Clan Forbes Society

If you’ve hit a brick wall in tracing your ancestors, you may need professional genealogical services. That’s where the Highland Archive and Registration Centre can help! Based in Inverness, Scotland, the Centre includes a Family History Room with a variety of resources useful to the family historian who is researching Highland roots. The staff in the family history room are experts in the field of Highland and Scottish genealogy. The staff offers Family History Classes over

For those doing research or reading articles about Forbes, this is a great quick reference: “The Forbes Lairds of the Castles and Mansion Houses” Castle FORBES (Druminnor, Putachie) Forbes of Forbes: Duncan de Forbes, 1st Laird of the land of Forbes John de Forbes, 2nd Laird of the land of Forbes (b- c. 1304) John de Forbes, 3rd Laird of the land of Forbes (b- 1332) John de Forbes, 4th Laird of the land of Forbes (b- 1387) John “of the Black Lip” de Forbes, 5th Laird of the l

Before the 2024 Clan Forbes Society Tour this past August, Clan Forbes Society President Bart Forbes and member Antonio Uribe Jr. visited the Aberdeen and North-East Scotland Family History Society Resource Centre at 158-164 King Street in the center of Aberdeen. The Centre assists and promotes the study of genealogy and family history based on the North-East corner of Scotland.

Alexander Forbes, 4th Lord Pitsligo By B. R. Forbes, Clan Historian & Storyteller Alexander Forbes, 4th Lord Pitsligo, actively supported the efforts of the deposed James VII and II and his son Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British monarchy. Both these “Jacobite” (named after the Latin for of James) rebellions of 1715 and 1745 failed. As a result, Pitsligo’s title of Lord of Parliament was attainted and his estate of Pitsligo (along with the castle) were seized by the B

I hope that this brief autobiographical history of my ancestors will add to the experience for those of you who visit Craigievar. I would also like to acknowledge the contributions from my brother Ian, who provided all the chronological detail, to my great uncle Ewan, who added some of the more personal aspects and to the historian T.C. Smout. Jamie Sempill, 21st Lord Sempill. Craigievar castle is one of the most photographed castles in Scotland. Its fairy tale architectural

Philip Stead received clearance from the ethics committee of the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow to pursue his PhD study titled, “What can genetic genealogy reveal about Scottish noble families in the Anglo-Norman era (1093-1286)?” Mr. Stead serves as the Administrator of the Clan Forbes DNA Project and FamilyTreeDNA and based his Masters of Science thesis on the ancient origins of the chief of Clan Forbes. A summary was published in the January/February 2023 issue of th

The family of Forbes of Pitsligo is one of the three major “cadet” branches of the House of Forbes that descended from Sir John de Forbes, of the Black Lip (died 1404), the fifth known laird of Forbes. Under the principle of primogeniture, the eldest son inherited all the father’s lands and titles. The younger sons often acquired their own lands through family grants, charters earned from service to powerful landowners or the monarch, through marriage, or through purchase. Si

By B. R. Forbes, Clan Historian & Storyteller Craigievar Castle in Aberdeenshire is one of the most popular tourist attractions managed by the National Trust for Scotland. Not only is this Forbes castle a beautiful example of the original Scottish Baronial style of architecture but it contains many priceless portraits of the Forbes of Craigievar. The partially-completed castle was purchased in 1610 by William Forbes, son of William Forbes, 4th Lord of Corse and brother of Pat

The January / February edition of HistoryScotland magazine has just hit the virtual stands with a two-page spread featuring the study of DNA genealogist Philip Stead, of the Genealogical Studies programme within the Centre for Lifelong Learning at the University of Strathclyde. The article summarized his findings on the degree of relationship between Clan Forbes members and the Forbes Chieftain lineage. The study utilised the BigY700 data (a male specific test) of project mem

By B. R. Forbes, Clan Historian & Storyteller John “Black Jock” Forbes of Inverernan played an integral part in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 and founded a cadet branch of the House of Forbes that lasted for six generations. John was born in 1664 to William Forbes, 2nd of Skellater, and his second wife Agnes, daughter of William Mackintosh of Kyllachy. He was nicknamed “Black Jock” due to his dark complexion. In 1684, John married Elspet Stewart, by which he had nine sons. O

