The Douglas Archives

A collection of historical and genalogical records

Rev JOHN DRYSDALE AND HIS DESCENDANTS, 1681-1991 by D C L Drysdale, is
the story of Rev John Drysdale (1681-1726), Minister at Kirkcaldy from 1712-1726, and
his famous descendants, by his wife, Anne Ferguson, daughter of William Ferguson,
Provost of Kirkcaldy. His third son, Rev John Drysdale (1718-1788), minister in
Edinburgh, was twice elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of
Scotland. Another son, William Drysdale (1717-1757), was merchant and Treasurer of
Kirkcaldy, and through his wife, Katherine Robertson of Gladney, the family was related to
the famous Adam brothers, architects. Two other sons, Robert and George, were Town
Clerks of Kirkcaldy, and George also served two terms as Provost (1763-1765 and
1771-1775). The office of town clerk of Kirkcaldy seems to have been almost an
inherited position, the last recipient being John Drysdale, who held office from 1811-
1873. William's (1717-1757) son, William Drysdale (1745-1825), was also Town Clerk of
Kirkcaldy, and acquired the estate of Pitteuchar, in Kinglassie parish, in the early 1800s.
He was succeeded there by his son, Sir William Drysdale (1781-1843), Writer to the
Signet, who was knighted while City Treasurer of Edinburgh, 1841-1843. The latter's
sister, Ann Drysdale (1792-1853), emigrated to Australia per the "Indus," ex Leith, Oct
1839, arriving Melbourne, 15 March 1840, and there formed a squatting partnership with
Caroline Newcomb of London. Her brother, John Drysdale, farmed Kilrie Farm in Fife,
and married a cousin and sister-in-law of George Russell of Golfhill. Frequent mention
to both the latter Drysdales is to be found within the 7-volume "Clyde Company Papers,"
edited by P L Brown. Later Australian Drysdales were engaged (from 1883 onwards) in
sugar cane refining in Queensland, and their story can be found in "John Drysdale and
the Burdekin" (Sydney, 1964) by Roy Connolly

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Comment by Russell Lynn Drysdale on August 7, 2025 at 15:08

The Architect William Adam was father in law to  Rev John Drysdale (1718-1788), I remember, Ronald Drysdale brought it up while I was updating the page at  https://douglashistory.ning.com/group/drysdale-archives/page/fife-f...  

 ElectricScotland  has a piece on him https://electricscotland.com/history/other/drysdale_john.htm

Comment by Ronald Drysdale on August 7, 2025 at 13:13
Comment by Ronald Drysdale on August 6, 2025 at 20:00

Hi William,

Thank you for these blog posts, the source for this information has been published before on the Douglas Archives but it is nice to have a focal point on which to direct comments for each of these two worthy Fife families.

Sources reference:  Fife Family History Society Journal - Published Fife family histories. 

https://electricscotland.com/history/articles/fifefamilyhistories.pdf

see also:
https://douglashistory.ning.com/group/drysdale-archives/page/fife-f...

Best regards

Making conections

The more information you can give about the people you mention, the more chance there is of someone else connecting with your family.

Dates and places of births, deaths and marriages all help to place families.

Professions also help.

'My great-grandmother mother was a Douglas from Montrose' does not give many clues to follow up! But a bit of flesh on the bones makes further research possible. But if we are told who she married, what his profession was and where the children were baptised, then we can get to work.

Maybe it is time to update the information in your profile?


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