Livingston
of Callendar
The surname Livingston is of territorial origin derived from
the lands of that same name in West Lothian, just to the southwest of Edinburgh.
A Saxon by the name of Leving settled in in the area sometime during the reign
of Edgar (1097-1107) and it is from him that we get the name “Leving’s
Town” or “Livingston”. Leving's grandson, William was designated in
a charter as William the Lion “of Livingston”. His descendant, Sir William
Livingston accompanied King David II on his expedition to England in 1346 and it
was from him that he acquired the Barony of Callendar, Stirlingshire, and whose
heiress he married. These are the “Lowland Livingstons” from whose branches
descended the Livingstons of Dunipace, Kinnaird, Bonton and Westquarter.
The “Highland Livingstones” are of quite a different origin. The earliest of
the Highland Livingstones were from the Isle of Lismore in the centre of Loch
Linne off the coast of Western Scotland.
. . . Robert Livingston, The Livingstones of Argyll and
the Isles
Scotland in the 11th Century
Click for a brief background of Scotland
in the 11th century and of Baron de Leving.
Generation One
Baron de Leving a Saxon nobleman who accompanied St. Margaret the Exile
when she arrived at the Court of King Edward the Confessor in 1057.
circa 1057
Baron de Leving had a son:
Generation Two
Leving, about whom little is known of Leving, except that his father was
Baron de Leving and his son was Leving of Levingstoun.
Leving had a son:
Generation Three
Leving of Levingstoun settled in West Lothian, southwest of Edinburgh
during the reign of King Edgar (1097 – 1107) and is also known to have been
there during the reign of King Alexander I (1107 – 1124) and King David I
(1124 – 1153). His name was recorded in the latinized form
“Levingus” when he presented the church of his manor to the newly founded
Abbey of Holyrood in 1128.
circa 1100
Leving of Levingstoun had the following children:
- German, Burgess of St. Andrews in Fife
Generation Four
Thurston of Levingstoun In 1187, two of Thurston’s sons,
Alexander and William, witnessed a charter in which Thurston was involved.
circa 1150
Thurston of Levingstoun had the following children:
- William the Lion of Livingston
- Henry, who married Maria de Scalebroc
Generation Five
Alexander of Livingston who was known to have been living during the
reign of King David I (1124 – 1153)
Alexander Livingston had the following son:
Generation Six
Sir William Livingston who is known to have been living during the reign
of King William I the Lion (1165 – 1214)
Sir William Livingston had the following children:
- Sir Archibald de Livingston (died 1313) was the founder of
the Livingstons of Linlithgow and Stirling, but the main line became extinct
in 1512. He was Sheriff of Linlithgow in 1302 and Sheriff of
Linlithgow and Stirling in 1303.
Generation Seven
Sir Andrew de Livingston was one of the Scottish knights summoned
by King Edward I on May 24th 1297 to attend his expedition to Flanders. He
was killed the same year in the revolt led by the great Scottish hero Sir
William Wallace. Sir Andrew was the Sheriff of Lanark, and it appears that
Sir William Wallace emerged as the leader of the Scottish forces after Sir
Andrew was killed.
It is on official record that the Sheriff
of Lanark was killed when Scottish rebels burned Lanark in 1297. Blind
Harry, the Minstrel, asserts that this sheriff was an Englishman by the name of
Hesilrig; but there is no record of such a man having held this office.
Sir Andrew de Livingston is known to have been Sheriff of Lanark during the year
preceding Wallace’s Revolt; and it is also evident that he must have been
deceased about this time due to the fact that after Wallace’s Revolt there is
no further reference to him in the public records.
Click for more background on this Troubled
Time in Scotland.
Died: 1297, slain during the revolt led by by Sir
William Wallace
Married: Lady Elene de Quarantley or de Carantelegh
Sir Andrew de Livingston and Lady Elene de Quarantley had the following child:
Generation Eight
Sir William de Livingston of Gorgyn, Crainmillar and Drumry, was a firm
adherent of the House of Bruce, and fought against the English at Halidon Hill,
July 19th, 1333
Died: 1339
Married: Margaret Comyn; daughter of Sir Fergus Comyn, Lord
of Gorgyn
Sir William de Livingston and Margaret Comyn had the following children:
- John Livingston (died 1366) married a daughter of Wemyss of
Wemyss and was the founder of the Livingstons of Drumry and East Wemyss, but
the line became extinct when Sir Robert Livingston was slain at Flodden
Field in 1513.
- Sir William Livingston of Callendar
Generation Nine
Sir William Livingston of Callendar accompanied King David II on his
expedition to England in 1346 and acquired the Barony of Calendar,
Stirlingshire, and whose heiress he married.
