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Sir James Fergusson of Kilkerran, 6th Baronet, (1832-1907) was the University's Dean of Faculties in 1868. He was awarded an LLD in 1879.
In 1849, Fergusson succeeded to his father's baronetcy and a vast estate. He studied briefly at University College, Oxford and became a soldier, seeing action at Alma, Inkerman and Sevastopol during the Crimean War. He was Conservative MP for Ayrshire, 1854 to 1857 and 1859 to 1868, when he was appointed Governor of South Australia.
Fergusson subsequently served as Governor of New Zealand and Bombay, was made KCMG and was MP for Manchester North East from 1885 to 1906. He was killed by a falling building during an earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica.
Forgan, Fergie, Fergus, Fergushill, Ferguson, Fergussill, Farries, Ferrie, Ferries, Ferris(s), Pharis, Forgie, Furgerson, Grevsack, Hardie, Hardy, Ehsanian, Hemmati, Kiddie, Kydd, Keddie, Keddle, Ketchen, Kidd, MacTavert MacHerries, MacKidd, Madani. The Gaelic name has been rendered through translation into the forms, MacFergus, MacFerries, and MacFerris. Since the 'f' and 'g' are silent in the old language such variations as MacAdie, MacCade, MacErries, MacHerries, MacKerras (especially common in Argyll and Australia), MacKersey, MacKestan, MacFhearghuis, MacMagnus and even MacIrish, MacInlay were formed.
Fergus Spelling VariationsSpelling variations were extremely common in medieval names, since scribes from that era recorded names according to sound rather than a standard set of rules. Fergus has appeared in various documents spelled Fergus, Fergie, Forgie, Forgus, Ferris, Farris, Fargus and many more.
Forms of The NameThe names Fergusson and Ferguson are an Anglicized form of “MacFergus or McFergus” otherwise known from "Macfhearghuis" of an ancient Scots Gaelic origin. It is a patronymic Anglicized form of the personal name Fergus. The Scots Gaelic MhicFergus or VicFergus or the Irish Gaelic Ó Fearghuis or Ó Fearghasa means ‘descendant of Fearghus’, a personal name believed to be composed of the elements fear ‘man’ + gus ‘vigor’, ‘force’, or possibly ‘choice’. Other word choices cited have been “angry one” or “strong man”. The name is a cognate of with the Cymric "Gwr-gwst," Old Bret. "Urorgost" and the Pictish word "Forcus." This last Pictish form of the name is found on a monument at St. Vigeans in Angus as "Fercos."
There are variant spellings for this name throughout the centuries. In the 1600’s an “s” was dropped off by record clerks and to satisfy the simple writing styles of printing presses of the day.
Some families retained the double “s”.
The origins of “Fergus” are found from a genealogy of a royal race of Irish Kings who evidentially with their kin removed from Northern Ireland to Western Scotland and the Hebrides in the territory during the ancient days called “Dalraida”. The Fergusons can point to John O’Harts Irish Pedigrees where the name Fergus or similar variations are included in the Milesian, Ulster, & Ulidia Kings ancestry pedigree before the advent of St Patrick to Ireland. In 1269 BC there was a Ferga mac Eibhear who died in battle. This list can be found on Wikipedia for reference. These kings are considered legendary as well as the other names listed.
In his Irish Pedigrees, O'Hart presents the legendary origins of the Irish people, from the Biblical Adam and Eve through the kings of ancient Ireland. Irish tradition holds that every Irish person is descended from the king Milesius who emigrated from Spain in approximately 1700 BC, according to the Annals of the Four Masters. O'Hart started each of his genealogies with Adam recording Milesius as his 36th descendant.
The Scots of Dalriada claimed a legendary antiquity beginning with Gaythelos, son of a King of Greece who went to Egypt during the time of Moses where he married the eponymous Scoti, daughter of the Pharaoh. Gaythelos, Scoti, and their family emigrated to Spain and eventually several groups of their descendants emigrated to Ireland; the final group under Simon Brek, whose grandson led a colony from Ireland to northern Britain and named it “Scotia”. In the year 330 BC, these Scots elected as their king Fergus, son of Ferehard; and they remained in Scotland until 360 AD when they were driven back to Ireland by the Picts and Britons. In the 5th century, they returned to Scotia under the leadership of Fergus, son of Erc. Or so the story goes.
For most of the mediaeval period of Scotland up to the last couple hundred years, most Scottish people (to include the kings) were led by mediaeval historians believed in a King Fergus from around 300 BC as the first King of Scotland. There is an illustrated painting of him at Holyrood Palace in Edinburg Scotland. This King Fergus is now later debunked by historians as a mythical king, yet he was still an influential figure within Scottish history.
