Hugh Ross b. 1680 d. 1740 North Carolina

For the only Earl of Ross who was named Hugh, see Hugh, 4th Earl of Ross (-1333).

For Hugh Ross who married Margaret de Barclay, see Hugh of Rarichies, 1st of Balnagown (-1374).

For Hugh Ross, son of Hugh Ross and Janet of Sutherland, see Hugh Ross, 4th of Balnagown (-1497).

For Hugh & Margaret Ross of Elizabeth City County, Virginia, see Hugh Ross the Immigrant (bef1674-bef1708).

For Hugh Ross, son of David Ross of Balblair, see Hugh Ross (1680s-1710s).

For Hugh Ross captured at the Battle of Preston, see Hugh Ross the Jacobite (-1716).

For Hugh Ross who lived in Sutherland, see Hugh Ross of Durness Parish (1731-1799).

For other people named Hugh Ross, see Hugh Ross (disambiguation).

Hugh Ross (1680 – 1740) appears in many trees on the internet. In over 5,000 trees on Ancestry.com, he can be found with many different combinations of birth places, death places, parents and children. His consistent, identifying details are a birth of 1680 somewhere in Scotland, a wife named Margaret Barclay or Margaret de Barclay, and a death of 1740 somewhere in North Carolina. Unfortunately, there is no evidence found that supports any of these combinations of details. He appears to be, instead, a conglomeration of details pertaining to several different Hugh Rosses.

In many of these trees found on the internet, American Ross families connect back to Scotland, and subsequently back to the Earls of Ross, through this Hugh Ross. Y-DNA testing is telling us, however, that all of these different American Ross lines do not share a common Ross ancestor. Therefore, more genealogical research is needed to sort out the many conflicting details that have been attributed to this Hugh Ross and to identify the actual ancestral lines of these genetically distinct Ross families.

Evolution of this Hugh Ross

In 1911, Anne Mims Wright, whose ancestors intermarried with descendants of Isaac Ross, published a book about his family. In it, she included a very short section called 'The Ross Clan in America'. It is a brief list of Rosses found in early American records. In this section, we have mention of a Hugh Ross.

Paragraph from A record of the descendants of Isaac Ross, published in 1911.

Anne finds this Hugh Ross in Elizabeth City County, Virginia, as early as 1690. Margaret had married a man named James Priest by the time she wrote her will in Elizabeth City County in 1719, but she lists three Ross children from a previous marriage, Francis, Hugh, and William. Anne goes on to say that two of these men, Hugh and William, lived in Martin County, North Carolina.

By 2008, we have this same William Ross of Martin County, but details have been added to Hugh and Margaret that don't match what was originally published about them in 1911.

First generation of a descendant report created in 2008 and uploaded to Ancestry.com on December 31, 2011

This Hugh, it says, was born in Scotland in 1680. This researcher claims that Margaret's maiden name was de Barclay and that both Margaret and Hugh died in North Carolina. We also now have the three children of Hugh and Margaret as Frances, Walter, and William, instead of the Francis, Hugh, and William listed in Margaret's will.

Not too long after this descendant report was produced, we find this forum post of 2011, that includes this same William Ross of Martin County, North Carolina, again as the son of Hugh Ross and Margaret de Barclay. This post then extends the genealogy of Hugh Ross to include his supposed parents and grandparents.

First generations of a forum post created on gengelaogy.com on December 29, 2011.

What we see here is that, over time, several Hugh Rosses were convoluted into one.

• We started with Hugh Ross of Elizabeth City County, Virginia, who is actually found in records there in the late 17th century. His wife Margaret listed in her will sons Francis, Hugh, and William Ross.
• Hugh Ross who married Margaret de Barclay was Hugh of Rarichies, 1st of Balnagown. They lived in the 14th century and did also have a son named William. It is this Hugh's ancestry that was added in this forum post of 2011.
• This idea that a Hugh Ross was born in 1680 in Faynesfield, Nairn, Scotland, and died in 1740 in Martin County, North Carolina, appears to be an amalgamation of several other Hugh Rosses.

It's unclear how we went from Hugh Ross of Elizabeth City County, Virginia, in 1911 to Hugh Ross of Nairnshire in 2008. But it's likely that the advent of the internet and sites like Ancestry.com played a part. In fact, the 2008 descendant chart does say, “Also, since the introduction of the INTERNET, we have been able to make contact with other family genealogies where our Ross family is included.” She doesn't name Ancestry.com specifically, but there are many examples of this kind of convoluting of trees found on Ancestry.com.

Ancestry.com has created an environment that is ripe for a process that seems to be a kind of confusion by doing two things. First, by offering suggestions of possible matching records and making it easy to attach those records without first examining their content in detail and in conjunction with other records. And second, by making it easy to import people from other people's trees without first examining in detail the sources cited in those trees. We then end up with sources attached to the wrong people, sometimes simply because they have the same name as the person mentioned in the source. And then those details are imported over and over again into trees on Ancestry.com. In this type of environment it's easy to see how Hugh Ross from the 14th century could've been imported into someone's tree as the father of a William Ross living in the 18th century.

To complicate matters, information from trees on Ancestry.com is added by users to sites like Find a Grave and then that site's database is imported by Ancestry.com. That information is then suggested by Ancestry.com as a source that corroborates the data found in these trees. It's a vicious cycle.

This post of 2011 cites several sources, beginning with "data from Ancestry.com". None of these books listed, the Life and times of Elder Reuben Ross, The House of Plant of Macon, Georgia, or Martin County History (vol. 1), include this Hugh Ross and Margaret de Barclay. So, it's not much of a leap here to assume that the poster found these first three generations in other people's trees on Ancestry.com, or they were sent to him by someone who did.

Once these people appear in enough trees, there evolves this "consensus" that they must've existed. It's difficult to believe that they never existed at all and are completely the product of this kind of confusion. If everyone is saying it is true, then it must be true, right? Then, instead of scrapping these people all together and starting over, the impulse is to try to make sense of their existence.

This is why, today, we can find some version of a 17th century Hugh Ross and Margaret de Barclay in over 5,000 trees on Ancestry.com with any number of combinations of dates, places, and family members attached to them. If there were solid evidence of their existence during this time period, we might have much less variety in the details attributed to them.

