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{{Short description|Lowland Scottish |
{{Short description|Lowland Scottish family}} |
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{{Use British English|date=July 2015}} |
{{Use British English|date=July 2015}} |
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{{Infobox clan |
{{Infobox clan |
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|clan name |
| clan name = Bethune of Balfour |
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|image badge |
| image badge = Clan member crest badge - Clan Bethune.svg |
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|chiefs crest |
| chiefs crest = An [[otter]]’s head [[Erasure (heraldry)|erased]] [[argent]]. |
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|chiefs motto |
| chiefs motto = Debonnaire (Of good lineage) |
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|chiefs slogan |
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|war cry |
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|region |
| region = [[Scottish Lowlands|Lowlands]] |
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|district |
| district = [[Fife]] and [[Angus, Scotland|Angus]] |
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|gaelic names |
| gaelic names = |
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|image arms |
| image arms = Arms of Bethune of Balfour.svg |
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|plant badge |
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|animal |
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| pipe music = |
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|chiefs name |
| chiefs name = |
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|chiefs title |
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|chiefs gaelic title= |
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|seat |
| seat = |
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|historic seat |
| historic seat = Balfour in [[Markinch]], Fife |
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|septs |
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|branches = |
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'''Bethune of Balfour''' is an ancient [[Scotland|Scottish]] family who from about 1375 to 1888 were [[laird]]s of Balfour in [[Fife, Scotland|Fife]], an estate in the [[Scottish Lowlands|Lowlands]] parish of [[Markinch]]. Originating before the year 1000 in the town of [[Béthune]], then in the [[county of Flanders]], over the centuries the pronunciation of the family name shifted from the original French ''bay-tune'' to the Scots ''bee-t'n'', usually written Beaton. From about 1560, members of the family started using the French spelling again. |
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'''Clan Bethune''' is a [[Scottish clan]] of the [[Scottish Lowlands]]. The clan does not currently have a [[Scottish clan chief|clan chief]] recognized by the [[Lord Lyon King of Arms]] and therefore it is considered an [[armigerous clan]]. It is a branch of the noble [[House of Bethune]]. |
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Bethune families originating in the [[Scottish Highlands]] and [[Scottish Islands]] are entirely separate lines. |
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==History== |
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==Origins of the family== |
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In Flanders before the year 1000, towns with their castles were under the command of hereditary ruling families. One such family were the [[seigneur]]s of [[Béthune]] in the province of [[Artois]], the first known being Robert I de Béthune, who lived from about 960 to 1037. In addition to ruling the town and castle of Béthune, where he founded the church of Saint-Barthélémy, he held ancestral lands outside the town and was hereditary [[advocatus]] or protector of the [[Abbey of Saint-Vaast]] in [[Arras]]. While the main branch remained in Béthune until 1246, when the heiress [[Matilda of Béthune|Maud]] married [[Guy, Count of Flanders]], junior branches acquired lands and raised families elsewhere in France as well as in Palestine, Cyprus, England, and Scotland.<ref name = Duchesne>{{cite book|author= [[André Du Chesne]]|year=1639|title= Histoire Généalogique de la Maison de Béthune, Justifïee par Chartes de diverses Églises & Abbayes, Arrests du Parlement, Titres particuliers, Epitaphes, & autres bonnes Preuves|pages= 75 et seq|publisher= Sebastien Cramoisy|location= Paris|language = French|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=NzydpyW2tgkC&dq=du+chesne,+andr%C3%A9+famille+de+b%C3%A9thune&pg=PA478}}</ref><ref name = Noblesse>{{cite book|author1=de La Chenaye-Desbois |author2=François Alexandre Aubert |year = 1771|title = Dictionnaire de la Noblesse, Contenant les Généalogies, l'Histoire & la Chronologie des Familles Nobles de France|edition = 2|volume = 2|page = 418 et seq|location =Paris|language = French}}</ref><ref name =Warlop>{{cite book|title=De Vlaamse Adel voor 1300|language = Dutch|author = Warlop, Ernest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nqlMSQAACAAJ|year=1968| publisher=Familia et Patria}}</ref> |
