BYRES, John 1st of Coates, Provost of Edinburgh ¹

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John married Margaret BARCLAY 'of the house of Towie', daughter of Walter BARCLAY of Kerkow and 16th of Towie and Elizabeth HAY.¹ (Margaret BARCLAY 'of the house of Towie' was born about 1574 and died on 12 January 1616 ³.)

  Marriage Notes:

"Of the house of Coates, its founder undoubtedly was the prosperous and talented trader, and good citizen of Edinburgh, John Byres, born in 1569, who was of the same stock as the Byres of the counties of Haddington and Lanark, &c. (In the last century, a branch of the family owned in 1661 the estate of Strathaven, see page 142.) By his first wife, Dame Margaret Barclay, the Laird of Coates had daughters only"

from The Families of Moir and Byres

Note

Margaret Barclay is said to have been of the house of Barclay of Towie, but her father is not specified. She would be of the right generation to have been a daughter of Walter Barclay 16th of Towie, and he is reported to have had a 'considerable' family. She is not named as his daughter in A History of the Barclay Family, but she may have been an overlooked younger daughter. She may have been born outside of marriage, or be a daughter of another Towie Barclay relative, Walter's brother James perhaps. This placing is not backed up by sources available so should be treated with caution. ^{1 3 4}

John next married Agnes SMYTH.¹ (Agnes SMYTH was born about 1600.)

  Marriage Notes:

"By his first wife, Dame Margaret Barclay, the Laird of Coates had daughters only ; but by his second wife, Agnes Smyth, a sister of Sir John Smyth, Knight of Groithill and King's Cramond, M.P., he had at least five sons."

from The Families of Moir and Byres ¹