LESLIE, William of Little Folla ^{1 2}

   User ID: Y130.

  General Notes:

"William Leslie, Laird of Little-Folla, was the second son of William Leslie, third Laird of Warthill, by his wife, Margaret Gray. He got the lands of Little-Folla in 1611, his father, William Leslie, third Laird of Warthill, having purchased them from Gordon of Tilliehoudie, his son-in-law. They were then tenanted by a family of Raits, who made great opposition to the purchase."

from Thange of Fermartyn ¹

William married Marjory CRICHTON, daughter of James CRICHTON of Frendraught and Auchingoul and Janet GORDON.^{1 2} (Marjory CRICHTON was born about 1600.)

  Marriage Notes:

"William Leslie of Little-Folia married Marjory, daughter of William Crichton, brother of Viscount Frendraught."

from Thanage of Fermartyn



"William Leslie, first Laird of Little Folia, married Marjory, daughter of William Crichton, brother of Viscount Frendraught. The marriage took place at Glack, where Marjory was staying with her mother, who, after William Crichton's death, had married Elphinstone, Laird of Glack."

from Family of Leslie

Note:
The two statements above are very misleading *if* by "Viscount Frendraught" and "brother of Viscount Frendraught" we think is meant James Crichton, born in 1620 and son of Elizabeth Gordon, and William Crichton, his younger brother born a year or two later. The dating simply does not bear this out. The older brother of William Leslie, James, 4th of Warthill, we are told was born in 1584, therefore William's date of birth must be not long after 1584.

The peerage of Scotland, erroneously, names the husband of Elizabeth Gordon "1st Viscount Frendraught" (page 166), and this may be, at least in part, the source of the mistake, although it does not solve the aspect of congruent dates.

For James Crichton and Elizabeth married in 1619; their children must therefore be born after that date. Since James Leslie, 2nd laird of Little Folla was born in 1630, his mother was clearly not a child of James Crichton and Elizabeth Gordon, let alone their grandchild. She is likely then to be a sister of that James Crichton, younger than James, and bearing children slightly after his children were born.

If she was not his sister she may have been his cousin, his father's brother's child, if there was such, though no such William has been found by this researcher. The peerage of Scotland includes a 'Mary' as the sister of James who married Elizabeth Gordon, but misidenties her as the Mary who married Lord Oliphant in a later generation. 'Mary' and 'Meriorie' are sometimes interchanged, so she may be the woman in question.

James Elphinstone of Glack who married Elizabeth Wood was a distant cousin of Marjorie's mother. It is possible Marjory was married at Glack, if her father was deceased. ^{1 2 3}