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==Early Bethunes in Scotland== |
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The surname ''[[Bethune (surname)|Bethune]]'' is derived from the [[France|French]] town of [[Béthune]], in the [[arrondissement of Béthune]], in the department of [[Pas-de-Calais]].<ref name="Clan.Encyclopedia.Bethune">Way, George and Squire, Romily. (1994). ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The [[Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs]]). pp. 360 - 361.</ref><ref name="Munro">{{cite journal |last1=Munro |first1=A |last2=Macintyre |first2=IMC |year=2013 |title=The Ancestors of Norman Bethune (1890–1939) Traced Back to the Bethunes of Skye, Leading Members of the MacBeth/Beaton Medical Dynasty |journal=[[Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh]] |volume=43 |publisher=[[Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh]] |doi=10.4997/JRCPE.2013.315 |pages=262–269 |ref=M2 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The first record of the name in Scotland is that of Robert de Betunia, who appeared in around 1165 as a witness to a charter of lands in [[East Lothian]].<ref name="Clan.Encyclopedia.Bethune"/> By the 13th century, Bethunes were established in [[Fife]] and [[Angus, Scotland|Angus]].<ref name="Munro"/> |
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According to Bishop [[John Lesley|John Leslie]], there were members of the Bethune family in Scotland before 1093.<ref>{{cite book|language = Latin|author = Leslie, John|year = 1675|title = De origine moribus et rebus gestis Scotorum libri decem: e quibus septem veterum Scotorum res in primis memorabiles contractius: accessit nova & accurata regionum & insularum Scotiæ, cum vera ejusdem topographia tabula descriptio|volume = VI|page = 201|location = Rome|author-link = John Lesley}}</ref> However the first surviving evidence is a century later, when around 1192 a charter of [[Lindores Abbey]]<ref>{{cite web|language = Latin|editor = Dowden, John|year = 1903|title = Chartulary of the Abbey of Lindores|location = Edinburgh|publisher = Scottish History Society|page = 17|url = https://archive.org/ |access-date = 16 January 2016}}</ref> mentions Robert de Bethune, probably Robert VI (died 1193) of the Artois family. Before 1210 the cartulary of [[Arbroath Abbey]] records a cleric John de Bethune. Around 1220 Robert de Bethune is mentioned in connection with [[St Andrews Cathedral Priory]] and Sir David de Bethune, a knight, in another Arbroath document. From then on the names of clerics and knights called Bethune occur increasingly in Scottish records, mainly in the counties of [[Angus, Scotland|Angus]], particularly at Ethiebeaton in the parish of [[Monifieth]] and at Westhall in the parish of [[Murroes]], and also in [[Fife]], but it is not possible to link the scattered references into a coherent family tree. For that one has to wait until the knight Sir Alexander de Bethune who, according to [[Hector Boece]], in 1314 sat in the [[Parliament of Scotland]] held at [[Cambuskenneth]] and in 1332 died fighting for the Bruce legitimists against the Balliol rebels at [[Dupplin Moor]].<ref>{{cite book|author = Hector Boethius|editor = Dana F. Sutton|title = Scotorum Historia|date = 1575|url = http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/boece}}</ref> Tradition makes him the father of Robert, who in about 1345 married Janet, the heiress of Balfour. Their home was the castle of Balfour beside the River [[River Leven, Fife|Leven]], just south of [[Milton of Balgonie]].<ref name = Burke>{{cite book|author1=Burke, John|author2=Burke, Bernard|year = 1847|title = A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland|volume = 1|pages = 90–91|publisher = Colburn, H|location = London}}</ref> |
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[[File:Balfour House before demolition 1.jpg|thumb|right|Balfour House before demolition]] |
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An alternative origin for the Bethunes of Balfour family was mentioned in the funeral oration delivered for [[James Beaton (archbishop of Glasgow)|Archbishop James Bethune]] in 1603, where their descent is traced from a member of the French family who went to Scotland around 1449 and married the heiress of Balfour.<ref>{{cite book|language = French|author = Cayer, Pierre|year = 1603|title =L'oraison funebre de hault et puissant Monseigneur Reverendissime l'Archevesque de Glasco, melort Iames de Bethunes|location = Paris|publisher = Bourriquant, F}}</ref><ref name = Duchesne/> The man in question is named as Jacques de Béthune, also known as Jacotin, whose father Jean died at [[Battle of Agincourt|Agincourt]] in 1415. No Scottish records bear out this assertion. |
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===Wars of Scottish Independence=== |
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==The Bethunes of Balfour== |
