Lowland Livingstone mystery

[Canadian Livingstone]

Hi All, Thought I was start a new thread for fear of overthreading the Lowland Livingston - highland Maconlea connection discussions. I thought I should try and get some feedback from you all on this one. Thomas McLea of Edinburgh who I presume originally researched the 1743 Reverend MacLea document left us with a note that "the Livingston's of Westquarter,as representing Livingston, Earl of Callander and Linlithgow,attainted, are now the chief of that name and family." This is news to me and hopefully a lead to better understanding what happened to the Lowland Livington leadership after the demise of the Callendar/Linlithgo Livingstones after 1715. I was not aware of this, but glad I revisited Donald Macleay's website where he originally reproduced Thomas McLea's research document

[Canadian Livingstone]

Hi All, As an update to my previous message, I continued my search for the elusive Lowland Livingstone leadership and here is my most recent discovery: From the Falkirk Local History Society website: "The Livingston's Earls of Callendar lost their titles and land after the 1715 Jacobite rising and in 1784 Sir Alexander Livingston of Bedlormie and Westquarter tried to claim the Callendar Earldom. Although legal opinion was on his side he did not proceed with the claim. Falkirk Museum has in its care an armorial stone with the date 1790 which came from the mansion of Westquarter in 1936 and which Geoff Bailey believes was commissioned by Sir Alexander at the time of the claim. The death of his son Thomas in 1853 brought the Male line,and the claim, to an end." And so my search for the Lowland Livingston leadership once again seems to come to a dead end. But fear not my search will continue. regards Donald (Livingstone) Clink

[Canadian Livingstone]

And I thought the story ended with Sir Alexander Livingston's son Sir Thomas Livingston dying in 1853. Not exactly. Alexander Livingston's son Sir Thomas Livingston 10th Baronet of Nova Scotia, was in his lifetime appointed keeper of Royal Palace of Linlithgow because he was a male heir to Linlithgo Livingstons. Now after the death of Sir Thomas in 1853 his brother Thurstaus Livingston's son Alexander Livingston became the 11th Baronet and received his Uncle's estates. Only problem was that the 10th Baron's sister challenged the validity of Thurstaus Livingston's son assuming the titles and property on the grounds that his father Thurstaus had married his first wive's sister amd from that the court eventually in 1861 made their final judgement that Alexander born in 1809 was the product of an incestuous marriage that was illegal and therefore that his titles were not legitimate. Fortunately for poor Alexander he died at Edinburgh two years earlier in 1859. Certainly this group of Westquarter Livingstons were not Jacobites and would not have connected well in the 1700's with the Maconleas. So if Baron Maconlea's decision to change the clan name to Livingston by the the Livingstons I am not certain how or why. Certainly not from these Westquarter Livingstons that were supporters of the Government side in 1745. regards, Donald (Livingstone) Clink