1
William F. Leonard
You
Eatontown, New Jersey
Principal of Saxon Enterprises, Solutions Sales Consultant at CTI Global, IT Manager at MuniHub, drummer with Atlantic Watch Pipe & Drum.
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
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
- Peeblesshire → Dundee
James Kirkpatrick migrates east for industrial work. - Forfarshire → Dundee
Mary Methven migrates west into the jute-mill city. They meet, marry, and raise Agnes there. - Kirkcudbright → Glasgow
James Brownridge is born in Galloway and moves to Glasgow, where he eventually dies in 1896. - Dundee → Glasgow
Agnes Kirkpatrick marries James Brownridge; the Kirkpatrick line converges with the Brownridge line in Glasgow. - Glasgow → America, 1915
Thomas Brownridge emigrates, carrying the Scottish line to the United States.
The Kirkpatrick & Colquhoun Connection
The Kirkpatrick family did not merely ally with Clan Colquhoun; the Kirkpatricks founded it.
1214 – 1249: The Grant
During the reign of Alexander II, Humphrey de Kilpatrick received from Malduin, Earl of Lennox, the estates of Colquhoun, Auchentorily, and Dumbuck on the shores of Loch Lomond. Some genealogists identify Humphrey as the younger brother of the Kirkpatrick Lord of Closeburn. He took the name "of Colquhoun" from the lands he was granted, following the standard Scottish practice of deriving a family name from territory.
14th Century: Marriage into Luss
Sir Robert Kirkpatrick of Colquhoun married the daughter of the Laird of Luss, inheriting those lands as well. From that point forward, the chief was styled "Chief of Colquhoun and Luss," a title that persists today.
The Lineage Path
Kirkpatrick
→
Granted Colquhoun Lands
→
"of Colquhoun"
→
Married into Luss
→
"Colquhoun of Luss"
Centuries as a Sept
For centuries, Kirkpatrick was listed as a sept (subordinate family) of Clan Colquhoun, and many Kirkpatricks wore Colquhoun tartan because no Kirkpatrick tartan had been registered. The surname is also recognized as a sept of Clan Douglas, reflecting the close ties between Roger Kirkpatrick and Sir James Douglas as early comrades of Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence.
This created an unusual situation: the Kirkpatricks were too historically significant to be a simple sept of another clan, yet for generations they lacked formal recognition as an independent clan. The Kirkpatrick family seat had always been in Dumfriesshire (Closeburn Castle), far from the Colquhoun lands at Loch Lomond, and the Closeburn Kirkpatricks were the senior line, not the cadet branch that became Colquhoun.
2024: Independence Restored
The Court of the Lord Lyon officially recognized Clan Kirkpatrick with Iain Kirkpatrick of Closeburn as chief. Kirkpatricks now have formal clan status in their own right, their own registered tartan, and no longer need to wear Colquhoun tartan unless they choose to honor the historical kinship.
What This Means for the Leonard / Kirkpatrick Line
Your Kirkpatrick ancestors from Peeblesshire descend from the broader Kirkpatrick family rooted in Dumfriesshire — the trunk of the tree. The Colquhoun clan is the branch that grew from a younger Kirkpatrick son who was granted separate lands 800 years ago. You have a legitimate connection to both clans, but the Kirkpatrick identity is the primary one.
| Motto | "I'll mak siccar" (I'll make sure) |
| Origin | Church of St. Patrick, parish of Closeburn, Dumfriesshire |
| Seat | Closeburn Castle (held by Kirkpatricks from at least 1232) |
| Chief | Iain Kirkpatrick of Closeburn (recognized 2024) |
| Notable | Roger Kirkpatrick, comrade of Robert the Bruce; Empress Eugenie of France (Kirkpatrick of Conheath branch) |
| Sept of | Colquhoun (historical), Douglas (historical) |
| Society | Clan Kirkpatrick Society |