McMurtrie | McMurtry History
Scotland
Gilbert Makmurtye was a witness in
Edinburgh in 1508. In
1538, a Robert Makmurtre is listed as occupier of the farm of
Balleballoch in Barr Parish, Ayrshire, Scotland. In 1592 we find
the first use of the modern spelling of the name in the
will of Thomas McMurtrie of Culzean (Kirkoswald Parish, Ayrshire).
By
the time regular record keeping began in the 1600s, most
McMurtries seem to have been living not far from the coast of
Southwest Ayrshire in the parishes of Kirkmichael, Kirkoswald, Maybole,
Straiton, Barr, Dailly, and Girvan.
Ireland
The earliest record of McMurtrys in
Ireland is the 1630 Muster Roll for North Antrim. We find
two John McMurterys, a Thomas McMourtry and a Gillaspy McMyrirty
all in Dunluce listed as
the Earl of Antrim’s British Tenants. In 1620 James I
created Randall MacDonnell the 1st Earl of Antrim and this
Scottish Catholic peer proceeded to populate his Antrim lands in
Dunluce with Scottish Protestant lowlanders.
Interestingly, Alexander McMoretery is listed in Cary as one of
the Earl of Antrim's British Tenants on his Native lands.
The Earl set aside his lands in Cary for Scottish Highlanders.
In 1637 John McMurtry
leased some land in Co. Antrim for 20 years. A generation
later, in 1667, an Archibald McMurthy is mentioned in a Co.
Antrim deed. In 1669, the Hearth Money Roll Index lists a John
McMurtrey in the Scotch Quarter of Carrickfergus and a Gilbert
McMurtry in Ballypollard.
Ulster
According to MacLysaght in Surnames of Ireland, the
Gaelic origin of McMurtry is Mac Muircheartaigh.
Muir means “sea” and cheartaigh means
“navigator”. The name roughly translates to
“sea navigator”. Father Woulfe points to
McMurtry as indigenous Irish, but it has been largely
overshadowed by the families who brought the name to
Ulster
from Scotland.
Black notes that in Argyll it’s a form of MacKirdie.
Sources such as Ulster Ancestry indicate “MacCurdy is
common on the islands of Arran and Bute,
where it is a variant of MacMurtrie, a sept of Clan Stuart of
Bute.”
United States of America
The earliest record of a McMurtry in America is the 1718 will of
John McMurtry, a minister at "Cainhoy", South Carolina
American Revolution
The McMurtrie/trys were involved
in the American Revolution in a number of ways- service in the
military, provisioners, protestors, critics, even action that
led to accusations of treason.
U.S. Civil War
In summary, there
are 165 service records for McMs. in the Civil War. About 70 of
these are for the confederate armies and 105 are for the Union
forces- including 10 entries for the Colored Regiments.
African-Americans
The first appearance of an African
American McMurtry was in 1814. In that year, Samuel McMutree (assumed
to be a misspelling of McMurtrie) served in the War of
1812McMurtries / McMurtrys of Canada
Canada
The McMs. have a long history in Canada and can now be found in
almost every Canadian province. There are families in Ontario,
Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island,
Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.
For much more history, please visit the McMurtrie | McMurtry
Clan Family Records