Telford Family of Ellinbank
This is the small village or clachan of Blairlogie near Stirling, Scotland where there is a dwelling called "Telford House". This was built around 1870 on land once owned by John Telford, banker and his wife Jane Wright as evidenced by the two documents quoted here:
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one dated 1825, 12 March, as follows:
"Grant by John Telford (of Telford’s feu in Blairlogie) banker in Stirling to himself and his wife Jane Wright, of 1 acre and 45 falls (+1.36 acres) of ground called Boghead of Blairlogie, with the houses built thereon, bounded by John Telford’s property on the west, by the old road to Menstrie on the north , by lands belonging to Archibald Shearer on the east, and by the new turnpike road to the south. At the time one Ralph Moir, gardener was living at Boghead of Blairlogie." John Telford was described as a ‘feuar’ in Blairlogie and ‘heritable proprietor of the lands.
and another dated 1852, 13 September:
"Charter of Confirmation by Robert Bruce of Kennet and Blairlogie, as superior, in favour of John Telford Esq. sometime banker in Stirling and now residing in Wellington, New Zealand and his wife Jane Wright, in liferent and their heirs in fee 1 acre and 45 falls of ground called Boghead of Blairlogie, with houses built thereon, lying on the north side of the new turnpike ...."
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These are from a series of documents relating to the Telford holdings in Blairlogie as collated by Alistair Maxwell-Irving the current owner/occupier of Telford House along with his wife Mary who purchased the property around 1980.
Telford House and the United Presbyterian Church and Manse, Blairlogie
John Telford, banker was related to the Tellfoord family ( note the different and earlier spelling) who had lived at Blairlogie at least from the mid 17th century. DNA testing of a descendant of John Telford ( namely the writer, Alan Telford of Launceston, Tasmania) suggests that the forebears of the Tellfoord male line came originally from southern Scandinavia where the Y-chromosome haplogroup of I-M253/ sub-group Z59 originated some 3000 years ago.
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From the late 17th century the Telford family had possession of several acres of land in Blairlogie in the form of a "feu" or long term lease which was the usual form of land ownership under the feudal system. In fact there were 2 adjacent feus held by related Telford families. There is a datestone built into the wall of one of the existing buildings (Nethercraig) bearing the date 1728 and initials JT ( for John Telford).
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At Logie, on 31st August 1708 John Tellfoord married Isobell Monteith . Over the next 10 years they had 4 children, births all registered at Logie - John born 1709, James 1712, William 1715 and Janet 1718. James married Margaret Campbell and was the great grandfather of the four Telford boys who came out to Australia and New Zealand in the 1840s and 1850s.
An earlier John Telfoord died in 1683 leaving a will giving his place of residence as Blackgrange which is about 1 mile south of Blairlogie.
To put this in context, John Telford married Jane Wright at Stirling in November 1823 while John worked with the Stirling Banking Co. of which both Jane and John’s fathers were partners. In 1834 John left the bank and the family moved to London for a period from 1834 to 1837; John moved to New Zealand in 1839 leaving Jane and family in Scotland.
At the 1841 census Jane and family were living in Stirling but it seems likely that from 1825 ( and maybe from1823) until 1834 they lived at the Blairlogie address; it is clear they maintained a strong connection to Blairlogie because son Thomas Wright Telford born 1831 named his property in New Zealand "Blairlogie" apparently in memory of his childhood home. It is probable that the 1852 Charter of Confirmation was prepared in order for John and Jane to sell their interest in the property on which Telford House would later be built. The property passed out of the hands of the Telford family but other Telfords continued to live in Blairlogie and the name “Telford House” was obviously retained in acknowledgement of the property’s history.
John and Jane Telford and John's sister Rossanna
Also living in Blairlogie in 1871 was the sister of John Telford, banker, namely Rossanna aged 72 and unmarried, together with John’s 2 daughters Jane and Cecilia Heugh Telford, aged 41 and 43 respectively. Cecilia is pictured at right Jane was married to Rev. William McLaren “Minister of the United Presbyterian Chapel of Blairlogie”, the marriage taking place at Stirling in 1858. The church and manse still stand; the plaque at right on the outside of the manse records the building of the original manse in 1761/2, the current building dates from 1866. William McLaren ministered at Blairlogie from 1851 to 1884. William was the elder brother of Rev John McLaren who married Jane’s sister Eliza.