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In 1296 Sir Robert de Betune appears on the [[Ragman Rolls]] rendering homage to [[Edward I of England]].<ref name="Clan.Encyclopedia.Bethune"/> However, the Bethunes, despite appearing to support the English cause, became faithful supporters of king [[Robert the Bruce]].<ref name="Clan.Encyclopedia.Bethune"/> The king knighted Alexander de Bethune for his bravery in battle but the same Alexander was killed at the [[Battle of Dupplin Moor]] in 1332.<ref name="Clan.Encyclopedia.Bethune"/> |
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From the marriage of Robert Bethune to Janet Balfour, the castle and lands of Balfour descended in the male line until James Bethune, 15th of Balfour, who died as an exiled [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] rebel in France in 1719.<ref name = Clark>{{cite web|url = https://digital.nls.uk/74466633|title = A collection of genealogies of ancient Scottish families compiled around 1750 by Walter Macfarlane re-published as Genealogical collections concerning families in Scotland for private circulation to members of the Scottish History Society edited from original manuscripts in the Advocates Library|year = 1900|place = Edinburgh|editor = James Toshach Clark|access-date = 23 March 2022}}</ref> Descent through females brought Balfour in 1836 to Eleanor, husband of [[John Drinkwater Bethune|John Drinkwater]], who both changed their last names to Bethune.<ref name = Burke/> Their grandson, elder brother of General [[Edward Cecil Bethune]], sold Balfour in 1888 and it has since been demolished.[[File:Balfour House before demolition 2.jpg|thumb|left|Balfour House before demolition]] |
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==Families descending from the Bethunes of Balfour== |
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===Later history=== |
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Over the 500 years that the family held Balfour, various junior branches sprang up and some are still extant. |
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===Bethune of [[Creich, Sutherland|Creich]]=== |
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The Bethunes of Balfour were established after Robert de Bethune married into the family of Balfour of that Ilk in the late 15th century.<ref name="Munro"/> |
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Descended from [[David Betoun of Creich|David Bethune, 1st of Creich]] (died 1505), [[Treasurer of Scotland]], son of John Bethune, 5th of Balfour, but the male line ended with William Bethune, 9th of Creich (died 1670).<ref name = Clark/> |
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===Bethune of [[Balfarg]]=== |
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==The modern clan== |
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Descended from James Bethune, 1st of Balfarg (died 1546), son of John Bethune, 6th of Balfour, and ending with his unmarried sons [[James Beaton (archbishop of Glasgow)|James Bethune, Archbishop of Glasgow]], [[Andrew Beaton|Andrew Bethune]], and John Bethune, the latter two both serving as Master of the Royal Household for [[Mary, Queen of Scots]].<ref name = Clark/> |
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===Bethune of [[Melgund Castle|Melgund]]=== |
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The official<ref name="clanchiefs.org">[http://www.clanchiefs.org/p/?init=clanfinder&id=Bethune clanchiefs.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726202149/http://www.clanchiefs.org/p/?init=clanfinder&id=Bethune |date=26 July 2011 }} official web site of the [[Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs]]</ref> Clan Bethune [[Scottish crest badge]] as recorded by the [[Lord Lyon King of Arms]] incorporates the last chief's crest: ''An otter’s head erased Argent'' with his motto ''De bonnaire'' (Gracious).<ref name="myclan.com">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070319211151/http://www.myclan.com/clans/Bethune_157/default.php myclan.com]</ref> |
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Descended from Cardinal [[David Beaton|David Bethune]] (died 1549), who had eight illegitimate children with [[Marion Ogilvy]],<ref name = Clark/> and their many living descendants include Queen [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom]]. |
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===Bethune of Sweden=== |
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[[Coat of arms|Arms]] of the last [[clan chief]], The Bethune of Balfour: Q''uarterly, 1st & 4th, Azure, a fess between three mascles Or (Bethune); 2nd & 3rd, Argent, on a chevron Sable, an otter’s head erased of the First''.<ref name="myclan.com"/> These arms are now held by the [[Earl of Lindsay|Earls of Lindsay]]<ref name="clanchiefs.org"/> whose surname is Lindesay-Bethune. |
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Claiming descent from James Bethune, 6th of Creich (died 1618).<ref name = Adels> {{citation|language = Swedish|title = Adelsvapens genealogi Wiki|url = https://www.adelsvapen.com/genealogi/Bethun_nr_1402|access-date = 7 January 2016}}</ref> |
