Notes:

of Hallgreen - got into financial difficulties

As the "eldest son" of David, the seventh Laird, William was given the lands of Ballandro in the parish of Benholm in 1620. In 1621 he was given lands at the Kirktoun of Aberluthnott, and between 1626 and 1633 the lands of Drumnagar from his uncle, the Rev. James Rait, minister of Aberluthnott. By 1637 he was the Laird of Hallgreen itself, and was married by 1620 to Jean, sister of Sir William Douglas of Glenbervie, with whom he had at least eight, probably nine children. As his successors were also called William, it is not apparent when he died. He seems to have been married a second time '96 to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir G. Auchinleck of Balmanno.

(Research):Not sure if this is the same William Rait...
William Rait died in February l6.l)8, and was succeeded by his son James, who
married Isobel, daughter of Robert Douglas of Bridgeford.

his is a branch of the ancient family of Rait
of Halgr<:en, co. Kincardine, said to be descended from a Ger-
man of the district of Rhoetia (whence called Rait or Rhat),
who, in the days of Malcolm II., came to Scotland with Keith,
predecessor to the Earl Marischal ,and got some lands in the
shire of Nairn, where he built a castle, and called it by his own
name. In the reign of David II., Rait of Uras, who was the
King's Shield Bearer, acquired certain property in the parish
of Dunnotar, of which mention is made of the King granting
confirmation in 1383. In the reign of Balliol, mention is
made of Sir George Rait de OSdem ; and in the days of Alex-
ander III., Rait went to the Holy Wars, with the King of
France (but some suppose It Keith, not Rait). In the reign
of King Robert III., Sir Archibald Eait, of that ilk, for the
slaughter of the Thane of Caddell, was forced to fly from that
part of the country, and live in the Mearns, under the protec-
tion of the Lord. Keith. His son,

Mark Rait, m. the heretrix of Hallgreen, then called Don-
nante, and after her death, without issue, m. a dau. of Ogilvio
of that ilk. He purchased the lands of Drumnay in the
Mearns; Boethe^ays, uponthe forfeiture of Cumming(Comyn?),
the King gave the half of the Earldom to Keith. he was 6x grandfather of this William Rait.

ne of the oldest and best-known families in the district which "traces its descent from Sir Archibald Rait, who in the reign of King Robert III, was forced, on account of the killing of the Thane of Caddell to flee to the Mearns under the protection of Lord Keith" -

William married Jean Douglas in 1620. Jean (daughter of Sir Robert (of Glenbervie) Douglas and Elizabeth (of Balmanno) Auchinleck) was born before 1620; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. 7 Or More Further Children Rait
2. William Rait was born about 1620; and died.

Notes:

David Rait, the seventh Laird. The records of this laird are rather confusing, and it is possible that two contemporaneous Davids have been merged. In 1583, when one of his servants was murdered, he was "of Drumnagar", and in 1596, still in Drumnager, he was Sheriff of Kincardine. In 1611, David, as fiar of Hallgreen, appears with William Rait of Hallgreen in a legal document, in 1612 he was heir apparent of Hallgreen, and in 1616 he was Laird of Ballandrow, a property which passed to his son, William, by 1620. In other documents, dated 1621 and 1622, David, fiar of Hallgreen, is specifically called the son of William of Hallgreen. David's father, William, was still alive in 1622, and David is called "of Hallgreen" in 1625 and 1628. His son William had taken over between 1633 and 1637.

David had three wives, apparently two at the same time ? or, more probably there were two David Raits and it has not been able to distinguish between them. In 1596 there is a record of a Catherine "sometime spouse" i.e. deceased, and in 1595, while he was still "apparent heir" to Hallgreen, there was a marriage contract to Elizabeth, daughter of Stratton of Lowrenstoun (Laurencekirk?) in which she was to get rights to Drumnagair, and she was supposed to have married him in 1605. However, in 1604, there was a marriage contract between David, "fiar of Hallgreen" and Margaret Graham, widow of James Straithauchin, apparent heir of Monboddo. Whichever wife is correct, David had six children.



William, the eldest, succeeded as the eighth Laird.

Notes:

the sixth Laird. In 1557 he petitioned the Lords of Council for his recognition (by delivering the relevant charters to him) as the heir to the deceased David Rait of Drumnagar (probably his grandfather). This implies that William, the fifth Laird, was already dead by that date, but William the sixth was still suing John of Silliflett in 1569/70 for payments due from Drumnagar, and he did not obtain a charter to the lands of Drumnagar until 1574. Clearly the inheritance was not straightforward.

This William also extended the property interests of Hallgreen into the county of Forfarshire (Angus) by obtaining, in 1597, a charter for the whole of Cononsyth in the parish of Carmyllie, Forfarshire, from the Gardynes. He still held that property in 1603, when he sold Pressock in the barony of Gardyne in Forfarshire. By 1574 he was married to Margaret, daughter of Garden (or Gardyne) of Leys, and in 1578 he was married to Marjorie, daughter of Barclay of Mathers. William had at least six children, but, in the absence of birth records, there is no indication of which wife was the mother. As William Rait of Halgrein he was signatory, with others, to a band acknowledging Prince James the sixth, King of Scots, as their only sovereign lord, subscribed at Edinburgh, St Andrews, Aberdeen and Inverness on 21st, 26th Ap., 7th, 9th May, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th June, and 9th July. He presumably subscribed one one of the days in June in Aberdeen. He died before 1625.

David, the eldest son, succeeded as the seventh Laird.

(Research):Possibly the son of William Rait, the fifth Laird. Tradition says that he died at the Battle of Pinkie, but maybe the 6th laird is a nephew. The 5th laird may have had only one son, David, (baes on traditional family naming conventions) who also may have been killed at Pinkie, which took place on 10 September 1547

Origins:
Mark Rait, the first Rait Laird of Hallgreen appears to have purchased the lands of Drumnager (or Drumnagair) located just south-west of Laurencekirk in Kincardineshire. He married the daughter and heiress of Dunnet of Hallgreen, and, through her, in 1425 he inherited Hallgreen Castle, which had been built in 1376. No other information is available about the Dunnets. Mark had no children with her, and she presumably died shortly afterwards, because he then married a daughter of Ogilvie of that Ilk with whom he had a son, David.

The lands of Drumnagair remained in the hands of the family until at least late in the 17th century, initially as the inheritance of the eldest son of the laird, and later of a younger son. However, a legal document of 1693 mentions a "Barony of Drumnagair" comprising part of Silliflett near Inverbervie, part of Gourdon, lands of Aberluthnott, of Hallgreen, and "others in the sheriffdom of Kincardine", so the property referred to in later inheritances may have been more extensive than the actual farm now carrying that name.

William + Margaret or Marjorie Gardyne or Barclay. Margaret was born before 1574; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

By 1574, William Rair was married to Margaret, daughter of Garden (or Gardyne) of Leys, and in 1578 he was married to Marjorie, daughter of Barclay of Mathers.