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The Scottish Nation
Leckie


LECKIE, the surname of an old family in the county of Dumbarton. The head of the family, at the beginning of the 18th century, was John Leckie of Croy-Leckie, in that county. He married a daughter of Macgregor of Glengyle by his wife, a daughter of the first William Campbell of Glenfalloch, by whom he had several children. He was proprietor of the lands of Croy-Leckie, afterwards the property of Mr. Blackburn, and of the lands of Balvie, which became the property of Mr. Campbell-Douglas. Having joined the cause of the Stuarts with his brother-in-law, Rob Roy, in the rebellion of 1715, his estates were forfeited, and he fled the country with all his family, except the youngest son and a daughter, who remained in Scotland. This son, Thomas Leckie, minister of the parish of Kilmarnock from 1703 to 1723, married Janet, daughter of James Buchanan of Catter, parish of Drymen, now belonging to the duke of Montrose. He had an only son, William, who became proprietor of the estate of Broich, now called Arngomery, Stirlingshire, and was grandfather of William Leckie-Ewing, Esq. of Arngomery, sole male representative of the family. The daughter of John Leckie married James Maxwell of Merksworth, Renfrewshire, from which marriage the Maxwell-Graham family (of which the 13th countess of Buchan is a daughter), is descended, as are also the Blacks, sometime of Clairmont, near Glasgow.

Electric Scotland note 1: We got in an email from Linda Horyn...
 

The Retour 1716 document C22/55 states Rev. Thomas Leckie was a legitimate child of William Leckie and Jean Peadie.
 
The Burgesses and Guild Brethren of Glasgow records for 1707 state Mr. Thomas Leckie, minister of the Gospel of Kilmarnock, was the lawful son to the deceased William Leckie, merchant, burgess.

Electric Scotland note 2: We got in an email from Ruth Leckie...

I have been researching my husband’s LECKIE genealogy for some considerable years and noticed you had had an e-mail regarding the Leckie family that you posted on the Leckie surname page on Electric Scotland.

Firstly, may I say that I fully concur with the write-up on Electric Scotland in that I have traced my Leckie genealogy back to Reverend Thomas Leckie of Kilmarnock and have full paper proof of his descendants which is almost exactly as described in your article (he married twice and had at least 7 children of whom at least 3 survived).  In addition, I can tell you that his sister who married James Maxwell was named Rebecca Leckie (married to James Maxwell in 1694).  This evidence comes in the form of Rev Thomas’ own diary entries –extracts of which were published in a book called “By Yon Bonnie Banks”.  That same book suggests that Rev Thomas’ parents were in fact William Leckie, a merchant and Jean Rae (a couple who were, incidentally, married in 1692 in Glasgow – verified through OPRs from Scotland’s People).  HOWEVER, the Thomas Leckie born to this couple was born in 1703 (also verified by Scotland’s People) – which of course coincides with the start of Rev Thomas’ church career in Kilmarnock.  Hence he CANNOT be the ‘lawful’ son of William Leckie and Jean Rae. 

Also, in answer to Linda’s e-mail I feel obliged to say that the two documents she mentions may easily refer to two different “Reverend Thomas Leckies”  and also that Scotland’s People does not contain any parish record which states that a child named Thomas was born to a William Leckie and Jean Peadie, nor is there  a record of a marriage between a William Leckie and Jean Peadie (even using the Soundex facility!)

It should also be remembered that the connection between Rob Roy and the Leckies meant that many of the Leckies did “scatter” around the end of the 1600’s and early 1700’s and those that remained in Scotland lived under various aliases and/or with relatives.  Hence, it may well be that Rev Thomas Leckie, minister of Kilmarnock 1703 – 1723, was brought up by relatives but, on the face of it, there does not appear to be any firm proof that his father was a William Leckie OR that his father was not John of Croy-Leckie aka the last laird of Leckie.  It is, no doubt, proof that many tracing this line wish was available.

Electric Scotland Note 3: We got in an email from Iain Coates

I have recently read the entry for the Leckie family – I have been researching another part of the family which I still have not fully connected up yet.  However there is an error in the entry and subsequent information from emails which need to be corrected.  Thomas Leckie was the minister in Kilmaronock in Dumbarton and not Kilmarnock.

The Fasti Ecclesiae provides details of his ministry in Kilmaronock and several other family members appear to live there about the same time.  It too erroneously states that Thomas Leckie’s mother was Jean Rae. 

Searching for Leckie births in Kilmaronock from 1650 until 1750 yields 32 Leckie births occurring between 1704 and 1744 but none outside these dates.  It is tempting to assume that these are all related and their presence was in some way associated with Thomas’s time there.

Electric Scotland Note 4 We got in an email from Linda Horyn

The marriage of William Leckie and Jonet Pedie took place on 30 April 1678 in Glasgow. I have found only one baptismal record; this was for their son who was not named and born in 1685. The original diary of Rev. Thomas Leckie mentions his brother William and sisters Rebecca, wife of James Maxwell and Bessie, wife of Robert Scot.

John Leckie of Croy had a daughter Janet Leckie (died 1775, age 87). She also married a James Maxwell which would account for the confusion of historians.

Yes Ian, the place mentioned in the guild record which I sent should have read Kilmaronock, Dunbarton. I should have checked the original record and I apologize.


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