William Oliphant Knt. (abt. 1270 - 1330)

Descendants

Died 5 Feb 1330 at about age 60 in Aberdalgie, Perthshire, Scotland

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William Oliphant Knt. signed the Declaration of Arbroath. Join: Scotland Project Discuss: Scotland

Biography

Sir William Oliphant, despite swearing his allegiance to King Edward 1st of England in 1298, foreswore that and became a supporter of both Wallace and Bruce during the struggle for independence. In 1300 he defended Stirling Castle for three months before capitulating. Three years later after the English army surrendered the castle he was again appointed Governor. The castle was stormed again by the English army and surrendered 20th July 1304. King Edward sent important members of the garrison to different prisons in England. Sir William Oliphant was sent to the Tower of London where he was detained until set free by King Edward II on 24th May 1308. Sir William was one of the subscribers to the famous Letter to the Pope in 1320, asserting the independence of Scotland.^[1]

He was already a knight in 1316 (Douglas) and certainly before 1324 when he is given as such when witnessing a charter.^[2]

Balfour-Paul and the author of the DNB entry write: Sir William Oliphant swore allegiance to King Robert, and received a number of land grants from him.^[3] He was one of those who attached his seal (containing three crescents) to the Declaration of Arbroath in April, 1320.^[3][4] By the time of his death, Sir William's estate consisted of the lands of Dupplin; Hedderwick; Cranshaws; Alberdalgie; Glensaugh in the Meares; Pitkerie in Fife; Gasknes in Strathearn; Newtyle, Kinpurnie, Auchtertyre and Balcraig in Forfarshire; Muirhouse in Midlothian; and Hazelhead in Ayrshire. ^[4]

About 1320, or soon after, William Oliphant had a charter from the Crown of the lands of Gask in Perths-shire which had been forfeited by John Cumin.^[5] On the 8th March 1326/7 there was an agreement (Concordia) made in Parliament between Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, and William Oliphant, over the forfeited lands of William de Monte, senior. Oliphant subsequently had a feu charter of part of the lands of Inverallan of which de Monte had been the superior. He had been forfeited for supporting the English side.^[6] On the 20th March 1326/7 William Oliphant had a charter of the lands of Uchtertyre, which had been resigned into the King's hands by John Carrick.^[7]

At some point during the reign of King Robert 1st he obtained a charter of the lands of Muirhouse in Edinburghshire.^[8]

They had at least one son, Walter Oliphant, who married Elizabeth Bruce, the illegitimate daughter of Robert I.^[9]

Sir William Oliphant died 5 February 1329/30 and was buried inside the church at Aberdalgie, where several generations later his family erected a large tomb in his memory.^[4]

It appears the only authority for a wife, Isabel Douglas, is Sir Robert Douglas in his (heavily edited) Peerage of Scotland. There is no spouse mentioned in The Great Seal or in Macfarlane's Genealogy of the Oliphants, nor does Maxwell record her.^[10] Someone had entered that she was a daughter of the Earl of Galloway. This is rubbish. There was no Earl of Galloway when she was born, and certainly no Douglas held the Lordship of Galloway until 1369.

Notes

William Oliphant's early career is said to be confusing according to the author of the article in the Dictionary of National Biography, who states (upon what authority is unclear): he is said to have had an uncle [not evident in the known genealogies of this family], also named William Oliphant, with whom he is often confused. Both men were knighted, and both were captured in 1296 at the Battle of Dunbar. Sir William (the uncle) was sent as a prisoner to Devizes, and William Oliphant (the subject of this profile), who had not yet been knighted, was sent as a prisoner to Rochester.^[3] They were each released a year later on the condition that they support Edward I's campaign against France. Both eventually returned to Scotland where they rejoined their countrymen in the fight against Edward: Sir William (the uncle) was appointed constable of Stirling Castle, and Sir William (his nephew, who was now a knight) served as a member of the garrison there.^[3] The castle withstood constant attacks from the English army for ninety days before finally surrendering, and both Sir Williams were again sent as prisoners to England.^[3] At this point, the records of the two men become inextricably confused and it is almost impossible to know which battle stories to attribute to which William. Balfour-Paul adds to this story by saying that it seems that Sir William's uncle was sent back north by Edward to command the English troops at Perth. On 8 January 1312/13, Perth fell to Robert the Bruce and Sir William Oliphant (the uncle) was sent in chains to the Western Isles, where he seems to have died as there is no further record of him.^[11]

Douglas (known for his errors - and upon which Balfour Paul based his work) and Macfarlane (a competent authority) both give two Williams, father and son, giving the father as Governor of Stirling Castle who was sent to London; and then again in 1303-4. They then commence immediately with the son who witnessed two charters granted by King Robert in 1315 and 1316. What everyone is agreed upon is that he died in 1329/30. Yet Macfarlane reckons that the altar tomb of the William who died in 1329/30 is the Governor of Stirling castle!^[12][13] Almost certainly these two Williams are one and the same, like the 'two' Walters who follow.^[14]

Sources

1. ↑ The Scottish Nation by William Anderson, Edinburgh, 1867, vol.viii, p.263.
2. ↑ The Great Seal of Scotland, vol.1, Appendix 1, no.77.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online. Entry for Oliphant family (1141-1500), pub. 2004 available here by subscription.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Paul, James Balfour. The Scots' Peerage',' Edinburgh, pubs. D. Douglas, 1904, vol. vi, p. 534 available online.
5. ↑ The Great Seal of Scotland, vol.1, Appendix 2, no.657.
6. ↑ The Great Seal of Scotland, vol.1, Appendix 2, nos. 248 & 700.
7. ↑ The Great Seal of Scotland, vol.1, Appendix 2, no.448.
8. ↑ The Great Seal of Scotland, vol.1, Appendix 1, no.171.
9. ↑ Paul, James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas, 1904, Vol. VI, p. 537 available online.
10. ↑ A History of the House of Douglas by the Rt. Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bt., M.P., F.R.S., LL.D., two volumes, London, 1902.
11. ↑ Paul, James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas, 1904, Vol. VI, pp.531-532 available online.
12. ↑ Genealogical Collections concerning families in Scotland by Walter Macfarlane 1750-51, edited by James T Clark, Keeper of the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, Scottish History Society, 1900, "The Genealogy of the Oliphants" pps:97-124.
13. ↑ https://archive.org/details/peerageofscotlan00doug/page/526/mode/2up
14. ↑ Gregory Lauder-Frost.

See Also

• Dictionary of National Biography. Entry for Oliphant, William (d. 1329). available online.

• William Oliphant, Lord of Aberdalgie