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===Bethune of [[Long Hermiston|Langhermiston]]=== |
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Originating with Alexander Bethune, 1st of Langhermiston (died after 1641), son of Robert Bethune, 10th of Balfour, but ended with his son Alexander Bethune, 2nd of Langhermiston (died 1672).<ref name = Clark/> |
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===Bethune of [[Blebo Craigs|Blebo]]=== |
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Beginning with Andrew Bethune, 1st of Blebo (died 1653), son of David Bethune, 11th of Balfour, and ending with Margaret Bethune whose relationship with [[Sir William Sharp, 6th Baronet]] led to the subsequent [[Bethune baronets]], extinct in 1997 on the death of [[Sir Alexander Bethune, 10th Baronet]].<ref name = Clark/> |
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===Bethune of Bandon=== |
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Originating with Robert Bethune, 1st of Bandon (died 1660), son of David Bethune, 11th of Balfour, and ending with the childless Ann Bethune (died 1785).<ref name = Clark/><ref>Residence listed at https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/LB16681</ref> |
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===Bethune of Craigfoodie, Rowfant, and Denne=== |
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Descending from William Bethune, 1st of Craigfoodie (died 1699), grandson of David Bethune, 11th of Balfour, whose eldest surviving son, [[John Bethune of Craigfoodie|John Bethune, 2nd of Craigfoodie]], settled in England.<ref name = TSA>{{cite web|first = James Ronaldson|last = Lyell|title = Replies to Queries in The Scottish Antiquary, or, Northern Notes and Queries|volume = 8|number = 32|date =1894|pages = 187–191| jstor=25516696 |url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/25516696|access-date = 5 March 2022}}</ref> and whose male line continues.<ref>Residence listed at https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/LB2604</ref><ref>Residence listed at https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1354912</ref> |
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===Bethune of Massachusetts=== |
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[[File:Portrait of Mary Faneuil Bethune, Joseph Blackburn, 1755 - Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA - DSC03954.JPG|thumb|120px|Mary Faneuil (1732–1797)]][[File:George Bethune (1769-1859).jpg|thumb|170px|George Bethune (1769–1859)]] |
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*George I (died 1735), younger son of William, 1st of Craigfoodie (died 1699), settled in [[Massachusetts]], where he married Mary Waters in 1713 in [[Boston]] and had ten children.<ref name = Weisse>{{cite book |last=Weisse |first=Jane Lee Hunt |date=1884 |title=A History of the Bethune Family Translated from the French of André Du Chesne, with Additions from Family Records and Other Available Sources Together with a Sketch of the Faneuil Family, with Whom the Bethunes Have Become Connected in America |location=New York |isbn=978-5518624399 |url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofbethune1884weis#page/n5/mode/2up}}</ref> including two who have descendants in the twenty-first century. |
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*Jane (1714–1795), daughter of George I, by her first marriage to Moses Prince (1697–1745) produced Jane (1740–1800), wife of Chandler Robbins.<ref name = Weisse/> |
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*George II (1720–1785), only son of George I to leave children, in 1754 married Mary Faneuil (1732–1797), niece of [[Peter Faneuil]].<ref name = Weisse/> |
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*George III (1769–1859), only son of George II to have male children, left two sons who did not marry: George IV (1813–1886) and John (1817–1873).<ref name = Weisse/> |
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===Patton-Bethune=== |
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Descended from James Bethune, 4th of Blebo (died 1709). |
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===Lindesay-Bethune=== |
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Descended from Catherine Bethune (died 1730), grand-daughter of David Bethune, 11th of Balfour (died 1635), and currently represented by [[James Lindesay-Bethune, 16th Earl of Lindsay]].<ref>{{cite book|url = https://archive.org/details/scotspeeragefoun05pauluoft|title = The Scots peerage : founded on Wood's edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland ; containing an historical and genealogical account of the nobility of that kingdom|author = Paul, Sir James Balfour|location = Edinburgh|publisher = Douglas, D|date = 1914}}</ref> |
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==Arms of the Bethune family== |
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[[File:Blason Maison de Béthune.svg|thumb|left|70px|''Argent, a fesse gules'']] |
