James Glasgow

Biography
James Glasgow was a tenant at Corsinkell in the parish and barony of Stevenston, Ayrshire. He was probably born about 1515, although his precise date and place of birth have not been identified.

The estimate is based on the presence of an adult or near-adult son, also named James, at Corsinkell by 1559–1560. It is an approximate generational estimate rather than a date stated in any record.
Corsinkell
A reconstructed list of Cunninghame teind debtors for 1559–1560 names Katherine Campbell, James Glasgow younger and James Glasgow elder under Corsinkell in Stevenston parish. Margaret H. B. Sanderson, “The People of Sixteenth Century Ayrshire,” (https://aanhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/people-of-ayrshire.pdf#page=36) Ayrshire Collections 14, no. 8 (1987), appendix, “The Cunninghame Teind Lists of 1559–60,” printed p. 331, citing Register of Acts and Decreets, vol. 22, fols. 102v–167v. 

The designations “elder” and “younger” establish that two men named James Glasgow were present at the same holding. That record alone does not state their relationship.

On 9 February 1571 letters of reversion concerning an annual rent from the 40-shilling land of Corsinkell named the occupiers as James Glasgow elder, James Glasgow and John Glasgow, his sons, and Christian Campbell. National Records of Scotland, Charter Chest of the Earls of Glencairn, GD39/5/59 (https://catalogue.nrscotland.gov.uk/nrsonlinecatalogue/details.aspx?reference=GD39%2F5%2F59), letters of reversion concerning annual rent from the 40-shilling land of Corsinkell, barony of Stevenston, sheriffdom of Ayr, dated 9 February 1571. 

This directly establishes that James elder had sons named James and John.
Children
James's record-confirmed sons were:

* James Glasgow, younger, present with James elder at Corsinkell in 1559–1560 and explicitly identified as his son in 1571; and
* John Glasgow, or another man of that name, explicitly identified as James elder's son in the 1571 record.

The 1571 record proves that James had a son named John. The identification of that son with John Glasgow remains uncertain until a record connects the later Kilwinning or Dalgarven man directly with Corsinkell.

Agnes Glasgow has also been attached as a daughter. No source cited here proves that relationship. Her omission from a record naming two sons does not disprove it, but the attachment should remain uncertain.
Death
James was living on 9 February 1571. 

His date and place of death have not been identified. The supported death statement is therefore after 9 February 1571, place unknown.

A death date in or after November 1580 appears to derive from conflation with a different Glasgow family and should not be applied to this profile without additional evidence.
Research NotesBirth estimate
The former estimate of about 1540 is too late.

James Glasgow younger was separately listed alongside James elder at Corsinkell in the 1559–1560 teind material. The 1571 record then directly identifies the younger James as the elder James's son. 

If the younger James was at least about eighteen to twenty-one in 1559, he was born by approximately 1538–1541. Normal generational spacing would place his father's birth around 1510–1520.

About 1515 is used as an uncertain working estimate. A more conservative statement would be that James elder was born before about 1525.
Parentage
William Glasgow is attached as James's father.

The relationship is chronologically possible, but no inspected record connects William's Glasgow burgh family with James at Corsinkell. The attachment should remain uncertain and should not be described as proved.

Isobel Brade is attached as James's mother. No record cited on this profile establishes that relationship. It should likewise remain uncertain.

The earlier attachment to John Glasgow was unsupported and chronologically problematic.
Wife or Campbell associates
Katherine Campbell was listed at Corsinkell with James elder and James younger in the 1559–1560 teind material. 

Christian Campbell was named among the occupiers in the 1571 archival catalogue description. 

Neither source states that either woman was James's wife, daughter or other relative. Katherine and Christian should not be assumed to be the same person, and neither should be attached as James's spouse without further evidence.
Son James
The younger James named at Corsinkell is represented by James Glasgow.

The repeated holding, the elder/younger distinction and the 1571 statement of relationship make this identification well supported.

