Strachan baronets

Presumed to be the Shield of James Strachan of Inchtuthill, Bart. of Nova Scotia (~1683), and is the Shield of John Strachan, Bart. of Nova Scotia (Public Register, Vol. 1, 1740)

Memorial to Sir John Strachan, 9th Baronet in St Michael the Archangel's Church, Teignmouth

Memorial to Sir John Strachan, 10th Baronet in St Michael the Archangel's Church, Teignmouth

Strachan of Thornton, Baronets of Nova Scotia (1625)

• Sir Alexander Strachan, 1st Baronet (d. c. 1646) ^[1] On 28 May 1625, Alexander Strachan of Thornton acquired and was elevated to the newly created dignity of Baronet of Nova Scotia under the reign of King Charles I. ^[2] Sir Alexander Strachan of Thornton, Bt. had a seal (dated 1604), a stag trippant. ^{[3] [4]} Given earlier entries in Slains and Hague rolls, the shield was almost certainly Azure (blue) and the hart (stag) OR (gold).

  

  Arms of Sir Alexander Strachan, 1st Baronet (1609)

• Sir Alexander Strachan, 2nd Baronet (d. c. 1659) - From a decrete in 1637, the son of the first baronet. ^[5] In 1651, served as Committee for Managing the Affairs of the Army, and Committee of Estates. ^[6] Opposed the Crown in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1638–1651) while serving in Scottish Government. Self exiled to Flanders (modern Belgium), where he died c. 1659.

In a letter received from David Seller, Lord Lyon King of Arms dated 22 July 2022, in preparation of the 2014 Strachan Family Convention, "The history of the baronetcy of Thornton after its [second] holder who died c. 1659, does seem to be extraordinarily convoluted with a multiplicity of soi-disant claimants.

• Sir James Strachan of Inchtuthill, Baronet (d.1686); allegedly a descendant from a remote ancestor of the 1st Baronet, but “the relationship… is so distant, and the pedigree so uncertain that the right of such assumption seems extremely doubtful”. ^[7] Sir James Strachan, Bt. was married to Elizabeth Forbes ^[8] Moved into the Thornton Estate in about 1654, before the death of the prior Sir Alexander in 1659. ^[9]

• Sir James Strachan, Baronet (c.1640-1715); On 15 July 1581, Sir James Strachan, the fiar (heir) of Thornton, and his spouse Barbara Forbes, received an infeftment of the barony of Thornton upon the resignation of Sir James Strachan, elder, of Thornetoune, Robert Forbes of Newtoune. ^[10] By a decreet of the Lords of Council and Session on the 28th March 1683, the lands of Thornton were, for £13,924, 14s. 8d., adjudged from Sir James Strachan, Bart., James Strachan, his eldest son, and Barbara Forbes, his spouse, in favour of Robert Forbes, styled " of Ludquharn." The transfer of the Barony of Thornton to the Forbes family in 1683 was not the result of a voluntary sale but of a judicial process arising from the financial collapse of the Strachan baronets. In seventeenth-century Scots law, adjudication was the principal mechanism by which a creditor enforced a claim against a debtor’s heritable estate. It functioned not as a sale but as a form of judicial repossession: when the debtor failed to meet an obligation, the creditor could seek a decreet awarding the land to him in satisfaction of the outstanding debt.

Chronology of Disputed Succession

• The Alleged ‘Sir James of Pittendrich’ - Minister of Keith(1686)
• The Alleged 'Sir William Strachan (1715)
• The Alleged 'Sir Francis Strachan (1725)
• The Alleged 'Sir John Strachan (1753)

The evidentiary foundation for the above claims is critically deficient. No letters patent recognising these baronets have been identified, nor is there any record of a service of heir, Lyon Court matriculation, or other official recognition confirming either the existence or lawful succession of the Baronetcy of Nova Scotia at this date.