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[[File:Blason Famille de Béthune ancien.svg|thumb|left|70px|''Bends or, on a field azure'']] |
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Originally, the arms of the seigneurs of Béthune were those of the town they ruled, that is ''[[Argent]], a [[fesse]] [[gules]]''. When they became Advocati of the Abbey of Saint-Vaast, they adopted new arms suitable to their higher status, which were ''[[Bend (heraldry)|Bends]] [[Or (heraldry)|or]], on a [[Field (heraldry)|field]] [[Azure (heraldry)|azure]]''. After the marriage of [[William II, Lord of Béthune|Guillaume II, seigneur de Béthune]] to the heiress [[Matilda of Dendermonde|Mahaut de Dendermonde]] about 1190, at her request their eldest son changed his arms to those of her Dendermonde family. As it happened, these arms were the same as the old arms of Béthune, ''Argent, a fesse gules''.<ref name = Duchesne/><ref name =Warlop/> |
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[[File:Arms of Bethune of Balfour.svg|thumb|170px|Bethune of Balfour with mascles]] |
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When knights of the Bethune family started affixing their seals to documents in Scotland, they used the same fesse as their relations in France. Examples are Sir David de Bethune in 1286 and Sir Andrew de Bethune in 1292. Through marriage with the Balfour heiress, the Scottish family altered their arms to ''Azure, a fesse between three [[Lozenge (heraldry)|mascles]] or'' and this shield was then quartered with that of Balfour to produce the arms used by the Bethunes of Balfour from about 1350 to 1672. By a law that year, all Scottish arms had either to be matriculated by the [[Court of the Lord Lyon]] or forfeited. Lyon then changed the ancient Bethune shield slightly to ''Azure, a fesse between three [[Lozenge (heraldry)|lozenges]] or''. However, when Eleanor Bethune of Balfour matriculated her arms in 1837, Lyon changed them back to the original ''Azure, a fesse between three mascles or''. Her descendants have not since matriculated the arms.<ref name = Alexander>{{cite book |editor-last=Bethune |editor-first=Lucy Sharp |last=Bethune |first=Alexander Sharp |date=1997 |title=Fife Sharps and Bethunes |pages=49–56|location=London}}</ref><ref name = Burke/> |
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Junior branches of the Fife Bethunes used the family arms with slight variations, three sets being matriculated in 1672: Bethune of Bandon, Bethune of Blebo, and Bethune of Langhermiston who died out in the male line almost immediately. The arms of Bethune of Blebo descended to the Bethune Baronets, who have also died out in the male line, while the arms of Bethune of Bandon descended to the Bethunes of Craigfoodie, Rowfant, and Denne, who continue in the male line but have not matriculated the arms.<ref name = Alexander/> |
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==Bethunes of the Highlands and Islands== |
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In 1778 a book by the Reverend Thomas Whyte, minister of [[Liberton, Edinburgh|Liberton]], claimed that many families in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland called Bethune or Beaton originate with a Peter Bethune, said to be descended from the Bethunes of Balfour.<ref>{{cite book|author=Whyte, Reverend Thomas |year=1778|title=An Historical and Genealogical Account of the Bethunes of the Island of Sky|publisher=Neill|location=Edinburgh}}</ref> Nobody has yet produced any evidence for this link, which remains unproven and was almost certainly mistaken. Many of the people covered in his work were members of the [[Beaton medical kindred]], an unrelated Scottish family commonly confused with the Bethunes of Balfour. |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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*[[Beaton medical kindred]], an unrelated family that bears the same name |
*[[Beaton medical kindred]], an unrelated family that bears the same name. |
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*[[House of Bethune]], |
*[[House of Bethune]], an article (that has suffered arbitrary truncation) on related families in France. |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Latest revision as of 09:23, 11 March 2024
| Bethune of Balfour | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Motto | Debonnaire (Of good lineage) |
| Profile | |
| Region | Lowlands |
| District | Fife and Angus |
 | |
| Bethune of Balfour no longer has a chief, and is an armigerous clan | |
| Historic seat | Balfour in Markinch, Fife |
| Last Chief | Charles Congalton Bethune (1849-1923), 25th of Balfour |
Bethune of Balfour is an ancient Scottish family who from about 1375 to 1888 were lairds of Balfour in Fife, an estate in the Lowlands parish of Markinch. Originating before the year 1000 in the town of Béthune, then in the county of Flanders, over the centuries the pronunciation of the family name shifted from the original French bay-tune to the Scots bee-t'n, usually written Beaton. From about 1560, members of the family started using the French spelling again.