This fictitious king may have been borne by another legendary status of another Fergus, Fergus Mór mac Eirc. It is a matter of record that by 500 A.D. the first of the people known as the Scots, under a King Fergus Mór mac Eirc, left Northern Ireland destined for the western shores of Alba (Scotland). They established a colony in the Argyll region, which they called Dalriada [aka Dal Riada or Dal Riata], named after the prominent Irish house, Dal Riata.
Around the time the Romans were in Britain (55 B.C. to 409 A.D.), there were two races occupying what is today Scotland: the Picts and the Britons. These Celtic peoples had successfully resisted the Roman legions, and what the Romans called Caledonia was never incorporated into the Empire. As a result, very little is known about these early inhabitants, apart from brief descriptions by Roman writers. As the Romans withdrew from Britain, these north islanders were faced with new invaders. These were the Scots from Ireland, and the Angles from Germany. It is with the Scots that we are concerned, for it is they who finally succeeded in conquering Scotland, uniting its peoples and giving them their line of kings.
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The Scots came from a kingdom in Ireland which was known as Dalriada. This kingdom corresponded roughly with the modern County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Very little is known about the kings of Dalriada apart from their names. These are found in two mediæval sources, the Book of Ballymote and the Pedigree of the Scottish Kings. It should be noted that these sources were not written contemporaneously with the events which they describe. Often, they are copies of original material which is now lost to us, and they were written centuries after the fact. It is difficult to verify the information they give with supporting evidence, which makes the accuracy of that information doubtful. The list of the kings of Dalriada should therefore be regarded as legendary.
The Book of Ballymote gives 38 names in its genealogy, all presented as the direct line of kings. It begins with the name Angus Turbech of Tara. Tara, incidentally, is the ancient hall of the High Kings of Ireland. It is on a hill in County Meath, Éire, and its mention in a list of Kings of Dalriada implies that the Dalriada, or "race of Riada," are descended from the High Kings. Angus was High King from 384 to 325 B.C., according to the Annals of the Four Masters. The genealogy ends with the name of Fergus Mor, the son of Erc. With Erc we are on firmer ground: he was a king of Dalriada who died around 501 A.D.. The Pedigree of the Scottish Kings contains 25 names and differs somewhat from the Book of Ballymote. The last eight names, though, from Sen-chormac to Fergus Mor, are the same.
The Dalriada crossed the North Channel from Ireland to Kintyre in Scotland, eventually establishing a kingdom around Argyll. The first record of this migration is in 258 A.D., when the Romans noted that Scots from the north attacked south as far as London. In time, the Dalriadan kingdom in Scotland overshadowed that in Ireland, and the kings made their home in Argyll, in its ancient capital of Dunadd. Around the year 500 A.D., the two sons of Erc, Fergus Mor and Loarn, were kings of Dalriada in Scotland.
13 The Kingdom of Dal Riada in Scotland The kingdom of Dal Riada, since Fergus Mor’s time, conquered the lands which comprised of southern Scotland in around 500 AD and reached its height under the reign of the king Aedan mac Gabrain who ruled 574-608 AD. Following the rule of mac Gabrain, the kingdom was overrun by Viking raids and intermarriage created a population of mixed Irish, Pictish, and Viking stock. The northern region of Scotland continued to be ruled by the Picts under a series of kings who retained their autonomy. The Picts and the Scots were first united under the rule of Constantin son of Fergus (780 820 AD) who was the first monarch of the Scots to be called `High King' of Scotland. The most famous king to rule over this kingdom, however, is Kenneth MacAlpin (reigned 843-858 AD) who further united the Scots of Dal Riada with the Picts of the north to become the first king of Scotland and establish a bloodline by which later Scottish monarchs would establish their legitimacy. The kingdom's independence ended in the Viking Age, as it merged with the lands of the Picts to form the Kingdom of Alba. Image of Pictish Warrior 14 Christianity in Scotland Between the time of the Roman incursions into Scotland and MacAlpin’s rule as the first king, Christianity had come to Scotland by way of Ireland through the evangelical work of Ninian (later Saint Ninian) whom the historian Bede claims was the first missionary to arrive in the land in 397 AD to establish Christianity among the Picts during the reign of the Pictish king Drest I (reigned c. 406-451 AD). Ninian's work was later completed by St. Columba, who was related to Fergus Mor, in c. 563 AD who, according to legends and his biographer, performed many amazing feats which convinced the Picts to abandon their traditional beliefs and accept the new faith of Christianity. Among these feats was defeating a monster who rose from the River Ness to eat the local inhabitants; the first written mention of the creature later known as the Loch Ness Monster. With