McMurtries of Kilmarnock

Revised June 2008

 

There were McMurtries in the parish records beginning in 1652.  However this family moved or died out and it was 75 years before other McMurtries arrived here.  

 

The earliest family was that of John McM and Agnes Barclay who had children:  Thomas b 1652, Agnes 1656, James 1655 and James 1659.  Fate of these children is unknown.

 

The next wave of McM settlement was that of three families:

 

David McM a weaver md 1734 Margaret McRath/McReith

Thomas McM a shoemaker md 1736 Sarah Whyte (Sarah died 1754); he then married Mgt Cochran with children: 1755-1762

William McM, a weaver md 1743 Elizabeth McClure or McGlain: children 1744-1747

            (Willliam a weaver married Jane Curry 1747; she died 1748)

             William died 1748 aged 29, hence born about 1719; there is a William b 1718, son of David a shoemaker in Maybole)

There is a David b 1701 and Thomas b 1703, sons to Thomas McM of Burton, Kirkmichael,

There is a David b 1703 and Thomas b 1708, sons to Thomas of Barr.  There is a William b 1712 son of Thomas of Barr.

 

However, this is insufficient evidence to link these families to Barr or to Kirkmichael.  However, a link to Barr is tempting!  If David and Mgt McRath’s son Thomas b 1747 was the Thomas who married 1781 Marion Bole in Kirkmichael, then the Dalmellington pattern DNA characteristic of Thomas would be characteristic of David McM and the other McM in Kilmarnock IF they were kin.  We know that a William McM b 1766 Dalmellington migrated to Barr around 1800.  If this were a return to the place of the Dalmellington’s family origin, that we would be postulating a Barr origin for the Dalmellington McM and a migration to Dalmellington and a migration to Kilmarnock. 

 

We also have a possible linke of William, the weaver to Maybole, since his birth in 1719 corresponds to a William b 1718 in Maybole.

 

The children of these three were:

David McM a weaver md 1734 Margaret McRath/McReith

            Mary 1737 d 1739

            Margaret 1739 d 1741

            Sarah 1742

            Mary 1744 d 1745

            Thomas 1747  (Could this Thomas be the Thomas who md 1781 in New Kilpatrick?)

            Elizabeth 1749 (Paisley)

            David 1753

 

Thomas McM a shoemaker md (1) 1736 Sarah Whyte d 1754  (2) 1754 Margaret Cochran

            Margaret 1755 d 1758

            Thomas 1759 shoemaker md 1785 in Paisley to Marion Lamont (b 1759 Kilmarnock)

                        John 1786

                        Mary 1788

                        Child 1789

                        Jean 1792

            Robert 1762

 

William McM, a weaver md 1743 Elizabeth McClure or McGlain.  He died in 1748 aged 29 (b1719).

            Robert 1744

            Martha 1745

            Sarah 1747

            He then married Janet Curry in 1747, but she died in 1748.

 

This William might be:

David, shoemaker in Maybole and Marion McRinkin

1712    John

1714    James

1716    Elizabeth

1718    William

1720    Katherine

1723    John

1725    Adam

 

John b 1720 d 1738 Kilmarnock, son of John, indweller in Kilmarnock

           

William McMurtrie b 1751 (prob Maybole son of William b 1701 Dailly, resided Woodhead of Girvan) married in Irvine 1774 to Margaret Breckenridge

            Marrion b 1774 Monkton/Prestwick

            William b 1776 Monkton/Prestwick  d 1781 Kilmarnock

            William b 1784 (3rd son, 4th child) Kilmarnock

 

There is also a:

John McM a coachman, md 1816 Janet Kennedy who could be John son of Thomas and Marion Lamont

            James b 1816

            Thomas 1817

            Mary 1819

            James 1821

            Margaret 1824

 

 

Note the following families in Glasgow:

 

John md Kathrin Bell

            David 1727

            John 1730

            Hugh 1732

            Catherine 1733

 

Thomas md Elizabeth Hutchison

            Janet 1750 Edinburh

            James 1751 Glasgow

            William 1753 Edinburgh

           

 

James md 1753 Jean Rutherford

            Janet 1756

            Elizabeth 1758

            Abigail 1759

            James 1761

 

David md 1758 Elizabeth Arthur

            David 1759

                        Margaret Arthur 1793

                        David 1794

                        William 1800

                        Robert 1804

            John 1760

            Jean 1764

            William 1767

            Robert 1769   

 

Then in the 1820s and 1830s, several unrelated families from Maybole and Kirkoswald came to Kilmarnock:

 

CF 16 of Maybole

 

Janet md David Niven 1822

Hugh md Mary Harper in 1824

Thomas and Elizabeth Campbell McM had a son:

            Thomas b 1828

 

CF 7 of Maybole

David md Margaret Smith 1838 and had children:

            Thomas b 1838

            Margaret b 1841

           

CF 38 of Kirkoswald:

James and Janet Dow McM had children:

            Margaret b 1838

            Bryce b 1840

            Allan Dow b 1842