Brown/Broun, William, b. about 1697

[reventlow]

Hi!

Looking for the identity/parentage of William Brown, born in Dalkeith, Midlothian in about 1697, who was in 1731 "Gentleman/Private Secretary to the Marquess of Tweeddale" and is, according to family tradition, said to have died at the battle of Culloden on 16th of April 1746.

He married in about 1720 Margaret Howet/Huet, who died after 1777, and their eldest son John Brown was born in 1723, in Dalkeith.

These Browns are said to have belonged to the lowland clan Broun of Colstoun, and this was apparently confirmed by the Deputy Lord Lyon in the 1750's, were it was confirmed that John Brown, merchant of Elsinore in Denmark, had the right to bear the arms of the Brouns of Colstoun, but genealogically I haven't as of yet been able to establish the family line further back than this William, and his father who is only known by his name, James.

I would appreciate any help immensely. 

Kind regards
Jacob from Sweden

[reventlow]

Anybody have any ideas on how I might proceed?

[GR2]

You could try the on-line catalogue of the National Records of Scotland, which has a search facility that allows you to look for names, dates etc. It also allows you to search an additional catalogue of papers still in private hands. There are also several published books which list the names of those known to have been involved with the rebellion.

[GR2]

There might also be a will or inventory. The Scotland's People site allows you to search for this. Lots of posts here about how to access it.

It is probably worth searching on Rootschat for "Culloden" or "Jacobite" to find other posts which might help point you to named resources.

[reventlow]

Thank you very much for the tip on ScotlandsPeople! I managed to find him and his cordiner father James without much effort. He was born 1697-05-14 to James Broun and Hellen Patoun (married 1692-11-29). I wasn't however able to find his marriage to Margaret Huet, which in time produced a number of children, among them John Brown (born in 1723).

Another question, how do I best find James in birth records? There are many, many James Brouns born between the 1650's and the 1670's, many in just Edinburgh as well. And neither the marriage nor the birth record of the son William give any hint as to his age or birth.