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Clunes Family Historical Informationc1285 - 1811©
There are numerous references of ‘Çlunes’ in Scottish historical records dating from the latter part of the 1290s through to the mid-1800s, and it is said that all Clunes in the Sutherland area descend from one Archibald Clunace of Neilstoun near Cromarty, who in 1336 signed as witness to a grant of land in Badenoch, possibly as the Vassel of John Gordon, the 14th Earl of Sutherland. A Vassal was someone in feudal times who received protection and land from a lord in return for allegiance and performing military and other duties. The old crofting county of Sutherland is situated in the far northern Highlands of Scotland. It’s county town is Dornoch, and is bordered by Caithness to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west. Sutherland is also one of the remotest and sparsely populated, yet beautiful, parts of Scotland. In Gaelic the area is referred to according to its traditional areas: Dùthaich MhicAoidh (or Dùthaich 'IcAoidh) (NW), Asainte (Assynt), and Cataibh (East). The northwest corner of Sutherland, traditionally known as the Province of Strathnaver, was not incorporated into Sutherland until 1601. This was the home of the powerful and warlike Clan Mackay, and as such was named in Gaelic, Dùthaich 'Ic Aoidh, the Homeland of Mackay. Even today this part of Sutherland is known as Mackay Country and, unlike other areas of Scotland where the names traditionally associated with the area have become diluted, there is still a preponderance of Mackays in the Dùthaich. It was the early Viking settlers who named everything to the south ‘The Southlands’ which is how Sutherland came by its name. However, Sutherland's history goes back much further than this. There is evidence of man's activities throughout the county from prehistoric times. Stone Age and Bronze Age man have left their mark throughout the area, as have the Picts and the Scots. The remains of their buildings and monuments can be seen wherever you go. Since those ancient times, small communities grew up through out the county with the people living off the land. Families worked small parcels of land and tended to a few animals, and this simple way of life continued relatively undisturbed until the early 18th Century. But following the Jacobite defeat at Culloden, the Highlands and its people were persecuted. The people that once inhabited the remote glens and straths were replaced by the landowners with more profitable sheep – leading to the infamous Highland clearances. The Clunes line can be traced down, from Archibald, through the generations to the first Clunes who lived at Crakaig, Loth, Sutherland, one John Clunes (c1660-1776). John is said to have come from Ross-shire, as the factor to the Earl of Sutherland. Married to Isobel Graham they had a son, John (c1697), who succeeded his father as Factor, and who in turn had two sons by Margaret Gordon, John c1725 and Gordon c1736. In 1745, all the men dwelling in Crakaig, aged between 16 and 60 and fit for military service. This included John Clunes of Nielstoun (named after the original estate in the Black Isle) and his son, John Clunes Jr. The Black Isle, from the Scottish Gaelic: ‘an t-Eilean Dubh’, is in Cromartyshire, in the Scottish Highlands. Despite its name, the Black Isle is not an island, but a peninsula, surrounded on the north, south, and east by the Cromarty, Beauly, and Moray Firths, with its western boundary delineated by the River Conon. Cromartyshire is a historic county in the Highlands of Scotland, originally bordered Inverness-shire, but in 1504 Ross-shire was formed out of the nearest parts of Inverness-shire, and its boundaries were fixed in 1661. In 1890, Cromartyshire was merged with Ross-shire into the administrative county of Ross and Cromarty, and in 1974 this was combined with Caithness, Inverness-shire, Nairnshire, Sutherland, and parts of Argyllshire and Morayshire to form the Highland council area. Ross-shire (Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd- Rois) borders Sutherland, Cromartyshire, Inverness-shire and an exclave of Nairnshire. John Sr’s eldest son, John Jr. (c1725-1761) of Crakaig, was the Baillie to William Gordon, the 17th Earl of Sutherland, and a Captain of one of the Earl’s militia companies. Married to Margaret Fraser, he had at least one daughter, Margaret c1760. Baillie most probably derives from the French term for ‘bailif’ which was a name given to an officer