The list of details attributed to this mythological Hugh Ross include:

Parents

• Hugh Ross & Margaret Graham
• David Ross of Balblair & Margaret Stronach, sometimes Lord David & Lady Margaret
• Hugh Ross, Earl of Ross & Lady Janet of Sutherlandshire
• George Ross & Hannah Spinning

Name & title

• Sir Hugh Ross II 3rd Earl of Ross
• Hugh III, Earl of 3rd Ross
• Hugh III Lord of Ross
• Lord Hugh Ross
• Sir David Hugh Ross (A Jacobite, captured and banished to America) (Laird of Balnagown) (Immigrant)

Birth

• 1680
• July 8th, 1681
• Faynesfield, Nairnshire
• Tain, Ross-shire
• Balblair, Aberdeenshire
• Balblair, Cromartyshire
• Nairn, Nairnshire
• Durness, Sutherland
• Fern, Angus

Death

• April 13th, 1710
• April 13th, 1740
• Scotland
• Nairn, Nairnshire
• Durness, Sutherland
• Martin County, North Carolina
• Bertie County, North Carolina
• Hampton, Virginia

Children

• William Ross Sr. of Martin County d. sometime after February 25th, 1760
• William Ross d. February 25th, 1760, Jones, Georgia
• Jesse Ross d. February 25th, 1760, Jones, McIntosh, Georgia
• Isaac Ross of Woodbridge (1708-1760) & Nicholas Ross of Rowan County, North Carolina
• James Ross Sr. of Rowan County (-1789)
• Daniel Ross d. Nov 1822, Cooper, Missouri
• John Ross of Martin County (-c1794)
• Hugh Ross d. 1759 Virginia
• Francis Ross d. 1793 Botetourt, Virginia
• Hugh Ross d. 1769 Augusta, Virginia

DNA Evidence

All DNA can do for us is confirm that 2 people share a common ancestor. Solid, well-sourced genealogy is required in order to determine who that ancestor was. Finding a match who has the same ancestor in their tree does not prove the details - names, dates, places - attributed to that ancestor. Genealogical research based on primary sources is required to do that. As of now, solid genealogical evidence has not been found proving the ancestors or descendants of the Hugh Ross described here, so we are unable to say that DNA testing has proven anything as far as he is concerned.

What we have, at this point, are Y-DNA results for several lines that can sometimes be found connected to this Hugh Ross. Participants who fall into one Y-DNA subgroup do not share a common ancestor with participants who fall into other subgroups. We can, therefore, take each subgroup individually and use traditional genealogical techniques to identify the common ancestor shared by the participants in that group.

Y-DNA

R Haplogroup - Family 01

R Haplogroup - Family 01

It was once thought that James, Hugh, and John Ross of Guilford County, North Carolina, were brothers, but several of descendants of John Ross of Guilford County fall into Y-DNA R Haplogroup - Family 01. Their closest matches share with them a common ancestor who lived between 1700 and 1900 A.D. They share a common ancestor who lived between the years of 1200 and 1650. They share a much more distant ancestor with Template:Hugh 8th of Kilravock.

R Haplogroup - Family 01 - Rose (Kilravock) Clan
1-Ross Common Ancestor b. 800 A.D. - 1350 A.D. 
...2-Ross Common Ancestor b. 1700 A.D. - 1900 A.D. 
......3-John Ross of Guilford County (-1791)
......3-James Green Ross (1808-1870)
......3-Samuel Richard Ross (1770-1857)
...2-Ross Common Ancestor b. 950 A.D. - 1400 A.D.
......3-Hugh Rose, 8th of Kilravock through son Hugh Rose, 9th of Kilravock
......3-Hugh Rose, 8th of Kilravock through son John Rose, 1st of Ballivat

Haplogroup testing shows that this group's Ross ancestor migrated from Normandy into the south of England and then to the Highlands.

R Haplogroup - Family 02

R Haplogroup - Family 02

This 2008 descendant report includes James Ross of Anson County (1761-1849) as the son of Hugh Ross of Anson County (-1809). They show this Hugh as the son of William Ross Sr. of Martin County (-1760) and William as the son of Hugh Ross and Margaret Barclay. One descendant of this James Ross of Anson County is a participant in the Ross Surname Project and he falls into Y-DNA R Haplogroup - Family 02.

The closest match to this James Ross descendant is a descendant of Kinchin Ross. They share a common ancestor who lived between 1650 and 1800. They are a more distant relation to descendants of George Ross of Elizabethtown and Isaac Ross of Woodbridge.

R Haplogroup - Family 02 - Scottish Highlands Ross (Norse-Gaelic) related to Loch Alsh Matheson
1-Ross Common Ancestor b. 1350 - 1600 A.D.
...2-Ross Common Ancestor b. 1550 - 1629 A.D.
......3-George Ross of Elizabethtown (1629-1705)
       + Constance Little b. 1638, Elizabeth, Essex, NJ, d. 1715, Elizabeth, Essex Co., NJ
......3-Isaac Ross of Woodbridge (1708-1760)
       + Jean Brown b. 30 Jun 1722, d. 20 May 1766, Concord, Mecklenburg, NC
...2-Ross Ancestor b. 1650 - 1800 A.D.
......3-Rev. War soldier James Ross of Anson County (1761-1849)
          + Lydia Coburn d. 18 Aug 1858, Marshville, Union, NC
......3-Kinchin Ross of Conway County (1802-1879)

Haplogroup testing shows that this group's Ross ancestor migrated from Norway to the Highlands probably sometime during the Viking invasions.

R Haplogroup - Family 11

Descendants of James Ross Jr. of Guilford County and Henry Ross of Guilford County fall into Y-DNA R Haplogroup - Family 11.

R Haplogroup - Family 11 - James P. Ross (b. 1715)
1-James Ross Sr. of Rowan County (-1789)
  + 1st wife 
...2-James Ross Jr. of Guilford County (-1809)
     + Mary Mitchell b. England, dau. of Robert & Margaret Mitchell 
......3-Henry Ross b. abt 1780, North Carolina, d. 11 Nov 1845, near Rock Springs, Illinois
       + Martha Dickey b. 9 Dec 1776, South Carolina, m. 3 Jul 1800, d. 1828, Rock Springs, Illinois, par. Robert Dickey and Margaret Hillhouse
......3-Robert Ross Sr. b. 1775-1780, North Carolina, d. 30 Apr 1849, Pope County, Arkansas
        + Mary Dickey par. Robert Dickey and Mary Henry 
......3-Samuel Ross b. abt 1776, Guilford County, North Carolina, d. 1826, Todd County, Kentucky
        + Judith Acock b. 1783, Warren County, North Carolina, d. bef 1850, Polk County, Missouri
...2-Henry Ross of Guilford County (-1827)
     + Ann Anderson, m. 26 Oct 1786, Guilford County, North Carolina, dau. of Elder John Anderson 
......3-John Ross b. 1787, Guilford County, North Carolina, d. 1839, Wilson County, Tennessee
        + Lucinda Barnes 

R Haplogroup - Family 24

Two descendants of John Ross the Jacobite fall into Y-DNA R Haplogroup - Family 24. One of them descends through John's son Daniel Ross d. Nov 1822, Cooper, Missouri.

