GALT & FERGUSON

by Alan Craig

Robyn’s maternal ancestors were the Galt and Ferguson families. Each of these headline surnames were, of course, descendant of several other branches. Our present-day ‘Galt’ line, for example, is an amalgam of families from several parts of Scotland: Ayrshire, Perthshire, Kinross, Edinburgh, Renfrewshire, Islay, and Mull (the last two being Hebridean islands, which had Gaelic-speaking inhabitants). Some branches of Robyn’s maternal line can be traced back to the 1600s, so to tell their genealogical histories in a coherent way, we have broken their stories into seven separate pages:

1: Galt Family of Ayrshire (1683–1768) — Cunningham, Love, Anderson, Walker, Murchland

2: Howie Family of Ayrshire (1717–1818) — Jack, Cunninghame, Reid

3: Littlejohn Family of  Perthshire & Glasgow (1673–1877) — Fleming, Steedman, Dick, Chapman, Smitten

4: Barr Family of  Edinburgh, Renfrewshire & Islay (1674–1876) — Morrison, McLean, Anderson, Smeal, Dobie

5: McColl Family of  Mull (1793–1894) — McLean, McMillan

6: Galt, Barr & Littlejohn in Glasgow (1818–1904)

7: Galt & Barr Families in Brisbane, Queensland (1883–1944).

The following chart graphically shows how we have told the story of the ‘Galt’ line:

Robyn’s grandfather was Thomas Barr Galt (1879–1944), and he migrated from Glasgow to Brisbane with his family in 1883. In 1905, he married Margaret McKerrow Ferguson. Margaret’s family were themselves the amalgam of two significant branches: the Ferguson-McKerrow kinfolk of Cumnock, Ayrshire, and the Hardman-Frankland families of Middleton, Lancashire. Both lots of these ancestral relatives migrated Queensland in the 1860s, and we tell their stories over five pages:

1 A: Ferguson Family of Old Cumnock: 1735–1792 (Old Cumnock, Ayrshire)

   B: Walter [1] Ferguson & Anne Phillips & the 72nd: 1799–1861 (Ireland-Cape Colony-Cumnock)

2: Walter [2] Ferguson & Margaret McKerrow: 1796–1861 (Old Cumnock, Ayrshire)

3 A: Ferguson Family in Queensland: 1861–1881 (Brisbane, Cedar Creek & Gympie)

   B: The Veivers Connection: 1870–1914 (Cedar Creek & “Talgai”)

4 A: Hardman & Frankland Families: 1770–1864 (Middleton, Lancashire)

   B: James Hardman & Mary Ann Frankland: 1828–1862 (Middleton & Tonge, Lancashire)

5 A: Hardman Family in Queensland: 1863–1885 (South Brisbane & Fortitude Valley)

   B: “Hannah Young” and the Hardman Graves: 1864–1862 (Middleton & Tonge, Lancashire)

 

The following four charts show most of Robyn’s known direct ancestors on her maternal side, the first three ending with her great-grandparents John Galt and Christina Barr. Of course, you can navigate to any particular article from the drop-down menu above, and every story itself contains links that take you to the next chapter in that series. The stories are largely chronological, so it’s always best to start at the beginning.

Within each article you will find numbered descendant charts that contain much more detail than these ones below. For instance, they will show all the known children for each ancestral couple, with information about their vital facts (birth/death dates and places), the names of known spouses, and often their trade or occupation — and sometimes the number of known descendants that Robyn has established DNA connections with. Those charts also show how they connect with other numbered charts throughout the entire family.

Every story is also supported by a large series of specific maps that are colour-coded to show where our ancestors lived, worked and died, and it is always useful to have copies of relevant charts and maps handy when reading the stories — that way you will always keep track of individuals as you explore what we know of their lives. Each article contains links to the relevant maps for that page.

