We
McWilliams, at least those in my piece of the story, are mostly a pretty
Presbyterian lot, brought up in the Church of Scotland. Undoubtedly, though,
this hasn’t always been the case. In the distant past our ancestors were almost
certainly Catholic. The Scottish Reformation of 1560 tried to outlaw
Catholicism and the practising of Mass, but some parts of the country remained
staunch to their Catholic heritage. These tended to be fairly remote parts,
where the law did not have much of a reach, and one of these areas was rural
Banffshire – particularly the upper reaches of Inveravon and the Cabrach, and
the town of Huntly (or Strathbogie as it was) in Aberdeenshire.
As
testimony to this, the remote college at Scalan in the Braes of Glenlivet was
once a seminary and was one of the few places in Scotland where the Roman
Catholic faith was kept alive during the troubled times of the 18th
century. For much of that time Scalan was the only place in Scotland where
young men were trained to be priests. To this day there is a strong Catholic
presence in large parts of Banffshire and Aberdeenshire, and the Scalan
building remains open as a museum.
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| Scalan |
Some
entries back I quoted from a document written by Hugh Duff McWilliam (HDM) in 1903, and
here is an extract:
“As illustrating that the name was formerly McPherson, there is a
tradition that a certain John McWilliam (said to be a brother of Alexander and
William first, of the family in Delgarvan) quitted Glenlivet and settled in
Bracklach in the Parish of Cabrach some years prior to 1745 and that at the ’45
he paid a substitute to take part in the rising and dressed him in the
MacPherson tartan”
At the
Aberdeen Family research Centre I have had it confirmed that John McWilliam and
his family were resident at Bracklach at that time and also that they were Catholic. HDM
suggests that he was a brother of Alexander and William McWilliam of Delgarvan
– and I believe from the dates we see here that this William McWilliam was likely
an ancestor of our very own Lewis McWilliam. Maybe this means that our own
McWilliam family had been Catholic until the time of the Jacobite setbacks and
ultimate defeat! Or maybe it means that John McWilliam married a Catholic and
decided to convert. These are only guesses, but there is undoubtedly a Catholic
connection!
Then
there was that McPherson connection I referred to some time ago too – and HDM
makes mention of Abbé Paul McPherson. Again, like the Prof, he is someone of
special interest because he rose to real prominence (in the Catholic Church in
this case) – and therefore much is known about his life. Paul was born in 1756 into
a Catholic family on a croft at Scalan. His mother died when he was just 6
years old and he was educated by an old neighbour and at the seminary. At the
age of just 13 he left to train at the Scots Colleges in Rome and Valladolid,
and he grew up to be a priest who was also an important diplomat for the
Vatican. There is absolutely no evidence that his ancestors were any of those
McWilliams who were perhaps encouraged to change their surname to McPherson (as
claimed by HDM). Nevertheless I am sure he merits a mention here as I consider
the Catholic connections in our past. There
is more about him here. http://www.scalan.co.uk/scalannews32.htm
Most of
the tenanted farms around Banffshire and beyond were parts of huge areas of
land owned by the Dukes of Gordon. The Dukes were based predominantly at Huntly Castle but they owned
several other large houses and estates and much farmland. The small farms at Smithston and Glencorrie
were part of this. The first two Dukes
of Gordon (and their predecessors as Marquesses of Huntly) were Catholic by
heritage and they stood staunchly by this heritage through the difficult times
of the Reformation and beyond. Then things started to get complicated.
”During the Jacobite Uprisings of 1715 -
1716 and 1745 - 1746 there were Gordons on both sides. The 2nd Duke of Gordon
followed the Jacobites in 1715, but Cosmo
Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon supported the British government by the time of the
1745 uprising, while his brother, Lord Lewis Gordon, raised two regiments
against him at the Battle of
Inverurie (1745), the Battle of
Falkirk (1746) and the Battle of Culloden (1746).”
I don’t
blame John McWilliam of Bracklach for steering clear of all this and paying
someone else to go and take his place at Culloden!
The
importance of the Dukes of Gordon to the defence of Catholicism is well know
and documented. I like this little summary though, as part of a short history
of the town of Huntly.
And
finally, two people I have to bring in here are brothers Alexander McWilliam (born
1902) and John Lewis McWilliam (born 1903), who both grew up to be Catholic
priests who were well-known in northeast Scotland.
They were born in Buckie (on the Banffshire coast), with grandparents from Tomintoul. I have no evidence of family connection to our own Lewis McWilliam, but these two surely deserve a mention here.
They were born in Buckie (on the Banffshire coast), with grandparents from Tomintoul. I have no evidence of family connection to our own Lewis McWilliam, but these two surely deserve a mention here.
Canon Alexander
(or Sandy as he preferred to be known – and with spelling of MacWilliam)
trained at the Scots College in Rome before working as parish priest in Orkney,
Chapeltown (Glenlivet) and St. Peter’s Aberdeen.
Canon
Lewis (as he preferred to be known) trained at Valladolid in Spain, and became
parish priest in Aberdeen, Stonehaven and Beauly before coming to St.
Margaret’s in Huntly where he worked until the day he died at age 91 in 1995. I
attach a link to his obituary in the Glasgow Herald as well as to a Scalan
interview.
I can’t
find an obituary for Sandy, but there are many references to him out there –
including the attached Scalan story about St. Peter’s in Aberdeen.
They were
both clearly great old fellows and people it would have been a pleasure to
meet.
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| Canon Lewis McWilliam |
You've been busy with your family history this year, Alan! It's really interesting. Strange, but I wouldn't have thought of the northeast being particularly Catholic. No reason why it shouldn't be, of course!
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