R Haplogroup - Family 24 - Daniel Ross b. 1740 d. 1822
1-John Ross the Jacobite b. abt 1695, Scotland, d. 1759, Hanover County, Virginia
 + Sarah 
..2-Daniel Ross of Cooper County (1740-1822)
..2-James Ross of Livingston County (1744-1805)
   + Jean Loving 

Ross of Martin County

Unfortunately, we have no participants in the Ross Surname Project who are confirmed descendants of this William Ross Sr. of Martin County who died circa 1760, so we can neither confirm nor deny that they are a match to any of these other Ross lines. The Y-DNA signature of William Ross of Martin County is still unknown, or unproven.

Autosomal DNA

If some version of a 'Hugh Ross b. 1680 d. 1740' can be found in over 5,000 trees on Ancesty.com, then descendants of most American Ross families can expect to find him in the trees of at least a few of their DNA matches.

The appearance of 'Hugh Ross b. 1680 d. 1740' in the trees of two people who share DNA in no way confirms the existence of this Hugh Ross. It only confirms that these two people share a common ancestor.

The confirmation of a common ancestor requires two things:

• three or more people sharing DNA at the same place on the same chromosome (triangulated segments)"Triangulation in Action at GEDmatch". DNA Explained.
• solid genealogical proof of the existence of the shared ancestor and the lines through which they descend

Chromosome browser showing overlapping segments on chromosome 5 shared by 7 confirmed descendants of Isaac Ross of Woodbridge.

Confirming that 3 people share the same DNA at the same place on the same chromosome requires a tool called a chromosome browser. This is not a tool that is offered by AncestryDNA, therefore matches from AncestryDNA cannot be considered proof of a common ancestor. If you have matches on AncestryDNA that share a common Ross ancestor, it's best to download your raw data from AncestryDNA and upload it to a site that offers a chromosome browner, e.g. GEDmatch, FamilyTreeDNA, or MyHeritage.

Hugh Rosses

Hugh Ross Sr. of Elizabeth City County

Ancestors & Descendants

• Joseph Cheeley d. 1696
  • Margaret Cheeley d. bef 20 May 1719, Hampton, Elizabeth City, Virginia
    • m. Hugh Ross Sr. b. bef 1673, d. bef 1708, Hampton, Elizabeth City, Virginia
      • Francis Ross d. bef 16 Jun 1731
      • Hugh Ross Jr. d. bef 17 Sep 1742, Hampton, Elizabeth City, Virginia
      • William Ross
    • m. James Priest
      • Dorothy Priest
      • James Priest
      • Thomas Priest d. 23 Feb 1751/52
      • Anfilody Priest
      • Martha Priest

Anne Mims Wright recognized the existence of this Hugh Ross in 1911. She claims to have found him mentioned in Elizabeth City County in 1690, but gives no source for this.

We have evidence that a Hugh Ross acted as a witness to the will of Thomas Wythe Jr. in 1694. Then, in 1696, a Hugh Ross acted as an appraiser for the orphans in the Elizabeth City County probate proceedings of Joseph Cheeley.

In the will written by Margaret Priest of Elizabeth City County on March 19, 1719, we find listed three children, Francis, Hugh & William Ross. We also find children named James, Thomas, Anfilady & Martha Priest.

Based on this will, we can say Margaret married a man named Ross and had at least 3 children; Francis, Hugh & William. She then married James Priest and had at least 4 more children; James, Thomas, Anfilady & Martha. James Priest wrote his will in Elizabeth City County in 1713 mentioning only wife Margaret and daughter Dorothy. It is possible, then, that the 4 Priest children listed in Margaret's will were born between 1713 and 1719.

It has been speculated that that this Margaret was the daughter of Joseph Cheeley whose estate includes an appraisal of orphans by Hugh Ross in 1696 and that it is this Hugh Ross who was her first husband.

We can say that Hugh Ross must've been born in 1673 or before to be old enough to act as a witness in 1694. He was, therefore, not born in 1680.

In order for his wife to have married again and had several more children, he would have to have died circa 1708 or before. Although, the fact that no Hugh Ross is found in the 1704/05 Virginia rent roll, might suggested that he died before this. We know, then, that he did not die in North Carolina in 1740.

Anne Mims Wright speculated in 1911 that the William Ross listed in this will is William Ross Sr. of Martin County. There is no solid evidence found that either confirms or refutes this.

Hugh Ross Jr. of Elizabeth City County

Anne Mims Wright stated that the children listed in the will of Margaret Cheeley Ross Priest of Elizabeth City County were Hugh Ross who lived in Martin County, North Carolina, Francis who lived in Buford County, North Carolina, and William who lived in Martin County, North Carolina.

Unfortunately, Anne does not provide evidence for these locations. We do have evidence that Hugh Jr.'s estate was appraised in Elizabeth City County, Virginia, in 1742. We have here, then, a Hugh Ross who died in the 1740s. It may have been a confusion between with this Hugh Ross and his father, Hugh Sr. of Elizabeth City County, that has created the idea that this mythological Hugh died in 1740.

This idea that the death date was specifically April 13, 1740, is a convoluting of this 1740 death date proposed in the descendant report of 2008 and a date associated with David Ross of Balblair. Rossiana states that David's wife Margaret is listed as his "relict" in a document dated 13th April, 1710, indicating that David had died by this time. This is not David's actual death date and this date has nothing to do with their son Hugh. And yet, we find April 13, 1740, as the death date of this mythological Hugh Ross in many trees on the internet.

