Blog
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Day 2 Report of the Scottish North American Community Conference
The SNACC conference is a two-day annual conference held in Washington, DC and available online through webinar. It is sponsored by the American Scottish Foundation, the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations (COSCA), and the Chicago Scots. Saturday’s sessions included discussions on challenges of societies and organizations as well as challenges of highland games. Our…
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Day 1 Report of the Scottish North American Community Conference
The SNACC conference is a two-day annual conference held in Washington, DC and available online through webinar. It is sponsored by the American Scottish Foundation, the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations (COSCA), and the Chicago Scots. Friday’s sessions included a report on the process of becoming a clan chief as explained by Sir John…
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The Uniqueness of the Scottish Diaspora
The Scottish Diaspora consists of Scottish people and their descendants who emigrated from Scotland to locations around the world. A few people have asked what is the diaspora and how does this relate to the Leslie Global Diaspora Foundation (LeslieGDF). While many countries and ethnic groups have made migrations from their home country or region…
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The Aberdeen & North-East Scotland Family History Society
The Leslie Global Diaspora Foundation (LGDF) is a member of several organizations both here in the USA and in Scotland and Ireland. From time to time, these organizations host webinars and other presentations which we attend. The information gained enhances our ability to serve our subscribers. The Leslie Global Diaspora Foundation is taking a long-term…
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St. Ninian’s Roman Catholic Church
St. Ninian’s Roman Catholic Church While writing the 10-part blog series based on the book Inverurie and the Earldom of the Garioch, there was reference to a church on the Fetternear Estate in Aberdeenshire. Further research revealed that there is a church ruin, St. Ninian’s Roman Catholic Church, located there. The church ruins are not…
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Wardhill Estate Records Project
As you may know, the Leslie Global Diaspora Foundation is a research-preservation-publication and information sharing organization intended to benefit Leslies worldwide. The Foundation has investigated the location of numerous important Leslie documents. In keeping with our mission, The next significant project will be the digitizing and preservation of perhaps hundreds of Leslie documents related to…
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Leslies in Aberdeenshire Part 11: Conclusion
Now we find ourselves near the end of this wonderful account of lives and history of the Leslies of the Garioch. In the early 1700’s, while Presbyterian Kirks became the center of religious life there continued to be Catholic or Romanist families in the area. In the Garioch. Consequently, only two Leslie families were Romanists…
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The Leslies in Aberdeenshire Part 10: The Counts Leslie
Walter was the second son of John Leslie, the 10th Baron of Balquhain, by his third wife. Walter entered the Austrian army (Bohemia) and by 1632 he held the rank of major in a body of soldiers made up of Scottish and Irish musketeers under Colonel Gordon. This was the army of King Ferdinand II’s…
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Leslies of Aberdeenshire: Part 9: Troubles in the Garioch
Information Source: Inverurie and the Earldom of the Garioch by Rev. John Davidson, D.D. (1878). Available at: https://archive.org/details/inverurieearldom00davi The Solemn League and Covenant was first signed on the first day of March 1638 on tables erected in the churchyard of the Greyfriars in Edinburgh. Commissioners or Apostles of the Covenant were then sent out across…
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Leslies in Aberdeenshire Part 8: Before the Civil War
The lands of the Abbey of Lindores were secularized by King James and the sale of the lands created many new lairdships. One of these was the lands of Badifurrow, with the Leslies of Kincraigie of Tough becoming the first lairds of Badifurrow. (Note: Tough is an area near Alford.) According to the author, Patrick…
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Leslies in Aberdeenshire Part 7: Early and Mid-1600’s
In 1562 after the General Assembly of the Reformed Church met, a celebration was held at the Chapel of the Garioch with Queen Mary present. In 1600, the King James VI and I turned vicarages of Lindores into parishes. Later in 1602, the King gave John Leslie, son of William Leslie of Balquhain, the defender…
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Queen Mary’s Visit to Balquhain
This is just a short post, but I wanted to keep the Leslies in our mind as some of us attend the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. When Queen Mary was in France, a Leslie was in the party to negotiate her marriage to the Dauphin of France. In 1561, Mary returned to Scotland, Dr. John…
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Leslies in Aberdeenshire Part 5: Emergence of Branches of the Leslie Family
After the Battle of Harlaw, the branches of the Leslies family tree began to emerge. The Rothes branch was one of the earliest, along with the Kincraigie, Wardes, New Leslie, and Pitcaple. These branches were identified by the lands they held. There were four family branches from Sir William 4th Baron of Balquhain Sir William…
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The Leslies in Aberdeenshire Part 4: The Barons of Balquhain
The Barons of Balquhain The Balquhain family of Leslie dates back to the 14th century when Sir George Leslie, the first Baron of Balquhain, got a grant from his father, Norman de Leslie. The grant was confirmed by King David II by a charter in 1340 for his services during the reign of Robert I…
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The Leslies in Aberdeenshire Part 3: Before the War for Independence
According to the author Rev. Davidson, Norman de Leslie, the son of Norino, was the first to adopt the name Leslie. Norman married Elizabeth Leith of Edingerack. King Alexander III gifted him the lands of Fythkill, which is now the Leslie in Fife. In 1296 Balliol rebelled against the Edward I, King of England. At…