Clan Boswell
Encyclopedia
Scottish clan chief
The Scottish Gaelic word clann means children. In early times, and possibly even today, clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the Scottish clan. From its perceived founder a clan takes its name. The clan chief is the representative of this founder, and...
. The family is represented by a Laird Scottish term for Lord.
Origins of the Family
The Family Boswell are accepted as of NormanNormans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
or French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
origin, Black offers two derivations of the name – either from a vill
Vill
Vill is a term used in English history to describe a land unit which might otherwise be described as a parish, manor or tithing.The term is used in the period immediately after the Norman conquest and into the late medieval. Land units in Domesday are frequently referred to as vills, although the...
, or manor, near Yvetot in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, or from Beuzevill near Bolbec
Bolbec
Bolbec is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France. Its inhabitants are called Bolbécais or Bolbécaises.-Geography:...
. The ‘sieur’, or Lord de Bosville, is said to have been one of the Norman commanders at the Battle of Hastings
Battle of Hastings
The Battle of Hastings occurred on 14 October 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army under King Harold II...
in 1066. Robert de Boseuille witnessed several charters in the reign of William the Lion and it must be presumed that the Boswells were among the knights who accompanied King David I of Scotland
David I of Scotland
David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...
back to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
after his stay at the English court.
Wars of Scottish Independence
During the Wars of Scottish IndependenceWars of Scottish Independence
The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the independent Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries....
Chief Walter de Bosville was taken a prisoner at the Battle of Dunbar (1296)
Battle of Dunbar (1296)
The Battle of Dunbar was the only significant field action in the campaign of 1296. King Edward I of England had invaded Scotland in 1296 to punish King John Balliol for his refusal to support English military action in France.-Background:...
and William de Bosville rendered homage in the same year to King Edward I of England
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
. His son, Richard, later received land from King Robert the Bruce
Robert I of Scotland
Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...
of Scotland near Ardrossan. A younger son of the Borders family is said to have been the first to settle in Fife, marrying Mariota, daughter and co-heiress of Sir William of Lochore. The family acquired the barony of Balmuto, which they held until the early eighteenth century.
16th Century & Anglo-Scottish Wars
During the Anglo-Scottish WarsAnglo-Scottish Wars
The Anglo-Scottish Wars were a series of wars fought between England and Scotland during the sixteenth century.After the Wars of Scottish Independence, England and Scotland had fought several times during the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. In most cases, one country had attempted to...
of the 16th century Chief Sir Alexander Boswell of Balmuto led the Family Boswell at the Battle of Flodden Field
Battle of Flodden Field
The Battle of Flodden or Flodden Field or occasionally Battle of Branxton was fought in the county of Northumberland in northern England on 9 September 1513, between an invading Scots army under King James IV and an English army commanded by the Earl of Surrey...
in 1513 where he was slain.
17th Century & Civil War
Many Boswells fell fighting for the royalist cause at the Battle of WorcesterBattle of Worcester
The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 at Worcester, England and was the final battle of the English Civil War. Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentarians defeated the Royalist, predominantly Scottish, forces of King Charles II...
during the civil war in 1651. The Boswell family married into the family of Auchinleck
Auchinleck
Auchinleck ; is a village five miles south-east of Mauchline, and a couple of miles north-west of Cumnock in East Ayrshire, Scotland.Near the village is Auchinleck House, past home of the lawyer, diarist and biographer James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck.Auchinleck has much been associated...
, through one of the daughters of Sir John Auchinleck of that Ilk, and adopted the style 'of Auchinleck'. The Auchinleck family had had a major feud with the Clan Colville
Clan Colville
Clan Colville is a Lowland Scottish clan.-Origins of the Clan:The name Colville is believed to be of ancient Norman origin. It is believed to be derived from the town of Colleville -Sur-Mur in Normandy, France...
in the 15th century.
The Boswells acquired the lands of Auchinleck
Auchinleck
Auchinleck ; is a village five miles south-east of Mauchline, and a couple of miles north-west of Cumnock in East Ayrshire, Scotland.Near the village is Auchinleck House, past home of the lawyer, diarist and biographer James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck.Auchinleck has much been associated...
and were to become lawyers of great eminence. Robert Boswell became a High Court judge, assuming the title of ‘Lord Balmuto’.
18th Century
Alexander Boswell (judge)Alexander Boswell (judge)
Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck, 8th Laird of Auchinleck was a judge of the supreme courts of Scotland. He was the father of the author and biographer James Boswell, and grandfather of songwriter Sir Alexander Boswell....
, the 8th Laird of Auchinleck, was elevated to the Bench in 1756 and assumed the title ‘Lord Auchinleck’. His son, James Boswell
James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland; he is best known for the biography he wrote of one of his contemporaries, the English literary figure Samuel Johnson....
, 9th Laird of Auchinleck, was the famous biographer of Dr Samuel Johnson. Sir Alexander Boswell, 1st Baronet
Sir Alexander Boswell, 1st Baronet
Sir Alexander Boswell, 1st Baronet was a Scottish poet, antiquary and song writer. The son of Samuel Johnson's friend and biographer James Boswell of Auchinleck, he used the funds from his inheritance to pay for a seat in Parliament and then successfully sought a Baronetcy for his political...
, 10th Laird of Auchinleck, the biographer’s son, was created a baronet in 1821. Another distinguished Boswell was Robert Boswell, Writer to the Signet, who held the post of Interim Lord Lyon, King of Arms, from 1795 to 1796.
Clan Profile
- Arms: Argent, on a fess Sable three cinquefoils of the First
- Crest: A falcon Proper, hooded Gules, jessed and belled Or
- Motto: Vraye foi (True faith)