Bethune families originating in the Scottish Highlands and Scottish Islands are entirely separate lines.
Origins of the family[edit]
In Flanders before the year 1000, towns with their castles were under the command of hereditary ruling families. One such family were the seigneurs of Béthune in the province of Artois, the first known being Robert I de Béthune, who lived from about 960 to 1037. In addition to ruling the town and castle of Béthune, where he founded the church of Saint-Barthélémy, he held ancestral lands outside the town and was hereditary advocatus or protector of the Abbey of Saint-Vaast in Arras. While the main branch remained in Béthune until 1246, when the heiress Maud married Guy, Count of Flanders, junior branches acquired lands and raised families elsewhere in France as well as in Palestine, Cyprus, England, and Scotland.[1][2][3]
Early Bethunes in Scotland[edit]
According to Bishop John Leslie, there were members of the Bethune family in Scotland before 1093.[4] However the first surviving evidence is a century later, when around 1192 a charter of Lindores Abbey[5] mentions Robert de Bethune, probably Robert VI (died 1193) of the Artois family. Before 1210 the cartulary of Arbroath Abbey records a cleric John de Bethune. Around 1220 Robert de Bethune is mentioned in connection with St Andrews Cathedral Priory and Sir David de Bethune, a knight, in another Arbroath document. From then on the names of clerics and knights called Bethune occur increasingly in Scottish records, mainly in the counties of Angus, particularly at Ethiebeaton in the parish of Monifieth and at Westhall in the parish of Murroes, and also in Fife, but it is not possible to link the scattered references into a coherent family tree. For that one has to wait until the knight Sir Alexander de Bethune who, according to Hector Boece, in 1314 sat in the Parliament of Scotland held at Cambuskenneth and in 1332 died fighting for the Bruce legitimists against the Balliol rebels at Dupplin Moor.[6] Tradition makes him the father of Robert, who in about 1345 married Janet, the heiress of Balfour. Their home was the castle of Balfour beside the River Leven, just south of Milton of Balgonie.[7]
An alternative origin for the Bethunes of Balfour family was mentioned in the funeral oration delivered for Archbishop James Bethune in 1603, where their descent is traced from a member of the French family who went to Scotland around 1449 and married the heiress of Balfour.[8][1] The man in question is named as Jacques de Béthune, also known as Jacotin, whose father Jean died at Agincourt in 1415. No Scottish records bear out this assertion.
The Bethunes of Balfour[edit]
From the marriage of Robert Bethune to Janet Balfour, the castle and lands of Balfour descended in the male line until James Bethune, 15th of Balfour, who died as an exiled Jacobite rebel in France in 1719.[9] Descent through females brought Balfour in 1836 to Eleanor, husband of John Drinkwater, who both changed their last names to Bethune.[7] Their grandson, elder brother of General Edward Cecil Bethune, sold Balfour in 1888 and it has since been demolished.
Families descending from the Bethunes of Balfour[edit]
Over the 500 years that the family held Balfour, various junior branches sprang up and some are still extant.
