Scottish Family Lineage

From William F. Leonard back to Thomas Kirkpatrick (b. 1782), Peeblesshire

Borders • Angus • Galloway • Glasgow • America

The Line

Nine generations connect William F. Leonard to Thomas Kirkpatrick, born 1782 in Peeblesshire. The line threads through the Scottish Borders, meets the Methven and Adamson families of Angus in industrial Dundee, moves west to Galloway and Glasgow through the Brownridge marriage, and crosses the Atlantic in 1915.

Kirkpatrick Methven / Adamson Brownridge Leonard
1

William F. Leonard

You

Tinton Falls, New Jersey

Principal of Saxon Enterprises, Solutions Sales Consultant at CTI Global, IT Manager at MuniHub, drummer with Atlantic Watch Pipe & Drum.

2

Barbara Brownridge

Mother

1936 – 2019

3

James Brownridge

Grandfather

1910 – 1991

⚭ Mary Isabel Haddock (1912 – 2006)

4

Thomas Brownridge

Great-Grandfather

1886 – 1957

⚭ Grace Cross (1886 – 1967)

Emigrated from Glasgow to America in 1915.

5

James Brownridge & Agnes Kirkpatrick

2nd Great-Grandparents

James: 1843, Kirkcudbright – 1896, Glasgow

Agnes: b. 1852, Dundee, Angus

James was Borders-born; the family moved west to industrial Glasgow. Agnes was born during the Dundee jute boom, where her Peeblesshire father and Forfarshire mother had both migrated for work. Their marriage is the convergence point of the Brownridge and Kirkpatrick lines.

6

James Kirkpatrick & Mary Methven

3rd Great-Grandparents

James: b. 1817, Peeblesshire

Mary: b. 1822, Forfarshire / Angus

Met and married in industrial-era Dundee. Mary's line carries the Methven and Adamson surnames from Angus.

Mary Methven's line:
— William Methven (father)
— Mary Adamson (William's mother)
— John Adamson (Mary Adamson's father)

7

Thomas Kirkpatrick

4th Great-Grandfather — Earliest Documented Ancestor

b. 1782, Peeblesshire (presumed)

Of prime age during the Napoleonic Wars (1803 – 1815). Part of the Peeblesshire branch of Clan Kirkpatrick, a documented offshoot of the Dumfriesshire heartland.

Clan Kirkpatrick — motto: "I'll mak siccar" (I'll make sure).
Chief recognized again in 2024: Iain Kirkpatrick of Closeburn.

The Thomas / James Naming Pattern

The Kirkpatrick line follows the traditional Scottish naming convention, alternating Thomas and James across generations:

Thomas (1782) → James (1817) → (Agnes, 1852) → Thomas Brownridge (1886) → James Brownridge (1910)

First son named after paternal grandfather • Second son after maternal grandfather • Third son after the father himself. The pattern carried forward through the Brownridge marriage, confirming Agnes's father James and suggesting James Brownridge's (1843) father was likely a Thomas.

Migration Story

  1. Peeblesshire → Dundee
    James Kirkpatrick migrates east for industrial work.
  2. Forfarshire → Dundee
    Mary Methven migrates west into the jute-mill city. They meet, marry, and raise Agnes there.
  3. Kirkcudbright → Glasgow
    James Brownridge is born in Galloway and moves to Glasgow, where he eventually dies in 1896.
  4. Dundee → Glasgow
    Agnes Kirkpatrick marries James Brownridge; the Kirkpatrick line converges with the Brownridge line in Glasgow.
  5. Glasgow → America, 1915
    Thomas Brownridge emigrates, carrying the Scottish line to the United States.