Earlier links to James Glasgow should not be restored unless separate evidence shows that profile represents the Corsinkell son.
Son John
The 1571 record directly proves that James elder had a son named John. 

John Glasgow is the current candidate for that son, but the profile identity is not fully proved. A record connecting the later John at Kilwinning, Burrowland or Dalgarven with Corsinkell is still required.

The former link to John Glasgow should not be used.
Landholding context
Corsinkell formed part of lands held under branches of the Cunninghame family.

A charter made at Kerelaw on 4 February 1527 and confirmed on 25 May 1536 granted David Cunningham of Bertaneholme the five-merk lands of Corsinkell and Middlepart with other Stevenston lands. Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum, vol. 3, no. 596, printed pp. 133–134 (https://archive.org/details/registrummagnisi03scot/page/133/mode/2up). 

A further charter dated 11 July 1537 and confirmed on 4 August 1537 included two-and-a-half merk lands of Corsinkell in a grant to David Cunningham of Robertland. Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum, vol. 3, no. 1698, printed p. 377 (https://archive.org/details/registrummagnisi03scot/page/377/mode/2up). 

These charters establish the superior-title history of Corsinkell but do not name James Glasgow, identify an earlier Glasgow tenant or prove a kinship relationship with the Cunninghames.

Later marriages between people named Glasgow and Cunningham do not establish James's ancestry or his relationship to those later families.
Margaret Smith of Brekpleuch
The Glasgow Commissary testament index contains an entry dated 21 February 1632 for Margaret Smith, spouse of James Glasgow in Brekpleuch, parish of Stevenston. Francis J. Grant, ed., The Commissariot Record of Glasgow: Register of Testaments, 1547–1800 (https://archive.org/details/scottishrecordso07scotuoft/page/460/mode/2up) (Scottish Record Society, 1901), printed p. 460. 

That couple belongs to a later generation. The entry does not identify the James Glasgow of Brekpleuch as James elder, his son or another specific descendant.
Disputed origins
Online family trees have assigned James a birth in Midlothian, parents named John Glasgow and Nancy Glendinning, a wife named Margaret Edstoun, and a death in 1580.

No contemporary evidence cited on this profile supports those claims.

The 1580 testament of Margaret Glasgow, widow of John Edstoun of Croftmalloch, concerns a Midlothian family and does not establish a marriage to James of Corsinkell.

The Ayrshire and Midlothian families should be researched independently unless a record explicitly connects them.
Negative searches
No published Great Seal entry examined for Corsinkell identifies James's father, siblings or a preceding Glasgow tenant.

No relevant entry was found in the searched published Privy Seal registers under James Glasgow, surname variants or Corsinkell variants.

The printed Glasgow Commissary testament index contains no testament indexed under James Glasgow of Corsinkell.

These negative results narrow the available evidence but do not prove that no relevant record survives elsewhere or under a different spelling.
Further research
Useful remaining records include:

* the original GD39/5/59 deed, particularly its punctuation and witness clauses;
* the underlying Court of Session teind action cited for 1559–1560;
* Ayrshire sasines and rentals for Corsinkell;
* Glencairn and Cunningham estate papers;
* Stevenston parish and commissary records;
* records establishing the identity of James's son John;
* evidence for or against Agnes Glasgow as a daughter;
* records identifying Katherine and Christian Campbell; and
* any record connecting the Corsinkell family with William Glasgow or Isobel Brade.
Sources

[[Category:Stevenston, Ayrshire]]

{{One Name Study|name=Glasgow}}

== Biography ==

'''James Glasgow''' was a tenant at Corsinkell in the parish and barony of Stevenston, Ayrshire. He was probably born about 1515, although his precise date and place of birth have not been identified.

The estimate is based on the presence of an adult or near-adult son, also named James, at Corsinkell by 1559–1560. It is an approximate generational estimate rather than a date stated in any record.

