748
  4. Henrietta, b. 1753 (parents noted as "in Killin")

In these subsequent records, the mother is given as Henrietta and the entries make it clear that Henrietta's maiden name was Campbell.

I can't find a record for a son Hugh, b. 1749, who is noted in the Rootsweb entry, and so only end up with 11 children rather than 12, but otherwise these records match the Rootsweb entry exactly. However, the WikiTree entry by "Hew" that suggests Patrick had a son called Archibald seems wrong. Whilst there certainly was an Archibald Campbell born in Killin to a Patrick Campbell (in 1734), his mother is given as Margaret McFarlane rather than Ann or Henrietta Campbell. I think "Hew" is wrong here.

We don't have a marriage record to confirm the exact date and person that Patrick married (ScotlandsPeople has no marriage records for Killin after 1717; FamilySearch indicates that there are no marriage records from 1717 to 1782).

Given the suggestion in the Rootsweb entry that Patrick's son Alexander was Comptroller of Ports in Glasgow, we can see that the Alexander Campbell who was Comptroller of Glasgow was "of Dellingburn" (see this and this). This makes sense as Dellinburn is near Glasgow.

Occupation

The Burke's Landed Gentry entry for the Burn-Murdoch family notes that Patrick was:

Esq., of Dunderave Castle, co. Argyll, surgeon of the 42nd Highlanders

We can find some corroborating evidence in Scottish Highlanders, which has the following entry:

Campbell, Patrick, sometime in Inverchaggernay, thereafter at Dunderave, parish of Kilmorich, cnf 5 July 1774, Argyll (NAS.CC2/3/)

Death

The Monumental Inscription is available at FindMyPast and reads:

Mr Patrick Campbell late of Dundarave Loch Fyneside, wife Mrs Henrietta Campbell died Doune 8.1786 87, ten sons, five daughters in all, by dutiful son Alexander esq comptroller of Customs Port Glasgow, granddaughter Henrietta Murdoch age 22 interred here

The Testament Dative from 1774 is available from ScotlandsPeople ; it notes that Patrick was "sometime in Inverchaggernay, thereafter at Dunderave, parish of Kilmorich".

A search for the death of a person called Patrick Campbell between 1770 and 1790 yields only two results, one in January 1770 at Glenorchy and Inishall, the other in September 1773 (aged 73) in Canongate (Edinburgh).

Arms

I have not found any registration of arms at the Court of Lord Lyon for Patrick Campbell descending from the Campbells of Ardkinglass.

Adding it all up

Starting backwards from his death...

Death: c. 1774

The transcription of the memorial inscription at FindMyPast makes it clear that the memorial was set up at Kilmadock for the grandchild Henrietta who died aged 22. Furthermore, it also makes it clear that it was Patrick Campbell's wife Henrietta who died in Doune in August 1786, aged 87 (i.e. born 1699).

The fact that the monument is at Kilmadock, where his daughter Beatrix married and probably resided, that Alexander was indeed the name of a son of Patrick's, and the mention of Henrietta Murdoch, who was a daughter of Beatrix (and therefore a grandchild of Patrick's), are strong hints that this is the correct memorial.

One problem is that if Henrietta Campbell was born in 1699 then she would have been 54 at the time of the birth of her youngest daughter Henrietta in 1753, which I think is verging on the very unlikely. She would also have been 30 at the birth of her first child Ann, in 1729, which is very old for a first child. I cannot find any birth records for a Henrietta Campbell between 1690 and 1710. But there were two Anna Campbells, born in 1710 (one, in August, to John Campbell and Isobel Stewart, the other in February to Patrick Campbell and Isobell McNab). These Annas would have been 19 at the birth of Patrick's eldest daughter Ann in 1729, and 43 at the time of the youngest Henrietta in 1753, which seems much more feasible to me. However these Annas would have been 76 in 1786, not 87 as recorded in the Kilmadock memorial.

Another puzzle is that according to the memorial inscription Patrick's grand-daughter Henrietta Murdoch was 22 when she died. If this truly is grand-daughter Henrietta (daughter of Beatrix Campbell and James Murdoch) who was born in 1770, this means she died c. 1792 and I can find no record for a person of that name dying around that year. Though there is evidence that this same Henrietta married in 1791 (to a Robert Burrell) and was still having children in 1806.

In conclusion: I think on the balance of probabilities the memorial is for the right Patrick, from which we can conclude that Patrick Campbell was associated with Dunderave, in agreement with Burke. The most likely interpretation is that the memorial was set up by Alexander for his niece Henrietta and that his father Patrick is not interred there because he died before July 1774, with his Testament Dative registered at Argyll 5 July 1774. Henrietta (now widow of Patrick) may have moved to Kilmadock some time after 1774 to live with or near her daughter Beatrix (who married James Murdoch) which is why Henrietta died in Doune in 1786, aged 87 (making her year of birth 1699). I remain unsure about the reference to the 22-year old Henrietta buried at Kilmadock and who she might have been.