It is not clear why it was thought that a Hugh Ross was in Martin County, North Carolina, in the first part of the 18th century. Martin County was not created from Tyrrell County until 1774. It would make more sense to say that he was in Tyrrell County, which was created from Bertie County in late 1729. And, actually, he is often listed in trees as dying in Bertie County, instead of Martin County, which was created as Bertie Precinct on October 1, 1722.

Looking at the records, though, we find no mention of a Hugh Ross in Bertie County's index for courthouse records.

There is no Hugh Ross in the Tyrrell County's general index to deeds as grantor or grantee.

No Hugh Ross obtained a land grant in Bertie, Tyrrell, or any other county in North Carolina before 1740. This is the list of individuals whose passage was paid for in exchange for headrights. In colonial Virginia, a headright could be exchanged for 50 acres of land.

From this one document, it's impossible to determine where this Hugh was born, when he arrived in America, or if he was even still alive in 1699.

• Headrights were often bought & sold, so there is no way to know whether the person who claimed the headright on the patent was the same person who paid the transport costs. There is also no way to know from the patent where a person landed or where they lived after arriving.
• In the original laying-out of the headright system in 1618, it was required that a headright stay in Virginia for 3 years, or die in Virginia within those 3 years, before a land patent could be procured.
• By the time this part of Virginia had begun to be settled in the 1670s, the headright system seemed to be falling apart, so it's hard to know if this '3-year rule' was still being enforced.
• Either way, a patent wasn't necessarily obtained at the time of the importation, or at the end of the 3 years. It could've been claimed years later. So, there is no way to know when a person arrived based on when their headright was listed in a land grant.
• It was possible to receive a headright for transporting a child, so there is no way to know how old a person was when they immigrated.
• A certificate was issued by the county court upon transport of an individual that served as proof of the headright. There is no guarantee that Hugh's certificate was issued by New Kent County, but that would be the logical place to start looking for him. Unfortunately, a fire was set in the clerk's office in 1787 and most of the County's colonial records were destroyed.

So, based on just the land patent alone, we can say nothing about the Hugh Ross listed, other than the fact that he came to America prior to October 26, 1699, and, somehow, Benjamin Buckley acquired his headright.

Many of the people who took advantage of this system in order to have their passage paid did so as servants indentured to whomever it was that sponsored them. Is this Hugh Ross a case in which he was living somewhere else in Virginia as an indentured servant, but his headright had been bought and sold until it was acquired by Benjamin Buckley who then exchanged it for this land in St. Peter's Parish?

Anne Mims Wright includes a list of baptisms found in the register of St. Peter's Parish, but it does not include a Hugh Ross. In fact, there is no Hugh Ross listed in the register of St. Peter's Parish between 1680 and 1787.

Map of New Kent County parishes

In 1704, St. Peter's Parish, which was equivalent to all of New Kent County, was divided in half to create St. Paul's Parish. On September 24, 1709, Benjamin Buckley's property can be found among the list of properties surveyed in St. Paul's Parish.

There is no mention of a Hugh Ross in the vestry book of St. Paul's parish.

It's entirely possibly that the Hugh Ross listed in Benjamin Buckley's patent did not live in New Kent County. It's entirely possible that he was not still alive in 1699.

If Hugh did in fact immigrate as an indentured servant, he could've served out his time anywhere in Virginia. Considering that Benjamin Buckley claimed his headright, Hugh probably did not receive land at the end of his service.

In fact, there is no Hugh Ross found in the 1704/05 Virginia rent roll.{{sfn|Wertenbaker |1959|pp=183-247}

There is no way to determine that this Hugh Ross, who appears only as a name in a list of headrights on someone else's land patent, was the same Hugh Ross found in Elizabeth City County documents in the late 17th century. There is no way of knowing that he was the father of the William Ross of Martin County listed in this descendant report of 2008.

Hugh of Rarichies, 1st of Balnagown

By 2011, the proposed ancestry of this William Ross of Martin County had come to look something like this.

1st gen: William de Ross; m. Euphemia de Baliol

2nd gen: Hugh Ross; m. Margaret Graham, d/o David Graham

3rd gen: Hugh Ross, b. 1680, Naim, Naimshire, Scotland, d. 1740, North Carolina; m. Margaret DeBarclay, b. 1685, Scotland, d. 1743, North Carolina.

4th gen: William Ross, Sr, b. 1700, VA, d. 25 Feb 1760, Martin Co, NC; m. 9 Aug 1731(?), Elizabeth Smithwick

If we search extant old parish registers for banns and marriages, we find no evidence of a Hugh Ross marrying Margaret de Barclay.

If we search extant old parish registers for births and baptisms, we find no evidence of a Hugh Ross fathering children with Margaret de Barclay.

This does not mean it didn't happen. It just means there is no obvious evidence of it. So what are the primary sources that this conclusion was based on?

It's appears that we need to go back further in time. We do eventually find a man named Hugh Ross of Rarichies who married a Margaret de Barclay. He was the son of Hugh, 4th Earl of Ross who married Margaret Graham, daughter of David Graham, and the first of the family to be Laird of Balnagown.

If we look at the family tree of this Hugh of Rarichies:

1-William, 3rd Earl of Ross d. 28 January 1322/23
 + Euphemia 
...2-Hugh, 4th Earl of Ross d. 19 Jul 1333, Battle of Halidon Hill
    + Margaret Graham, daughter of Sir David Graham of Kincardine 
......3-Hugh of Rarichies, 1st of Balnagown d. before 10 August 1374
       + Margaret de Barclay
.........4-William Ross, 2nd of Balnagown d. 1412

It looks very similar to:

1st gen: William de Ross; m. Euphemia de Baliol

2nd gen: Hugh Ross; m. Margaret Graham, d/o David Graham

3rd gen: Hugh Ross, b. 1680, Naim, Naimshire, Scotland, d. 1740, North Carolina; m. Margaret DeBarclay, b. 1685, Scotland, d. 1743, North Carolina.

4th gen: William Ross, Sr, b. 1700, VA, d. 25 Feb 1760, Martin Co, NC; m. 9 Aug 1731(?), Elizabeth Smithwick

There were actually two Margaret de Barclays in this earlier family. Margaret Graham married first Hugh, 4th Earl of Ross, and, after his death, married John de Barclay.

Euphemia's maiden name is not given in Scots peerage, but William, 3rd Earl of Ross, was a supporter of John Baliol and he is mentioned in William's entry. This is the John Balliol who was the son of John, 5th Baron de Balliol, and reigned briefly as King of Scots beginning in 1292. He appears to have had at least one daughter, Margaret, but no evidence of a daughter or sister Euphemia who married an Earl of Ross is found.

