Searching for father of James Cassillis 1624-1699

[mjwatts1960]

James Cassillis was born 1624 and died 1699
Lived in BoŽness West Lothian
Married to Euphan or Euphemia Cassillis
Had seven children
Andrew(b.1656) Thomas (b.1658) John (b.1660) John (b.1662) John (b.1664) Patrick (b.1665) Andrew (b.1668)
Who was James CassillisŽfather?
Was he born in BoŽness?
Did he die in BoŽness?
Any help appreciated. Thank you.

[CaroleW]

Various possible spellings on SP - Cassilles/Cassels etc would suggest you use the wildcard search cass*s then check entries

www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

[mjwatts1960]

James Casillis had a son Andrew Cassills (without the second i) who married Hannah Gib who had a son James Cassells (with no i 's  in the spelling) who married Hannah Spiers.
 
I have a very old family history of the Cassels handed down to me. It was printed in a limited edition of seventy five copies in 1870. In part of the tree James Cassillis of BoŽness is attached to Earls of Cassillis from Ayrshire with a note in brackets saying James is believed to be of the family of David and Gilbert 1st and 2nd Earls of Cassillis.

I remain somewhat sceptical about this as his supposed father David was born in 1463 and died in 1513 and his supposed brother Gilbert 2nd earl of Cassillis was born 1485 to 1527!!

Did James Cassillis change his last name deliberately so as to be attached to the distinguished Earls of Cassillis or is there really a connection between James Cassillis and David and Gilbert 1st and 2nd Earls of Cassillis ??

[GR2]

Cassillis is a place in Ayrshire. The family name of the Earls of Cassilis is Kennedy, so there will be no connection with the Cassillis family from Bo'ness.

In older Scots "-is" often appears as a plural ending, so the name is also found as Cassels, Cassells or Cassils

[jojohamilton]

Hi i have a connection to James Cassillis and family in my family tree, his fathers name is Earl John Kennady of Cassillis House, Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland
When James Cassilis (Cassels) and his twin brother James were born in 1624 in Bo'ness, West Lothian, their father, Earl, was 22, and their mother, Lady, was 17. He had six sons and one daughter with Euphemia Cassells between 1656 and 1668. He died on 3 December 1699 in his hometown, having lived a long life of 75 years.
James Cassilis (Cassels) was born in 1624 in Bo'ness, West Lothian, to Lady Jean Hamilton, age 17, and Earl John Kennedy, age 22.

[Forfarian]

"Earl" and "Lady" are titles, not names, in the 17th century, and if James' father was John Kennedy, Earl of Cassillis, then James' surname was Kennedy, not Cassillis.

It sounds as if you may have got your information from a rather questionable source.

See https://www.thepeerage.com/p2426.htm#i24260 - but as always, don't trust anything you find online. Check original sources to verify it. The information at www.thepeerage.com is, as you will see from the references, taken from various secondary sources in the form of books.

[Forfarian]

James Casillis had a son Andrew Cassills (without the second i) who married Hannah Gib who had a son James Cassells (with no i 's  in the spelling) who married Hannah Spiers.

Don't pay any attention to variations in spelling.

When searching Scotland's People use c*s*l*s which will pick up all variations including Castles/Cassells/Cassilis etc etc.