Bairds of Gartsherrie:   page 1.

The following account is taken from a book in my possession.
"The Bairds of Gartsherrie, Their origin and History" private collection written by A MacGeorge in 1875. The contents will be written exactly as written in the book. (with the exception of headers and generation id to make reading easier, as the book is not indexed.) Click on the accompanying picture for the "Genealogical Tree of The Baird's of Gartsherrie drawn up on the 18th of September 1875." It may take a little time to down load as it is rather large.

Introduction:

Some time ago, it was suggested to Mr. James Baird, by a gentleman of high standing in the literary world, that he ought to preserve some record of the history and rise of the remarkable family of which, with the exception of two sisters, he is the only surviving member.
In accordance with this suggestion, Mr. Baird placed in my hands all the old family papers in his possession, consisting of Leases, Deeds of Settlement, Letters, and other Documents. From these, and from the business books of the Ironworks, and from information obtained principally from Mr. Baird himself, the following narrative has been compiled. I am glad to give so much of it in Mr. Baird's own words. A. M. Glasgow, November 18, 1875.

The family from which are descended the Bairds of Gartsherrie so called, not because they are proprietors of that estate, which they are not, but because of the extensive ironworks and the large village they established there- has been settled for centuries in Lanarkshire; and there seems no room to doubt the accuracy of the family tradition, that they are a branch of the Bairds of Cambusnethan. The name was anciently spelt "Bard" and "Barde." From a branch of the Cambusnethan family which settled in the north of Scotland in the fifteenth century, were descended the Bairds of Auchmedden.

The last male representative of that family was William Baird of Auchmedden, who joined the rebellion of 1745, and whose estates, though not confiscated, were wasted by the sums he had borrowed to aid the cause of the Stuarts. This gentleman has left an interesting account of the Aberdeen branch of the family, in his Genealogical Collections concerning the Sir-name of Baird. This account was written in 1770, and was first printed in 1857, by W. N. Fraser, Esq., whose grandfather married Henrietta, the daughter of William Baird of Auchmedden, the last male representative of the family. It was reprinted in 1870, under the editorship of Captain F. M. Smith, with additional notes, including a short notice of the Bairds of Gartsherrie. The name of the Henrietta Baird just mentioned appears in the family register inserted in a Bible, which bears to have belonged to her father, and which is now in the possession of Mr. James Baird of Cambusdoon, to whom it was presented in 1873, by Mr. Philip, of Port Elizabeth, Cape Colony.

There is a farm called Auchmedden in the parish of Lesmahago; and this name was carried to Aberdeenshire, and appropriated to the land he acquired there by the Baird who founded the Auchmedden family. Following the same practice, one of the same family, Sir John Baird, (Lord Newbyth), having sold the lands of Byth, in Aberdeenshire, purchased the lands of Foord and Whitekirk, in the county of Haddington, and got them erected into a barony by the name of Newbyth.

The estate of Auchmedden was subsequently sold in 1750 by William Baird, the author of the Collections, to the Earl of Aberdeen, whose son, Lord Haddo, married Miss Christian Baird of Newbyth, one of the Auchmedden family. It afterwards became the property of the Honourable William Gordon, and thereafter of Sir Charles Forbes of Newe and Edinglassie. And now, after having been so long possessed by proprietors of another name, Auchmedden is again the property of a Baird. The estate was purchased in 1854 by the late Mr. Robert. Baird, from the Trustees of Sir Charles Forbes, and was entailed in terms of directions in his deed of settlement. The heir of entail in possession is Mr. James Baird, the next elder brother of Mr. Robert Baird.

In the earliest charters in which the name of Baird appears in Scotland, they are mentioned as holders of land situated in the county of Lanark, in which the Gartsherrie family has been so long located. So early as 1240 there is a charter by Robert, son of Waldevus de Biggar, in favour of Richard Baird, of the lands of Little and Meikle Kyp, in the county of Lanark. In 1306 there is a crown charter, by King Robert Bruce, of the Barony of Cambusnethan, in favour of Robert de Barde. From this Robert de Barde, all the Lanarkshire Bairds, and also the branch which was settled, in Aberdeenshire, are believed to be descended. The estate of Cambusnethan was lost to the family, in 1345, by the forfeiture of Sir Robert Barde, and it then came into the hands of the Somervilles. But some of the name appear to have retained, or afterwards to have acquired, other lands in the same county.

