A Case for LittleBarr

A cadet line of Maxwells descending from the branch of Kirkconnell Maxwells of the Ancient Caerlaverock Maxwells left their ancestral home in New Abbey, Dumfries-shire, Scotland for Ireland at about the time of The Glorious Revolution (1689). From Ireland, they spread out over the globe so that many thousands of descendants exist today. Evidence is presented that they belonged to a relatively unknown but historically important cadet line known as Littlebar Maxwells arising from a New Abbey estate known as Lytill-Bar aka LittleBarr.

Introduction

LittleBarr is both a place (two places actually) and a cadet (branch) line of the Maxwell family. When referring to the Maxwell line, it is usually spelled Littlebar. When considering the place, it has been spelled Lytill-Barr, Lyttil-Bar, & LittleBarr. These are the names given to the estate land granted to John Maxwell in 1562 as part of a marriage. There is another place just outside this land grant that was given the same name, LittleBarr about the same time the Lyttil-Bar estate and related lands dissolved. This new place, shown in the map rendering below, is better referred to as New LittleBarr Farm. It began to show up on maps in the late 1700s — well after the Littlebar Maxwells seemed to vanish. The subject of this blog is both the history of the Maxwell cadet line and the place they called home, Lyttil-Bar

Map rendering of a place called LittleBarr Farm which was 2 miles southeast of Sweetheart Abbey, New Abbey, Dumfries-Shire, Scotland. This particular farm is better referred to as New Little Barr Farm and it is distinct but likely named for the original Lytill-Bar estate or farm within a mile from Sweetheart Abbey that was part of a larger land grant that also included Nether Carse, Ferrytoun, and Broun’s Croft chartered to John Maxwell “in Airds” and Mariota Broun in 1562–64. At about the time that these lands were being sold in the late 1700s, this New LittleBar farm appeared on maps. After 1845 it was referred on maps as Burnfoot. from an undated map by Walter Newall (approx. 1780) preserved by National Library of Scotland and found in Ewart Library, Dumfries, Scotland.

Area of Kirkbean, New Abbey and Troquer Parishes of Kirkcudbright. in 1654. Title: Praefectura Kircubriensis quae Gallovidiae maxime orientalis pars est. The Stuartie of Kircubright, Mapmaker: Pont, Timothy; Blaeu, Joan

Zoom in of map above with the land granted to John Maxwell and Mariota Broun in the center and next to New Abbey and the Sweetheart Abbey, Kirkconnell House. Arbigland is nearby while Caerlaverock Castle is across the River Nith.

Genetic genealogy and, in particular, the development of Y DNA testing has led to the reconstruction of ancestral pedigree lines thought before to be impossibly lost to time. Reconstruction of the Caerlaverock Maxwell lines has been particularly successful thanks to a combination of detailed recordings of the early Maxwell line and intensive efforts at collecting Y DNA from present day male Maxwells and rigorous evaluation by excellent Y DNA genetic genealogists at Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) and Don, Simon and Jennifer Maxwell of The Maxwell Y DNA Project.

Genetic genealogists have reconstructed the Caerlaverock Maxwell lines from Y DNA analysis. The Kirkconnell Maxwell line lies left of center on this chart. For the full high-resolution image, follow this link. For further information on Y DNA testing as it relates to the Maxwell line, follow this link.

The evidence presented here attempts to connect these present day Maxwells all the way back to the original Maxwell living about 1040 who established the Scottish line that built Caerlaverock Castle (thus called Caerlaverock Maxwells). In doing so, it passes backward through mostly Irish Maxwells to a line of Kirkconnell Maxwells — all to form the cadet line of Maxwell that may very well be known as Littlebar. This particular Kirkconnell Maxwell line descends forward to Littlebar by combining with the Brouns of Carsluith, then Murrays of Cockpool, then Brouns again — all around a very tumultuous time in Scottish, English, Irish, and US history.