who managed estates. John Sr’s second son, Gordon (c1736-1814), also entered the army, and rose to the rank of Colonel. Believed to have married Anne Gordon, he had six sons: John c1768, said to have died West Indies by 1811; Archibald c1789, said to have died in West Indies by 1806, but one son known - Richard; William c1774-1830; Gordon c1777-1811; James birthdate unknown; and another son, whose name is to-date unknown. Gordon and Ann also had five daughters: Margaret; Elizabeth; Louisa; Joan; and Anne, birthdates of the daughters are unknown. Colonel Gordon Clunes (c1736) eldest surviving son, William (c1774) was a Major in the army. He was described as a ‘gigantic, handsome, soldierly looking man, of a truly noble countenance’, a bearing which is reflected in an equestrian portrait by Henry Raeburn, which is housed in the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh. William retired from the army at quite an early age, and resided at Crakaig where he died in 1830. William never married, but it is reported that he kept a sting of mistresses across Sutherland and fathered up to ten children, only two of which he formally acknowledged: a son George and a daughter Anne. It has been noted that there is a strong resemblance to many current Clunes descendants to the portrait of Major William Clunes, which indicate a family connection of some kind. Colonel Gordon Clunes (c1736) other surviving son, Gordon (c1777), was a Captain in the army. He married Betsy McPherson, by whom he had one legitimate son and one legitimate daughter. Several references suggest Gordon also had at least one illegitimate son by Roberta Sutherland in 1805, and it is quite likely there were more illegitimate children. Several records indicate that Gordon was a Tacksman of Crakaig. In 1811, Gordon and his horse tumbled off Bonar Bridge and he drowned. The word Tacksman comes from the Scottish Gaelic: Fear-Taic, meaning ‘supporting man’, a ‘tack’ was a piece of a land of which the Tacksman was the tenant, in Highland clan society. The Laird retained and cultivated the best portion of land on his estate as his own property in perpetuity, for his sole profit and support of his immediate family. The rest of his free-hold land was then divided among the second class of the clan, called Tacksmen, Tenants, or Goodmen. Tacksmen were generally a close relative, brother, son or cousin, of the Laird, who leased his kinsman a good sized portion of land from the estate. These tacks were long considered as hereditary, and the occupant was distinguished by the name of the place at which he resided. The Tacksmen acted as viceroy over his allocated portion of the Laird’s estate and, if necessary, was responsible for training and organising the clan peasants for war, and appearing with his armed followers at the bidding of the Laird. The Tacksmen paid rent in money or kind to the Laird, and in turn obtained a larger rent in money or kind from the peasants to whom he let smaller portions of his lease, living on the difference between the two. Although barely able to pay their rent for several generations, the Clunes family were important in Sutherland and intermarried, often with others who ranked highly in the favour of the Earl. Suffering terrible losses from Rebel troops in 1746, they also survived financial difficulties in the 1750s and successfully made the transition from Highland Tacksmen to large farmers in the post Clearance era. It is almost certain that William Clunes c1811, born in Loth, Scotland, is a direct descendant of Archibald Clunace of Neilstoun, Comarty, quite possibly through one of John Clunes (c1725) children or grandchildren. But to date no proof has been located to indicate who his parents actually were.
References: Family tree provided by Alistair Gordon, London, England (1999) Inventory: Sutherland Papers https://www.nls.uk/catalogues/online/cnmi/inventories/dep313.pdf Jacobite Rising in Sutherland 1746 http://www.glendiscovery.com/gregor-in-sutherland1746.html Memorabilia Domestica by Rev. Sage (1789-1869) https://archive.org/details/memorabiliadomes00sageuoft Parish Records Sutherland Scotland via ScotlandsPeoples https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ & National Records of Scotland https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/researching-online Will of Gordon Clunes 1814 via Ancestry.co.uk https://www.ancestry.co.uk England & Wales, Prerogative of Canterbury, Wills, 1384-1858, Page 404 of 889. Written & Oral Family History |
