GORDON, William of Farskane ^{1 2}

   Other names for William were GORDON, William of Farskan ⁴ and GORDON, William of Farsken.³

   User ID: B768.

  General Notes:

"Before I end the Genealogie of Cairnborrow and their Cadents I must tell you that Severalls of their Posterity are extinct, only the family of Artloch is represented by William (?) Gordon of Drumwhyndle and William Gordon of Farsken, two Brothers, sons of William Gordon a Second Son of Artlochs who first coft Farsken."

from Balbithan MS




"1649, August 24. - Harry 'de Glassauch' was served heir to his father Harry in the lands of Farskane, in the barony of Ruthven (Services of Heirs). Farskane ultimately came into the possession of William Gordon, son of Thomas (see Note below) Gordon of Artloch of the Cairnburrow family."

"1665, August 10.- Sasine to Harry Gordon, 'of Farskane,' and Marie Ogilvie, his spouse, of Farskane, Cruets and Greencastle (Banff Sasines). He disposed of Farskane to William Gordon of Auchinhandach, one of the Cairnburrow family, and son of John Gordon of Artloch, who had married Harry's kinswoman, the daughter of John Gordon I. of Leichestoun. On January 29, 1668, William Gordon, 'at Invers of Strathbogie,' had sasine of the lands of Farskane (Banff Sasines)."

from Leichestooun

Note:

'Thomas' may be a slip of the pen, for elsewhere the author identified William's father as John, which appears to fit the dates more appropriately.




"The Valuation Rolls of the Sherriffdom of Banffe as they have been valued and certified by the Commrs appointed be the act of Parliat at Edgr the seaventh of June Imvy&(1600) and ninty years.

Raffen Parish.

ffarskan Wm. Gordon three hundreth libs - £300 0 0"

from Records of the County of Banff




"The area, or nave of the kirk is partly enclosed, and contains a number of monuments.
Within the more easterly part of the nave are the next two inscriptions : -

'Here lyes William Gordon of Farskan, who departed this life the XVI. day of June MDCXCII, Memento mori.' "

from Epitaphs and Inscriptions (Rathven parish) ^{2 4 5 6}

  Research Notes:

FARSKANE

"Farskane
© Copyright and database right 2011. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100020548.
Collection Items
Public Contributions
Alternative Names Farskin
Site Type HOUSE
Canmore ID 76611
Site Number NJ56NW 32
NGR NJ 500 672
Council MORAY
Parish RATHVEN
Former Region GRAMPIAN
Former District MORAY
Former County BANFFSHIRE
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
NGR Desc NJ c. 500 672"

Farskane appears to have been situated where maps now show the Cullen Bay Hotel in Moray, Scotland.



SECOND SON OF ARTLOCH

It is not clear who William of Farskane's elder brother was. He may have died at an early age, and/or it may have been Adam 'of Artloch' as the Scots College records refer to him. ⁷

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Sasine, 29 January 1668, of Farskane, Rathven parish, Banffshire, Scotland. ²

William married Wife UNKNOWN. (Wife UNKNOWN was born about 1625.)

  Marriage Notes:

"Rathven. (S. PETER, APOSTLE.)
[ .... ]

A freestone slab, built into a wall at Farskane, initialed E. H., and dated 1677, presents a carving of the arras of Hamilton of Ruglen - a family, so far as I know, that never had any connection with the locality, unless it may have been that a laird of Farskane married a Hamilton."

from Epitaphs and Inscriptions

Note:

Some have, without evidence, supposed a connection with the Dukes of Hamilton. William, second duke of Hamilton married in 1638 Elizabeth Maxwell. They had a daughter Elizabeth who had two husbands, neither surnamed Gordon. Anne, his heir, married in 1656 to William Douglas, and did not have a daughter Elizabeth, whose surname would have been Douglas or Douglas- Hamilton, in any case.

John Douglas-Hamilton, son of William Douglas and Anne Hamilton, was the first Earl of Ruglen and later became Earl of Selkirk. He was born about 1665 and was created Earl of Ruglen in 1697, so the above statement presents some contextual difficulty with regard to him, and should be treated with caution.

The first laird of Farskane's wife is unknown. If 1677 is a correct year for some connection to the Gordon lairds of Farskane, it may represent a death, in which case the information may refer to the first laird's wife. Or, it may point to a marriage - of the second laird of Faskane, as presented here. I either instance it is still unknown to whom it may refer. ^{4 8}