Stick diagram of 4 major families that form Littlebar Maxwells. Contemporaries born c. 1400 of each of the 4 families is designated in blue near the top. The merging of families begins with the marriage of Aymer de Maxwell to Janet de Kirkconnell in 1430. Another Maxwell/Kirkconnell marriage occurs c. 1480 with cousins Thomas and Agnes Maxwell. It combines with the Broun family with first the marriage of John, Tutor of Kirkconnell (VII) with Janet Broun, then the marriage of John “in Airds” VIII with Mariota Broun c. 1562. Shortly after, John of Kirkconnell marries Marion Murray of Cockpool. Their son, James Maxwell, Esq then marries his 3rd cousin, Nichola Maxwell of Littlebar ~1598, to bring the Maxwell Y DNA back into the Littlebar line. The line is known to exist at least until the death of General Thomas Maxwell of King James Army in 1693. His contemporaries of each family line, each born close to 1640, are designated in blue near the bottom for reference.

Thus, the story pulls in important historical events and figures including those in the image below who are highlighted for having their own Wikipedia page. These figures who include General George Washington, US Naval Commander, John Paul Jones,physicist, James Clerk-Maxwell, poet Robert Burns, as well as less prominent but important historical figures as Abbott Gilbert Broun of Sweetheart Abbey, Major General Thomas Maxwell of King James Army, Brigadier General William Maxwell of the American Continental Army, Dr James Craik, lifelong personal physician of George Washington, James Maxwell of Kirkconnell, aide de Camp of Bonny Prince Charles at the Battle of Culloden, Richard Oswald, negotiator of the Treaty of Paris for the UK that ended the US Revolutionary War, reveal a ‘great story never told’ but worth telling now.

The story pulls in important historical figures including those who are highlighted for having their own Wikipedia page. These figures include General George Washington and John Paul Jones as well as less prominent figures as Brigadier General William Maxwell, Dr James Craik, lifelong personal physician of George Washington, Abbot Gilbert Broun of Sweetheart Abbey, James Maxwell, aide de Camp of Bonny Prince Charles at the Battle of Culloden

The following presentation is broken up into pre-Littlebar era, Littlebar era, and post Littlebar era.

The Pre-Littlebar Era (1040–1562)

Part I: Maxwells in the Pre-LittleBarr Era: sets the stage for understanding who and where the Littlebar Maxwells were. It begins with the arrival of the Maxwell line in Scotland around or after The Norman Invasion (1066) through the establishment of the Kirkconnell Maxwell line to the establishment of the Maxwells of Littlebar Line.

The Littlebar Era (1562 –1693):

Part II: Kirkconnell Maxwells in The Littlebar Era: continues with the Kirkconnell Maxwell line during the Era of Littlebar beginning with the marriage of John Maxwell “in Airds”(VIII), son of Charles Maxwell in Airds to Mariota Broun and ends with the death of the last documented Littlebar Maxwell, General Thomas Maxwell in 1693. Littlebar lands were contiguous with Kirkconnell Maxwell land. The two lines were, no doubt, intimately associated with each other with the larger line, the Kirkconnell Maxwell family, being better documented in history. What was happening with Kirkconnell Maxwells was, with little doubt, happening with Littlebar Maxwells.

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Part III: New Abbey Brouns: Littlebar Maxwells descend thrice from Brouns and their lands were Broun lands before and after the Littlebars. Understanding the Brouns is as important as understanding the Kirkconnell Maxwells. This part explores the Broun family of New Abbey.

Part IV: The Littlebar Maxwells: Reveals the lands of Littlebar (better termed LittleBarr or even Little Barr when speaking of the land rather than the Maxwell title) as well as the stories that support Littlebar’s role in Scotland and Ireland and their place in Kirkconnell Maxwell history and their place in world history.

The Post-Littlebar Era (1693 - 1937)

Part V: Kirkconnell Maxwells After The Littlebar Era: Continues with the Kirkconnell Maxwells and potential descendants of Littlebar Maxwells after the death of General Thomas Maxwell in 1693 — in Scotland, Ireland, and the Americas.

Part VI: How Our Maxwells Fit In: Explores the historical documentation, Y DNA and autosomal DNA connections of our current Maxwells back to Tyrone and attempts to show connections of these Maxwells to the Littlebar Maxwells and Kirkconnell Maxwells.

Parts (chapters) of the blog mapped onto the stick diagram to aid in understanding story flow.

[To Part I]