A history of the “Relief Congregation” of Blairlogie says “Mr. McLaren found in Blairlogie a sphere befitting his thoughtful, scholarly ways, and under his ministry there was the quiet restoring and compacting” - no doubt the congregation was happy with this after a number of years of wrangling over who they should call to minister at Blairlogie because of strong and differing theological views.
Between 1691 and 1699 four Tellfoord marriages are recorded for Logie parish - Janet to John Young, Marionn to Gilbert Robertsone, Margaret to Finlay Rob and Janet to James Shearer. None are recorded before that date but that does not mean they didn’t occur.
From 1700 to 1730 there were 8 marriages - John to Janet Clasone, Robert to Isobell Faichney, John to Isobell Monteth, William to Margaret Home, William to Margaret Toward, Robert to Christian Turnner, and William Tellfurd to Elizabeth Paterson.
Given that there are 2 or 3 of the same name within a short period ( John, Robert, William and Janet), it is apparent that by around 1700 there were probably 3 related Tellfoord families living in or around Blairlogie. ( the records are for the parish of Logie which extends further than just Blairlogie - the Logie parish church is about 1 Km from Blairlogie village) These presumably all originated from a common ancestor - maybe the John Telfoord of Blackgrange who died in 1683; his will is difficult to decipher due to the old style script.
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The adjacent feu to that of John Telford, banker and Jane Wright, was the subject of a will left by James Telford in 1835. He was the son of John Telford, married to Mary Roy, and mentions 4 children in his will - John, Jean (Morrison), Helen (Menzies) and Ann ( Bennet). Several members of this family or their offspring are recorded as living at Blairlogie at the 1871 census, in particular, Janet Robertson Lodging House Keeper and her sister Helen Telford, Robert Bennett and others. Also John Dawson, wool spinner and his family who is mentioned in Alistair Maxwell-Irving’s documents as being a nephew of John Telford and having an interest in this Blairlogie feu as late as 1880. ( note this feu was known as Bog or Boig whereas the next door feu belonging to John Telford, banker, was known as Boghead in Blairlogie.
For more on the family in Stirling, click here:
This is a summary of the genealogy of the Telfords of Stirling:
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James Telford son of John Tellfoord and Isobel Monteith, born 1712, married Margaret Campbell
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John b.1751
James b. 1754
Archibald b. 1755 m. Catherine Campbell 1777 at Stirling
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James b. 1779
Archibald b. 1781
John b. 1782
William b. 1790
David b. 1798
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William b. 1757 m. Cecila Heugh 1791 at Stirling
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John b. 1792 m. Jane Wright 1823 at Stirling
Elizabeth b. 1825 m. Rev. John McLaren 1856 at Blythswood
William b. 1826 m. Jeannie Gray nee Orr 1864 at Beechworth Victoria
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William Heugh b.1865 at Beechworth d. 1935 at San Francisco, USA
John Dempster b. 1867 at Beechworth m. Lottie Docker 1895 at Bontharambo
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Cecilia Heugh b. 1828 d. 1909 at Hillhead, Glasgow
Jane b. 1829 m. Rev William McLaren 1858 at Blairlogie
Thomas Wright b. 1831 m. Sarah Dougherty 18.. at Wellington NZ
9 daughters and 2 sons b. 1862 - 1885
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John b. 1833 m. Sarah Cunningham 1889 at NZ
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Cecilia Wright b. 1890, John William b. 1893
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Margaret b. 1834 d. 1918 at Blythswood, Glasgow
Peter Wright b. 1836 d. 1926 at Malvern, Vict
Hugh James b. 1838 d. 1855 at Glasgow
Margaret b. 1794 m. Rev James Gilfillan 1825 at Stirling
Rossanna b. 1798 d. 1871 at Blairlogie
David b. 1759 d. 1760
Margaret b. 1761 d. 1787 at Stirling
Janet b. 1763
David b. 1768 m. Grizell Johnstone 1799 at Wemyss
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James b. 1800
Walter b. 1802
David b. 1804
Archibald b. 1806
Grace b. 1808 m. William Brownlie
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