None the less, trees can be found on the internet that include the Euphemia who married William, 3rd Earl of Ross, as the sister of John Balliol. She does not seem to be listed in any other significant source.Lundy, Darryl, ed. (Jan 29, 2005). "John de Balliol #102487". The Peerage. Retrieved Aug 24, 2021. - citing Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition (2003). This does, however, support the idea that this family of William who married Euphemia, whether she was the daughter of a Balliol or not, belongs in the 1300s, not the 1600s.

The report from 2008 also says,

“This resource came from The MacDonald Genealogy family. Our Hugh Ross and the MacDonald's in Scotland were directly related through birth and marriages. Although we were not able to make connections through legal records we feel this is accurate.”

We find that this family that existed in Scotland in the 1300s did have a connection to the Macdonald's of the time.

Ancestors & Descendants

• William, 3rd Earl of Ross d. 28 Jan 1323, Delny, Easter Ross, Scotland
  • m. Eupheme d. after Jul 1297
    • Hugh, 4th Earl of Ross d. 19 Jul 1333, Battle of Halidon Hill, Northumberland
      • m. Maud Bruce, sister of the King d. between 1323 and 1329, bur. Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland
        • William 5th Earl of Ross & Lord of Skye d. 9 Feb 1372, Delny
          • m. Mary Macdonald
            • Euphemia, Countess of Ross d. between 5 Sep 1394 and 20 Feb 1395, bur. Fortrose Cathedral, Ross-shire
              • m. Sir Walter de Lesley d. 27 Feb 1382, Perth
                • Mary Leslie, Countess of Ross d. cir 1435
                  • m.Donald Macdonald, Lord of the Isles d. 1423, Ardtornish, Morvern, Highlands
                    • Alexander Macdonald, Lord of the Isles & Earl of Ross d. 7 May 1449, Dingwall
                      • m. Elizabeth Seton d. after Dec 1444
                        • John Macdonald, last Lord of the Isles & Earl of Ross d. 1498, Dundee, Angus, Scotland
      • m. Margaret Graham, daughter of Sir David Graham of Kincardine
        • Hugh of Rarichies, 1st of Balnagown died: before 10 August 1374
          • m. Margaret de Barclay
            • William Ross, 2nd of Balnagown died: 1412

It was through the Macdonalds that the descendants of the Earls of Ross became Lords of the Isles.

So, again, where did this idea come from that there was a Hugh Ross in America in the 1700s who had as his wife a Margaret de Barclay? No sources for this relationship in this time frame seem to exist.

Do we have, instead, a situation where details from one Ross family have been attributed to a different Ross family and then passed around the internet to the point where they become accepted as fact, no questions asked?

17th century Margaret Barclays

As more and more records are available online, and with the ease of just clicking and attaching them, the details of every Margaret Barclay born in the 1680s have been attributed to the Margaret de Barclay who is said to have lived in North Carolina in the 1700s.

We can't just arbitrability chose any birth or christening record for a Margaret Barclay in the 1680s and decide 'this must be her' without further evidence.

• Where the did the birth take place and how does that connect her to a Hugh Ross?
• What is the evidence that this same person married a Hugh Ross?
• What is the evidence that she mothered these three children; Frances, Walter & William?
• What is the evidence that she migrated to Amercica?

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There is a record for a Margaret Barclay that says she was baptized in the parish of Dalry, Ayrshire, Scotland, on October 31, 1685. The original document actually states:

Oct: 31
John Barclay in Gooseloan had a law^l daught: bapt: Margt.

This place Gooseloan seems to be equivalent to Gooseholm and is found as Gushoom on a map printed in 1654. It was near what is today's Dumbarton. This puts it about 17 miles north of the parish of Dalry.

The Hugh Ross in this descendant report was said to have been born in Nairn. Gooseloan was about 120 miles south of Nairn, as the crow flies, on the opposite coast of Scotland. Today it would take almost 4 hours to drive from one place to the other. How would a woman from Gooseloan come to know and marry a man born in Nairn?

In what appears to be an attempt to make the data match the narrative, you can find this Margaret in trees married to Hugh Ross and with a birth date of 31 October 1685, but with a birthplace in the Highlands, Nairn or Tain, for instance, even though the record clearly states she was in Ayrshire.

There is no evidence that this Margaret Barclay, baptised in Ayrshire, married a Hugh Ross. There is no evidence that she migrated to America.

There is a Margaret Barclay whose marriage to Andrew Robison on 24 August 1704, was recorded in the parish of Kilwinning, Ayrshire. They had a son James who was baptized October 15, 1710, also in Kilwinning. The original document states:

Andrew Robisond in the parish of Killbirnie and Margaret Barclay in this parish booked Thursday July 13th and married after order by proclamation August Thursday 24.

And the parish of Kilwinning was just to the south of the parish of Dalry, which is where this Margaret Barclay's baptism record was recorded. Andrew Robison's parish, Kilbirnie, was just to the north of the parish of Dalry.

Could the Margaret Barclay who was baptized in Dalry on October 31, 1685, be the same Margaret Barclay who married Andrew Robinson? It seems more likely, although, again, we cannot say with any certainty without additional evidence. For instance, did her father, John Barclay, write a will listing her as Margaret Robison?

There was a John Barclay of Groatholme (Gooseloan), parish of Kilwinning, whose estate was probated in 1666. Unfortunately, this would be too early to tell us anything about Margaret.

What her family should probably look like, though, is this:

1-John Barclay in Gooseloan
..2-Margaret Barclay bap. 31 Oct 1685, Dalry, Ayrshire, Scotland
   + Andrew Robison m. 24 Aug 1704, Kilwinning, Ayrshire
....3-James Robison bap. 12 Oct 1710, Kilwinning, Ayrshire

There is also the Margaret Barclay who was the daughter of John Barclay & Elspeth Balvaird. Their family looked like this:

1-John Barclay 
 + Elspeth Balvaird christened 3 Apr 1664, Liberton, Midlothian
...2-Jean Barclay christened 20 Jan 1682/83, Inveresk and Musselburgh, Midlothian
...2-Elizabeth Barclay christened 15 Jul 1684, Inveresk and Musselburgh, Midlothian
...2-Margaret Barclay christened 20 Apr 1686, Inveresk and Musselburgh, Midlothian
...2-George Barclay christened 20 Sep 1687, Inveresk and Musselburgh, Midlothian
...2-Robert Barclay christened 22 Jun 1689, Inveresk and Musselburgh, Midlothian

You can also find the Margaret de Barclay who married Hugh Ross of North Carolina in trees as the daughter of this John Barclay & Elspeth Balvaird. She was christened in 1686 in Midlothian, which is 120 miles south of Nairn. So, again, without any explanation as to how a woman from 120 miles away ended up betrothed to a man from Nairn or any proof that this Margaret Barclay from Midlothian married a Hugh Ross, we have no evidence of anything here.

