Alexander de Abernethy was a Scottish baron. He was a descendant of lay abbots of Abernethy; his grandfather Laurence, great-grandson of Gillemichael, Earl of Fife

Gille Míchéil, Earl of Fife

Mormaer Gille Míchéil, is the second man we know for certain to have been Mormaer of Fife from 1130 to 1133, although it is unlikely he actually was the second. He had at least one son, called Aed...

, was the first to style himself Lord (dominus). His daughter Margaret married John Stewart of Bonkyll, the new Scottish earl of Angus

Earl of Angus

The Mormaer or Earl of Angus was the ruler of the medieval Scottish province of Angus. The title, in the Peerage of Scotland, is currently held by the Duke of Hamilton.-Mormaers:...

.

Alexander swore fealty to Edward I

Edward I of England

Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...

 in 1291, presumably on the death of his father, Hugh. Between 1301 and 1303 he was appointed warden of Scotland between the Forth and the Mounth. He lost the office in King Edward's ordinances of 1305 but supported Balliol's claims over Bruce's. He was ordered to join the expedition of John of Brittany

John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond

John of Brittany or Jean de Bretagne 3rd Earl of Richmond, was an English nobleman of Breton origin. He entered royal service under Edward I, and fought in the Scottish Wars. On 15 October 1306 he received his father's title of Earl of Richmond...

 to defend Galloway

Galloway

Galloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire...

 against Robert Bruce

Robert I of Scotland

Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...

 and was absent from King Robert's first parliament in 1309. In June 1308 he was appointed warden of Scotland between the Forth

River Forth

The River Forth , long, is the major river draining the eastern part of the central belt of Scotland.The Forth rises in Loch Ard in the Trossachs, a mountainous area some west of Stirling...

 and Orkney in June 1308 together with Edward Hastings; and in July 1310 - warden between the Forth and the mountains. He was also contracted to serve from September in Berwick

Berwick-upon-Tweed

Berwick-upon-Tweed or simply Berwick is a town in the county of Northumberland and is the northernmost town in England, on the east coast at the mouth of the River Tweed. It is situated 2.5 miles south of the Scottish border....

 and Perthshire

Perthshire

Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...

 under the command of Sir John de Segrave. He received Clackmannan

Clackmannan

Clackmannan District 1975-96From 1975, Clackmannan was the name of a small town and local government district in the Central region of Scotland, corresponding to the traditional county of Clackmannanshire, which was Scotland's smallest...

 in Stirlingshire from Edward II

Edward II of England

Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...

 in 1310, was keeper of Dundee

Dundee

Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...

 at least in mid-1311 and led the unsuccessful defence of the town against Edward Bruce

Edward Bruce

Edward the Bruce , sometimes modernised Edward of Bruce, was a younger brother of King Robert I of Scotland, who supported his brother in the struggle for the crown of Scotland, then pursued his own claim in Ireland. He was proclaimed High King of Ireland, but was eventually defeated and killed in...

 in 1312. In 1314 Abernethy was forfeited and attached to the earldom of Angus, so Alexander went to England and died by the end of 1315.

He married Margaret de Menteith

Margaret de Menteith

Margaret de Menteith was a daughter of Alexander, Earl of Menteith and his wife Matilda. She was the wife of Alexander de Abernethy, a noted Scottish knight and opponent of Robert I of Scotland. She is first encountered in historical records as "lady Margaret de Abrenythy", a lady of the court...

, daughter of Alexander, Earl of Menteith. 'lady Margaret de Abrenythy' was a lady of the court of Isabella of France, Queen of England, 1311/12. She resided in England as late as 30 Jan 1324/5, when a record in the Patent Rolls dated at Langley stated, ' 860. The K. signifies that he has granted leave to Margaret de Abernethy to visit Scotland, to treat with her friends there as to recovery of her hereditary lands. Langley. '

They had issue:

• Margaret, wife of John Stewart, Earl of Angus Margaret de Abernethy.
• Mary, wife of (1) Sir Andrew de Leslie, and (2) Sir David de Lindsay Mary de Abernethy.

Sources

• Joseph Bain (ed.) Calendar of documents relating to Scotland, volume 3;
• C. A. McGladdery, ‘Abernethy family (per. c.1260–c.1465)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, OUP (2004);
• Cal. Patent Rolls, 18 Edw. II. p. 2, p. 87, m. 32.
• Bain, Cal. Docs. Scotland III:157, no. 860.
• J. Ravilious, The Earls of Menteith: Alexander, Earl of Menteith and Sir Alexander de Abernethy, The Scottish Genealogist (September 2010), Vol. LVII, No. 3, pp. 130–139.