History of the Alexander Family

A local history book titled Logie: A Parish History, Vol. II contains a section about the lands of Menstrie and how these estates came into the possession of the Alexander family. According to this source, Menstrie was originally acquired by Clan Campbell of Argyll during the early 14th century, who later conferred the property to the Alexander family. An excerpt from the book reads as follows:

“The family of Alexander of Menstrie is of great antiquity, tracing its descent from Somerled, Lord of the Isles, in the reign of Malcolm IV., through a misty Highland genealogy, to John, Lord of the Isles, who married the Princess Margaret, daughter of King Robert II. Their third son, Alexander, was father of Angus, who founded the family of Macalister of Loup, and of Alexander, who obtained (from the Argyle family) a grant of the lands of Menstrie, in Clackmannanshire, and settled there —his descendants assuming his Christian name of Alexander as their surname. The fifth in descent from this personage was Alexander Alexander, whose successor was his son, William Alexander, the poet.”

This particular source is an interesting one because the author, Robert Menzies Fergusson, served as vicar of Logie Church from 1885 to 1909. This parish, which was formerly located in Stirlingshire, included the town of Menstrie where the Earls of Stirling once lived. The church is located in the village of Blairlogie and is located just 1.5 miles west of Menstrie along the A91 road. The church has a noteworthy history, being one of the oldest existing churches in Scotland. It was also once home to the famed Scottish poet, Alexander Hume, who was rector of the parish between 1598 and 1609. Alexander Hume’s life was chronicled in another book written by Fergusson called Alexander Hume, an Early Poet-pastor of Logie, and his Intimates. That book contains details about Sir William Alexander’s life and close friendship with Alexander Hume, both of whom were renowned poets during their lifetimes. Although Rev. Fergusson’s books contain information on the Alexander family that conflicts with other authors, they have nonetheless provide new and interesting leads to follow up on in any search for primary records relating to the Alexander family in Scotland.

Other information on the Alexander family comes from the book Royal Letters, Charters, and Tracts, Relating to the Colonization of New Scotland, and the Institution of the Order of Knights Baronets of Nova Scotia, 1621-1638, which was compiled by the Bannatyne Club in Edinburgh in 1867. The Bannatyne Club, now defunct, was founded by Sir Walter Scott and published rare works of Scottish poetry, history, and literature. An excerpt from this interesting book has been transcribed below:

“Sir William Alexander of Menstrie, Viscount and afterwards Earl of Stirling, is usually said to have been born in 1580. It is more likely that it was two or three years earlier. Some persons would trace his descent from Alexander or Allister, or Mackallister, whose progenitor was Donald, King of the Isles, son of Reginald, King of Man and the Isles. This has a magniloquent sound, and suits the style of peerage writers, but no proof has or can be adduced to confirm it. Alexander Alschinder (as the name Alexander was frequently written during the sixteenth century) was the son of Andrew Alexander of Menstrie, and Catherine Graham. He, with Elizabeth Douglas, his spouse, and Andrew, their son and apparent heir, had two charters from Colin, Earl of Argyle, of part of the barony of Menstrie, in 1529, confirmed under the Great Seal, 20th April 1530. He died in 1545.”

Another book, The Clan Donald, Volume 2, which was written by the brothers Rev. Angus and Rev. Archibald MacDonald, gives some of the best documentary evidence for the Alexander family’s origins. Their work on the history of Clan Donald and related families is considered a seminal work because of their years of careful research and high-quality source material. It is a book worthy of discussion, an entry of which has been transcribed for further review:

“The Alexanders of Menstry, though sharing the same ancestry as the Clan Allister of Kintyre, are not easily connected with any of the sons of Alastair Mor. The genealogical tree, formulated in the interests of a claimant to the Earldom of Stirling, traced this family to Duncan, the son of Alexander, whose lands in the Parish of Glenorchy passed out of the family on the death of John, son of Duncan, about the middle of the fourteenth century. From this view we are inclined to dissent. Early in the fourteenth century, Gilbert, the son of Donald, the son of Alastair Mor, received a charter for lands in Stirlingshire, lands which further evidence identifies as Glorat, in the Parish of Campsie. They are probably the descendants of this Gilbert of Insula whom we find, not far from this region, settled on the lands of Menstry early in the sixteenth century.”

No records have yet been found connecting Gilbert of Insula with his possible descendants in Stirlingshire or elsewhere. The Glorat estate, where Gilbert apparently lived during the 1300s, is located in the present-day town of Lennoxtown, Dunbartonshire, about 25.4 miles southwest of Menstrie. It is known from historical sources that Glorat has been owned by the Stirling family since the early 16th century, and the oldest section of the manor house still standing there dates back to 1625.