the rise of Christianity came an increase in literacy among the clergy and the first written records of the history of Scotland began to emerge. Scottish King Genealogy Scottish kings traced their descent from Fergus Mór mac Eirc. In the 16th century, James VI of Scotland called himself the "happie monarch sprung of Ferguse race". There are additional Fergus names, descendants from Fergus Mór mac Eirc, who were kings of Dal Riata as well. From its first king, Fergus Mór mac Eirc, Dalriada established the bloodline of subsequent Scottish monarchs. Through the Stuarts, this has continued to subsequent British kings and queens. It is clear that from humble beginnings the Dál Riata have helped shape the history of the British Isles for the past 1600 years. Sources: http://dalriadabar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Dalriada_History.pdf Sources: wikipedia Coronation of King Alexander III on Moot Hill, Scone. He is being greeted by the ollamh rígh Alban, the royal poet of Scotland, who is addressing him with the proclamation "Benach De Re Albanne" (= Beannachd Dé Rígh Albanaich - "God Bless the King of Scots"); the poet goes on to recite Alexander's genealogy. Malcolm II, Earl of Fife, depicted holding the sword standing beside King Alexander. (Albannaich is the plural form of Albannach, "Scot" or "Scotsman" and refers to the Scots collectively [as a nation]. The unique title of the Scots monarchs has long been "King of Scots" rather than "of Scotland" as opposed to the monarchs of England and other countries, who are titled "King [or Queen] of England" etc. This style is ancient and reflects the Gaelic tradition of the chief as "father" of his "clann" [lit. children]. As the monarch is the "Chief of Chiefs" he or she is the "father" or "mother" of the people, not merely the ruler of the land.) King Fergus was included in the reading of the genealogy. 15 Fergussons the oldest Scottish Clan One of Scottish histories oldest surviving documents, the "Tract on the Men of Albyn", makes specific reference to the clan Fergusson (Albyn, Alba or Albion an ancient name for Scotland reflecting the pallid-skinned natives). No other modern clan name is mentioned making the Fergus(s)on name arguably one of the oldest Scottish clans if not the oldest Scottish clan. Some historians believe "Clan Fergusa" were a powerful clan prior to the 13th century. It is recorded in the "Annals of Ulster" there was in 1216 a day of disaster to the "Clan Fergusa" at the hand of the Mormaer of Lennox's son. The details of that story have been lost in the passage of time. By the end of the 13th century, there were men in widely separated districts of Scotland, which called themselves "sons of Fergus." Fergus, the Prince of Galloway The surname Fergus was first found in Galloway (Gaelic: Gall-ghaidhealaibh), an area of southwestern Scotland, now part of the Council Area of Dumfries and Galloway, that formerly consisted of the counties of Wigtown (West Galloway) and Kirkcudbright (East Galloway), Ireland where St. Fergus (Fergustian) (circa 730 AD) was an Irish bishop, who went to Scotland as a missionary. St Fergus settled near Strageath and founded three churches in Strogeth and two in Caithness. It is possible that he was the Fergustus Pictus who went to Rome in 721 AD. According to Irish lore, a family of this name descend from Fergus, Prince of Galloway (d. 1161), who is said to have married a daughter of Henry I of England. Evidence shows the Fergussons of the south-west Scotland (in formerly Galloway) area, specifically Ayrshire and Dumfriesshire, are believed to have descended from Fergus, a Prince of Galloway who was married to a daughter of Henry I of England. Prince Fergus was the ruler of Galloway in 1165. They became the Lords of Galloway and Allan, Lord of Galloway witnessed King Alexander II's charter to the monks of Melrose. Alan was the last Prince of Galloway before it was annexed by Scotland 1234 and were considered independent before that time. Fergus, the Prince of Galloway was the grandfather of Duncan Earl of Carrick and in turn great great-grandfather to King Robert Bruce. Fergus, restored the see of Whithorn and founded the Abbey of Dundrennan during the reign of David I and Malcolm IV. He died as a monk at Holyrood in 1161. Through King Robert Bruce passes the line of the Royal Family of Great Britain. It was the 1st Earl of Carrick's signature that might suggest further origins of the “Fergusson” surname, Duncan, son of Gilbert, the son of Fergus, hence MacFhearguis. The Gaelic spelling has been corrupted through translation into the forms, MacFergus, MacFerries, and MacFerris. Since the "f" and "g" are silent in the old language such variations as MacErries, MacHerries, MacKerras (especially common in Argyll and Australia) and even MacIrish were formed. 