Hugh Rose baptised in Foynesfield

In this report from 2008, we have,

“HUGH ROSS was born in 1680 in Faynesfield, Nairn, Scotland, and died 1740 in Martin County, NC. He married MARGARET DE BARCLAY. She was born 1685 in Scotland, and died in Martin County, NC.”

The first mention of Faynesfield on the RootsWeb mailing lists was in April of 1996 when a Ross from Auldearn, Faynesfield, Nairnshire, Scotland, was added to the RootsWeb Surname List.

+Ross 1834 1887 Auldearn,Faynesfield,NAI,SCT norrie

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In the old county of Nairnshire, we do find a parish of Auldearn. In Auldearn, we don't find a Faynesfield, but we do find a Foynesfield.

This 'norrie' appears to be Donald M. Norrie who stated that his Ross family came from Aldearn, Ardclach, and Faynesfield. If we look at his tree, we do find a Hugh Ross born in Faynesfield in 1834.

1-Hugh Ross b. 23 Dec 1834, Faynesfield, Nairnshire, Scotland
 + Isobel Reid b. 23 Oct 1835, Ardersier, Inverness-shire, Scotland
..2-Martha Ross b. 31 Aug 1871, Auldearn, Nairnshire, Scotland, d. 4 Mar 1952, Ryde, Isle of Wight, England
   + Peter Norrie b. 26 Aug 1865, Stewartown, Petty, Invernesshire, Scotland, d. 7 May 1913, Ardersier, Invernesshire, Scotland
....3-Malcolm McBean Norrie b. 28 Jul 1899, Ardersier, Highland, Scotland, d. 21 Dec 1950, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
     + Helena Gossen b. 16 May 1911, Pretoria, Orenburg, Taurida, South Russia, d. 3 May 1994, Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada

Vitals for Hugh Ross that were uploaded to FamilySearch by dnorrie54353

This Hugh Ross was entered into a genealogy program on or before January 31, 2001, and uploaded to FamilySearch by dnorrie54353. The data submitted included birth information of '23 Dec 1834, Faynesfield,Nairnshire,Scotland' and christening of '2 Jan 1835, Auldearn,Nairnshire,Scotland'.

If we look at baptism records for the parish of Auldearn, we find a Hugh Rose born on 23 December 1834 and baptized 2 January 1835.

William Rose of Foynesfield by his wife Margaret M^cKenzie, had a son born on the 23^th of December 1834 and baptized on the 2^nd Jany 1835 named Hugh. Witnesses were Hugh Cameron, Foynesfield, William M^cIntosh Torrich, and Isobel Cameron Foynesfield.

So, Hugh Ross born in Faynesfield was actually Hugh Rose born in Foynesfield.

If Faynesfield is a typo originally attached to this Hugh Ross, or, more accurately, Hugh Rose, born in 1834, how did it come to be associated with a Hugh Ross born in 1680, 154 years earlier?

Rose of Kilravock

The area of Nairn and Kilravock, 1654

Not quite 6 miles west of Foynesfield, we find Kilravock Castle. Between Foynesfield and Kilravock, we can see the lands of Geddes. It was Hugh Rose, 1st of Kilravock who was laird of Geddes and 1st of Kilravock. The lands of Kilravock came to Hugh and his wife as an inheritance from her mother around the year 1295.

Kilravock was the seat of Clan Rose and was owned and inhabited by direct descendants of Hugh, 1st of Kilravock, until 1984. In that year, the 25th Baroness, Miss Elizabeth Rose, gave the castle and its immediate environs to the Kilravock Christian Trust.

Y-DNA has shown that descendants of Hugh Rose of Kilravock are a match to many men with the surname Ross.

William 3rd Earl of Ross was a witness to the original transaction in the 13th century. There is nothing in the recorded trees of these two families, though, that indicates that they share a common Ross ancestor. Due to the similarities in their coats of arms, it has been suggested, instead, that this Rose of Kilravock family shares a common history with the Roos of Helmsley, Werke and Hamelake, and Ros of Halkhead families. It is thought that these Rose, Roos and Ros families descend from a man who came over from the town of Ros in Normandy with Odo during the time of William the Conqueror. Many of the descendants of these families today go by the name Ross.

Nairnshire

Typically, you will find the birth date & place of this Hugh Ross as it is above, 1680 in Nairnshire. Sometimes the birthplace is Tain.

The birthdate of 1680 may be a date that came about as Hugh began to be attached to David Ross & Margaret Stronach. David's son Hugh would've been born sometime after 1680. David Ross was the 2nd of Balblair, so his sons were most likely born there. Balblair is in Tain. So this birth information points to the unproven assumption that Hugh Ross who is said to have existed in North Carolina in 1740 was the same man as Hugh, the son of David 2nd of Balblair.

Nairnshire was not the home of this Ross family, though. Nairnshire is across Moray Firth from Balblair, about 20 miles as the crow flies. It was traditionally the home of the Rose of Kilravock family. In fact, there is a Hugh Rose of Clava who can be found in trees that state he was born about 1680. On 3 Nov 1700, this Hugh Rose of Clava, of the parish of Nairn, was married to Margaret Irvine.

Hugh Rose 1st of Kilravock also had descendants who went by the name Ross.

Hugh Ross, 4th of Balnagown

Ancestors & Descendants

• Walter Ross 3rd of Balnagown (-1412)
  • m. Katherine Mactyre
    • Hugh Ross, 4th of Balnagown (-1497)
      • m. Janet, daughter of the Earl of Sutherland
        • John Ross, 5th of Balnagown (-1501)
        • Hugh Ross
        • William Ross of Little Allan, 1st of Shandwick (-1486)‏‎
        • Mr. Thomas Ross, son of Hugh 4th of Balnagown

Hugh Ross can often be found as the son of Hugh Ross & Janet of Sutherlandshire or Janet Sutherland.