Family: m. Ann c. 1729 and possibly Henrietta Campbell c. 1741

I am on the fence about whether Ann Campbell and Henrietta Campbell are the same person. On the one hand, a certain reading of the memorial at Kilmadock might imply that Henrietta was the mother of all 15 children, and that Alexander was her "dutiful" son. On the other, it's possible Alexander was referring to himself as the "dutiful" son of Patrick, the father of 15 children.

The fact that there were children born to "Ann" and others born to "Henrietta" who all had parents as "of Milnmore" is certainly good evidence that the father Patrick is the same person, but it seems strange to me that Ann should have so suddenly and definitively have become "Henrietta". I note too that Patrick's first child was called Ann (as you might expect of a first daughter), but his last was called Henrietta.

Alexander, the dutiful son who was comptroller of Glasgow Port was "of Dellingburn" (see this and this). Unfortunately the latter link, which actually draws from Clan MacFarlane, has the wrong date of birth.

Archibald, the father of Alexander and Patrick mentioned in the note on WikiTree from "Hew" must be incorrect. I can find no record of an Archibald born to Patrick Campbell and Ann (or Henrietta). There was an Archibald Campbell born in Killin to a Patrick Campbell (in 1734), but his mother is given as Margret McFarlane. I suspect "Hew" was confused here, mixing up two different Patrick Campbells who lived in Killin at the same time.

In conclusion: Patrick Campbell married Ann Campbell around 1729, when Ann would have already been aged 30 and therefore was possibly already a widow from a previous marriage. They had seven children between 1729 and 1740. Ann may have died and Patrick subsequently remarried to a Henrietta Campbell (possibly Ann's younger sister?) who bore him at least four more children, the last in 1753. Making Henrietta a different person from Ann allows Henrietta to have been born later than Ann and therefore not be so old when her youngest children were born. The less likely option is that Henrietta and Ann may have been the same person and she decided to change her name for reasons unknown.

Career

The evidence (Burke's, the Testament Dative and the Monumental Inscription) suggests that Patrick was "later" of Dunderave, implying that he moved there later in life. It must have been after the 1750s when he was still "of Killin". The Rootsweb reference to a NAS GD112/11/1/27 refers to this catalogue entry, specifically the section on petitions from tenants and related papers (1716-1862). Without being able to consult the entry, it's hard to be sure, but Rootsweb implies that the contents indicate that Patrick Campbell was a tacksman (minor landholder) in Killin by 1735. So far there's no way to confirm or deny Burke's claim that Patrick was a surgeon in the 42nd Highlanders.

Birth: 1695 in Lochgoilhead

If Ann Campbell was indeed born c. 1699, then Patrick Campbell most likely would have been born earlier. The Testament Dative clearly makes him of Inverchaggernay and of Dunderave. This makes the two earlier entries from Lochgoilhead mentioned above feasible, and note that the Patrick son of Colin Campbell certainly matches the Rootsweb entry described at the top of this page. It's very difficult to be any more definitive without reviewing the NAS archive which Rootsweb implies clearly makes Colin the father of Patrick.

Heritage - Campbells of Ardkinglass?

The last question is the posited link to the Campbells of Ardkinglass, of which there are hints in the informal Rootsweb and WikiTree entries, but for which I've found no formal evidence. Colin Cambell of Ardkinglass has a Wikipedia entry which indicates he was born in 1640 and died in 1709, meaning he could have possibly been the father of Patrick, though he would have been nearly 60 at the time of Patrick's birth. Colin had a son, James, born 1666 and christened in 1667. Both are mentioned in Cockayne's Complete Baronetage (vol 4, p.307). It's possibly that Colin had an older son, Colin, who died before 1709, but who was the father of Patrick, hence the Baronetcy descended to Colin's second son James. James died without issue in 1752, which might be when Patrick inherited Dunderave and moved there. Unfortunately I have not found any sign of a Colin Campbell born to Colin Campbell prior to 1666.

An alternative theory is that Colin Campbell of Lochgoilhead, father of Patrick Campbell, was the grandson of Sir Colin Campbell, 8th of Ardkinglass (b. c. 1587). This latter's eldest son James, 9th of Ardkinglass, was the father of Sir Colin Campbell, 1st Baronet. Sir Colin (8th of Ardkinglass) had two other sons, Ian and Patrick. Perhaps one of these was the father of Colin Campbell of Lochgoilhead, thus establishing the Campbells of Lochgoilhead as a cadet branch of the Campbells of Ardkinglass and explaning their tacksman status.