Clan Sandilands
Encyclopedia
Clan Sandilands is a Lowland Scottish clan
. Sandilands is also considered a sept
of Clan Douglas
.
. The family to bear the name may have originally fled to Scotland
from Northumberland
in the reign of King Malcolm III of Scotland
.
Sir James de Sandilands distinguished himself in the wars against the English. For his services he was rewarded with a royal charter to his lands by King David II of Scotland
. He married Eleanor, the only daughter of Sir Archibald Douglas
, Regent of Scotland. James Sandilands received from his brother in law, William IV, Lord of Douglas
the lands of Calder
in Lothian
.
for King James I of Scotland
. James Sandilands was only returned to Scotland
two years before his death. He was the presumptive heir to the Douglas estates and should have inherited them on the death of the James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas
. However the estates went instead to Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas who was Sir James Douglas
's bastard son.
James Sandilands was succeeded by his own son John. The Sandilands found themselves in opposition to their Douglas relatives as they were unshakeable in their support to King James II of Scotland
. John Sandilands and his uncle James were both assassinated by Patrick Thornton on the orders of the Douglas faction. James Sandilands inherrited the estates and married Margaret Kinlock of Cruvie. One of their sons, James Sandilands of Cruvie established the line who would later become Lords of Abercrombie.
, a friend of the Protestant reformer, John Knox
, was also preceptor of the powerful religious and military Order of the Knights of St John, whose headquarters were at the Priory of Torphichen
in West Lothian
.
When the Order was suppressed, he managed to obtain a grant of much of its lands on payment to the Crown of ten thousand crowns in gold and an annual rent of five hundred merks. Previously, the preceptors had sat as peers in Parliament under the title of ‘Lord St. John of Torphichen’, an interesting case of a title belonging to an office and not hereditary in any one family. Sir James kept his seat in Parliament, being created Lord Torphichen
. He died without issue, and the new title devolved on James, the grandson of his elder brother, who succeeded as second Lord Torphichen.
. The second Lord had four sons, two of whom were to succeed to the family title. John, the fourth Lord, although a supporter of Charles I
strongly advised against the plan known as the Engagement, which sought to invade England in 1648 to rescue the king, in return for certain conditions, after he had been handed over to Parliament by the Scots army. The plan was ill-conceived, and ended in disaster.
James, seventh Lord Torphichen, took his seat in Parliament in 1704 and was a supporter of the Treaty of Union
. He served in the army on the Continent only returning to Scotland at the outbreak of the rising of 1715, in which the Clan Sandilands fought on the side of the British government . The Clan Sandilands led by James Sandilands, seventh Lord Torphichen fought at the Battle of Sheriffmuir
against the Jacobites where they were victorious. In 1722 he was appointed by King George I
as one of the Commissioners of Police.
His eldest son was wounded during the campaigns of 1745 fighting against the forces of Bonnie Prince Charlie, the ‘Young Pretender’, and he later died of consumption. His second son, Walter, who had embarked upon a career in the law, succeeded to the title while sheriff of Midlothian. James, the sheriff’s son, was a colonel in the Coldstream Guards
and was elected a representative peer to the House of Lords
from 1790 to 1800. He was succeeded by his first cousin, James, from whom the present Lord Torphichen, who still lives at Calder, is
lineally descended.
.
The tartan associated with Sandilands is the Douglas tartan.
Scottish clan
Scottish clans , give a sense of identity and shared descent to people in Scotland and to their relations throughout the world, with a formal structure of Clan Chiefs recognised by the court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms which acts as an authority concerning matters of heraldry and Coat of Arms...
. Sandilands is also considered a sept
Sept
A sept is an English word for a division of a family, especially a division of a clan. The word might have its origin from Latin saeptum "enclosure, fold", or it can be an alteration of sect.The term is found in both Ireland and Scotland...
of Clan Douglas
Clan Douglas
Clan Douglas is an ancient Scottish kindred from the Scottish Lowlands taking its name from Douglas, South Lanarkshire, and thence spreading through the Scottish Borderland, Angus, Lothian and beyond. The clan does not currently have a chief, therefore it is considered an armigerous clan.The...
.
Origins of the Clan
The name Sandilands comes from lands by that name in ClydesdaleClydesdale
Clydesdale was formerly one of nineteen local government districts in the Strathclyde region of Scotland.The district was formed by the Local Government Act 1973 from part of the former county of Lanarkshire: namely the burghs of Biggar and Lanark and the First, Second and Third Districts...
. The family to bear the name may have originally fled to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
from Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
in the reign of King Malcolm III of Scotland
Malcolm III of Scotland
Máel Coluim mac Donnchada , was King of Scots...
.
Wars of Scottish Independence
During the Wars of Scottish IndependenceWars of Scottish Independence
The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the independent Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries....
Sir James de Sandilands distinguished himself in the wars against the English. For his services he was rewarded with a royal charter to his lands by King David II of Scotland
David II of Scotland
David II was King of Scots from 7 June 1329 until his death.-Early life:...
. He married Eleanor, the only daughter of Sir Archibald Douglas
Sir Archibald Douglas
Sir Archibald Douglas was a Scottish noble, Guardian of Scotland and military leader. He is sometimes given the epithet "Tyneman" , but this may be a reference to his great-nephew Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas.-Early life:The younger son of Sir William "le Hardi" Douglas, the Governor of...
, Regent of Scotland. James Sandilands received from his brother in law, William IV, Lord of Douglas
William IV, Lord of Douglas
William, Lord of Douglas was a short-lived Scottish nobleman, the son of Sir James Douglas and an unknown mother. Little is known of Lord Douglas's life, which he spent under the guardianship of Sir Archibald Douglas....
the lands of Calder
Calder
-Places:*Several rivers in Scotland and Northern England*East Calder, Mid Calder and West Calder, three villages in West Lothian, Scotland*Calder, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a town on the island of Saint Vincent...
in Lothian
Lothian
Lothian forms a traditional region of Scotland, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills....
