LECKIE,
the surname of an old family in the county of Dumbarton. The head of
the family, at the beginning of the 18th century, was
John Leckie of Croy-Leckie, in that county. He married a daughter of
Macgregor of Glengyle by his wife, a daughter of the first William
Campbell of Glenfalloch, by whom he had several children. He was
proprietor of the lands of Croy-Leckie, afterwards the property of
Mr. Blackburn, and of the lands of Balvie, which became the property
of Mr. Campbell-Douglas. Having joined the cause of the Stuarts with
his brother-in-law, Rob Roy, in the rebellion of 1715, his estates
were forfeited, and he fled the country with all his family, except
the youngest son and a daughter, who remained in Scotland. This son,
Thomas Leckie, minister of the parish of Kilmarnock from 1703 to
1723, married Janet, daughter of James Buchanan of Catter, parish of
Drymen, now belonging to the duke of Montrose. He had an only son,
William, who became proprietor of the estate of Broich, now called
Arngomery, Stirlingshire, and was grandfather of William Leckie-Ewing,
Esq. of Arngomery, sole male representative of the family. The
daughter of John Leckie married James Maxwell of Merksworth,
Renfrewshire, from which marriage the Maxwell-Graham family (of
which the 13th countess of Buchan is a daughter), is
descended, as are also the Blacks, sometime of Clairmont, near
Glasgow.
Electric Scotland
note 1: We got in an email from Linda Horyn...
The Retour 1716 document C22/55 states
Rev. Thomas Leckie was a legitimate child of William Leckie and Jean
Peadie.
The Burgesses and Guild Brethren of
Glasgow records for 1707 state Mr. Thomas Leckie, minister of
the Gospel of Kilmarnock, was the lawful son to the deceased
William Leckie, merchant, burgess.
Electric Scotland note 2: We
got in an email from Ruth Leckie...
I have been researching my
husband’s LECKIE genealogy for some considerable years and
noticed you had had an e-mail regarding the Leckie family
that you posted on the Leckie surname page on Electric
Scotland.
Firstly, may I say that I fully
concur with the write-up on Electric Scotland in that I have
traced my Leckie genealogy back to Reverend Thomas Leckie of
Kilmarnock and have full paper proof of his descendants
which is almost exactly as described in your article (he
married twice and had at least 7 children of whom at least 3
survived). In addition, I can tell you that his sister who
married James Maxwell was named Rebecca Leckie (married to
James Maxwell in 1694). This evidence comes in the form of
Rev Thomas’ own diary entries –extracts of which were
published in a book called “By Yon Bonnie Banks”. That same
book suggests that Rev Thomas’ parents were in fact William
Leckie, a merchant and Jean Rae (a couple who were,
incidentally, married in 1692 in Glasgow – verified through
OPRs from Scotland’s People). HOWEVER, the Thomas Leckie
born to this couple was born in 1703 (also verified by
Scotland’s People) – which of course coincides with the
start of Rev Thomas’ church career in Kilmarnock. Hence he
CANNOT be the ‘lawful’ son of William Leckie and Jean Rae.
Also, in answer to Linda’s
e-mail I feel obliged to say that the two documents she
mentions may easily refer to two different “Reverend Thomas
Leckies” and also that Scotland’s People does not contain
any parish record which states that a child named Thomas was
born to a William Leckie and Jean Peadie, nor is there a
record of a marriage between a William Leckie and Jean
Peadie (even using the Soundex facility!)
It should also be remembered
that the connection between Rob Roy and the Leckies meant
that many of the Leckies did “scatter” around the end of the
1600’s and early 1700’s and those that remained in Scotland
lived under various aliases and/or with relatives. Hence,
it may well be that Rev Thomas Leckie, minister of
Kilmarnock 1703 – 1723, was brought up by relatives but, on
the face of it, there does not appear to be any firm proof
that his father was a William Leckie OR that his father was
not John of Croy-Leckie aka the last laird of Leckie. It
is, no doubt, proof that many tracing this line wish was
available.
Electric Scotland Note 3:
We got in an email from Iain Coates
I have recently read the
entry for the Leckie family – I have been researching
another part of the family which I still have not fully
connected up yet. However there is an error in the
entry and subsequent information from emails which need
to be corrected. Thomas Leckie was the minister in
Kilmaronock in Dumbarton and not Kilmarnock.
The Fasti Ecclesiae provides
details of his ministry in Kilmaronock and several other
family members appear to live there about the same
time. It too erroneously states that Thomas Leckie’s
mother was Jean Rae.
Searching for Leckie births
in Kilmaronock from 1650 until 1750 yields 32 Leckie
births occurring between 1704 and 1744 but none outside
these dates. It is tempting to assume that these are
all related and their presence was in some way
associated with Thomas’s time there.
Electric Scotland Note 4
We got in an email from Linda Horyn
The
marriage of William Leckie and Jonet Pedie took
place on 30 April 1678 in Glasgow. I have found only
one baptismal record; this was for their son who was
not named and born in 1685. The original diary of
Rev. Thomas Leckie mentions his brother William and
sisters Rebecca, wife of James Maxwell and Bessie,
wife of Robert Scot.
John
Leckie of Croy had a daughter Janet Leckie (died
1775, age 87). She also married a James Maxwell
which would account for the confusion of historians.
Yes
Ian, the place mentioned in the guild record which I
sent should have read Kilmaronock, Dunbarton. I
should have checked the original record and I
apologize.
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