Jardine
A name derived from the French, ‘jardin’ meaning ‘garden’ or ‘orchard’. Black suggests that this does not mean that the family were gardeners, but rather that their residence was near one. The family of du Jardon came over to England with William the Conqueror in 1066. The name is first encountered in Scotland prior to 1153, in charters to the Abbeys of Kelso and Arbroath, where Wmfredus de Jardin appears as a witness. Humphrey de Jardin witnessed a charter by Robert Bruce to the Abbey of Arbroath around 1178. The name is also met in the form ‘de Gardinus’. Patrick de Gardinus was chaplain to the Bishop of Glasgow at the beginning of the thirteenth century. In 1245, Sir Humphrey de Gardino witnessed a resignation of lands in Annandale. Yet another variant is found in the Ragman Roll of nobles pledging fealty to Edward I of England in 1296: Jorden del Orchard appears on the roll rendering homage for his lands in Linlithgow.
The chiefly line appears to have established itself at Applegirth on the River Annan in Dumfriesshire by the fourteenth century. Their earliest stronghold was Spedlings Tower, which was abandoned in the late seventeenth century when the family moved across the River Annan to Jardine Hall, apparently to escape the ghost of an unfortunate miller who had been left to starve to death in the tower’s dungeon. Sir Alexander Jardine of Applegirth was active in defending the Borders against the incursions of the English. It is narrated that in 1524, in company with Lord Maxwell, Sir Alexander engaged an English host near Carlisle, routed them and took nearly three hundred prisoners. In 1547, his son, John, faced English retribution when Lord Wharton, with a force of over five thousand men, overran Annandale. He ravaged the Jardine lands and forced Applegirth to submit. Later that year, with the help of French troops, the Jardines harried the English and exacted a terrible retribution for their humiliation.
The Jardines, following the Johnstons, supported Mary, Queen of Scots until her marriage to Bothwell, when they declared allegience to the infant King James VI. For his clan’s support, Jardine was to receive a pension from the revenues of the Archbishopric of Glasgow, but this was never paid. His namesake, fourth in descent from Sir Alexander, married Lady Margaret Douglas, sister of the first Duke of Queensberry. His elder son, Sir Alexander, born in 1645, was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia on 25 May 1672.
The fourth Baronet, born in 1712, embraced the Catholic faith and lived on the Continent. He became a Knight of the Sovereign Order of Malta, taking a vow of celibacy. He died in Brussels in December 1790 when he was succeeded by his brother, Sir William. The seventh Baronet, yet another Sir William, distinguished himself as an author and editor of works on natural history. A nephew of Sir William, Frank Jardine, lived his life in unusual circumstances in Australia. Frank’s father was an officer in the colonial service in Australia. On 16 October 1873, Frank married Princess Sana, the niece of Moliatoa, King of Samoa. His royal connections helped him to develop north-east Australia and the new state of Queensland. Frank called his Australian estate Lockerbie.
Dr William Jardine went to the Far East as a surgeon for the East India Company. In 1827 he went into partnership with James Matheson. The house of Jardine Matheson prospered, particularly after the Opium Wars established a strong British merchant base in Hong Kong. The company grew to dominate trade in the Far East and is still a name to be reckoned with today.
Another cadet of Applegirth was the Reverend John Jardine, born in 1716. He was an eminent clergyman, but was also one of the intellectual and literary elite of Edinburgh in the mid eighteenth century. In 1759 he was a member of the ‘Select Society’, some of whose other members included Adam Smith, David Hume and Allan Ramsay. He helped to launch the critical journal, The Edinburgh Review. He was appointed Dean of the Order of the Thistle and a royal chaplain. His son, Sir Henry Jardine, WS, became a lawyer, but he continued his father’s academic and intellectual interests. He was Deputy King’s Remembrancer in Exchequer for Scotland and was one of those present when the ‘Honours of Scotland’ were re-discovered in 1818. He was knighted in 1825 and later made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
The father of the present chief, Sir William Jardine, twelfth Baronet and twenty-third chief, was active in promoting clan activities and served on the Committee of the Council of Chiefs. His work has been continued by his heir, Sir Alec, the twenty-fourth chief.