Harrower Family Tree » Nicholas Campbell (± 1517-1587)

Sources

1. FamilySearch LDS, Donald Campbell, Abbot of Couper Angus https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/68732271

   
   Year Book of Clan Gregor Society 1977 (pub. 1978)
   The Ancestral History of Margaret Campbell of Keithick (c1571-1631)
   by Charles G. Kurz
   pages 55-65
   Notes
   DONALD CAMPBELL, Abbot of Coupar Angus (1492-1562)
   In the political and religious history of Scotland, the life of Donald Campbell is well documented. But to document him as an ancestral parent of many children encounters the problem of identifying their mother(s), for marriages of religious men were not acknowledged until the Scottish Reformation in 1560, a few years before Donald Campbell's death. However, official sources well document land grants to many of his children.
   Donald Campbell is believed to have been born in 1492 at Inveraray, seat of the Campbells of Argyll. There is tradition that in his early life Donald was a soldier, but by 1525 he was clerk of Lismore in the diocese of Argyll. Donald Campbell's brother Colin, the 3rd Earl of Argyll, had become prominent in the court of young King James Y. On 14 June 1526, the King sent to the Pope the nomination of Donald Campbell to become a bbot of Cupar abbey (Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, ii, p. 302; Charters of Coupar Angus Abbey, vol. II, pp. 276-277). In 1529, King James Y expressed his satisfaction at the appointment of the new abbot of Cupar (Tyninghame Letter Book, G RH).
   Thus, by 1529, Donald Campbell became the last Roman Catholic abbot of this very ancient Cistercian abbey of Coupar Angus in eastern Perthshire. As abbot, he traveled to Rome, England and France as a Cistercian prelate and as a diplomat.
   The first official document in connection with his appointment is when Donald Campbell appears as abbot-nominee 13 May 1529, when the "whole fruits" of the abbey for 1529/30 were set, by his advice, to Master David Campbell (his son) and Sir John Campbell (his brother). (Acts of the Lords of Council in Public Affairs, 1501-1554, p. 310.)
   By King James Y, Donald was appointed a Lord of Session in 1541, and he became one of the senators of the College of Justice. Under the new reign of the young Queen Mary Stewart, he was appointed member of the Privy Council of the Earl of Arran, Regent of Scotland.
   In 1552, and from 1554 until at least 16 December 1562, Donald Campbell was the Keeper of the Privy Seal. He sat in the Scottish Parliament and in the Convention of Estates, where on 17 August 1560 the reformed doctrine was legally recognized and the Protestant Church was established, thereby annulling the Pope's authority in Scotland and prohibiting celebration of the mass. (Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, ii, p. 525; Charters of Coupar Angus Abbey, vol. II. pp. 277-279.)
   Donald Campbell was nominated by the Regent Arran in 1549/50 to be Bishop of Dunkeld. and again nominated in 1558/ 59 by the Regent Queen Mother, Mary of Guise, to be Bishop of Brechin. In both instances, however. these nominations failed to receive papal confirmation. It is likely that Donald was leaning toward the Reformed movement, and it was possible that he was Protestant by 19 May 1559, when he was reported to be wearing "secular weeds". (Fasti Ecclesiae Scot. Medii Aevi, 2nd, p. 41.)
   He died between 16 December 1562 and 20 January 1562/63, and is believed to be buried in Bendochy parish church with his sons David and Nicholas.
   In his time, Donald Campbell was considered a very able abbot, diplomat and politician, and was even asked by the Cistercian Order to participate in the improvement of the morally decaying Scottish monastic houses before the Reformation. He certainly had a good measure of the Campbell trait of always being sensitive to changes over a time period, which usually enabled the Campbells to be on the side of the winning faction.
   Donald Campbell became abbot during the period when the dominant families of Scotland were seeking charters and land grants of the rich monastic lands. As Abbot of Coupar Angus Abbey, Donald was able to make generous grants of lands to his relatives. Most of the information concerning his children is derived from his grants to them of abbey lands and perquisites.
   Since Donald Campbell was about 37 years of age when he officially became Abbot in 1529, some authorities believe his earlier children were legitimate. There is no certain information as to the total number-some sources stating five, others accepting nine children.
   His first three children who were born before 1529 and who were all believed mothered by Margaret (surname unknown) were: David of Keithick, Margaret of Kemphill, and Nicholas (Nicol) of Dalvany and Keithick.
   Others accepted as natural children, and shown on Herbert Campbell's Collection of Campbell Pedigrees (Lyon Office, H. M. Register House) were: David of Denhead, Colin of Crunan, John of the Boat and Souttarhouse, Robert burgess of Ayr, Thomas of Little Keithick, and Andrew of Chapeltoun.
   In the interest of brevity, only the lives of the first three children of David Campbell will be mentioned in this article.
   I. DAVID CAMPBELL, 1st of Keithick
   Although the date of birth is unknown, he was probably born at Inveraray, Argyll. He is first cited on 13 May 1529, when abbot-nominee Donald Campbell reserved the "whole fruits" and profits of the lands, kirks and rents of Coupar Abbey, 1529-1531, for Master David Campbell and his uncle Sir John Campbell of Cawder. (Acts of Lords of Council in Public Affairs, 1501-1554, p. 310.)
   Abbot Donald granted a feu-charter to David Campbell of certain areas of the lands of Keithick; heir-male failing, remainders to Nicholas Campbell, his brother, and then to Margaret, their sister. (Register of the Privy Seal, vol. VI, p. 285.)
   In 1536, David Campbell was among the party of distinguished Scots, led by Archibald, 4th Earl of Argyll, that journeyed to Paris to attend the wedding of King James V to Madeleine de Valois at Notre Dame Cathedral on I January 1537. Besides the nobility, others in the party were: John McGregour of Glenstra, Patrick McGregour of Lagory, Duncane McGregour, RoWIow Gregour, his son, Gregour Dougalsoun and John, his brother. Also in the party was William Drummond in Stobhall. (Register of the Privy Seal, vol. II, p. 320.)
   David Campbell died before 30 August 1571, apparently single and without issue. He is buried in Bendochy parish church near Coupar Angus. The inscription on his monumental stone, on the inside wall of the church, is so eroded it cannot be read except for the name.
   2. MARGARET CAMPBELL of Kemphill
   Again the date of birth is unknown, but she too was probably born at Inveraray, Argyll. Margaret is documented by a charter from Abbot Donald granting her on 15 December 1550 the lands of Kemphill, Bruntyhill and the Cowbyre of Keithick; heir-male failing, remainders to her brothers David of Keithick and then to Nicholas of Dalvany. (Charters of Coupar Angus Abbey, vol. II, p. 224.)
   Margaret resigned this grant as dowry upon her marriage to Walter Lindsay, son of the late David Lindsay, 9th Earl of Crawford and Katherine Campbell who was the daughter of Sir John Campbell of Calder (Cawdor) (brother of Abbot Donald Campbell). On 10 June 1574, the original grant was confirmed anew to Walter Lindsay and Margaret Campbell, his spouse, by King James VI. (Register of the Great Seal, vol. IV, p. 559, No. 2260.)
   Margaret's name is not mentioned in Scottish archives after 1574, nor when her husband Walter Lindsay in 1587 had a royal charter of the baronry of Balgawies.
   (It should be noted that Margaret Campbell of Kemphill was the aunt of Margaret Campbell of Keilhick and later Balmac/one.)
   3. NICHOLAS (NICOL) CAMPBELL of Dalvany and Keithick (1517-1587) He was the progenitor of the Keithick branch of Campbells from whence came Margaret Campbell, the Scottish ancestress of the Magruders of Maryland.
   From Scottish documentation we are certain that Nicholas (Nicol) Campbell: was the son of Donald Campbell, Abbot of Coupar Angus Abbey; was married to Katherine Drummond of Blair; was the father of four known children, one of whom was Margaret Campbell of Keithick, who married Andrew Drummond of Balmaclone, Alexander McGruder (the elder), and Donald Campbell.
   From the monumental stone on the inside wall of Bendochy parish church, we know that Nicholas Campbell was born in 1517, probably at Inveraray, Argyll. A translation of the Latin inscription on his stone is as follows:
   Under this tomb there lies
   the memory of
   the very former and
   highly skillful man of God
   Master Nicholas Campbell of Keithick
   who was the grandson of the
   former Earl of Argyll
   through the
   Venerable Father, Lord Donald Campbell,
   Abbot of Cupar,
   who departed this life in the year 1587
   in the year of his age 70.
   This inscription establishes Nicholas Campbell's birth as 1517 and his death as 1587. In addition, it cites the genealogy of three generations of the Campbells of Keithick.
   Although the name of Nicholas' mother is uncertain, some researchers believe her name was Margaret (surname unknown), and she was also the mother of Nicholas' brother David of Keithick and their sister Margaret of Kemphill. Since David, Nicholas and Margaret are named as remainder heirs in the grant of lands to each by Donald Campbell, Abbot of Coupar Angus Abbey, this lends credence to the belief that these three had the same mother. However, Herbert Campbell's Collection of Campbell Pedigrees lists them as natural children of Abbot Donald and mother unknown.
   Researchers who seek legitimacy note that Nicholas was nine years old in 1526, when his father was nominated as Abbot of Coupar Angus Abbey. That must assume that Donald Campbell was a layman who had legitimate children before taking the Cistercian Order of Priesthood to qualify to Rome as abbot.
   

