STRACHAN, John of Haughheid ¹

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  General Notes:

"On the 18th April 1634, he (Sir Alexander, Laird of Thornton) granted a bond to John Wood of Craigniston for £3166, 6s. 8d., 'borrowed money,' the cautioners being 'John Strachan in Glenfarquhare,'described as the granter's uncle, Mr John Strachan of Muretoun, Robert Middeltoun of Caddon, and Alexander Strachan of Goislie. Among the witnesses are 'Thomas Strachan, brother to Mr John Strachan, in Glenfarquhar,' and 'John Strachan, son to the tutor of Thorntoun' (Register of Deeds, vol. 512)."

from Memorials of the Families of Strachan and Wise (1877) ¹

John married someone Isabel RAIT.¹ (Isabel RAIT was born about 1605.)

  Marriage Notes:

"On the 14th March 1622, John Strachan, then residing at Phesdo, and Isabel Rait, his spouse, received confirmation, in conjunct fee, of the lands of Phesdo and Broadlands, in the parish of Fordoun, without prejudice to the possession of Sir Alexander Strachan of the whole other lands and barony of Thornton, in terms of a contract between him and John Strachan, dated 29th September 1618 (Privy Seal Register, vol.xci.376."

from Memorials of Strachan and Wise (1877)




"Records

Page: 487

Date: 1622/7/27

Parties: Contract Isobell Reat sp to John Strachan of Plasdo (probably a mistranscription of Phesdo) - Mr Alex Keithe of Over Dysart, Elizabeth Melville his sp"

from Register of Deeds ¹

John next married Margaret WOOD.¹ (Margaret WOOD was born about 1605.)

  Marriage Notes:

"He (John Strachan) (see Note below) married, first, Isabel Rait, and, secondly, Margaret Wood. He seems to have had two sons (see Note below), John Strachaun, 'son of the tutor of Thornton,' is named in the bond granted by Alexander Strachan to John Wood in April 1634, and in same instrument is named 'Alexander Strauchan of Goislie,' who may fairly be presumed to have received that property on the surrender of his father, who had a charter to the lands of Goislie, and was formerly designed of that place.

Both sons would appear to have predeceased their father (see Note below), for in a bond dated 30th November 1661, and granted by Sir James Strachan of Thornton, to Margaret Wood, widow of 'John Strachan of Hauchheid, for 2000 merks,' the granter names as their children four daughters, Elizabeth, Katherine, Isobel, and Margaret Strachan (General Register of Deeds, vol. xii.).

John Strachan, variously styled of Phesdo, Goislie, and Hauchheid, and 'tutor of Thornton,' (see Note below) died prior to the 3d July 1657, for in a charter of the lands of Hanchheid of that date, he is named as 'the decesit John Strachan of Hauchheid ' (Reg. Mag. Sig., lib. lix., No. 47). The direct male line of Alexander Strachan of Thornton, grandfather of Sir Alexander Strachan, the first baronet, became extinct on the death of Sir Alexander, the second baronet, in 1659."

from Memorials of Strachan and Wise (1877)

Note:

This excerpt has been quoted here despite its general confusion about the parties involve because it contains information that are likely true of the son although the author applies the information to the father.

The author has conflated the father, John Strachan 'Tutor of Thornton', and his son, also John Strachan, named above as 'son of the Tutor of Thornton'. The father married Catherine Straton and Isabel Symmer. The son married Isabel Rait and Margaret Wood.

Much of the information above actually relates to the son, John Strachan. It is possible that his brother, Alexander, died before the father, but John probably did not. It is the son, John Strachan, not the father, who is likely to be the John Strachan who died before 3 July 1657. However, having only daughters, he did not leave heirs to continue the line of Strachans of Thornton, and as a result of the absence of male heirs in the main line when the 2nd Baronet of Thornton died in 1659, the title moved to James Strachan of the Inchtuthil branch of the family who became 3rd Baronet.




"John Strachan, the Tutor of Thornton, and maternal granduncle of John Forbes, predeceased his grand-nephew, Sir Alexander Strachan, the second Baronet of Thornton, who died without male issue in 1659. I am informed, however, by Miss McGilchrist Gilchrist (Letter), who is engaged in a careful investigation of the genealogy of this family, that the Tutor and the Baronet were both survived by the eldest son of the former, who would de jure be 'Strachan of Thornton,' and should, one would have supposed, have been the third Baronet, but who, for some reason or by some arrangement, appears not to have assumed the title. The fine property of the Strachans had, by the time the second Baronet died, practically all left the hands of the main line of the family. According to Rogers (Memorials of the Families of Strachan and Wise, Ed. 1877, p. 51), the third Baronet was Sir James Strachan, the representative of a remote ancestor of the Tutor and of the second Baronet. Legal documents show that Margaret Strachan, the wife of the Revd. John Forbes, could not have been a daughter of Sir James Strachan (Rogers, Op. cit., p. 68).

The Tutor's son, also John Strachan, had four daughters (Elizabeth, Katharine, Isobel and Margaret), and so far as is known, no male issue. The presumption therefore is, that this Margaret was the wife of John Forbes, who must, therefore, have married his second cousin."

from The Blackhalls ^{1 2}