Ref:

(1) York Co. Registry of Deeds- Vol.10, fol.126
(2) Wells Church Records- quoted by Thompson in Records of Kennebunk & Kennebunkport Families, Vol. IV, p. 1511
(3) History of Wells and Kennebunk- Edward E. Bourne LLD
(4) York Co. Registry of Deeds- Vol.16, fol.2
(5) Ibid- Vol.27, p.279
(6) Ibid- p.280
(7) A History of Presbyterianism in Dublin and the South and West of Ireland- Clarke Huston Irwin, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1890- p. 192

Genealogical Dictionary of Maine & New Hampshire- p.597

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2III. WILLIAM (JOHN 1)

b.c.1714
m. MARTHA (2) SPEAR
d. 16 Sept. 1777 Brunswick, Maine
bur. 1st Parish Cemetery

On 17 Aug. 1736 John Ross, marrinor & Mary Ross, spinster both of Boston sold to their brother William Ross of Wells, housewright for £20, 60 acres of land in Wells "where our honoured father John Ross of Wells died."(1) One week later John Gillpatrick of Wells, millman and Elizabeth his wife sold to William Ross of Wells, joyner for £10 1/9th part of 60 acres in "Merriland" in Wells "which land our father John Ross late of Wells owned."(2)

William then moved to Newcastle where on 16 May 1739 he purchased for £25 from Christopher Toppan of Newbury, clerk, 86 acres in Newcastle on the Canasixet River purchased from the Indians by Elizabeth Gent.(3) On 6 Aug. 1741 William Ross of Newcastle, housewright, sold to his brother James of Wells for £70 the 60 acres in Wells which was sold to him in 1736.(4)

William moved again and on 5 July 1758 he and his wife Martha purchased from his father-in-law Robert Spear of Brunswick, innholder, for 5/ 100 acres (lot No. 18) in Brunswick on the west side of the road from Fort George to Maquoit.(5) On 25 Oct. 1762 William and Martha of Brunswick sold to Moses Rogers of Marshfield, yeoman for £160 the 86 acres of land in Newcastle purchased from Christopher Toppan.(6) On 1 July 1760 Robert Spear of Brunswick, yeoman appointed his son-in-law John Given of Brunswick, Gent.as his lawful attorney to bargain with his son-in-law William Ross of Brunswick, innholder concerning a piece of land jupon which William had built his house (lot No. 19). On the same date John Given sold to William for £2/6/8 lot No. 19 on the road from Fort George to Maquoit.(7) On 12 Feb. 1765 William Ross of Brunswick, housewright, purchased from William Patten of Bowdoinham lot No. 1 from Fort George (100 acres) and lot No. 3 on Mereconeagee marsh on the west side of Main Creek (3 acres of marsh) on Maquoit Road for £53.(8) On 20 May 1767 William sold for 5/ to Robert Ross of Brunswick, labourer, lot No. 1 from Fort George except the saw mill.(9) William then sold to William Jr. of Brunswick, yeoman for £30 lot No. 24 on the Maquoit Road 22 Apr. 1776.(10)

William was listed in the 1771 tax list as having one house, one-quarter ownership in a saw mill valued at £8, 2 horses, 4 oxen, 5 cattle, 16 goats/sheep, 3 pigs, 8 acres for tillage which produced 80 bu. grain per year, 7.5 acres of salt marsh which produced 7 tons of hay per year, and 5 acres of meadow which produced 4 tons of hay per year.(11)

Ref:

(1) York Co. Registry of Deeds- Vol. 27, p. 279
(2) Ibid- p.280
(3) Ibid- Vol. 19, p.245
(4) Ibid- Vol. 27, p. 281
(5) Ibid- Vol. 33, p. 245
(6) Lincoln Co. Registry of Deeds- Vol. 3, p. 105
(7) York Co. Registry of Deeds- Vol. 35, pp.209-10
(8) Cumberland Co. Registry of Deeds- Vol. 4, p. 111
(9) Ibid- Vol. 6, p. 72
(10) Ibid- Vol. 9, p. 553
(11) 1771 Tax List for Brunswick- 150/112

The Ross Family in Maine- Rev. C.N. Sinnett
History of Brunswick, Topsham & Harpswell, Maine- Wheeler

1. FRANCES De ROS

m. ANNE (12) THORNBURGH

Issue-

Ref:

The Mowbray Connection- Gary Boyd Roberts, MS at NEHGS, Vol. 15, p.1609
The Ancestry of Sarah Miller 1755-1840- Walter Goodwin Davis, p.77

1. MALCOLM-

Malcolm was the first Earl of Ross during the reign of Malcolm the Maiden (1153-1165).