Died: November 30, 1364
Married: Christian de Callendar, daughter of Sir Patrick de
Callendar
Click for the descent of Christian
de Callendar and additional information on Sir William Livingston.
Sir William Livingston and Christian de Callendar had the following children:
- Patrick Livingston who died while a hostage in England
- Sir John Livingston of Callendar
- William Livingston who was appointed in 1402 one of the
guardians of his nephew Archibald de Livingston.
- Walter Livingston who was appointed in 1402 one of the
guardians of his nephew Archibald de Livingston.
Generation Ten
Sir John Livingston of Callendar who was slain at the Battle of Homildon
Hill on September 14, 1402; as was his cousin Sir Robert Livingston of Drumry
and Wemyss.
Born: circa 1356
Died: 1402
Married: to (first name unknown) Menteith, daughter of John
Menteith of Kerse.
Sir John Livingston and ? Menteith had the following children:
- Sir Alexander Livingston of Callendar
- Robert Livingston, Burgess of Stirling, reputed to have
been the ancestor of the Livingstons of Westquarter.
- John Livingston, reputed to have been the progenitor of the
Livingstons of Banton or Ballintoun in Stirlingshire.
- James Livingston who got into trouble with the officers of
the Exchequer in 1417, in an attempt to evade the Linlithgow customs over
the export of some wool.
Sir John Livingston married second on August 5, 1381 to Agnes Douglas, daughter
of Sir James Douglas of Dalkeith and had the following children:
- Archibald Livingston, who was a "natural idiot",
and after his father's death was placed under the charge of his uncles
William and Walter Livingston and Sir James Douglas of Dalkeith.
- William Livingston who became 1st Viscount of Kilsyth; his
great X3 grand daughter Barbara Livingston married the Reverend Alexander
Livingston circa 1570.
- Henry Livingston who was Knight Commander of of the order
of St. John of Jerusalem in Scotland and Preceptor of Torphichen.
Generation Eleven
Sir Alexander Livingston of Callendar who was the favourite counsellor of
James I (of Scotland), after whose death he acted as guardian to the young King
James II during his minority, and, in that capacity was for some time the
virtual ruler of Scotland.
 |
Stirling Castle: One of
Scotland's great strongholds
Click for details of the life of Sir Alexander Livingston and
the Black Dinner
of 1440.
Died: 1451
Married: (first name unknown) Dundas; daughter of James Dundas of
Dundas, the elder.
Sir Alexander Livingston and ? Dundas had the following children:
- Sir James Livingston, 1st Lord Livingston of Callendar
- Alexander Livingston of Feldes or Phildes, of Perthshire,
Constable of Stirling Castle, Captain of Methven Castle, etc., executed by
hanging and/or beheading on Castle Hill in Edinburgh on January 21, 1449/50
for high treason. Robert Livingston of Linlithgow, Comptoller, was
executed for high treason as well. Alexander Livingston of Feldes or Phildes
was the ancestor of the Livingstons of Dunipace, Bantaskine, Kirklands of
Dunipace, Balrownie, and Halls of Airth. See E.B. Livingston: The
Livingstons of Callendar (Edinburgh, 1920) Chapters XIV., XV., and
XVI. for details of this line.
- Janet Livingston, born circa 1395, married Sir James
Hamilton of Cadzow, father of the first Lord Hamilton.
- Elizabeth Livingston (doubtful) who is said to have married
James Dundas of Dundas, the younger.
- Helen Livingston who married William Menteith of Carse of
Kerse.
Generation Twelve
Sir James Livingston, 1st Lord Livingston of Callendar succeeded
his father as guardian to James II and became Great Chamberlain and Master of
the Household to that monarch, who always held him in high esteem, and, in 1454,
raised him to the peerage of Scotland as the first Lord Livingston of Callendar.
Died: 1467
Married: Marion de Berwick, daughter of Thomas de Berwick
Sir James Livingston and Marion de Berwick has the following children:
- James Livingston, 2nd Lord Livingston of Callendar who died
without issue.
- Master David Livingston, Rector of Ayr, afterwards Provost
of Lincluden and Keeper of the Privy Seal, and curator to his elder brother,
James 2nd Lord Livingston of Callendar.
- Elizabeth, who married John, Earl of Ross and Lord of the
Isles. After her husband's forfeiture, King James III on February 8,
1475/76, settled on her a liferent in certain lands for an honourable
sustenance in consideration of her loyal services to his parents, himself
and his queen, Margaret of Denmark.
