Crawford

The name Crawford or Crauford is territorial in origin, from Crawford in the upper reaches of Lanarkshire. The Crawford name appears early in Scottish documents, the first time being in the mid 12th century when John de Crauford witnessed Abbott Arnold's charter to Theobald Flamaticus of the lands on the Douglas Water. It is believed that he was a stepson of Baldwin de Bigir who also witnessed the charter. During the reign of William the Lion one Sir Reginald of Crawford was appointed Sheriff of Ayr, a demanding and powerful post which was one of the Offices of the Crown with administrative and financial duties as well as the responsibility for hearing appeals from Courts of Barony. His name, along with many other Crawford names, appears regularly in the charters and documents of 13th century Scotland; in 1297 another Sir Reginald Crawford was sheriff of Ayr. Three principle branches of the family spring from this time. In 1320 a brother of the second named Sheriff of Ayr received a grant of the lands of Auchinames from Robert the Bruce. The head of the family was accepted as being from this branch, the descendant of whom, Hugh Crawford, 21st of Auchinames, died in Canada in recent years having first sold his heritable property. A younger son of the first m entioned Sheriff of Ayr gave rise to the Crawfords of Craufurdland; his claim to this property was confirmed by Robert III in 1391. The third branch, that of Kilburnie, is derived from Sir John of Crawford, who acquired the estates of the same name in 1499. During the 13th century two Crawford women were to make significant marriages. The daughter of Sir John of Crawford married David Lindsay, ancestor of the Earls of Crawford and Balcarres, the chiefs of Clan Lindsay, a family with which many Crawfords still associate themselves. The second important marriage was that of Margaret Crawford, sister of the Sheriff of Ayr, in 1297; she married Sir Malcolm Wallace of Ellerslie and their son, William Wallace, was to prove himself as Scotland's greatest patriot. In 1781 a baronetcy was conferred on the senior line of Kilburnie.

MY Short Genealogy - ISABELLA CRAWFORD - JOHN McKAY.

Isabella CRAWFORD was born early in 1800's as she was married to John McKAY and had a daughter HELEN McKAY. I dont have a date for the birth of Isabella or of John, but their daughter Helen was born about 1839-1840. Papers seem to say they lived at Glasgow, although the family by 1880 when my grandmother was born had gathered at Kingston parish at Kilsyth STIRLING. John McKAY was notes as a Cotton Spinner on his daughter's marriage certificate.

It appears to be our HELEN McKAY who arrived in Melbourne on 'Wanata' 28th September 1860. Shipping Registration, Reference Book 13 738 - Ships Registers.

The following notes extracted from microfiche at Glasgow's Mitchell Library 26.5.1995.
GRACE MACKIE b.23.4.1826 to John Mackie and Marion Pollock at Polmont, Stirling.
JOHN MACKIE m. MARY POLLOCK 15.12.1774 Airth, Stirling, SCOTLAND

Many family members acquired the name of JAGO or JOSIAS, so I shall endeavour to show the links with this Scottish family. I have only recently learned that the JAGO family obviouly came from DEVON in the south of England. However they made a strong mark on this family. I have extracted all JAGO names from Devon I.G.I.

FAMILY 1. JOHN WESLEY JAGO m.16.5.1852 at Glasgow SCT
They had issue 1. Alexander Jane (son) JAGO b.20.8.1855 Glasgow
2. Amelia Durant JAGO b.13.9.1855.
3. Jane Alexander JAGO b.17.6.1858 Auchinleck, AYR
4. James JAGO b.14.1.1862

This family of JOHN WESLEY JAGO has family in New Zealand. I have endeavoured to make contact, but cannot keep the thread going.

FAMILY 2. JOSIAS COKE JAGO married MARGARET McKAY (Sister of John who married Isabella Crawford. They had issue 1. Edwin Brooks JAGO b.11.4.1866 Kilsyth, STI. who married Mary Robertson BROWN .

EDWIN & MARY had issue 1. Amelia Robertson JAGO b.8.10.1851
2.Grace Rundle JAGO b.4.1.1854
3. Josias JAGO b.4.1.1854 Barony, Lan. (Twin with Grace R. JAGO)
4. William Brown JAGO b.19.3.1856 at Milton Glasgow.
5. Mary Brown JAGO b.11.5.1859 Glasgow
6.Elizabeth Moore JAGO b.27.7.1861
7th child was Thomas Watson JAGO b.4.5.1874.

Another JOSIAS CORE ( COKE ? ) JAGO born 27.5.1859 Blythswood married Margaret McKAY.

They had issue 1. Josias JAGO b.29.5.1860 at Cumnock SCT
2. Grace JAGO b.29.8.1868 Kilsyth, STIRLING.

FAMILY 3. Alfred Thomas JAGO married 28.8.1848 at Govan, SCT.
to Ann Thomson COOPER
Issue to Alfred and Ann JAGO
1. Helen Bishop JAGO B.27.6.1849 Gorbals.
2. Josias JAGO b.8.1.1851 Gorbals.
3. Isabella Gifford JAGO b.1853 Gorbals
4. Jean Randle JAGO b.10.1.1855 at Hutchenson, Lanark.
5. Alfred Thomas JAGO b.7.4.1857 Hutchenson (This spelling could be wrong )
6. James Cooper JAGO b.27.5.1859 Hutchenson. ( on records)
7. Ann Cooper JAGO b.7.5.1861 Hutchenson
8. William Cooper JAGO b.7.7.1869 at Govan, Lanark, Scotland.