2. Web Site Information, Donald Campbell, Abbot of Couper Angus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Campbell_(abbot)

   Donald Campbell (Scottish Gaelic: Dòmhnall Caimbeul) (died 1562)
   was a 16th-century Scottish noble and churchman. He was the son of Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll and Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of John Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox.[1] From 1522, he was a student of St Salvator's College, at the University of St Andrews.[2] After graduation, he became a cleric in his home diocese, the diocese of Argyll.[2]
   
   Abbot of Coupar Angus
   
   In May 1525, King James V of Scotland recommended Campbell's appointment as Abbot of Coupar Angus, a recommendation confirmed by parliament in the following year - despite the fact that the monks of Coupar Angus Abbey had already elected one of their brothers, Alexander Spens, to the position in early 1524.[3] In September 1529, the papacy agreed that Campbell could hold the abbey for eight months in commendam, providing that if he did not become a monk in this period the abbey would thereafter be regarded as vacant;[3] the following February, 1530, he received an eight-month extension to this.[3] Campbell seems to have complied, and was in France in the following months.[2]
   

3. FamilySearch LDS, Bruce and Campbell Family Tree from John Leitch (b. 1849) and Ann Rattray (B. 1848) Parents James Rattray and Margaret Campbell, m. 23 November 1845, Dalgety Parish

   Bruce and Campbell Family Tree from John Leitch (b. 1849) and Ann Rattray (B. 1848)
   
   Parents James Rattray and Margaret Campbell, m. 23 November 1845, Dalgety Parish
   

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