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House of
Lynn |
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Andrew Lynn and Ann Blair
Their Marriage and Life in Ayrshire, Scotland
Copyright 2013
: Revised 24 April 2019
Loretta
Lynn
Layman, Author of "Barony of Lynn", The
Scottish Genealogist,
Vol. LVII No. 1, The Scottish Genealogy
Society, Edinburgh (March 2010)
Lynneage
@
comcast
.
net
It has been widely reported at websites and in e-mails that Andrew Lynn of that Ilk, as he
was formally known, and his wife, Ann Blair, daughter of Gavin Blair of
Auldmuir, were the progenitors of
Scottish Lynns in Ulster who emigrated to America in either the 17th
or the 18th century.
Such reports are based solely on circumstantial evidence and not on proven
historical data. What the
historical record does prove is as follows.
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1643
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This is
not, as
is stated in some
places, the year of Andrew Lynn's death. Rather, it is
the year that Andrew and Ann were betrothed and probably the
year they were married. On 10
November 1643, Andrew Lynn of that Ilk vested his
future spouse, Ann Blair, daughter of Gavin Blair of
Auldmuir, in the forty-shilling land of Over-Lynn.
Over Lynn was the manor place of the former barony of Lynn,
the barony having been owned in its entirety by Andrew's
antecedents from 1296 to 1532 and likely for 90 years earlier [see "Linn or Lynn of that
Ilk", below]. Sasine for the 1643 vesting was registered in Ayrshire
at sasine volume
7, page 573.
The Blair Writs, cited in
History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton, Vol. III - Cuninghame,
James Paterson, Edinburgh (1866): p. 186
Index to the Secretary's Register of
Sasines for the Sheriffdom of Ayr
and Bailliaries of Kyle, Carrick, and Cunningham, Vol.
2, 1635-1660, Scotland Record Office, Edinburgh (1935)
: p. 268
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1656-57
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Andrew and Ann continued to live in Ayrshire following their
marriage. They appear in Ayrshire sasines dated 8
November 1656, 2 March 1657, 16 April 1657, and 17 December
1657 recorded at volume 9, pages 132, 185, 196, and 290.
Recognizing the inconsistency in spelling of surnames which
existed at that time, the Scotland Record Office [now, the
Scottish Record Offices] indexed all
four sasines under the common heading "Lin (Lind, Line, Lyn,
Lyne)". In three of the sasines, Andrew's and Ann's
names are written as Andrew of that Ilk and Ann Blair, his spouse. In the other, they are written Andrew of Over
Lin and Ann Blair, his spouse. The designation "of
Over Lin" indicates that the sasine relates specifically to
that property.
The designation
"of that Ilk" indicates that those
sasines relate to Andrew's other Ayrshire property.
Index to Secretary's Register,
Ibid. : pp.
268-69
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| 1658-59 |
Ann Blair presumably died sometime
during this period. While she and Andrew appear
jointly in sasines as late as 1657, Andrew appears alone in
1659 in the next and only remaining sasine for him. On
16 December 1659, sasine was registered in Ayr for Andrew
Lin of Over Lin at volume 9, page 486; it is the last record
of a Lynn/Linn owning any portion of the former barony of
Lynn in Dalry.
Index to Secretary's
Register,
Ibid. : p. 269
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| 1668-69 |
During this period, Andrew appears in
two documents pertaining to his property Highlees, near
the Ayrshire town of Irvine. In 1668, Andrew Lyn of
that Ilk signed a precept giving possession of Highlees to
Robert Hunter of Hunterston. The precept was only the
latest in a series of documents dating back to 1452 by which
Andrew's forebears repeatedly granted possession of Highlees
to the Hunters, beginning with a charter that was granted by
the first Andrew Lynn, Lord of that Ilk, in return
for one William Hunter's "counsel rendered and to be
rendered". On 9 August 1669, Robert Hunter resigned
Highlees to Andrew Lin.
Some Family Papers of the Hunters of Hunterston,
Edit. M. S. Shaw, W. S., Edinburgh (1925)
: p. 61
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| 1670-71 |
Andrew Lynn of that Ilk died in Ayrshire in
December 1670. On 18 April 1671, a
testament was registered in Glasgow, representing initial
probate of the estate, for Andrew Linn of that Ilk, indweller
[resident] of Irvine, Ayrshire.
Commissariot Record of
Glasgow. Register of
Testaments 1547-1800,
Edit. Francis J. Grant, W.S., Rothesay Herald and
Lyon Clerk,
Edinburgh (1901) : p. 279
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| 1677 |
The next charter for the Lynns' Highlees
property was granted to the Hunters not by a Lynn but by William
Blair, likely Andrew's heir through his wife, Ann Blair.
Some Family Papers,
Ibid.:
p.
64
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With the death of Andrew, the Lynns ceased to be known as
"of that Ilk", and their property passed to
others. Thus, the record proves that Andrew Lynn and Ann Blair
were not the parents of anyone at all, but especially ...
unquestionably ... not the parents of anyone born in County Donegal,
Ireland. In addition to all of the above documented history, the
first Scottish Lynns known to be living in northwest Ulster are proven to
have arrived there when Andrew was either a young child or even yet
unborn. Furthermore, they lived in Counties
Londonderry,
Donegal, and Tyrone, the earliest to arrive holding property in all three
counties and
having connections to the same
prominent Scottish family with whom the Lynns of that Ilk were long
associated [see below]. All of this
taken together strongly suggests that the first Scottish Lynns in Donegal
were either cousins, or more likely uncles, of Andrew Lynn, the last Lynn
of that Ilk.
For extensive collections of the history of Lynns, Linns,
Linds, etc.
in Scotland and Ulster, see
Book Excerpts on CDs
House
of Lynn
Contact
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