- Euphemia who married first, Malcolm, son and heir of
Robert, 1st Lord Fleming; and secondly, William Fleming of the Bord.
Euphemia's nephew, Sir James Livingston, 3rd Lord Livingston, married
Malcolm Fleming's sister Beatrice
- Marion who married William, 3rd Lord Crichton, an alliance
probably intended to finally end the long continued rivalry between the two
families.
Generation Thirteen
Alexander Livingston who is known to have married, but the name of his
wife has been lost.
Born: before July 6, 1445
Died: 1472
Alexander Livingston had a child:
- Sir James Livingston, 3rd Lord Livingston of Callendar
Generation Fourteen
Sir James Livingston, 3rd Lord Livingston of Callendar who
succeeded his childless uncle as 3rd Lord Livingston of Callendar in 1497.
Died: 1503
Married: circa 1472 to Beatrice Fleming, daughter of Robert, the
1st Lord Fleming and granddaughter of Sir Malcolm Fleming of Cumbernauld who had
been executed following the Black Dinner of 1440. Beatrice Fleming was a
great X4 granddaughter of Robert the Bruce (1274 - 1329), King of Scotland (1306
- 1329)
For Beatrice Fleming's descent from the Kings of Scotland, click
on The
Kings of Scotland Page.
For Beatrice Fleming's descent from Prince Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, click
on Sinclair.Sir
James Livingston and Beatrice Fleming had the following children:
- Sir William Livingston, 4th Lord Livingston of Callendar
- Elizabeth Livingston, who married Robert Callender or
Callendar, grandson and heir apparent to Robert Callender of Durator.
Their son, Robert Callender of Bancloich, married Marion Lindsay, and this
last couple's daughter married James Livingston of Inches, a member of a
younger line of the Livingstons of Kilsyth.
Sir James Livingston married second to Agnes Houston and had a child:
- Alexander Livingston of Terrintiran
Generation Fifteen
Sir William Livingston, 4th Lord Livingston of Callendar who in February
1509/10 resigned the whole of his lands in the Barony of Callendar in favour of
his son and heir Alexander, 5th Lord Livingston of Callendar; leaving his
liferent interest and a reasonable terse for his wife. His married life, owing
to his dissipated habits, was not a happy one. In 1516, Lady Livingston
applied to the Ecclesiastical Court of St. Andrews for a decree of divorce on
account of her husband having committed adultery with one Mariota Taylor and
having had issue by her. On September 29, 1516, the court granted Lady
Livingston a separation "a mensa thoro et mutua cohabitatione ac
servitute" from her husband while he was ordered to support her in
accordance with her rank and means.
Died: before April 25, 1518
Married before April 5, 1501 to Agnes Hepburn, daughter of Alexander
Hepburn, the Younger, of Whitsome, who was son of Sir Patrick Hepburn, Lord
Hailes. Separation on September 29, 1516.
Sir William Livingston and Agnes Hepburn had the following children:
- Alexander Livingston, 5th Lord Livingston of
Callendar who was the guardian of the young Mary Queen of Scots. He
married first to Janet Stewart and they had no issue. He married second to
Agnes Douglas, daughter of John, 2nd Earl of Morton. Alexander
Livingston, 5th Lord Livingston of Callendar died in 1553.
- His eldest son, John Livingston, the Master of
Livingston, married Janet, eldest daughter of Malcolm, 3rd Lord Fleming.
They had no issue. John was slain at the Battle of Pinkie, September
10th, 1547.
- His second son, William Livingston, became the 6th Lord
Livingston. He married Agnes, youngest daughter of Malcolm, 3rd Lord
Fleming. Their eldest son, Alexander Livingston, 7th Lord Livingston
of Callendar, married Helenor Hay, elder daughter of Andrew, 8th Earl of
Errol.
- His youngest son, Thomas Livingston, married Agnes
Crawford of Haining. Their 11X great granddaughter Helen Hanson
(born 1947, living in Australia as of 2001) supplied much of the
previously missing Livingston genealogy from the 12th and 13th centuries.
- William Livingston who was Captain of the Royal Castle of
Kirkwall in the Orkneys. He married Margaret Strang.
- Margaret Livingston who married John, 4th Lord Hay of
Yester.
- Dame Isobel Livingston, Lady Roslin who married Sir Oliver
Sinclair of Roslinas his third wife. According to Douglas's Peerage,
this Isobel Livingston married Nicol Ramsay of Dalhousie, while the Scots
Peerage declares Ramsay's wife was the daughter of Sir Robert
Livingston of Wemyss.
