Richard Runciman (abt. 1734)

Born about Feb 1734 in Whaupknow, Parish of Tyninghame, Haddingtonshire, Scotland

Ancestors

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

Biography

Richard Runciman, son of Richard Runciman and Jennet Gourlay, was born or baptized on 3 Feb 1734 in Parish of Tynninghame, Haddingtonshire, Scotland.^[1] He was born in Whaupknow.

Whaupknow was a cluster of cottages provided by Auldham Farm for its workers. The last reference to it in local parish records appears in the 1770s at which time it fell victim to the development of Seacliff House. Read what life was like for the family at Whaupknow here.

Absence of Further Records

Following his baptism, no records or references to Richard have been found which can be attributed to him indisputably. It wasn’t usual for burials/deaths to be recorded by the church but one would expect to find a marriage & family baptisms almost as a matter of course. But for one chink of light, this places him in the same category as 4 of his siblings for whom no records were found and the possibility of infant/child deaths is discussed on each of their profiles:

• Hugh,
• Jean,
• James,
• Helen.

However the said chink of light appears in the 1786 baptism record of Mary Mason a daughter of Rennie Runciman, a younger sister of Richard. Mary’s baptism entry records that one of the witnesses is ‘Richard Runciman’. This can only be this Richard or possibly their father Richard – there are no other Crail lineage candidates. ‘Father’ Richard, if still alive, would be 85 in 1786. Quite possible, although one would think him an unlikely choice as a witness, particularly when not previously chosen. So very possibly this is the only evidence we have that Richard survived to adulthood – he would be 52 in 1786. Unfortunately it cannot be said conclusively to be him & it may be that the observations made in his siblings’ profiles are equally appropriate to Richard.

Death

No record of a burial has been found in parish records. (His death will have preceded statutory death registration.)

Family Profiles of Interest

Richard’s brother was William Runciman of Crail , who drowned at an early age in a fishing tragedy,

plus

some facts and comments about the early Runciman ancestors are summarised in The Early Generations.

There are also 3 other Runciman 'lineages' which thanks to DNA testing are now discovered to be branches of the same lineage with a Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) in the 1600s, most likely in East Lothian or the Scottish Borders. Lorna Henderson manages a Runciman One Name Study which gives a good insight to our Crail Line's relationship to the other DNA-related lines - as well as the non-related lines.

Wiki profiles relating to the Crail Lineage:

Whaupknow, describes where the family was born and lived until adulthood.

Runciman Lineage 1b-The Early Generations As the name implies this Profile covers the latest research known of the earliest ancestors on the 'Crail' Line.

Crail Fishing Disaster History and Latest News. Richard is a brother of William of Crail who drowned with 7 others in the 1765 Crail Fishing Disaster. A 250th anniversary commemoration for the drownings was held in Crail on 16 May 2015.

Scotland and Beyond In 2004 a history of the William Runciman of Crail line was published. The latest research & continuing updates are now published on the web rather than in print. As Scotland and Beyond has been out of print for some time Jen Jelley & Diane Middleton, compilers & publishers of the 2004 book, kindly agreed to make their publication available in PDF format. This Profile contains the link.

The Runciman Cradle Tour provides the reader interested in seeing some of our ancestral locations with a suggested itinerary and their association to the family.

Similarily there is a Crail Trail for those who wish to visit where William of Crail spent his married/working life and eventually to meet his early death from drowning.

Sources

1. ↑ "Church of Scotland: Old Parish Registers - Births and Baptisms," database, National Records of Scotland, (ScotlandsPeople : accessed 4 March 2024), Richard Runciman born or baptised on 3 Feb 1734, son of Richard Runciman & Jennet Gourlay, in parish of Whitekirk & Tynninghame, Haddingtonshire, Scotland; citing Parish Number 723, Ref 10/82, Frame 87.

• "Scotland and Beyond" (2004) plus subsequent research by Alan RUNCIMAN, Ros RUNCIMAN, Lawrence FLETCHER, Lorna HENDERSON & many, many others, Compiler Address: UK, Australia and New Zealand Abbreviation: "Scotland and Beyond" (2004), plus subsequent research Author: Diane Middleton Jen Jelley Alan Runciman Ros Runciman Laurie Fletcher Lorna Henderson and many others Publication: Jul 2013 Note: imported on 2013/07/24 at 15:44:27.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Alan Runciman for creating WikiTree profile Runciman-616 through the import of RUNCIMANAlansPaternal4WikiTreeAug2013.ged on Aug 29, 2013.