Wedderburn book; a history of the Wedderburns in ... - waughfamily.ca

Ixii. THE WEDDKKBURX BOOK.
Introd. From Sir Alexander it passed to his son, Sir Johu, and from Iiim to his son
and graudsou, from whom it was purchased in 1718 by his cousin and
successor in the Blackness baronetcy. It has been supposed that it was
forfeited and sold in tiie '43, but tliis is a picturesque tiutiou. The affairs
of the fourth baronet, who purchased Blackness from liis cousin, became far
from prosperous, and the estate went in 1741, three years before his death, to
meet "his great and insuperable debts," as I shall have to point out later on.
Sir Alexander died in 1675-70, and was buried in the Howfl' of Dundee
His portrait, now at Meredith, is- reproduced in this volume (p. 210;. He had
married in 1G3S llatild Fletcher, daughter of James Fletcher, provi^t of Dundee
and not, as Ijas been supposed, of Sir Andrew Fletcher uf Innerpetfer. By her
(born 1620, died 17U3-4) he had issue a large family of ten sons aud six
daughters, of whom live sods died in infancy, while live survived and had
issue. A register of his children iu Sir Alexander's hand is reproduced in facsimile,
post, Vol. ii., p. 92.
His daughters were all married ; the eldest, Margaret, to Patrick Kyd of
S'llick^esB"
Craifjie, and the second, Jean, to Patrick's youni'er brother
WilHam Kyd of Wood hi 11. There are portraits of these two
ladies and of William Kyd in the possession of one of Jean's
descendants (her si.ster had no issue who survived), and there is a tradition
that one of them once preventetl her husband from going to the wars, and
so risking his life and estates, by pouring a kettleful of boiling water iuto
his boots as he was draining the stirrup cup, preparatory to departure.
Whatever the origin of such a stor\', the attempt to make it an incident of the
'l.T or '45 fails ; for Patrick Kyd died before 1GS5, and his wife between
1704 and 170G ; William before August 1G70, and his wife before 1685. One
of Jean's grandsons, Thomas Kyd of Ediuburgh, was of service to Sir John
Wedderburn in the troubles of the '45, as appears from some letters to
him from Sir John among the Blackness papers. I have given at p. 213 of
this volume a pedigree of the Kyds, to which the reader may refer. Patrick
had but one son, wlio predeceased him in youth, and the male Hue of William
Kyd's eldest sod, James, is certainly extinct. Of tlie other daughters of Blackness,
Helen was twice married, (1) to David Dickson of Heartree, (2) to Thomas Miln
of Muir'oun, and by each marriage had issue ; Grizell, nunied her cousin of
Kingennie, as I have already siiowu (ante, p. Iviii) -, Cecilia's husband was William
Baillie of Littlegill, co. Lanark, by whom she had issue ;
and JIatilda, married
Mr. James Brisbane, advocate, who died before Aug. IQ'JS, after which his widow
resided in Dundee, where she died 1727-32. Siie had issue several ciiildren,
the last surviving of whom were a daughter, Margaret, and a sod, David,
who acquired the estate of Bullion, which he left to his cousin, David
Wedderburn of that ilk, in 1752.
The three youngest surviving sous of Sir Alexander were Peter, George,
and Alexander, of whom I have given an account iu the
sir Alexanders third chapter of Part III. Alexander was a merchant and
Bone? Veterf^^ shipmaster in Dundee, Leith, and Edinburgh. Ho died iu
Ate^ndl?.'^ 16!)9. leaving issue by his wife. Christian Kinloch, three
daughters, Matilda, who died young, and Isobell and Margaret,
who were living in 1724, but of whom 1 have no details. George also
was a merchant in Edinburgh and a burges.s and bailie there. His affairs
seem to have become involveil, as we read of his " having turned his back
on them and departed out of these kingdoms" in 1688. He died not long
after, ceitaiuly before 1700, having had issue by his wife, Elizubeth Sutherland,
three sons and four daughters, of whom only the youngest daughter, Rachel,
was living in 1707, so that in 1709 she was retoured heir to her
maternal grandfather, her father's male line having failed. Peter Wedderburn,
the eldest of the three youngest sous of Sir Alexander, was born in 1652.