Where are the origins of Thomas Coutts in Wester Clune?

How many times have researchers of the Wester Clune Coutts family asked this very same question? 

Amongst those researchers I have had contact with, I think there is a widely held belief that Andrew Coutts, confirmed as being the son of Thomas in Wester Clune - his baptism being the first entry in the Birse Parish Registers - had the following brothers: 

• Thomas, married to Margaret Ross and having children baptised at Wester Clune. Thomas' occupation was a shoemaker.

• William, married to Joyce Grant and also having children at Wester Clune and its various satellite farms of Turnamuck and Tillyhorn. 

(Robin Callander, in his article "The Intake Coutts" from History in Birse, also links these two as brothers.)

There it all sat, for myself at least, until in June 2006 when I started exploring the life and times of Robert Coutts (1830 - 1860) the son of John Coutts and Isabella McCondach in Tillygarmond. 

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this Robert, he is the grandson of Andrew Coutts and Mary Turner and ultimately the great grandson of Thomas in Wester Clune.

Robert led a colourful life indeed.  He was charged with forgery in 1858 and it was the documents relating to his trial that took me first to the National Archives in Edinburgh and then to further research in and around Birse, Banchory and Strachan, trying to piece together his story and identify the players that formed part of it. 

Robert's story is left to be told another day for, in the process of putting his life story together, I think he revealed the origins of his great grandfather - Thomas Coutts in Wester Clune.

Robert had a brother, Archibald.  Archibald is mentioned as possibly a co-conspirator in the forgery that brought Robert to trial in Edinburgh.  Of course, like any other researcher I asked myself the question - what happened to Archibald? (or Archie as he became known to myself and another Coutts researcher.  This researcher descends from Robert's brother George who migrated to Mt Gambier in South Australia in 1866.  The youngest brother of this family group David, who held the last lease on Easter Tillygarmond, migrated to South Australia in 1879 and later took up a selection at Kaniva, Victoria). 

Archie's statement appeared in the trail papers but I could not find him beyond the 1861 census - and more frustratingly I couldn't find a death certificate for him either.  What happened to him?  (Thoughts of another researcher I had contact with in 1997 was that he migrated to Canada.) 

There was an Archibald who died in Banchory in 1858.  His age was out by 7 years but we all know what old tombstones are like, transcriptions can be deceiving. This Archibald Coutts' death certificate gave his parents as Joseph Coutts and Mary Fraser.  A further death certificate showed that Joseph was the son of Andrew Coutts and Mary Turner in Haughend. 

Then came that "gut" feeling when you know something feels right.

Such an monumental inscription obviously begged the following question:

Who was Joseph Coutts, son of Andrew and grandson of Thomas Coutts in Wester Clune buried with?  Perhaps the Banchory Ternan Old Parochial Registers would reveal the answer!

According to the Banchory Ternan Registers banns were published between Jean Robertson and Thomas Couts on 30 May 1699. 

The stone states that Robert Coutts, "son to Thomas shoemaker in Lochtoun (sic) of Leys" died in 1732.  He was aged 29 years, giving him a date of birth c1703. 

Robert did have time to marry before his death though, banns were called between him and Isobel Duthy on 4 June 1730 in Banchory Ternan.  A son Thomas was born to him in 1731. 

1731 May 11 Robert Coutts at Ley had a son baptised called Thomas.

Is this one and the same Thomas who resided at Wester Clune?  I speculate! 

Firstly the family occupation of shoemaker dominates.  

Lists of Inhabitants for Birse begin in 1789.  This is when the Rev Joseph Smith took up his incumbency in the parish of Birse.   

At Haughend there were the following group of people.  I have annotated this list as to who I think these people are, some are yet to be identified.  Again I emphasise this is my speculation; researchers of these Coutts families must draw their own conclusions. 

Thomas Couts - spouse of Margaret Ross, they married 1788 in Birse

Margaret Ross - spouse of Thomas Coutts as above

Margaret White

Joseph Couts - brother to Thomas Couts

Isabel Henderson - mother of Thomas Couts and therefore the spouse of Thomas Coutts in  Wester Clune

Mary Couts - sister of Thomas Couts

William Turner - possible brother of Isabel and Mary Turner. On 3 later lists he is given as spouse of Jean Taylor with a son William. 

Jean Taylor - spouse to William Turner above

Charles Smith

Isabel Mckondach

Ann Smith

Margaret Smith

James Smith

Mary Smith

The last 4 are given as children so going on how the Reverend set out following lists, Charles Smith and Isabella Mckondach are a married couple and Ann, Margaret, James and Mary are their children. 

Why do I think that Isabel Henderson is the spouse of Thomas?

1. Isabel is grouped with Thomas on the 1789, 1790 and 1792 lists of Inhabitants.  She is missing on further lists so either she is deceased or has moved elsewhere. 

2. The Henderson family were from Banchory Ternan also.  The 1792 List of Inhabitants gives Isabel Henderson's age as 5.  (This is in decades so she would have been born between 1742 - 1752.)  Living at Wester Clune is Andrew Henderson.  His age is also given as 5.  With him is an older Andrew Henderson age given as 9.  According to the Banchory Ternan OPRs, banns were called between Andrew Henderson and Isobel Rogie on 16 Oct 1738.  They had (amongst other children) Andrew baptised May 3 1747 at Minnony and Isobel baptised 25 Nov 1739 also at Minnony.  (1739 varies only slightly from the estimated birth date of 1742)

3. The name Andrew appears in both families. Andrew Henderson has stood as witness for a number of the baptisms of the children of Andrew Coutts. 

4. Andrew Coutts and Andrew Henderson Jnr are married to Mary and Isabel Turner respectively.  Since there is a William and Agnes Turner residing at Haughend/Wester Clune on the earlier lists this perhaps suggests a relationship between the two - possibly sisters.

I have not found a marriage (to date) between Thomas Coutts and Isabel Henderson that would confirm this scenario.  If it is correct then I also think that the following children fit into the family group:

• Joseph Coutts married to Margaret Clerk and having family at Ennochie etc

• Mary Coutts mentioned with the family on the lists of inhabitants

• Janet Coutts mentioned with the family on the 1792 list of inhabitants and who may be the spouse of Donald Robbie.

Feeling totally confused with all of the above statements?  Perhaps a final table below may help to clarify!

One last comment I would make on the stone of Thomas Coutts in Banchory.  I think that the "JC/JR" should read "TC/JR" meaning the initials of Thomas Coutts and Jean Robertson and that the date 1737 refers to the death of this Thomas. 

Please feel free to contact me and comment on the above.  Further input by all Coutts researchers will ultimately help to iron out any inaccuracies that appear above. 

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