Haliburton

The name of Haliburton is territorial, derived from lands in Berwickshire. The lands were first called Burton or Burghton, but a chapel was built there and the place was then referred to as Holy or Haly Burton. Nisbet, however, prefers the view that the church took its name from a holy man named Burton. Walterus de Halyburton confirmed a donation of his church of Halyburton to the Abbey of Kelso in 1176. Walter’s great-grandson, Sir Henry Halyburton, swore allegience to Edward I of England in 1296, and his name appears on the Ragman Roll. Sir Henry’s grandson, Sir Walter, was taken prisoner by the English at the Battle of Durham in 1346 and was finally ransomed along with David II in 1357. Another Walter Halyburton was one of the hostages for James I in 1424. In 1439 he became High Treasurer of Scotland, and a Lord of Parliament a year later. His wife, Lady Isabel Stewart, was the eldest daughter of the Regent Albany and widow of the Earl of Ross. John, second Lord Halyburton, married Janet, daughter of Sir William Seaton of Seaton, and they had two sons, each of whom bore the family title. When the sixth Lord Halyburton died in 1506 he left three daughters. The eldest, Janet, married William, Lord Ruthven. The title thereafter descended through Lady Ruthven. Her grandson, William, was created Earl of Gowrie in 1581. All the Gowrie titles were forfeited after the execution of the third Earl and his brother for alleged treason. James Halyburton of Pitcur, a descendant of the principal family, was Provost of Dundee for thirty-three years, from 1550 until 1583. He was a great supporter of the Reformation, and he fought alongside the Regent Moray and the enemies of Queen Mary at the Battle of Langside in 1568. In 1570 he assisted Regent Lennox in dispersing troops under the command of the Earl of Huntly, fighting for Queen Mary. He died in 1588 at the age of seventy. Sir George Halyburton, a later member of this family, became Lord President of the Court of Session in 1642, having been knighted by Charles I at Holyrood nine years earlier. He was a member of a commission for revising and arranging the laws of Scotland, and his report was accepted and passed by Parliament in 1649.