Generation Sixteen
Master James Livingston who, as he is styled "Master", must
have taken a degree in Arts at one of the Universities, probably the University
of Glasgow. Unfortunately, there is a gap in the records of this
university for the period between 1509 and 1536 which would have covered his
student days.
James Livingston fought at the Battle of Pinkie (September
10, 1547) under the command of his relative, James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, and
was there killed, as was also the Master of Livingston, his nephew.
This James Livingston must not be confused with other
contemporary Master James Livingston, of which there are at least three:
- Master James Livingston, Rector of Culter, Lanakshire.
- Master James Livingston of Baldoran, a descendant of the
Livingstons of Kilsyth.
- Master James Livingston, chaplain of St. John the Baptist's
Aisle, Falkirk Parish Church.
Died: September 10, 1547, slain at the Battle of Pinkie,
near Edinburgh.
Married circa 1544, but the name of his wife has been lost.
Master James Livingston had the following child:
- {Reverend} Alexander Livingston, M.A.
Generation Seventeen
{Reverend} Alexander Livingston, M.A. who was the first Protestant Rector
of Monyabroch. He was known as Master Alexander Livingston, a reference to
his degree of Master of Arts.
Died: circa 1598
Married: circa 1570 to Barbara Livingston, daughter of
Alexander Livingston of Over & Nether Inches, and grand daughter of William
Livingston, 4th Viscount of Kilsyth.
{Reverend Alexander Livingston and Barbara Livingston had the following
children:
- {Reverend} William Livingston, M.A.
Generation Eighteen
{Reverend} William Livingston, M.A. When only twenty years old William
Livingston was presented by his kinsman, Alexander, 7th Lord Livingston,
afterwards first Earl of Linlithgow, to the family living of Callendar in
Perthshire, but, finding that his ignorance of the Gaelic language stood in the
way of his properly discharging the duties of this Highland parish, he was
eventually transferred, by the same patron, to the rectory of Monyabroch in
succession to his father.
Born: Kilsyth Castle, circa 1576
Died: 1641, Lanark
Married: January 6, 1601 at Falkirk to Agnes Livingston,
daughter of Alexander Livingston of Falkirk, by Marlan Bryson of Falkirk.
{Reverend} William Livingston and Agnes Livingston had the following children:
- {Reverend} John Livingston, M.A.
- Anna Livingston who married on May 5, 1627 to Thomas
Vassie, minister of Torphichen; son of William Vassie, burgess of
Lanark.
- Margaret Livingston who married on January 4, 1632 to
Matthew Young, schoolmaster in Lanark; died November 1632.
- William Livingston who was apprenticed to James Nairn,
merchant, Edinburgh on July 21, 1630. William Livingston married Mary
Lindsay. Their great X 7 granddaughter Margaret Nell Livingston Blay
kindly provided many leads and much information on Livingston genealogy.
{Reverend} William Livingston married second to Nicolas Somervell and had the
following children:
- Jean Livingston who married in September 1651 to Gideon
Penman, minister of Crichton.
- Janet Livingston who died on April 3, 1690.
{Reverend} William Livingston married third to Marion Weir (died January
7, 1632)
Generation Nineteen
{Reverend} John Livingston, M.A. who at the very outset of his
career became involved
in a bitter dispute with the Bishop of Glasgow, and from then onward was
constantly being censured for insubordination, and was more than once suspended
from his holy office. Yet, in spite of all this, "Worthy, famous Mr. John
Livingston," as he is affectionately called by contemporary chroniclers,
carried more weight with the Scottish people than any churchman of his time.
Born: Monyabroch, June 21, 1603
Died: Rotterdam, Holland, August 1672
Married: June 13, 1635 at Edinburgh to Janet Fleming who was born
in 1613, died Rotterdam, Feb. 1690/1 and was a daughter of Bartholomew Fleming
by Marian Hamilton.
Click for more on {Reverend}
John Livingston within this site.
or
Click for an abridged version of John P. Stewart's The
Life and Times of Master John Livingston
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{Reverend} John Livingston
(1603 - 1672) |
Janet Fleming
(1613 - 1693-4) |
from original portraits in possession
of the Earl of Wemyss, Gosford House, Scotland
(courtesy of Sewell V. Sample)
{Reverend} John Livingston and Janet Fleming had fifteen
children, eight of whom died before reaching the ten years of age, many of them
as infants:
- John Livingston, born at Iron Furnace of Milton, Co.
Down, Ireland on June 30, 1636 and died at Stranraer, Wigtown, Scotland on
January 8, 1639. John was buried in Inch Churchyard.
- William Livingston, born at Lanark, January 7, 1638.
