John Potter (abt. 1645 - 1680)

Born about 1645 in Uphall, Linlithgowshire, Scotland [uncertain]

Husband of Isobel (Callender) Potter — married 6 Jan 1676 in Uphall, Linlithgowshire, Scotland

Died 1 Dec 1680 at about age 35 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Alan Runciman [send private message]

Birth

John's DOB is estimated based on the facts known at his death in 1680 : it's known his parents are still living and he leaves a wife and child. (Source: from JP's own testimonies written awaiting his hanging, as reproduced in 'A Cloud of Witnesses'.) This suggests a young man, possibly with just his first child, although there's a possibility there could have been others who suffered infant deaths. I've therefore assumed an upper age of 35 at death, therefore producing the earliest likely year of birth as 1645. Married with a child, he's unlikely to be younger than say 22, making his birth unlikely to be after 1658 or so.

It's reasonable to assume Uphall as his place of birth. A number of Potters are in and around Uphall for generations before, during and after the period John was living there. We know he was living there, in a farm at Loaning Hill, as a married man. However as there was more than one eligible/credible John Potter record his baptism/birth have not been determined from the Old Parochial Records (OPR) for the area; so Uphall as his place of birth is unvalidated and entered as 'uncertain'.

Biography

John Potter was 'a Farmer, who lived in the parish of Uphall in West Lothian, and suffered at the Cross of Edinburgh, December 1, 1680'. Extracted from 'A Cloud of Witnesses' by Rev John H Thomson, published in Edinburgh, 1871. He is additionally described as 'a farmer and servant of Lord Cardross' in Dane Love's book 'Scottish Covenanter Stories'. (more on Henry Erskine, Lord Cardross)

John was a Covenanter. What is a Covenanter? Scottish Covenanters opposed King Charles' Royal Decree that he was Head of the Church of Scotland. Previously, in 1603, the Union of the Crowns had affirmed that Scotland would remain a Presbyterian nation. Charles 1 (son of James V1 of Scotland and 1st of England, the first King following the Union of the Crowns in 1603,) had spent most of his boyhood years in London and was regarded as weak in his support for Presbyterianism. He was crowned in 1625 at which time he proposed bringing the Scots church into line with that of England. He was an opponent of Presbyterianism and thought it would be simpler if the whole (newish) kingdom adopt Episcopacy. He himself was Anglican (Church of England) even going as far as insisting that his Scottish Coronation be conducted in the Anglican rite. King Charles championed and acted on the basis of his Royal Decree imposing, for example, a new prayer book, The Book of Common Prayer, which was very much akin to the Anglican version. This was without discussion or agreement of the Scottish Church or Government. None of this went down well and it is traditionally said that on its first reading at the High Kirk in Edinburgh Jenny Geddes (more on Jenny) stood up in the congregation and threw her stool at the Minister, shouting "De'il gie you colic, the wame o’ ye, fause thief; daur ye say Mass in my lug?" meaning "Devil cause you colic in your stomach, false thief: dare you say the Mass in my ear?" Protest & untold turmoil - to put it mildly - ensued for the following 50 years.

Scots regarded Anglicanism as being too close to Catholicism and of course had fought long and hard for the acceptance of Presbyterianism in the previous century. Furthermore, the dissenting Scots believed that their Church was above the rule of any man and that Jesus Christ could be its only rightful leader. Those who refused to accept the right of the Royal Decree 'signed a Covenant which stated that only Jesus Christ could command such a position. They were effectively signing their own death warrants. So began one of the bloodiest periods of Scottish history...the Killing Times.' [parts of this and the preceding paragraph owe acknowledgement to 'Scottish Covenanter Stories' by Dane Love published by Neil Wilson Publishing].

Many ministers continued to preach the gospel in the authorised churches and the Covenanters were increasingly forced into unofficial places of worship (houses, barns, fields etc) where sermons were given by like-minded covenanters. More detail about the Scottish Covenanters is on linked sites at Wikipedia and covenanter.org.

Potter, like many Covenanters, was very active in his support for Scottish Presbyterianism. Covenanters would follow the dissenting ministers to their secret places for worship, known as conventicles. Some conventicles drew crowds of immense proportions. Crowds of up to 5,000 were accorded to larger conventicles, such as the one at Talla Linn in Peebleshire, 1680.

Royalist soldiers would seek to capture anyone not following the Royal dictate. Often just not attending the official church on a Sunday was enough to cause severe recrimination. On occasion, Covenanters were sometimes hounded out of their homes which were set ablaze. By this time things were hotting up for John Potter as he was a great supporter (as many were) of Donald Cargill. Cargill was very much on the radar, having recently had the reward for his capture raised to 5,000 merks. What's a Merk?

Following the Battle of Airds Moss soldiers were hounding down those who had participated and after one such conventicle in August 1680 Potter had been captured near Muirkirk in Ayrshire close to the Lanarkshire border. He was taken to Edinburgh along with 2 other captured covenanters, James Skene (brother of Laird of Skene) and Archibald Stewart of Bo'ness. As a personal comment I am astounded that Potter was prepared to travel from Uphall (West Lothian) to Ayrshire to support and listen to a sermon. This demonstrates a man of considerable personal commitment and religious belief in the 'cause', a trait shared amongst the Covenanters.

