Strachan & Yorkston Family

I have not researched my mothers ancestors to the degree I have my fathers. This is partly because I was originally inspired to research my own surname, Esslemont, and partly because two of my mothers grandparents were Irish and I would be unlikely to find much information in Irish records. I have concentrated therefore on my mother's maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather’s, genealogy.

The Scottish/English border was a tract of rugged border territory stretching from Carlisle in the west to Berwick in the east. The name Yorston is one of the oldest border surnames, or clans.

Ancient manuscripts such as the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland the Inquisitio, the Ragman Rolls, the Doomsday Book, Acts of Scottish Parliaments, baptismal records, parish records and cartularies, and tar records were researched The name Yorston was first found in Edinburghshire, where they anciently held the lands of Yorkstoun in the parish of Corstorpine. Although there is evidence that the name 'flay have been Orcadian in origin many centuries before, from the island of Burray and possibly Saba, there is strong evidence that Rowsay in the Orkneys was their original home. Click here to go to my Strachan & Yorkston ancestry

Although your name Yorston occurred in many references, from time to time, the surname was shown with the spellings Yourston, Yorston, Yorkstoun, Yorkson and these changes in spelling frequently occurred during a person's own lifetime, or between father and son. Simple errors by scribes and church officials occurred when they spelt the name as it sounded. The same person was often born with one spelling, married with another and on his gravestone yet another.

The family name Yorston is believed to be originally from the Boernicians. This ancient, founding, race of the north, were a mixture of Scottish Picts, Angles and Vikings - a race dating from about 400 AD.

Their territories ranged from Edinburgh in the north, southward to the North Riding of Yorkshire in England From 400 AD to 900 AD, their territory was overrun firstly by the ancient Britons, then the Angles from the south and finally the Vikings, Picts and Dalriadans from the north.

By 1000 AD, however, the race had formed into discernible Clans and families, perhaps some of the first evidence of family structure in Britain.

This area produced strange nicknames such as Sturdy Armstrongs, one of whom, Neil, was the first to visit the moon, the Gallant Grahams, the Saucy Scoffs, the Angry Kern, the Bells, the Nixons, the famous Dicksons, the Bold Rutherfords, the Pudding Somervilles and most of the names ending in “son”.

Click here to go to my Strachan & Yorkston ancestry