Richard Clerk

Andre Hendelser og Egenskaper:

• Event: 1296, Montrose, Scotland, Great Britain; In 1296 Richard Clerk, a considerable freeholder, was compelled to submit to Edward the First of England, after his invasion of Scotland; while another baron of the same name, a strenuous defender of the liberties of his country, scorning to comply with the demands of the usurper, was carried prisoner to London. William Clerk, descended from a branch of this family settled in Perthshire. He was an eminent merchant and patriot, and attended David the Second in his unfortunate expedition into England, in 1346. He was taken prisoner at the battle of Neville’s Cross, near Durham, on the 17th October of that year, carried to London and retained in captivity there, until liberated, along with his sovereign, eleven years afterwards John Clerk, merchant-burgess and chief magistrate of Montrose, became one of the hostages for the ransom of King David, in 1357. His family continued in the direction of the affairs of that ancient burgh for several centuries, the provost of Montrose, as appears from the books of council, being of his name and descent down to the reign of Queen Mary. The grandfather of the first proprietor of Pennyeuik, of the name of Clerk, was possessor of the lands of Kilhuntly, in Badenoch, Inverness-shire, but having attached himself to the party of Mary, queen of Scots, in opposition to his superior, the earl of Huntly, he was obliged to leave that part of the country in 1568. His son William became a merchant in Montrose, and died in 1620. John Clerk, his son, was born at Montrose in 1611, and was baptized by the bishop of Caithness, at Fettercairn, 22d December of that year. Being also bred a merchant, he removed to France in 1634, and settled in Paris. In 1647 he returned to Scotland, with a considerable fortune, and purchased the lands and barony of Pennycuik [from the Gaelic words Bein na Cuachaig, the ‘Hill of the Cuckoo,’] in the county of Edinburgh, which have ever since remained in possession of his descendants. He married a daughter of Sir William Gray of Pittendrum, ancestor of Lord Gray, by whom he had five sons and five daughters. He was succeeded in 1674 by his son John, who was created the first baronet of Pennycuik, Source: The Scottish Nation, Clerk https://electricscotland.com/history/nation/clerk.htm