16 Surnames Introduced In England, the Normans introduced surnames after 1066. In England, the introduction of family names is generally attributed to the preparation of the Domesday Book in 1086 following the Norman conquest. By 1400, most English families, to include those of lowland Scotland, were using surnames that were hereditary. Wives took the husband's last name, and King Henry VII (1491 1547) ordered that children's names be recorded under the father's last name. The Anglicized "Fergusson" was widely used by time of the reign of James IV. The shortened form of the name with the single "s" was initiated by record clerks before the 1600's. The common spelling of the day was "Fergussoun" and by the reign of Charles II, "Fergussone." The spelling in the old days was a matter of individual choice. One Fergusson of Kilkerran signed himself in 1518 as “Forgisson”. In the modern era the Ayrshire, Dumfries, Argyll, and Perthshire families have retained the double "s" while those of Fife, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Ross-shire and Ireland have the single "Ferguson." Branches of Fergussons The Craigdarroch Fergussons are the oldest documented of the Fergussons from the former Galloway areas. The Fergussons families of Craigdarroch are recorded in the reign of King David II 1324 –1371. In Ireland, the family was first established in Connacht where they owned the parish of Burrishoole in 1303 AD, and were the hereditary physicians to the O’Malley family. Some Fergusons in Ireland came from Scotland during the Plantation era and others claim their family lines did not migrate to Scotland. The Kilkerran Fergussons of Ayrshire are reckoned to have possessed their area since the 12th century. The first written record available however, is regarding John Fergusson of Kilkerran in 1464. Carrick had a great number of Fergussons by the 1600s, for whom Kilkerran was their chief. The Kilkerran Fergusons were active in affairs of State and Sir James took the title Lord Kilkerran. His son was made Lord Hermand. In 1292-1296 Dunfallandy, Chief of the Fergusons of Atholl and Strathardle was granted charters of land by King John Balliol, before the reign of King Robert the Bruce. In 1489 the Dunfallandy branch were influential over a wide stretch of the banks of the Tummel in Strathardleand Glenshee and they were in constant trouble with the Government as their lands gave shelter to bandit elements. Baron Ferguson, who ruled these lands from within an official barony had to rule with an iron hand to control the 'broken men' who used the glen as a haven from their misdeeds. In 1587 the Fergusons of Atholl and Strathardle were listed in the “Rolls of the Clans that have Chieftains”. There were also branches of the Ferguson family tree in Kintyre, Pitfour, Kilkerran, Cowal, Atholl, and Kinmundy. The Fergussons of Perthshire were a Highland branch of the Clan and chieftainship belonged to the Dunfallandy family. Before the 18th century, at least five groups of Fergussons possessed lands and lived in the style of a clan under their respective chiefs in Argyll, Perthshire, Aberdeenshire, Dumfriesshire, and Ayrshire. 17 Today the Kilkerran Fergussons in Ayrshire and Fergusson of Baledmund and the Fergussons of Balquhidder, both in Perthshire, are still owners of extensive lands. Like many other Clans of the central Highlanders their territories were scattered and all though kinship existed between the various branches it was not until the 18th century that the Clan was gradually brought together again under one leadership. There were "sons of Fergus" that fought with Robert de Bruce in the Wars of Independence from England (1314-1320). Much later, a minority of Fergus(s)ons, notably the Atholl (in Perthshire) Fergussons, supported Prince Charles Edward Stewart - the 'Young Pretender' - during the Jacobite rebellion of 1745-46. Most however sided with the government. Indeed, it was Capt. John Ferguson of the ship H.M.S. Furnace who pursued the fleeing Prince thoughout the Western Isles after his defeat at Culloden on April 16, 1746. Like many other Highland clans, Fergus(s)ons were also affected by the Highland Clearances. The introduction of 'more profitable' sheep into the Highlands enforced an exodus of Fergus(s)on and many other Highlanders from their homeland between 1790 and 1850. Many lost their clan territories and migrated to a life of poverty in cities in England and parts of Ireland. Many left for a variety of reasons such as religious freedom, high rents, hope for peace from civil wars, polarized politics, exiled, indentured servanthood, and even military service on ships destined for places such as North America, Australia, New Zealand, and the Caribbean Islands, places where Scottish heritage and culture could live and thrive again. The Fergussons of Kilkerran in Ayrshire assumed seniority in the clan hierarchy in the 1950’s. Today, Sir Charles Fergusson of Kilkerran, 9th Baronet, who lives in the ancestral home near Maybole Ayshire, is regarded as 2nd Chief of the Name and Arms of all Scottish Fergusons and Fergussons. Collectively from Scotland there were Fergus(s)ons from areas Craigdarroch, Kilkerran, Strachur, Raith, Athole, Balquhidder, Kincardine and Angus, Kinmundy, Pitfour, Banff. and Ross-shire. From Ireland Armagh,Down, Belfast, Antrim, Londonderry, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo. "Sons of Fergus" since migrating worldwide over have gained recognition not only famous for their military leadership and acts of valor but also nonmilitary activities, e.g. in law, the church, government, the arts and sciences, medicine, education, agriculture, in business, industry, sports, literature, technology, transportation, and to even to include space exploration. This of course include those sept names which include Farris, Kidd, etc. as described previously.