Bethune of Creich[edit]
Descended from David Bethune, 1st of Creich (died 1505), Treasurer of Scotland, son of John Bethune, 5th of Balfour, but the male line ended with William Bethune, 9th of Creich (died 1670).[9]
Bethune of Balfarg[edit]
Descended from James Bethune, 1st of Balfarg (died 1546), son of John Bethune, 6th of Balfour, and ending with his unmarried sons James Bethune, Archbishop of Glasgow, Andrew Bethune, and John Bethune, the latter two both serving as Master of the Royal Household for Mary, Queen of Scots.[9]
Bethune of Melgund[edit]
Descended from Cardinal David Bethune (died 1549), who had eight illegitimate children with Marion Ogilvy,[9] and their many living descendants include Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
Bethune of Sweden[edit]
Claiming descent from James Bethune, 6th of Creich (died 1618).[10]
Bethune of Langhermiston[edit]
Originating with Alexander Bethune, 1st of Langhermiston (died after 1641), son of Robert Bethune, 10th of Balfour, but ended with his son Alexander Bethune, 2nd of Langhermiston (died 1672).[9]
Bethune of Blebo[edit]
Beginning with Andrew Bethune, 1st of Blebo (died 1653), son of David Bethune, 11th of Balfour, and ending with Margaret Bethune whose relationship with Sir William Sharp, 6th Baronet led to the subsequent Bethune baronets, extinct in 1997 on the death of Sir Alexander Bethune, 10th Baronet.[9]
Bethune of Bandon[edit]
Originating with Robert Bethune, 1st of Bandon (died 1660), son of David Bethune, 11th of Balfour, and ending with the childless Ann Bethune (died 1785).[9][11]
Bethune of Craigfoodie, Rowfant, and Denne[edit]
Descending from William Bethune, 1st of Craigfoodie (died 1699), grandson of David Bethune, 11th of Balfour, whose eldest surviving son, John Bethune, 2nd of Craigfoodie, settled in England.[12] and whose male line continues.[13][14]
Bethune of Massachusetts[edit]
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- George I (died 1735), younger son of William, 1st of Craigfoodie (died 1699), settled in Massachusetts, where he married Mary Waters in 1713 in Boston and had ten children.[15] including two who have descendants in the twenty-first century.
- Jane (1714–1795), daughter of George I, by her first marriage to Moses Prince (1697–1745) produced Jane (1740–1800), wife of Chandler Robbins.[15]
- George II (1720–1785), only son of George I to leave children, in 1754 married Mary Faneuil (1732–1797), niece of Peter Faneuil.[15]
- George III (1769–1859), only son of George II to have male children, left two sons who did not marry: George IV (1813–1886) and John (1817–1873).[15]
Patton-Bethune[edit]
Descended from James Bethune, 4th of Blebo (died 1709).
Lindesay-Bethune[edit]
Descended from Catherine Bethune (died 1730), grand-daughter of David Bethune, 11th of Balfour (died 1635), and currently represented by James Lindesay-Bethune, 16th Earl of Lindsay.[16]
Arms of the Bethune family[edit]
Originally, the arms of the seigneurs of Béthune were those of the town they ruled, that is Argent, a fesse gules. When they became Advocati of the Abbey of Saint-Vaast, they adopted new arms suitable to their higher status, which were Bends or, on a field azure. After the marriage of Guillaume II, seigneur de Béthune to the heiress Mahaut de Dendermonde about 1190, at her request their eldest son changed his arms to those of her Dendermonde family. As it happened, these arms were the same as the old arms of Béthune, Argent, a fesse gules.[1][3]
When knights of the Bethune family started affixing their seals to documents in Scotland, they used the same fesse as their relations in France. Examples are Sir David de Bethune in 1286 and Sir Andrew de Bethune in 1292. Through marriage with the Balfour heiress, the Scottish family altered their arms to Azure, a fesse between three mascles or and this shield was then quartered with that of Balfour to produce the arms used by the Bethunes of Balfour from about 1350 to 1672. By a law that year, all Scottish arms had either to be matriculated by the Court of the Lord Lyon or forfeited. Lyon then changed the ancient Bethune shield slightly to Azure, a fesse between three lozenges or. However, when Eleanor Bethune of Balfour matriculated her arms in 1837, Lyon changed them back to the original Azure, a fesse between three mascles or. Her descendants have not since matriculated the arms.[17][7]
Junior branches of the Fife Bethunes used the family arms with slight variations, three sets being matriculated in 1672: Bethune of Bandon, Bethune of Blebo, and Bethune of Langhermiston who died out in the male line almost immediately. The arms of Bethune of Blebo descended to the Bethune Baronets, who have also died out in the male line, while the arms of Bethune of Bandon descended to the Bethunes of Craigfoodie, Rowfant, and Denne, who continue in the male line but have not matriculated the arms.[17]
Bethunes of the Highlands and Islands[edit]
In 1778 a book by the Reverend Thomas Whyte, minister of Liberton, claimed that many families in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland called Bethune or Beaton originate with a Peter Bethune, said to be descended from the Bethunes of Balfour.[18] Nobody has yet produced any evidence for this link, which remains unproven and was almost certainly mistaken. Many of the people covered in his work were members of the Beaton medical kindred, an unrelated Scottish family commonly confused with the Bethunes of Balfour.