William married Ann Veitch on December 23, 1663, and he left surviving
issue. He was buried in Greyfriars' Burial Ground on June 12, 1700
- Bartholomew Livingston, born September 3, 1639 and died
September 24, 1641
- Agnes Livingston, born September 20, 1640 and died October
17, 1641
- Marion Livingston, born October 10, 1642, married {Rev.}
John Scott September 28, 1658 and died July 1661 or 1662.
- Janet Livingston, born September 28, 1643, married
Andrew Russell; but had no issue. Janet died August 1696.
- John Livingston, born August 20, 1644 and died October
1645.
- Agnes Livingston, born August 18, 1645 and married David
Cleland June 6, 1676.
- Joanna Livingston, born September 1647 and died October
1648.
- Barbara Livingston, born June 21, 1648 and married James
Millar or Miller.
- John Livingston, born June 24, 1652 and died October 12,
1652.
- Andrew Livingston, born August 1653 and died February 7,
1655.
- Robert Livingston, "Robert the Grantee", also
know as "Robert the First Lord of the Manor" landed at
Charlestown, Massachusetts in December 1673. Among his grand children
were:
- Elizabeth Livingston, born January 7, 1657 and died October
31, 1666.
Generation Twenty
James Livingston who was apprenticed on September 24, 1662 to Edward
Stevenson, a merchant in Edinburgh. He subsequently became a merchant in
that city himself, where he died in 1700; and was interred in the Greyfriars'
Burial Ground on June 4, 1700. He married twice, but the name of his first
wife, the mother of Robert who joined his uncle in America, is unknown.
James married second to Christian Fish on August 15, 1683.
(Mr. E. B. Livingston, The Livingstons of Callendar,
page 448)
Born: Stranraer, Scotland, September 22, 1646
Died: 1700
James Livingston and his first wife whose name is unknown had the following son:
It is quite probably that James Livingston has at least one other
son whose direct descendant, possibly a grandson, was John Livingston, the
founder of the Jamestown Livingstons who settled in New York in 1764.
Please click on The
Jamestown Livingstons for details.
Generation
Twenty-one
Robert Livingston emigrated to America in 1687 or 1696, and is known as
“Robert the Nephew” to distinguish him from his Uncle “Robert the
Grantee” referred to previously, who landed at Charlestown, Massachusetts in
December 1673 and moved on to New York in 1674 and then to Albany.
Born: Rotterdam, Holland, 1663
Died: New York, April 21, 1725
Married: 1697 to Margaretta Schuyler, who was a daughter of Colonel
Peter Schuyler and Engeltie Van Shaik. Click for additional background on Margaretta
Schuyler
Robert Livingston and Margaretta Schuyler had a son:
- Angelica Livingston who married Johannes Van Rensselaer
- James Livingston
- Janet Livingston who married {Colonel} Henry Beekman
- John Livingston who married Catherine Ten Broeck
Links
Three Links to The Livingston Family Genealogy and History
are:
House of
Livingston and Clan
Livingston and Mary Van
Deusen's Site
A links to Livingston, Scotland as it is to-day :
Livingston,
West Lothian
And there are two links to the Callendar House:
Calendar
House Site One and Callendar
House Site Two
Be sure to visit John P. Stewart's site featuring an abridged
version of his book about:
{Rev}
John Livingston, 1603 - 1672
Please visit the Sewell
Genealogy Site Map for other pages in this series.
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This page was set up by Robert Sewell in
December, 2001 to show the Livingston Family since the earliest known times.
He may be contacted by email from September to May at the following address:
robert.sewell@sympatico.ca
The information on this page represents a
compilation of material kindly submitted by the following Livingston
descendants: Nell Livingston Blay, Steven R. Edington, Helen Hanson, Don
C.
Livingston, Robert Livingston, W. Darcy McKeough, Sewell Vincent Sample, Joe
Slavin, John P. Stewart and Carma Kathleen Wallace.
Other sources include:
{Rev} Henry Doyle Sewell (1806 - 1886) Letters, unpublished
The Book of History (18 Volumes), London, 1914
Edwin Brockholst Livingston: The Livingstons of Callendar,
Edinburgh University Press, 1920
Sir Hector Livingston Duff, The Sewells of the New World, William
Pollard and Co., 1924
Way and Squire: Clans and Tartans, Harper Collins, Glasgow,
1995
Berhard Grun, The Timetables of History, New York, 1991
Norman F. Cantor (ed.) The Encyclopædia of the Middle Ages, New
York, 1999
Robert Livingston, The Livingstones of Argyll and the Isles
Generation
Twenty-one