Issue-

Ref:

"The Scottish Nation"- William Anderson, A. Fullarton & Co., Edinburgh 1880

2I. FERQUHARD (MALCOLM 1)

Ferchar mac in t-Sagairt was a local nobleman who came to prominence by upholding the interests of the King of Scots. He is listed as the son of Malcolm, however, it is more likely that he was his grandson or even a great-grandson.

Donald MacWilliam, son of Donald Bane, came from Ireland to Moray in 1214, but was defeated by Ferquhard and the tribes of Moray. The Chronicle of Melrose states:

"Machentagar attacked them and mightily overthrew the king's enemies; and he cut off their heads and presented them as gifts to the new king ... And because of this, the lord king appointed him a new knight."(1)

A grateful King Alexander II probably rewarded Fearchar with the title of "Mormaer" about 1226. He granted land in Ross to Walter de Moravia as Earl of Ross c.1226.(3)

In 1235 Ferchar attacked and defeated the men of Galloway who had tried to support the claims of Thomas, the illegitimate son of Alan the last Lord of Galloway. King Alexander had invaded Galloway and Gille Ruadh ambushed the Royal Army almost destroying it if it hadn't been saved by Fearchar and his men of Ross.(2)

William granted the Premonstratensian Order of Whithorn in Galloway the abbey of Fearn in Ross in the 1220's. They brought with them relics of St. Ninian.

Fearn Abbey

Sketch of the Tomb of Ferchar at Fearn Abbey- George Henry Hutton, 1819

Issue-

Ref:

(1) Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500-1286- Alan Orr Anderson, Edinburgh, 1922- Vol. II, p. 404; A Medieval Chronicle of Scotland: The Chronicle of Melrose- J. Stevenson, Llanerch Press, 1991- pp.40-1
(2) Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500-1286- Alan Orr Anderson, Edinburgh, 1922- Vol. II, p. 476; John of Fordun- Vol. II, book IX, ch. XLIX, p. 61
(3) Registrum Episcopatus Moraviensis- C.N. Innes, Ed., Edinburgh, 1837- 259, p. 333; The Scots Peerage- J. Balfour Paul- Vol. VII, p. 232

The Province of Ross and the Kingdom of Alba- Alexander Grant, in "Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Medieval Era", Edinburgh, 2000- p. 121-2
Old and New in the Far North: Ferchar Maccintsacairt and the Early Earls of Ross- R. Andrew McDonald in "The Exercise of Power in Medieval Scotland, c.1200-1500"- Dublin, 2003- pp. 24-42
"The Scottish Nation"- William Anderson, A. Fullarton & Co., Edinburgh 1880

3I. WILLIAM (MALCOLM 1, FERQUHARD 2)

m. JOHANNA COMYN, d. of William Comyn, Earl of Buchan
d.c.1274

William first appears as a witness to a charter in 1232 as the son of Ferchar recording an agreement between the Bishop of Moray and Gilbert of Strathearn.(2)

In 1250 a revolt broke out against William, but their leader was captured and imprisoned at Dingwall. In revenge the Highlanders kidnapped William's second son at Balnagowan, but they were pursued by the Monroes and the Dingwalls and after a bloody battle the boy was rescued.

On 8 Mar. 1258 he and others made an agreement with Lewellyn, Prince of Wales that the Scots and Welsh should make peace with England only by mutual consent.

William was very involved in the conquest of the Hebrides by the Scots taking control away from the Vikings. The H�konar saga H�konarsonar states:

"In the previous summer [1262], letters came east from the Hebrides ... and they brought forward much about the dispeace that the Earl of Ross ... and other Scots, had made in the Hebrides, when they went out to Skye, and burned towns and churches, and slew very many men and women ... They said that the Scottish king intended to lay under himself all the Hebrides."(1)

King H�kon IV was not pleased and planned an expedition against him, however, William avoided this attack. William was probably given the islands of Skye and Lewis in reward for his services the grant of which was ratified by the Treaty of Perth in 1267.(3)

Ref:

(1) Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500-1286- Alan Orr Anderson, Edinburgh, 1922- Vol. II, p. 605
(2) Registrum Episcopatus Moraviensis- C.N. Innes, Ed., Edinburgh, 1837- 80, p. 89
(3) Ibid

