Family Edgar

THE FAMILY OF JOHN EDGAR (born (c)1700)

The actual derivation of the name Edgar[1]

ead=happy, blessed; gar=a spear, warrior.

The origin is Saxon, and the name was often bestowed "with the hope that the bearer would grow up to be a distinguished warrior."

Records of the Edgar Family of Moffat, Dumfriesshire, Scotland

John Edgar, of Troloss, in the parish of Crawford, Lanarkshire, of whose parentage nothing is at present known, was a shepherd and died 4 July 1759, when 42 years of age. His son:

His son James Edgar, born 1751 and died 15 March 1810 at Moffat married Jean Johnson, born 1748 and died 25 January 1814. He had, with other issue, two sons, John (born 1778) and David (born 1786).

[1] The Names of Ours by Alfred Wilfred Dellquest

James and Jean Edgar

The first son to James and Jean Edgar was John Edgar, born 20 October, (c)1778, and was, like his father and grandfather before him, a shepherd and small farmer. At the time of the death of his son, Archibald in 1841, he was following those pursuits at Greskine, then an out-bue of Harthope. He married on 18 June 1810, Isabella Aitcheson, daughter of James Aitcheson (farmer) and Isabella Scott. He died at Harthope Place, Moffat on 18 March 1868 and was buried there. He was described, in his death entry as a shepherd, aged 88, married to Isabella Aitcheson, and the son of James Edgar, Farmer and Jane Johnstone, both deceased. The information for this death entry was given (to the Registrar) by his son, Robert Edgar. Mrs Edgar, who was born 5 December 1787, died at Moffat 1 September 1882 at 8.30am, at Harthope Place, Moffat at 94 years of age. Her death certificate was signed by her son, Robert Edgar of 310 Cuthbert Road, Glasgow.

The descendants of John and Isabella Edgar, of Moffat, played a notable part as pioneers in Australia and New Zealand and the society of Edgar families has compiled this record of their lives as a memorial to their courage and great industry in strange lands and so that those of their blood who follow on may never forget what part the Edgar's of Moffat played in the settlement and development of two great Dominions.

As mentioned elsewhere in this book, David was the first of the family to emigrate to Australia and he had been resident in Australia for approximately 15 years before his brothers Walter and Halbert arrived with their families in 1853/4.

Walter and his wife, Grace, arrived at Port Phillip with their 3 eldest children in September 1853 on board the sailing ship "Ivanhoe". They proceeded to Portland and then directly to David Edgar's property, Pine Hills. They remained at Pine Hills until 1870 when they removed to Tallangour to manage another of David's properties, whilst at the same time their sons John and Alex and daughter Jean (married to Mr McKenzie Grant) struck out for North West Australia and eventually acquired property in the deGray district. In 1874 the new Selection Acts enabled Walter Edgar to select "Woodacres", near Chetwynd, where the family remained for many years.

James Edgar, the eldest of John and Isabella's children, emigrated to Australia in 1857. He was accompanied by his second wife Mary and their seven children. James also worked at Pine Hills station where he remained until his death in 1872. James' eldest son, John, also worked on the Harrow Estate until 1861 when he set sail for New Zealand in company with his aunt and uncle, Jessie and George Johnston who had arrived in Australia in the 1850's. John worked at Dalvey Station near Otago and was engaged carting stores by bullock wagon. He returned to Australia but soon after found himself back in New Zealand where he married his employer's daughter and settled on land at Tapanui. The second son of James and Isabella, Adam, also went to New Zealand in 1875 where he managed farming properties. One of Adam's sons, James Huston Edgar, became a missionary of the China Inland Mission in the late 1890's.

James Edgar, the first son of James and Mary, worked the Bogolara property near Casterton as did Jerome Minogue, the husband of Jean.

The home of so many of the Edgar family, Pine Hills, remained in the Edgar family for many years. David Edgar's son James was at one time manager and was followed by Walter Birmingham, another son, who managed the property until 1936. One of Walter's sons, Oliver, later acquired that part of Pine Hills which was known as Werrinyerie.

Very little is known of the brothers and sisters of Halbert James Edgar who stayed in Scotland. John acquired the farm East Park at Caerlaverock in Dumfriesshire and on his death it was farmed by his son David and subsequently his grandsons John Edgar and Andrew Semple.

Robert Edgar settled at Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, whilst young Archibald Edgar's memory is perpetuated by a monumental inscription on a family gravestone in Moffat Kirkyard, Dumfriesshire.

A work-in-progress

The Edgar family is very much a works-in-progress project and I will be working on it from time to time. The photos hereunder are in no particular order, other than they are here to be transferred to their relevant page, in due course.

Photo sources: mainly from Marilyn Fordred, others from Margaret Mulcahy and Isabel Edwards.

The Edgar family in Australia is huge - many of today's descendants share a common ancestor in John Edgar of Troloss (Moffat) and his wife Isabella Aitcheson, along with John's siblings - all parented by James Edgar and Jean Johnston from Moffat, Dumfriesshire.

In the meantime, if you are looking for Edgar information, there is an excellent Edgar websites for those wishing to explore the Edgar family in more detail. The site has information about the Hope/Edgar connection & I refer you to it.

John Edgar's site [from Australia]: http://edgars.in.australia.googlepages.com

LINK to Home Page

Richmond Hope [dob:1844]

HOPE stemmata