.
15th Century
James Sandiland's son also called James was one of the hostages sent to EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
for King James I of Scotland
James I of Scotland
James I, King of Scots , was the son of Robert III and Annabella Drummond. He was probably born in late July 1394 in Dunfermline as youngest of three sons...
. James Sandilands was only returned to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
two years before his death. He was the presumptive heir to the Douglas estates and should have inherited them on the death of the James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas
James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas
Sir James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas and Mar was an influential and powerful magnate in the Kingdom of Scotland.-Early life:He was the eldest son and heir of William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas and Margaret, Countess of Mar...
. However the estates went instead to Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas who was Sir James Douglas
James Douglas, Lord of Douglas
Sir James Douglas , , was a Scottish soldier and knight who fought in the Scottish Wars of Independence.-Early life:...
's bastard son.
James Sandilands was succeeded by his own son John. The Sandilands found themselves in opposition to their Douglas relatives as they were unshakeable in their support to King James II of Scotland
James II of Scotland
James II reigned as King of Scots from 1437 to his death.He was the son of James I, King of Scots, and Joan Beaufort...
. John Sandilands and his uncle James were both assassinated by Patrick Thornton on the orders of the Douglas faction. James Sandilands inherrited the estates and married Margaret Kinlock of Cruvie. One of their sons, James Sandilands of Cruvie established the line who would later become Lords of Abercrombie.
16th Century
Sir James Sandilands of CalderJames Sandilands, 1st Lord Torphichen
James Sandilands was born circa 1511 in Calder, West Lothian, Scotland, and died in 1596.He was the second son of Sir James Sandilands, 7th Lord of Calder...
, a friend of the Protestant reformer, John Knox
John Knox
John Knox was a Scottish clergyman and a leader of the Protestant Reformation who brought reformation to the church in Scotland. He was educated at the University of St Andrews or possibly the University of Glasgow and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 1536...
, was also preceptor of the powerful religious and military Order of the Knights of St John, whose headquarters were at the Priory of Torphichen
Torphichen Preceptory
Torphichen Preceptory, is a church in the village of Torphichen, West Lothian, Scotland. It comprises the remains of the Preceptory of the Knights Hospitaller of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in Scotland...
in West Lothian
West Lothian
West Lothian is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire....
.
When the Order was suppressed, he managed to obtain a grant of much of its lands on payment to the Crown of ten thousand crowns in gold and an annual rent of five hundred merks. Previously, the preceptors had sat as peers in Parliament under the title of ‘Lord St. John of Torphichen’, an interesting case of a title belonging to an office and not hereditary in any one family. Sir James kept his seat in Parliament, being created Lord Torphichen
Lord Torphichen
Lord Torphichen is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created by Queen Mary in 1564 for Sir James Sandilands , with remainder to his heirs and assigns whatsoever. Sandilands had previously served as Preceptor of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta in Scotland, and...
. He died without issue, and the new title devolved on James, the grandson of his elder brother, who succeeded as second Lord Torphichen.
17th Century & Civil War
The first Lord’s half-brother, Sir James Sandilands of Slamannan, was a Gentleman of the Bedchamber to King James VI of Scotland and later keeper of Blackness CastleBlackness Castle
Blackness Castle is a 15th century fortress, near the village of Blackness, Scotland, on the south shore of the Firth of Forth. It was built, probably on the site of an earlier fort, by Sir George Crichton in the 1440s. At this time, Blackness was the main port serving the Royal Burgh of...
. The second Lord had four sons, two of whom were to succeed to the family title. John, the fourth Lord, although a supporter of Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
strongly advised against the plan known as the Engagement, which sought to invade England in 1648 to rescue the king, in return for certain conditions, after he had been handed over to Parliament by the Scots army. The plan was ill-conceived, and ended in disaster.
18th Century & Jacobite Uprisings
Treaty of Union
The Treaty of Union is the name given to the agreement that led to the creation of the united kingdom of Great Britain, the political union of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, which took effect on 1 May 1707...
. He served in the army on the Continent only returning to Scotland at the outbreak of the rising of 1715, in which the Clan Sandilands fought on the side of the British government . The Clan Sandilands led by James Sandilands, seventh Lord Torphichen fought at the Battle of Sheriffmuir
Battle of Sheriffmuir
The Battle of Sheriffmuir was an engagement in 1715 at the height of the Jacobite rebellion in England and Scotland.-History:John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar, standard-bearer for the Jacobite cause in Scotland, mustered Highland chiefs, and on 6 September declared James Francis Edward Stuart as King...
against the Jacobites where they were victorious. In 1722 he was appointed by King George I
George I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
as one of the Commissioners of Police.
His eldest son was wounded during the campaigns of 1745 fighting against the forces of Bonnie Prince Charlie, the ‘Young Pretender’, and he later died of consumption. His second son, Walter, who had embarked upon a career in the law, succeeded to the title while sheriff of Midlothian. James, the sheriff’s son, was a colonel in the Coldstream Guards
Coldstream Guards
Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....
and was elected a representative peer to the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
from 1790 to 1800. He was succeeded by his first cousin, James, from whom the present Lord Torphichen, who still lives at Calder, is
lineally descended.
Clan Chief
The current chief of Clan Sandilands is The Rt. Hon. James Andrew Douglas Sandilands, 15th Lord TorphichenLord Torphichen
Lord Torphichen is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created by Queen Mary in 1564 for Sir James Sandilands , with remainder to his heirs and assigns whatsoever. Sandilands had previously served as Preceptor of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta in Scotland, and...
.
Tartan