=== Corsinkell ===

A reconstructed list of Cunninghame teind debtors for 1559–1560 names Katherine Campbell, James Glasgow younger and James Glasgow elder under Corsinkell in Stevenston parish.<ref name="TeindList">Margaret H. B. Sanderson, [https://aanhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/people-of-ayrshire.pdf#page=36 “The People of Sixteenth Century Ayrshire,”] ''Ayrshire Collections'' 14, no. 8 (1987), appendix, “The Cunninghame Teind Lists of 1559–60,” printed p. 331, citing Register of Acts and Decreets, vol. 22, fols. 102v–167v.</ref>

The designations “elder” and “younger” establish that two men named James Glasgow were present at the same holding. That record alone does not state their relationship.

On 9 February 1571 letters of reversion concerning an annual rent from the 40-shilling land of Corsinkell named the occupiers as James Glasgow elder, James Glasgow and John Glasgow, his sons, and Christian Campbell.<ref name="NRS1571">National Records of Scotland, Charter Chest of the Earls of Glencairn, [https://catalogue.nrscotland.gov.uk/nrsonlinecatalogue/details.aspx?reference=GD39%2F5%2F59 GD39/5/59], letters of reversion concerning annual rent from the 40-shilling land of Corsinkell, barony of Stevenston, sheriffdom of Ayr, dated 9 February 1571.</ref>

This directly establishes that James elder had sons named James and John.

=== Children ===

James's record-confirmed sons were:

* '''[[Glasgow-3921|James Glasgow, younger]]''', present with James elder at Corsinkell in 1559–1560 and explicitly identified as his son in 1571; and
* '''[[Glasgow-3193|John Glasgow]]''', or another man of that name, explicitly identified as James elder's son in the 1571 record.

The 1571 record proves that James had a son named John. The identification of that son with [[Glasgow-3193|John Glasgow]] remains uncertain until a record connects the later Kilwinning or Dalgarven man directly with Corsinkell.

'''[[Glasgow-3178|Agnes Glasgow]]''' has also been attached as a daughter. No source cited here proves that relationship. Her omission from a record naming two sons does not disprove it, but the attachment should remain uncertain.

=== Death ===

James was living on 9 February 1571.<ref name="NRS1571" />

His date and place of death have not been identified. The supported death statement is therefore '''after 9 February 1571, place unknown'''.

A death date in or after November 1580 appears to derive from conflation with a different Glasgow family and should not be applied to this profile without additional evidence.

== Research Notes ==

=== Birth estimate ===

The former estimate of about 1540 is too late.

James Glasgow younger was separately listed alongside James elder at Corsinkell in the 1559–1560 teind material.<ref name="TeindList" /> The 1571 record then directly identifies the younger James as the elder James's son.<ref name="NRS1571" />

If the younger James was at least about eighteen to twenty-one in 1559, he was born by approximately 1538–1541. Normal generational spacing would place his father's birth around 1510–1520.

About 1515 is used as an uncertain working estimate. A more conservative statement would be that James elder was born before about 1525.

=== Parentage ===

'''[[Glasgow-1098|William Glasgow]]''' is attached as James's father.

The relationship is chronologically possible, but no inspected record connects William's Glasgow burgh family with James at Corsinkell. The attachment should remain uncertain and should not be described as proved.

'''[[Brade-232|Isobel Brade]]''' is attached as James's mother. No record cited on this profile establishes that relationship. It should likewise remain uncertain.

The earlier attachment to [[Glasgow-1093|John Glasgow]] was unsupported and chronologically problematic.

=== Wife or Campbell associates ===

Katherine Campbell was listed at Corsinkell with James elder and James younger in the 1559–1560 teind material.<ref name="TeindList" />

Christian Campbell was named among the occupiers in the 1571 archival catalogue description.<ref name="NRS1571" />

Neither source states that either woman was James's wife, daughter or other relative. Katherine and Christian should not be assumed to be the same person, and neither should be attached as James's spouse without further evidence.

=== Son James ===

The younger James named at Corsinkell is represented by '''[[Glasgow-3921|James Glasgow]]'''.

