Alasdair Millar, Denmark Historical Society, Denmark Bulletin

Naval surgeon Dr T.B. Wilson explored the Denmark area in 1829 and named several landmarks.

These included the Denmark River, after Alexander Denmark, another naval surgeon, and the brooding hill to our north, after Sir Patrick Lindesay (1778-1839) ‘in compliment to the officers of the 39th regiment’.

Sir Patrick was the Commander of the regiment.

I have long been fascinated by the unusual spelling of Lindesay.

The name derives from the French family members who emigrated from France to England in the 11th century.

At that point, the name was de Lyndesey but it has been subject to anglification and simplification down the centuries and there are now known to be at least 89 versions of the name.

Usually Lindsay will suffice, but I have used Lindesay here in keeping with the spelling of Sir Patrick’s name.

Later in the 11th century, during various Anglo-French disputes, the Lindesays emigrated further north and established themselves in Scotland.

My early life was lived in an area south of Glasgow called Cathcart.

The name refers to land close to the rivers Cart, of which there are two, termed Black Cart and White Cart; both are tributaries of the River Clyde.

While searching for information related to Cathcart I discovered a book by local Cathcart historian Jean Marshall titled, Why Cathcart?, which she published in 1970.

I downloaded a copy and started to read.

I was reminded of my childhood on every page. However, my attention was especially piqued by this sentence on p 68: ‘the lands of Aikenhead (an area within Cathcart) were confirmed by Robert II (then King of Scotland) to John de Maxwell, Knight, and his wife Isabella de Lyndesay, the King’s granddaughter, in 1373’.

Aikenhead House still stands in what is now Kings Park, in which I ran amok as a child.

I asked myself whether there was a genealogical link between Patrick Lindesay and Robert II (the first Stewart monarch) via the latter’s granddaughter.

Such a link would establish a connection between my childhood in Scotland and the place I now call home.

I started by following the generations of Lindesays, including the modern spelling of Lindsay, as all the spellings relate to the same family, using WikiTree.com.

This website displays the sons and fathers of index persons.

It is a simple matter to discover a direct line, working from the person of interest backwards in time, at least for individuals in the Scottish or English aristocracy, from son to father.

By this means I quickly traced the ancestors of Patrick Lindesay back 22 generations to Sir William de Lindesay (1096-1147).

In other words, Sir William was the 20th great grandfather of Patrick.

I noted that the aristocratic standing of the Lindesays did not diminish over time.

The next step was to establish the facts surrounding the marriage in which a male Lindesay married into the Royal family.

The account in Why Cathcart? was unconvincing because the spouse name was Maxwell, another important Scottish family, not Lindesay.

There was indeed a marriage between John de Maxwell and Isabella Lindesay – not the King’s grand-daughter – but it occurred early in the 15th century and was not relevant to the gift of land by Robert II in 1373.

So Why Cathcart? was incorrect.

However, I found another and more immediate connection: David Lyndesay, the first Earl of Crawford, married Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of the Robert II from his second marriage, to Euphemia de Ross, in 1374.

So I was undeterred.

Having established a connection between the Lindesays and the Stewart line, the final step was to make the connection, if any, with Patrick Lindesay.

I repeated the exercise undertaken earlier for Patrick – I looked retrospectively from son to father in David Lindesay’s line.

This took me back to his great-great-great grandfather, also called David de Lindesay (1244-1268).

That David died in Egypt during the Crusades.

On completion I had two lists: the first ending in Patrick Lindesay after whom Mt Lindesay was named, and the second from David Lindesay to his 3rd great grandfather.

Was I going to be lucky and discover an individual that was common to the two lists and who would be the common ancestor of both men? This turned out to be the case.

Sir David de Lindesay, Lord of Crawford and Byers (1299-1357), was in both lists.

He was therefore the common ancestor of David Lindesay, his grandfather, and Patrick Lindesay, his 12th great grandfather; see abbreviated family tree.

So there is a genealogical connection between Denmark and the ancient Scottish Royal family of Robert II.

I’m pleased to discover a tangible association between the land and locale of my birth and early childhood, and the place I now call home.

This article appeared in the Denmark Bulletin, 18 April 2024.