Introduction Genealogy and biology have combined to provide more details about the origin of Clan Forbes and the connections between many of our current members and Clan Chief Malcolm, Lord Forbes. Many people use genetic analysis to break through barriers in their genealogical search for their ancestors. Every cell of your body normally contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, for a total of 46. Parents each pass on to their children half of a pair of chromosomes that carry deoxyri

The Forbes clan is no stranger to the pains of war. From the far-flung battlefields of the Jacobite cause to clan rivalries with the Gordons, the strong convictions of the Forbeses have often led them to opposing sides of a conflict. This was no different in the United States Civil War. “Horse Drawn Artillery” by Edwin A. Forbes According to the United States National Archives there were 927 Forbeses fought on the side of the Union Army and 375 Forbeses fought for the Confede

By B. R. Forbes, Clan Historian & Storyteller The Clan Forbes’ Family History Project is now in full swing, headed up by Philip Stead, MSc student of Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic Studies at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland. As announced earlier, Mr. Stead plans to conduct analysis of the Y chromosome single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with the Clan Chief, Malcolm, Lord Forbes, and calculating time to “The Most Recent Common Ancestor”

The Clan Forbes Society is pleased to announce that FamilyTreeDNA Forbes Group Administrator is planning to conduct a formal project to research the Y-DNA origins of the clan chief, analyze and compare the DNA test results of the Forbes surname group at FamilyTreeDNA, explore the likely ancient origins of the different Y-DNA genetic groups within the project, and investigate autosomal DNA (atDNA) connections between project members determine ancestral links. Philip Stead bec

Due to their strong Scottish accents and lack of the ability to write their own names, many British colony immigrants found their names changed by English clerks. Such was the case of members of the House of Forbes. Seventeenth century documents regularly refer to such spelling variations as Fobes, Vobes, fforbes, Fobbs, Farabas, Forbess, Forbus, Forbis, Fourbish, Forbush, Furbish, and Furbush. One of the most notable Forbes was William Furbish who arrived on the colonial sho

By B. R. Forbes, Clan Historian & Storyteller Thanks to the generosity of a Clan Forbes Society member, FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA) will conduct the Big Y-700 DNA analysis for Malcolm, Lord Forbes, chief of Clan Forbes. The results will probably be available in August 2021 and will be included in the Forbes Surname Group project hosted by FTDNA. Alexander Forbes of Druminnor Castle has observed that, unlike many other clans, the Forbes chiefly line has continued primarily through d

DNA testing has become a popular strategy for researching genealogy. During the last virtual Clan Forbes Gathering in March 2021, Clan Forbes FamilyTreeDNA administrator Philip Stead reviewed the origins and variations Y-DNA Haplogroup M-269 of the Forbes chiefly line. Philip is a postgraduate student at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, in the MSc Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic Studies Programme. Background: DNA Testing Twenty-three pairs of threa

One of your challenges in researching your genealogy is to trace your lineage to one of the 100 different branches of the House of Forbes. During the last virtual Clan Forbes Gathering in March 2021, Alexander Forbes of Druminnor (pronounced "drum-MEE-nor") Castle (the original Castle Forbes) reviewed the major branches and answered some genealogy and historical questions posed by the Society members. The Forbeses were most likely descended from the Picts of northern Scotland

Please welcome an additional Administrator of the FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA) Y-DNA Forbes Surname Group, Philip Stead! Philip Stead is currently a postgraduate student at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, in the MSc Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic Studies Programme. He intends to continue onto a PhD research doctorate where he will focus his research on ancient DNA analysis. Philip has a keen interest in researching Scottish nobility and the genetic conn

Silversmiths of New York City—The Forbes Family 1785-1864 By Jean Stacy Gore, Great-Great Granddaughter of William Forbes, Silversmith Silversmithing is an art that has been practiced for hundreds of years, in fact has been documented as far back as 301 AD. A silversmith is one who makes objects from silver by heating and hammering them into the desired object. A silversmith also repairs objects made from silver. During the colonial times, silver for metalworking was not re