The repeated holding, the elder/younger distinction and the 1571 statement of relationship make this identification well supported.

Earlier links to [[Glasgow-991|James Glasgow]] should not be restored unless separate evidence shows that profile represents the Corsinkell son.

=== Son John ===

The 1571 record directly proves that James elder had a son named John.<ref name="NRS1571" />

'''[[Glasgow-3193|John Glasgow]]''' is the current candidate for that son, but the profile identity is not fully proved. A record connecting the later John at Kilwinning, Burrowland or Dalgarven with Corsinkell is still required.

The former link to [[Glasgow-1561|John Glasgow]] should not be used.

=== Landholding context ===

Corsinkell formed part of lands held under branches of the Cunninghame family.

A charter made at Kerelaw on 4 February 1527 and confirmed on 25 May 1536 granted David Cunningham of Bertaneholme the five-merk lands of Corsinkell and Middlepart with other Stevenston lands.<ref name="Corsinkell1536">''Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum'', vol. 3, [https://archive.org/details/registrummagnisi03scot/page/133/mode/2up no. 596, printed pp. 133–134].</ref>

A further charter dated 11 July 1537 and confirmed on 4 August 1537 included two-and-a-half merk lands of Corsinkell in a grant to David Cunningham of Robertland.<ref name="Corsinkell1537">''Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum'', vol. 3, [https://archive.org/details/registrummagnisi03scot/page/377/mode/2up no. 1698, printed p. 377].</ref>

These charters establish the superior-title history of Corsinkell but do not name James Glasgow, identify an earlier Glasgow tenant or prove a kinship relationship with the Cunninghames.

Later marriages between people named Glasgow and Cunningham do not establish James's ancestry or his relationship to those later families.

=== Margaret Smith of Brekpleuch ===

The Glasgow Commissary testament index contains an entry dated 21 February 1632 for Margaret Smith, spouse of James Glasgow in Brekpleuch, parish of Stevenston.<ref name="MargaretSmith">Francis J. Grant, ed., [https://archive.org/details/scottishrecordso07scotuoft/page/460/mode/2up ''The Commissariot Record of Glasgow: Register of Testaments, 1547–1800''] (Scottish Record Society, 1901), printed p. 460.</ref>

That couple belongs to a later generation. The entry does not identify the James Glasgow of Brekpleuch as James elder, his son or another specific descendant.

=== Disputed origins ===

Online family trees have assigned James a birth in Midlothian, parents named John Glasgow and Nancy Glendinning, a wife named Margaret Edstoun, and a death in 1580.

No contemporary evidence cited on this profile supports those claims.

The 1580 testament of Margaret Glasgow, widow of John Edstoun of Croftmalloch, concerns a Midlothian family and does not establish a marriage to James of Corsinkell.

The Ayrshire and Midlothian families should be researched independently unless a record explicitly connects them.

=== Negative searches ===

No published Great Seal entry examined for Corsinkell identifies James's father, siblings or a preceding Glasgow tenant.

No relevant entry was found in the searched published Privy Seal registers under James Glasgow, surname variants or Corsinkell variants.

The printed Glasgow Commissary testament index contains no testament indexed under James Glasgow of Corsinkell.

These negative results narrow the available evidence but do not prove that no relevant record survives elsewhere or under a different spelling.

=== Further research ===

Useful remaining records include:

* the original GD39/5/59 deed, particularly its punctuation and witness clauses;
* the underlying Court of Session teind action cited for 1559–1560;
* Ayrshire sasines and rentals for Corsinkell;
* Glencairn and Cunningham estate papers;
* Stevenston parish and commissary records;
* records establishing the identity of James's son John;
* evidence for or against Agnes Glasgow as a daughter;
* records identifying Katherine and Christian Campbell; and
* any record connecting the Corsinkell family with [[Glasgow-1098|William Glasgow]] or [[Brade-232|Isobel Brade]].

== Sources ==

<references />