A male child JAMES COCKER (COKE ?) was born 24.8.1869 at Govan.
A male child John McKAY was born 10.1.1862............Hutchenson, Glasgow.

These previous families had a son JOSIAS JAGO (1851-1854). It seems they were all named after the original JOSIAS COKE JAGO who came to the region from Devon U.K.
In family No.2 JOSIAS JAGO is a twin to GRACE JAGO b.1854.
When Helen McKay SARKIES returned to Scotland 1878 she was at Kilsyth Stirling,
when my grandmother GRACE JAGO SARKIES was born in 1880. WAS she named after this relative .? I would certainly think so. Are there any of this Jago family around today ?

SARKIES FAMILY. I have little knowledge past the birth of Helen McKAY'S husband
JOHN ANDREW SARKIES. He was born of an Armenian family at Shuska in Asia.
(Republic of Iran). One of his children's birth certificate says he was born at Palestine.
Helen (Ellen) and John married under the rites of Presbyterian Church in Melbourne
in 1864. Helen was 22 and John Carkus (sic) was 32 years. His father was a merchant while his mother's name was Shahanoon (according to the marriage certificate.)

Some time after Helen and John Sarkies took their young family to Scotland he left the scene and it is thought he went to India. He was aGeneral Merchant in Melbourne and is listed in directories of the region. Helen SARKIES returned to Australia in 1883, when GRACE JAGO SARKIES was only three years old. John was not on the passenger manifest. Helen died a lonely death in Melbourne after working as a charwoman. Her sad life had seen the early death of a number of her children. Issue :-

1. MARGARET (Maggie) CARKUS (sic) 1864-1904 married HENRY PARKER
2. ANDREW SARKIES b.1865 married MARY J. LALOR. Descendants of this family live in Melbourne and also in South Australia.
3. JOHN SARKIES 1867/1875
4. DAVID SARKIES 1869/1976 married ELIZABETH NICHOLSON in Melbourne
5. SARAH SARKIES 1873/1874 Wodonga
6. ISABELLA SARKIES 1870/1875 at Carlton, Victoria
7. ISAAC SARKIES 1875/1885
8. JOSEPH SARKIES b1877 and died young at Fitzroy.
9. GRACE JAGO SARKIES b.1880 at Kilsyth Stirling Scotland.

GRACE married in 1901 at Naranderra, Victoria to ROBERT BOSTOCK born 1850. This opens up another quite long story, but after giving birth to about seven infants, Grace lost her fight for life and died at Brisbane Hospital at the birth of a daughter in 1914. She was aged 34 and this meant that the surviving children became wards of the state at an early age. Hence another long story for another time.

As this story is about the CRAWFORD CLAN and the McKAY CLAN basically, I close this little chapter, but much can be read from the large book I published on  the whole BOSTOCK family from Cheshire 1600 to Australia and the present day. Excerpts from book on the BIRRELL CLAN family are also included on ELECTRIC SCOTLAND WEB PAGES.

< http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/atoc/birrell2.html >

Thanks kindly for your interest in the neverending adventure for our ancestors.
Matthew and Thelma (Bostock) Birrell

CRAWFORD CLAN STORY
Received some time ago and I cannot remember who sent it.

CRAWFORD is most common in C.Antrim, Northern Ireland, followed by counties DOWN, DERRY, TYRONE and FERMANAGH. It is territorial in origin from the barony of the name on the Upper Clyde in Lanarkshire. The craw- element is from Old English crawe, Lowland Scots craw, meaning 'crow'.

The Crawfords were a sept of the Clan Lindsay whose chiefs are the Earls of Crawford. George Crawford was on e of the fifty Scottish undertakers of the Ulster Plantation, and as a son-in law of one of the chief undertakers, Andrew Stewart, he was granted 1,000 acres adjacent to Stewart's portion in Mountjoy, co.Tyrone. Although he sold the property within ten years, many of the Crawfords he brought over from Scotland remained.

The name was alread very numerous in Co.Antrim by the mid-seventeenth century and in the nineteenth century the Antrim Crawfords were mainly concentrated in the barony of Upper Glenarm, and had given their name to Crawfordsland in the Parish of Kilbride. In mid-nineteenth century Down the Crawfords were found mainly in the barony of Upper Castlereagh. Crawfordsburn in Co.Down is named after them.

One of the Crawford families in Fermanagh came to Ireland, probably from Kilbirnie in Argyllshire in or abouot 1630. There it gave it's name to Crawford's hill in the parish of Devenish. In 1962 it was noted as the thirtysixth most common name in that county. William Sharman Crawford, 1781-1861 MP and sheriff of Down, was founder of the Ulster Tenant right Associationwhich became the Tenant League of Ireland. He was born at Crawfordsburn, Co.Down.