Kirkwood - Old Monkland

Previous to 1540, "Alan Bard" was proprietor of the lands of Kirkwood, in Avondale. He died in that year, leaving an only child, a daughter; and under date 14th March, 1540, there is a charter, under the Great Seal, of the lands of Kirkwood in favour of this daughter, designed Janet Baird, daughter and heiress of Alan Bard of Kirkwood. Since then the Bairds have ceased to be proprietors of these lands. The family of the name in Lanarkshire was known as "The Clydesdale Bairds," in contra-distinction to the Aberdeenshire branch. Change of occupancy were in early times of rare occurrence. The home of the Gartsherrie family for a very long time was at High Cross, or at Kirkwood, both in the parish of Old Monkland.

High Cross is situated on the east of the parish road, leading from Langloan to Old Monkland Church, and Kirkwood is not far off on the other side of the road. There is a tradition that, in very early times, a monk came from Rome, bearing a consecrated stone, which he was instructed to carry to a certain spot on the lands of Sidetonhaugh, or Sedgie Ha, with a view to its forming the foundation of a church in that locality. As, he came past High Cross, being attracted by a cross believed to have stood there, and which gave the name to the lands, he inquired what place it was. Being told that it was High Cross, he said, " Then I am near my journey's end." He was then within a few hundred yards of where the church of Old Monkland now is, and where he planted the stone. Mr. James Baird remembers seeing long ago a stone, said to have been the one brought by the monk. It was then inside the church. It is mentioned in the Statistical Account of Old Monkland, written near the end of the last century, by the Rev. John Bower, the then minister of the parish. This good old man married Mr. and Mrs. Baird, the father and mother of the Gartsherrie family, and baptized all their ten children. He died in 1820, having been minister of the parish for about forty years. The present is the third church which has been built at Old Monkland. The name of the original church-the one founded by the monk-was Badermonoc, under which name it was confirmed to the see of Glasgow, among the bishop's mensal churches, by Pope Alexander III., in the year 1170. The name of Monkland as attached to the land, first occurs in a deed, by Walter the Steward, in favour of the monks, in 1323; but the name, as applied to the church, occurs for the first time in a deed by the vicar of Calder, who was also vicar of Monkland, in 1509.

Kirkwood certainly took its name from its vicinity to the kirk, and from a large wood, which is known to have existed on the lands. The family of the Gartsherrie Bairds were tenants in Kirkwood and High Cross; but there were others of the name, and no doubt branches of the same family, in this and the neighbouring counties. In the seventeenth century some of them are found in the ranks of the Covenanters. During the persecution of 1683, "William Baird in Drips " was remitted to the sheriff, and fined one hundred pounds for refusing to recognise the curate settled in Cathcart. In 1680, in a process of forfeiture against certain of the Covenanters, appears the name of "Baird Younger of Dungeon:" And at the same period there is mention made in Woodrow's History of one of the sufferers," a worthy and judicious man, James Baird, in or near Strathaven."

In the valuation roll of New Monkland there is a small property, called "Baird's Mailing," which, no doubt, belonged to, and took its name from, some member of the connection. When the valuation roll was made up, it was the property of the Honourable William Elphinstone. In the Memorie of the Somervilles, there is an interesting notice of the, house which the Bairds inhabited, when they possessed Cambusnethan. "The first of the name of Somerville," we are told, in the Memorie, is said to have dwelt at Cambusnethan, the pleasantnes of the place inviteing him thereto, albeit at the time there was nae other house upon it (except some laigh office houses), but the Bairds' Tower, a building, some twenty foot square and four storie high, which was still standing in the same forme and fashion, untill the year 1661, that it was demolished by Sir John Harper, when he rebuilt the house of Cambusnethan."This had been, evidently, one of the old feudal towers. of which remains are still to be found in so many parts of Scotland.