He languished in Edinburgh from August until his trial at which he (and Archibald Stewart) were found guilty of 'treasonable crymes and expressions'. My second cousin William Runciman has a copy of the original 1680 trial proceedings in full, together with an expert's deciphering of the 1600s handwriting. Judgement was pronounced on 23rd November 1680 and includes the doom-laden sentence :

...[Stewart]...and Potter to be taken to the / mercat cross of Edinburgh upon Wodensday (Sic) the first day of December month betwixt two and four oclock in the afternoon and there to be hanged upon ane high gibbet till they be dead and thereafter to have their heads severed from their bodies and affixed upon the / Westport of Edinburgh and all their lands heritaged goods and gear whatsomever to be forfault and escheat* to our Sovereign Lord's use whichever pronounced for doom."

• Escheat:property which falls to the state for want of an heir, or by forfeiture. (Chambers 20th Century Dictionary)"

Extracts from John Potter's Testimony

From 2nd para of his testimony, (p107 of A Cloud of Witnesses):

"In the first place, I must tell you for what I am come here this day, to lay down my life; it is for owning and adhering to my sworn principles"

and his closing para (p116 of same book):

"Farewell wife and child, parents and relations, and all friends and acquaintances. Welcome heaven, angels and saints! Welcome God and Father! Welcome Jesus Christ! Welcome Holy Spirit of Grace; into Thy hands I commend my soul and spirit."

John was hanged at the Mercat Cross.

In due course various extracts from Potters last testimony may be added here.

Family

In his last testimonies he refers only to a wife and 'child'. Frustratingly, no names nor the gender of his child. The family line has not been proven through written records, but through anecdotal evidence and a sketched tree. This profile is created both to acknowledge the sacrifice made by JP and in the hope that we may be able to piece together the family story. Our related family profiles can be seen at Margaret Potter and her daughter Christian Goodlet.

"Uphall, its History and Antiquities" (page 65) contains the following extract -

"The other tombstones deserving of notice are the two so-called 'table stones' immediately to the east of Shairp Vault. One of these stones is that of James Reid, tenant of Easter Mains, who died in 1733, and son of the persecuted Covenanter Alexander Reid, who was buried at Kirkliston.

The other is that of James Potter, who died in 1771. Upon this stone is to be seen sculptured an open Bible, lying on a cushion, with sword and sceptre crossed underneath - the inscription upon the Bible being :

'He who dies in The Lord, the happiness of heaven is his reward'.

James Potter grave

This handsome stone bears to have been erected in 1781, by Thomas Potter, merchant in Copenhagen, 'as testimony of his affection and regard to his parents' - believed to be the Potters of Loaning Hill."

The author goes on to say "When alterations were made to the Churchyard several years ago, many of the older stones were removed." In 2018 I told the story to Janette Fawlds at West Lothian FHS and thanks to her endevour the stone was traced, covered in moss. She cleaned it up and took the photograph shown here.

A similar confirmation that there are indeed descendants of JP and where they are buried is made in Strathbrock (page 68)...."John Potter of Loaning Hill whose descendants, it is believed, are buried in the Churchyard under the table tombstone close to the Shairp Vault."

Copies of the extracts bearing the above quotations are attached. To view, click on 'View All' button on the RHS of the profile below the images which ARE visible.

Loaninghill

John was a tenant farmer of Lord Cardross at Loaninghill. The judgement which sentenced him to hanging also forfeited his assets and belongings. While legally the farm wasn't his to lose the rights to tenancy would have been lost. It's not known where 'wife & child' lived thereafter. An interesting description of Loaninghill is contained in Strathbrock or the History and Antiquities of the Parish of Uphall by Rev James Primrose (pp67/68)  :

Family Tree

Anecdotal family history of my Thomson ancestors says we are descendants of John Potter. What is known currently of the ancestry of John Potter has been handed down through the work of Mary Thomson Runciman (1890-1961). Unfortunately it is not stated as a complete line. Mary knew that John Potter had a daughter who married a Goodlet. They in turn had a son who married (person unknown) about 1760. (I believe his wife to be Margaret Potter b about 1730.) Their daughter Christian Goodlet, born in 1763 (I have discovered her DoB to be 15 January 1764) married John Thomson. Because of the unprovenanced nature of the tree re names and dates prior to John Thomson and Christian Goodlet I have created WikiTree Profiles only for people whose facts and relationships can be proven.

However to help solve the mysteries and help other researchers Mary's hand-written tree is attached to this Profile of John Potter. Mary would have learned this information sometime before 1931, the year her mother, also Mary (ms Thomson), died. Mary's father was a son of Christian Goodlet.

Please help, and Happy Hunting!

Alan Runciman Runciman-362 06:18, 6 July 2014 (EDT)

Sources

• A Cloud of Witnesses. Rev John H Thomson's reprint was published in 1871. The first publication is dated M.DCC.X1V. (1714)

The full title of the book is A Cloud of Witnesses, for the ROYAL PREROGATIVES of JESUS CHRIST or The Laft SPEECHES and TESTIMONIES of thofe who have fuffered for the TRUTH, in SCOTLAND, fince the Year 1680.