Robert Guthrie

Robert Guthrie was one of ten children born to James Guthrie of Pitforthie and Jean[1] Lyon, eldest daughter of James Lyon, the 6th Laird of Easter Ogil; and his wife, a daughter of Guthrie of that Ilk (Lyon, 1734). Robert was the sixth child and the fourth son and baptised 4 March 1629 (Scotland's People, 1629).

The manuscript belonging to (Lyon, 1870) clearly demonstrates the link between the Guthrie of Pitforthie family and Guthrie of that Ilk. Leaving links to Guthrie Castle aside the Guthrie of Pitforthie family consisted of six sons and four daughters baptised (or born)[2] over a sixteen year period (O'Neill, 2025).

Robert himself suffered from ill-health and “was a preacher, but had no charge, and died unmarried.” (Lyon, 1870).

Roberts eldest brother, (The Divine) William Guthrie “was still engaged, so far as public events made it possible, in preparing for his future work as a minister of the gospel. With this prospect before him, he willingly surrendered to one of his brothers his right to the paternal estate of Pitforthie” (Carslaw, 1900), and “when handing over his property to his brother, my forebears had reserved ample life-rent provisions to his wife and children out of the rents.” (Orr, 1923) and additionally “he resigned his estate at Pitforthy to a younger brother, not engaged at that time in the prosecution of sacred studies.“ (Grant, 1951). Many, or most, sources do not name the younger brother referred to. Given my contention regarding Andro, then, that leaves David as the successor. Andro is deceased; the remaining four brothers are all ministers and therefore bound by the ’62.

The difficulty with Carslaw’s writings are that whilst yes, it is possible that Robert had the estate disponed to him (Robert died summer 1665, before William), we have already seen that the estate was with Robert’s elder brother, David. (The Protector) Oliver Cromwell had recognised David as the rightful heir and successor to the Pitforthie Estate following their father’s death. If William resigned the estate to David in 1655 then it all seems to fall into place if we accept that Carslaw (and others) had, in fact, made a mistake in their interpretation regarding the number of brothers and who had entered into the ministry. I have included more details in the paper / blog concerning David Guthrie. Suffice to say that few sources suggest David is James and Jean’s second son. Whilst technically he isn’t (he’s the third), if you were “an outsider” to either the family or community, looking in a number of years later, you would see a family of five sons and be unaware of the sixth son who died early.

[1] Jonet aka Janet aka Jean

[2] From 1855 the State required records of Birth, Marriage and Death to be recorded. Prior to this the Church kept records of Baptism, Marriage and Burial. Depending upon the point in time an event happens then it may be, for example, a Birth or a Baptism and these can be a number of years apart.

References

Carslaw, W. H., 1900. The Life and Times of William Guthrie. Paisley: Alexander Gardner.

Grant, W., 1951. Memoir of the Author. Caithness: s.n.

Lyon, W., 1734. Lyon of Ogil. Claughton: s.n.

Lyon, W. F. K., 1870. Lyon of Ogil. London: s.n.

O'Neill, A. C., 2025. Guthrie of Pitforthie. [Online]
Available at: https://mylifeswork.net/guthrie-of-pitforthie
[Accessed 8 May 2025].

Orr, R. L., 1923. Lord Guthrie A Memoir. London: Hodder and Stoughton Limited.

Scotland's People, 1629. Birth Record of Robert Guthrie. Edinburgh: OPR Births 275/10/52.