According to the Cronicle of the Earlis of Ross, Hugh Ross and Janet, daughter of the Earl of Sutherland, did have a son named Hugh.

Huchone Ross, quha maryed the erll of Sutherlandis dochter, callit Jonet Sutherland, hir mother beand the erll of Orknayis dochter, callit Helene Sinclair. Scho bure him Johne Ross laird, Hucheone Ross, Mr. Williame Ross, and Mr. Thomas Ross.

Also according to the Cronicle, Hugh who married Janet was the son of Walter 3rd of Balnagown who married Paull McTyre's daughter Katherine. This family lived in the 15th century. Therefore, Hugh, son of Hugh Ross & Janet of Sutherland, was not born in 1680.

Hugh Ross in Balblair

Descendants

• David Ross, 1st of Balblair (c1642-1710)
  • m. 8 Aug 1667 Margaret Stronach
    • Andrew Ross Sr. of Balblair (-bef1724)
      • m. bef 1710 Margaret Gallie
        • Dr. Andrew Ross Jr. of Kingston, Jamaica (-1730)
    • 1st daughter
    • Bessie Ross (bef1674-1756)
      • m. 29 Jan 1695 Joseph Monro in Wester Allan (-c1715)
      • m. bef 12 Oct 1727 Alexander Stronach, mason in Seafield
    • Rev. George Ross of New Castle (1679-1753)
      • m. Joanna Williams of Rhode Island (1690-1726)
      • m. Anna Catherine Van Gezel, wife of George Ross (1689-1748)
    • Hugh Ross (1680s-1710s)

Hugh Ross is often found as the son of David Ross & Margaret Stronach.

David Ross of Balblair and his wife Margaret Stronach did have a son named Hugh. We find him mentioned in only one document. In a disposition dated 8th March, 1707, David of Balblair disponed Balblair, reserving a life rent to himself and his wife, to his grandson Andrew, and the heirs male of his body whom failing to the other heirs male of son Andrew, whom failing to the Rev. George Ross and the heirs male of his body, whom failing to Hugh Ross third lawful son of the said David and the heirs male of his body.

We know, then, that Hugh was alive in 1707. We see this disposition repeated in the sasine dated April 19, 1710, confirming the land transfer after David's death . There is no other mention of Hugh after this date.

Sasine dated July 8th, 1681.

The date July 8th, 1681, which is often seen as the birthdate for this dubious Hugh Ross, comes from a sasine in which Margaret Stronach is identified as the spouse of David Ross. It is mentioned in David's entry in Rossiana.

197b. David, second of Balblair, parish of Fearn, "notary" (Sasine 15th April. 1678), married Margaret Stronach, "his spouse" (Sasine 8th July, 1681), "relict" (13th April, 1710).

This document is difficult to read, but it appears to be a sasine on a earlier agreement between George Stronach of Balblair and David Ross. This could be some agreement concerning land included in David and Margaret's marriage contract which was dated August 8, 1667.

Marriage contract between David Ros, notary, and George Stronach of Balblair and Margaret, his only daughter

It is definitely not a document that would indicate the birth date of their son Hugh. It is also not an indication of their marriage date, although you will find the date of this sasine as their marriage date in many trees on the internet.

We know from the disposition that Hugh was the 3rd son. We also know that his older brother was George Ross who became rector of New Castle. According to his obituary, George died in 1753 at the age of 74. This puts his birth date at 1679. It's possible, then, that Hugh was born as early as 1680. All we can say for sure is that he was born after his brother and before he was named in the disposition in 1707.

In 1752, David's 2nd son, Rev. George Ross, wrote a letter to his son John of Philadelphia in which he included an autobiography.

The original has been lost, but there were at least two copies made. One, excerpted in Colonial Families of Philadelphia, states that George was born in Fearn Parish, Ross-shire.

George Ross Rector (as he is styled in his Presentation) of the Church of New Castle was the second son, that came to mans Estate, of David Ross of Balblair, a gentlemen of moderate fortune, but of great integrity, and Margaret his wife born in the north of Scotland, and in the Parish of Fern, in the Shire? of Ross, about 4 or 5 miles from the shire between two arms of the sea. The Firth f___tum of Murray (Moray), the other of Dornoch. The land laying between the two firths, terminates in a noted point, called Tarbat Ness.

A different version was published in Rossiana. It was copied in 1835, by William Thompson Read, descendant of Rev. George Ross, from an ancient manuscript (itself a copy) in the possession of his brother George. It was George Read who added the words contained between brackets as suggested by the context. This copy sates that George was born in Tain Parish, Ross-shire.

George Ross, Rector [as he is styled in his presentation], of the Church in New Castle, was second son that came to man's estate of David Ross, of Balblair, a gentleman of moderate fortune, but of great integrity, born in the north of Scotland, in the Shire of Ross, in the Parish of Tain [near the town of Tain], about four or five miles [from that part of] the shire between two firths, the one the Firth of Murray, and the other the Firth of Dornoch. The land lying between the two firths terminates in a noted point called Tarbatness.

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It is known by the locals that the Balblair of this Ross family was in Fearn Parish, near Fearn Abbey. Contemporary documents do support this idea that David's estate of Balblair was located in the parish of Fearn. Tain was a neighboring parish that also contained a town named Tain.

David Ross of Balblair died before the 14th of January, 1710. In his entry in Rossiana, however, is mention of a document dated 13th April, 1710, in which his wife is referred to as his "relict", which means widow. His death date can, therefore, be found in many trees on the internet as April 13, 1710. For some reason, it can also be found as the death date of this dubious Hugh Ross. In some cases it has been changed to April 13, 1740, apparently to fit this narrative that Hugh died in North Carolina in 1740.

Many of the details often applied to this Hugh Ross who supposedly died in North Carolina in 1740, therefore, come from David Ross of Balblair and his son Hugh. What we know from the records is that:

• David Ross married Margaret Stronach.
• They had a son named Hugh. He was the 3rd lawful son of David of Balblair.
• There is a sasine dated July 8, 1681, involving David Ross and Margaret Stronach, his spouse.
• David was owner of Balblair in Fearn Parish.
• David & Margaret's son George was born in either Tain Parish or Fearn Parish.
• It's clear from a document dated April 13, 1710, that David was dead by this point.