Alexander Baird - Double-ribbed Sandy 1st Generation

The first member of the Gartsherrie family, of whom there is any account, was Alexander Baird, who was tenant in Kirkwood and High Cross. He was a very powerful man, and, in consequence of the enormous weight which he was able to carry, got the name of "Double-ribbed Sandy."
His son was Alexander Baird, the great-grandfather of the Gartsherrie brothers. The exact date of his birth is not known, but an approximation may be made to it. There is documentary evidence to show that his eldest son John was married to his first wife on the 9th of August, 1749. Assuming that John was then thirty years of age, this would give as the date of his birth 1719; and, on the assumption that his father was at that time thirty, this would give the date of Alexander Baird's birth as in 1689. On the same computation "Double-ribbed Sandy" would be born about 1659.
Alexander died in or immediately before 1766, as appears from a deed in that year, executed by his widow, his second wife, discharging her legal rights. This deed will be afterwards noticed. His age at the time of his death, on the computation made above, would be seventy-seven.

Alexander Baird 2nd Generation

This Alexander Baird (the great-grandfather of the Gartsherrie brothers) was twice married. The name of his first wife, from whom the Gartsherrie family is descended, is not certainly known. It is supposed to have been Cumming, as a very old bible which had belonged to a family of that name, and contained their family register, was in the possession of Mr. Baird, the father of the Gartsherrie family. Unfortunately it has gone missing since his death.

He married, second, Elizabeth Paterson, by whom he was survived, and by whom he left no children. There is a piece of ground attached to High Cross farm called "Paterson's Acre," which probably got its name from this Mrs. Baird. By his first wife, Alexander Baird had three sons, John, William, and Robert. Having died intestate, an agreement was, on 21st July, 1766, apparently immediately after his death, executed between his widow, Elizabeth Paterson, then living in Airdrie, and his three sons, by which, in lieu of her legal rights, they agreed to pay her the sum of 1,500 merks Scots, "together with ye delivery of certain furniture;" and for these provisions she granted a discharge in their favour on the 24th, of the same month of July.

By a testament dated 13th February, 1772, this Elizabeth Paterson nominated her step-son, John Baird-designed in the deed as,"tenant in Kirkwood" to be her sole executor. After legacies to her own relatives, she directs her executor to deliver to "Robert Baird in High Cross," another of her step-sons, "my cow"; and to pay to "William Baird in Woodhead," her other step-son, £3 sterling, "in order to buy a suit of black clothes with"; and "to the said John Baird himself" she bequeaths £3 for the same purpose. The residue she leaves to 'her brother and sister.

How long the ancestors of the Gartsherrie family were in Kirkwood and High Cross does not appear, but it must have been for a very long period. In a renewal of the lease granted by Sir James Hamilton of Rosehall on the 20th of July, 1745, Alexander Baird is designed as then occupying "High Corsse"; and there is let to him, for another period of nineteen years the lands of High Cross, Millhouse, Woodhead, and Kirkwood, all in the Parish of Old Monkland.

On 1st April, 1764, Alexander Baird obtained a renewal of his lease from Archibald Hamilton of Rosehall. This Mr Hamilton was accustomed to ride through the country in a carriage with four horses, and three or four footmen running behind him. These runners could go very long distances, and in speed they were equal to most horses. It is related of Mr. Hamilton that one evening he gave to one of these footmen an important letter to carry to Edinburgh, and to bring back an answer. Happening early in the morning to go into the place where the man slept, Mr. Hamilton found him in bed, and in a fury at his supposed neglect of duty (believing he had never been away) he was about to stab him, when the man turned quietly round and handed to his master the answer to the letter.

The lease which Alexander Baird obtained from this laird of Rosehall, in 1764, was for the further term of nineteen years. It embraces the same lands, with the addition of what is described as "Luggie Bridgend or Waukmill house." This time the rent was increased to 516 pounds 18 shillings Scots, with 7 bolls oatmeal, 8 bolls and 3 firlots "barley bear," 35 hens, and 12 capons. From a receipt among the papers by Mr. Hamilton to John Baird in 1767 (the year after his father's death), it appears that the Kaim fowl, stipulated as part of the rent, were paid for in money, at the rate of 8d. for each hen, and 12d. for each capon. From the terms of the receipt this must have been sterling money; and if so, it was a high price for fowls at that period.

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