Old and New in the Far North: Ferchar Maccintsacairt and the Early Earls of Ross- R. Andrew McDonald in "The Exercise of Power in Medieval Scotland, c.1200-1500"- Dublin, 2003
"The Scottish Nation"- William Anderson, A. Fullarton & Co., Edinburgh 1880

4I. WILLIAM (MALCOLM 1, FERQUHARD 2, WILLIAM 3)

m. EUPHEMIA de BERKELEY, d. of Sir Hugh de Berkeley, Justiciar of Lothian
d. 1323

Bust of William Ross in the Tain Museum

Sir William was at Brigham 12 Mar. 1290 when the marriage of Queen Margaret with Edward II was proposed. After her death he was one of the nominees for Baliol during the competition for the crown in 1292. He swore allegiance to Edward I at Berwick 3 Aug. 1292.

William was in the Scots army at the battle of Dunbar 28 Apr. 1296 and after their defeat he took refuge in Dunbar castle.(1) Edward arrived at the castle the next day and forced them to surrender and William was sent to the Tower of London, but was soon released. A charter of 3 Sept. 1296 records the petitions to King Edward of various women, including the countess of Ross, whose estates had been seized and then restored.(3) A charter from 28 Aug. 1297 states that William, earl of Ross was in prison in the Tower and Hugh, his son, was granted a safe conduct to visit him.(4) A charter from 6 Nov. 1297 ordered the Sheriffs of London to pay "William earl of Ros... knights, Scottish prisoners in the Tower" for their sustenance.(2) Like many Scottish lords he became pro-English and was appointed warden of Scotland north of the Grampians for England by King Edward. In 1306 when Robert the Bruce's supporters took refuge in St. Duthac's chapel in Tain, William arrested them and handed them over to the English who executed them. William found himself under attack by King Robert to the south and Lachlan MacRuadridh, Lord of the Isle of Skye to the west. When King Robert came north in 1308, William submitted to him and received his Mormaerdom back along with a pardon and the burgh of Dingwall. William remained a supporter of King Robert thereafter.

St. Duthac's Chapel- Tain

William was one of the witnesses to the treaty between King Robert the Bruce and Haco, King of Norway 28 Oct. 1312.

Sir William and his clan were at the battle of Bannockburn and he signed the Declaration of Arbroath, the letter to the Pope in 1320 which asserted Scottish independance from England.

Issue-

Ref:

(1) John of Fordun- Vol. II, book XI, ch. XXIV, p. 165
(2) Calendar of Documents Scotland- Vol. II, 960, p. 246
(3) Documents illustrative of the History of Scotland from the death of King Alexander the Third to the accession of Robert Bruce 1286-1306- J. Stevenson, Ed., Edinburgh, 1870- Vol. II, 385, p. 92
(4) Ibid- 468, p. 227

The Ancestry of Euphemia, Coutess of Ross: Heraldry as Genealogical Evidence- John Ravilious in "The Scottish Genealogist"- Vol. LV, No. 1 (Mar. 2008), pp. 33-8
Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland- G.W.S. Barrow, Edinburgh, 1988
"The Scottish Nation"- William Anderson, A. Fullarton & Co., Edinburgh 1880

5I. HUGH (MALCOLM 1, FEQUHARD 2, WILLIAM 3, WILLIAM 4)

m.1. Maud, sister of King Robert the Bruce
2. MARGARET GRAHAM (m.2. John de Barclay), d. of Sir David Graham
killed at the Battle of Halidon Hill 19 July 1333

Hugh was killed at the battle of Halidon Hill in 1333.(1) The "Holy Hill" was named because of the supernatural aid which Oswald, King of Norway is said to have received in a battle with Cedwall, a British chief.

Issue-First three children by Maud, last three by Margaret.

Ref:

(1) Liber Pluscardensis- F.J.H. Skene, Edinburgh, 1877- Vol. I, book IX, CXXVIII, p. 270

The Scots Peerage- James Balfour Paul- Vol. VII, pp. 236-7
The Ancestry of Euphemia, Coutess of Ross: Heraldry as Genealogical Evidence- John Ravilious in "The Scottish Genealogist"- Vol. LV, No. 1 (Mar. 2008), pp. 33-8
The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant- G.E. Cokayne, Ed., Gloucester, 1910-1959- Vol. XI, pp. 144-5
"The Scottish Nation"- William Anderson, A. Fullarton & Co., Edinburgh 1880