The Wedderburns in Dundee
There were Wedderburns in Dundee from 1400 and our Robert Neil Wedderburn 1831, father of my great grandmother, descends from them.
The first Wedderburn named in any document was Walter de Wedderburn of Berwick who pledged loyalty to Edward I in the Ragman Roll in 1296. He was likely the forbear of the Dundee Wedderburns.
The Ragman Roll 1296
The Ragman Roll (origin of the word rigamarole!) lives at the National Archives. More on that in a later post…
The earliest Wedderburn documented in Dundee was John Wedderburn who graduated from St Andrews in 1434. There were at least four families in Dundee after 1450: James Wedderburn; Walter Wedderburn in Welgait; David Wedderburn in Murraygait; and Robert (our ancestor).
This Robert Wedderburn c. 1450 married Janet Froster, daughter of David Froster of Methven. His descendants are tracked in “The Wedderburn Book” by Alexander Dundas Ogilvie Wedderburn. This book was written in 1896 and has the smallest typeface I have ever seen in my life. It’s available online but I thought I would buy it for an easier read (I was wrong).
There are a few generations between this Robert and my great great grandfather:
Robert Wedderburn c 1450
(Bailie of Dundee)
Robert Wedderburn c 1490
(Burgess of Dundee)
Alexander Wedderburn 1530
(Burgess of Dundee)
1547 - Henry VIIIs troops sack Dundee
Alexander Wedderburn of Kingennie 1561
(Register of Dundee)
He was a favorite of James I who gave him a diamond ring and made him Baronet of Blackness.
Alexander Wedderburn Baronet of Blackness
James Wedderburn 1589
(Town Clerk of Dundee)
Alexander Wedderburn 1610
(Town Clerk of Dundee)
In 1638 Alexander married Matilda Fletcher, the daughter of the Lord Provost of Dundee, James Fletcher. Her dowry was 5000 merks!
1651 - Cromwell’s troops sack Dundee
Peter Wedderburn 1652
(merchant and ship owner in Dundee)
Peter was a younger son and owned part shares in a ship “The Providence” with a brother. He married Catherine Man and had two sons before he died young at the age of 30.
John Wedderburn 1681
John studied at St Andrews and supposedly murdered a student then fled to Aberdeen. He married Marjory Westland.
John Wedderburn 1748
(farmer)
John moved to Perthshire and at the age of 21 leased a farm near Meigle at West Camno. He married a local girl Agnes Neil and had four daughters and a son.
Robert Wedderburn 1778
(farmer)
Robert married Barbary Hay, whose father was sent to Tasmania for stealing sheep when she was a toddler. He had four daughters and two sons and continued farming at Camno.
Robert Neil Wedderburn 1831
(farmer)
Robert was only 24 when his father died and he took over the farm. In 1863 when he was 31 he was served a paternity suit by Catherine Clark, my great great grandmother. He appealed twice but the third time the judge awarded Catherine extra expenses.
Robert never married her or admitted he was the father of their child, Elizabeth. Four years later he married the daughter of a butcher from Dundee. Catherine left the area and there is no record of what happened to her.
Wedderburn graves at The Howff cemetery in Dundee