See also[edit]
- Beaton medical kindred, an unrelated family that bears the same name.
- House of Bethune, an article (that has suffered arbitrary truncation) on related families in France.
References[edit]
- ^ a b c André Du Chesne (1639). Histoire Généalogique de la Maison de Béthune, Justifïee par Chartes de diverses Églises & Abbayes, Arrests du Parlement, Titres particuliers, Epitaphes, & autres bonnes Preuves (in French). Paris: Sebastien Cramoisy. pp. 75 et seq.
- ^ de La Chenaye-Desbois; François Alexandre Aubert (1771). Dictionnaire de la Noblesse, Contenant les Généalogies, l'Histoire & la Chronologie des Familles Nobles de France (in French). Vol. 2 (2 ed.). Paris. p. 418 et seq.
- ^ a b Warlop, Ernest (1968). De Vlaamse Adel voor 1300 (in Dutch). Familia et Patria.
- ^ Leslie, John (1675). De origine moribus et rebus gestis Scotorum libri decem: e quibus septem veterum Scotorum res in primis memorabiles contractius: accessit nova & accurata regionum & insularum Scotiæ, cum vera ejusdem topographia tabula descriptio (in Latin). Vol. VI. Rome. p. 201.
- ^ Dowden, John, ed. (1903). "Chartulary of the Abbey of Lindores" (in Latin). Edinburgh: Scottish History Society. p. 17. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
- ^ Hector Boethius (1575). Dana F. Sutton (ed.). Scotorum Historia.
- ^ a b c Burke, John; Burke, Bernard (1847). A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. 1. London: Colburn, H. pp. 90–91.
- ^ Cayer, Pierre (1603). L'oraison funebre de hault et puissant Monseigneur Reverendissime l'Archevesque de Glasco, melort Iames de Bethunes (in French). Paris: Bourriquant, F.
- ^ a b c d e f g James Toshach Clark, ed. (1900). "A collection of genealogies of ancient Scottish families compiled around 1750 by Walter Macfarlane re-published as Genealogical collections concerning families in Scotland for private circulation to members of the Scottish History Society edited from original manuscripts in the Advocates Library". Edinburgh. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
- ^ Adelsvapens genealogi Wiki (in Swedish), retrieved 7 January 2016
- ^ Residence listed at https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/LB16681
- ^ Lyell, James Ronaldson (1894). "Replies to Queries in The Scottish Antiquary, or, Northern Notes and Queries". pp. 187–191. JSTOR 25516696. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
- ^ Residence listed at https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/LB2604
- ^ Residence listed at https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1354912
- ^ a b c d Weisse, Jane Lee Hunt (1884). A History of the Bethune Family Translated from the French of André Du Chesne, with Additions from Family Records and Other Available Sources Together with a Sketch of the Faneuil Family, with Whom the Bethunes Have Become Connected in America. New York. ISBN 978-5518624399.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Paul, Sir James Balfour (1914). The Scots peerage : founded on Wood's edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland ; containing an historical and genealogical account of the nobility of that kingdom. Edinburgh: Douglas, D.
- ^ a b Bethune, Alexander Sharp (1997). Bethune, Lucy Sharp (ed.). Fife Sharps and Bethunes. London. pp. 49–56.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Whyte, Reverend Thomas (1778). An Historical and Genealogical Account of the Bethunes of the Island of Sky. Edinburgh: Neill.