Confirmed Successor Baronets

• Sir John Strachan of Inchtuthill, Baronet - Granted Armorial Bearings in England (1685). Blazon: Or, a stag at gaze azure attired sable a border gules for differencing. CREST: A demi stag springing Or, holding a thistle in his mouth proper. MOTTO: Non Timeo Sed Caveo. SUPPORTERS: Two greyhounds. ENGLISH ARMS. ^[11]

Sir John Strachan of Inchtuthill, Baronet (1685 - Supporters not shown here) AND Captain Sir John Strachan, Baronet (1760)

• Sir John Strachan, Baronet Granted Scottish Arms in 1740. Blazon: Or, a stag standing at gaze Azure attired Sable. CREST: A demi stag springing Or, holding in his mouth a thistle proper. MOTTO: Non Timeo Sed Caveo ^{[12] [13]}

Sir John Strachan, Baronet (1740)

• Sir William Strachan, Baronet (Counsillor of law) Scottish arms, Blazon: Azure, a stag trippant Or, attired and unguled Gules. CREST: An arm and hand holding a scimitar bentways. proper. SUPPORTERS: Two foresters clothed Vert, with a capes sable, a belt round their waists and staves in their hands proper. MOTTO: Forward. ^{[14] [15]}

  

  Sir William Strachan, Councillor of law, London (1756)

• Capt. Sir John Strachan, RN, Baronet - Had Scottish Arms. Blazon: Or, a hart (stag) standing at gaze, Azure, attired sable, within a bordure Gules. CREST: A demi stag springing Or, holding a thistle in his mouth proper. MOTTO: Non Timeo Sed Caveo. ^[16]

• Sir Richard John Strachan, 8th Baronet (27 October 1760 – 3 February 1828) (sometimes identified as the 6th Baronet); nephew of the 7th Baronet.

• Sir John Strachan of Woodside, Baronet is allegedly an heir. Sir John of Woodwide did not file a petition through the Court of the Lord Lyon, and sources suggest he provided no genealogical proof of his lineage to the Strachan of Inchtuthill line, and subsequently his title as baronet is seen by some as questionable. Sir John was born 22nd March, 1751, and was the only son of James Strachan, lieutenant, Royal Navy. He was a Magistrate for Stirlingshire, and married, 7th May, 1777, Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Hunter of Blackness, by whom he had, with other issue, a son, John, who succeeded him. In 1801 John Strachan sold Woodside, and was afterwards designed of Cliffden, Tynemouth, Devon. ^[17]

• Sir John Strachan of Cliffden, Baronet - Son and heir of the former. Had no children.

References

1. Joseph, Foster (1882). Members of Parliament, Scotland : including the minor barons, the commissioners for the shires, and the commissioners for the burghs, 1357-1882 : on the basis of the parliamentary return 1880, with genealogical and biographical notices. p. 338. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
2. Duncan, Francis (1878). The royal province of New Scotland and her baronets. London: William Clowes and Sons. p. 16. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
3. McDonald, William (1904). Scottish Armorial Seals. Edinburgh: William Green and Sons. p. 349, no. 2722. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
4. Laing, Henry (1850). Descriptive Catalog of Impressions from Ancient Scottish Seals. Vol. i. Edinburgh. p. 124, no. 759. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
5. The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland. Vol. vi. 1877. p. 421. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
6. Young, John Roach (1993). The Scottish Parliament, 1639-1661: A Political and Constitutional Analysis (PDF). Vol. i. p. 482 and 487. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
7. Cokayne, George Edward (1900). Complete Baronetage. p. 286. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
8. Forbes, John of Waterton (1857). Memoranda Relating to the Family of Forbes of Watertown. p. 6. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
9. Forbes of Watertoun. Aberdeen: D. Chalmers & Company. 1857. p. 31 (Ref. Letter). Retrieved 14 December 2025.
10. Great Britain. Public Record Office. Calendar of State Papers. Domestic Series. Charles II September 1680-December 1681. International Government Document. 1681. p. 543. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
11. The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Vol. 3. R. Pinches. 1989. p. 978. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
12. The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Vol. 3. R. Pinches. 1989. p. 978. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
13. Lyon Register. Vol. i. R. Pinches. 1740–55. p. 427. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
14. The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Vol. 3. R. Pinches. 1989. p. 978. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
15. Lyon Register. Vol. i. R. Pinches. 1756. p. 217. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
16. Lyon Register. Vol. i. 1765. p. 429.
17. Gibson, John Charles. Lands and lairds of Larbert and Dunipace parishes. p. 69-70. Retrieved 14 December 2025.