 

See the relevant maps for the GALT families (maps open in new browser tabs):

Relevant maps for the FERGUSON families (maps open in a new browser window):

Relevant maps for the HARDMAN/Frankland families (maps open in a new browser window):

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

“Patience conquers”

The surname GALT (sometimes ‘Gault’, ‘Gauld’, or even ‘Gaw’) derives from the old Norse word ‘gölt-r’, which means ‘boar’ or ‘hog’. It seems very likely that the name came to the British Isles with the Norman invasion of 1066, but the family had firmly settled in Perthshire by the 14th century, and are sometimes linked with the Clan MacDonald of the Isles. However, by the time of the 1851 Scotland census, the Galts could only be found in Ayrshire, and this is where our branch of the family are first found — but have now  spread to places as far-flung as Brazil, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand, the USA and Australia.

“The righteous shine as stars”

The surname McCOLL is of Scottish origin, derived from the Gaelic ‘MacCoul’, meaning “son of Coll”. The name Coll is thought to stem from “Colla”, the name of three ancient Irish brothers who founded significant clans in Scotland and Ireland. The name gained popularity in the western coastal regions and Hebrides islands of Scotland. Tradition has it that the MacColls have been associated with the area round Loch Fyne from an early date and are claimed to be a branch of the great Clan Donald, and are also connected to other clans including the MacGregors and the Stewarts of Appin. The MacColls, who lived in Appin and Ballachulish, followed the Stewarts of Appin — in the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion, 18 MacColls were killed, and 15 wounded serving with the Appin Regiment.

“With fortitude”

The surname BARR was possibly first used in the Scottish/English borderlands by Strathclyde-Brittonic people. It was a name often found in Ayrshire, where the family was found since the early Middle Ages. It is generally thought to have been a locality name, taken from various place names in southwestern Scotland, in particular in Ayrshire and Renfrewshire. These place names derive from the Gaelic and Brittonic (Welsh related) word ‘barr’, meaning ‘height’ or ‘hill’.

“Sweeter after difficulties.”

Early families of FERGUSON (Gaelic: MacFearghuis, or son of Fergus) can be found in the old counties of Wigtown (West Galloway) and Kirkcudbright (East Galloway), some descended from the Prince of Galloway who married the daughter of Henry I of England. These ancient Lords of Galloway were independent rulers until their lands were annexed by Scotland in 1234.

The Ayrshire Fergusons, who descended from Fergus, an independent 12th century Lord of Galloway, were established in southwest Scotland before they received their charter from King Robert the Bruce in the 13th century. There were also numerous other families of Ferguson throughout Scotland at an early date. In Argyll, where the Ferguson Clan is particularly numerous, they held lands in Strachur until the beginning of the 19th century. The Fergussons of Perthshire were recognised as the principal Highland branch of the Clan, and the chieftainship belonged to the Dunfallandy family.

“Strong in both faith and war.”

I can find nothing authoritative about the origins of the McKERROW name at any of the genealogical sites, but there is plenty that seems simply ‘made up’. One explanation that seems plausible is that it an anglicized form of the Scottish Gaelic “Mac Cearrach” (son of the gamester), but that can’t be certain. More substantive is the identification of the name being found in Ayrshire, Dumfries, and Galloway, and early records of the name in its current form can be found in Auchinleck and New Cumnock — and, of course, some of our McKerrows came from Auchinleck, so that fits the narrative.

There are no tartans, clan badges, or mottos registered with the usual authorities for the name McKerrow, and the few examples you do find on the Internet are almost certainly fanciful. So, if others can make them up, then why can’t I? My version of the family badge draws on elements from the few examples you do find on the Web, often ones claiming Irish connections for the name — but I really only offer it as a decorative illustration: it ain’t real, folks!

Finally, it’s worth noting that throughout this website, all of our direct ancestors, whenever they are mentioned, are marked in purple (to help the reader keep a focus on who’s who). All blue text [mostly inside brackets like this] represents additional information or corrections, and did not form part of any of the original documents we have produced facsimiles of. Copies of the original birth, death, marriage and census records are held by me and stored in the Cloud, and can be made available to interested parties. When reproducing old parish baptismal and marriage entries, I have tried to keep the original archaic spellings and text, and also laid them out to reflect how they appeared in the parish records.