Any of these details found in family trees actually pertain to this family of David Ross & Margaret Stronach. Correspondence with the Tain & District Museum in Ross and Cromarty, Scotland, revealed that, in a preliminary search of documents and books available to them, nothing is found of Hugh Ross other than what is known from Rossiana. There is, however, the possibility that he may be referenced in some of the letters or documents in their collection, but the task of searching them has not been undertaken. Therefore, at this point, there is no known evidence that can confirm a spouse or children for their son Hugh. There is no evidence that supports this idea that he migrated to America. There is no mention of him found after 1707.

Any trees claiming that he married Margaret Barclay and died in North Carolina in 1740 are not supported by evidence. Any wife connected to him is not supported by evidence. Trees containing Hugh, son of David Ross & Margaret Stronach, therefore, cannot be used to confirm a common ancestor shared by two DNA matches. There are proven American lines descended from Hugh's brother, George Ross of New Castle. Unfortunately, none of these lines are represented yet in the Ross Surname Project. The Y-DNA signature of this Ross of Balblair family is still unknown.

Hugh, Earl of Ross

Ancestors & Descendants

• Hugh 4th Earl of Ross died on 19 Jul 1333 in Battle of Halidon Hill, Northumberland, England, and was buried in Fearn Abbey, Ross-shire.
  • m. Maud BRUCE in 1308. Maud died between 1323 and 1329 and was buried in Fearn.
    • William 5th Earl of Ross & Lord of Skye died on 9 Feb 1372 in Delny. He married Mary MACDONALD on 25 May 1342.
    • John DE ROSS died on 27 May 1364.
    • Marjory DE ROSS died after 1350. She married Malise STRATHEARN 8th Earl of Strathearn, Earl of Orkney & Caithness before 1334.
  • m. Margaret DE GRAHAM before 24 Nov 1329. Margaret died after 1341.
    • Hugh of Rarichies, 1st of Balnagown died before 10 Aug 1374. He married Margaret DE BARCLAY before 26 Feb 1369.
      • William ROSS 2nd of Balnagown died in 1412.
      • Jean ROSS. She married Robert MUNRO 8th Baron of Foulis. Robert died in 1369.
    • Queen Eupheme DE ROSS was born on 19 Apr 1333 in Ross-shire and died in 1387 in Dundonald Castle, Ayrshire.
    • Janet DE ROSS died in 1391.
    • Lilias DE ROSS.
  • m. Hugh next married Jean STEWART.

This puts to rest any suggestion that this Hugh Ross b. 1680 d. 1740 was in any way an Earl of Ross. There was only one Earl of Ross who was named Hugh and he died at the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333.

The Earldom of Ross was first created in 1162 by Malcolm IV King of Scotland.

Malcolm MacHeth Earl of Ross d. 1168

The Earldom was vacant for more than 50 years.

Fearchar Mac an t-Sagairt was created Earl of Ross sometime in the 1210s, 1220s. He was the 1st of his line to be Earl.

His son William, 2nd Earl of Ross, d. 1274

His son William, 3rd Earl of Ross, d. 1323

His son Hugh, 4th Earl of Ross, d. 1333

His son William, 5th Earl of Ross, d. 1372

His daughter Euphemia, Countess of Ross, d. 1394

Her son Alexander Leslie Earl of Ross, d. 1402

His daughter Euphemia Leslie Countess of Ross, resigned 1415

Her aunt Mary Leslie Countess of Ross, d. 1435

Her son Alexander Macdonald Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, d. 1449

His son John Macdonald Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, tried for treason in 1475 and the Earldom of Ross was annexed to the crown

The Earl of Ross was created again in 1565.

Henry Stewart Lord Darnley, became Earl of Ross on 15 May 1565, married Mary Queen of Scots on 29 Jul 1565, d. 10 Feb 1566/7

Henry Stewart Lord Darnley was the 5th great-grandson of Robert III King of Scotland, son of Robert II and his 1st wife, Elizabeth Mure. Robert II married, as his 2nd wife, Euphemia, daughter of Hugh 4th Earl of Ross.

Robert II's son Alexander, also by his 1st wife, married Euphemia Countess of Ross, daughter of William 5th Earl of Ross. He held the title Earl of Ross de iure uxoris, or "by right of his wife".

The Earl of Ross was created again in 1600.

Charles Stewart Prince of Scotland, became Earl of Ross on December 23rd, 1600, became Charles I King of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1625, d. 1649

Charles Stewart Prince of Scotland was the grandson of Henry Stewart Lord Darnley and Mary Queen of Scots.

The title Earl of Ross has been dormant since the death of Charles I in 1649.

Therefore, there was no Earl of Ross, by any name, who was born in 1680 and died in 1740.

William Ross Sr. of Martin County

It is William Ross Sr. of Martin County who, in the descendant report, is said to be the son of Hugh Ross & Margaret de Barclay. More recently, he has been connected to Hugh & Margaret Cheeley Ross of Elizabeth City County. There is definitely circumstantial evidence to support this. However, Y-DNA testing has recently challenged several long-held beliefs about North Carolina Ross families and it seems prudent to hold off on drawing any conclusions about the descendants of Hugh Ross & Margaret Cheeley until we have DNA results from more potential descendants.

Timeline

• 26 February 1370 - David, king of Scots, has given his beloved and faithful Hugh of Ross an annual rent of 10 pounds, and four chalders of wheat from the lands of Doune, Banffshire; holding by Hugh and his spouse Margaret Barclay, whichever lives longer, for the time of their lives.
• 31 October 1685 - Dalry Parish, Ayrshire - John Barclay in Goosloan had a lawful daughter baptized Margaret
• 23 December 1834 - William Rose in Foynesfield by his wife Margaret M^cKenzie, had a son named Hugh
• 2 January 1835 - Hugh Rose, son of William Rose in Foynesfield and Margaret M^cKenzie baptized in Auldearn Parish, Nairnshire, Witnesses were Hugh Camerson, Foynesfield, William M^cIntosh Torrish, and Isobel Cameron Foynesfield.

• Hugh of Rarichies, 1st of Balnagown married Margaret de Barclay before February 26, 1369.
• Hugh of Rarichies, 1st of Balnagown died in Scotland before August 10, 1374.
• Hugh Ross of Elizabeth City County was born in 1673 or before.
• Rev. George Ross of New Castle, son of David Ross 2nd of Balblair, was born in 1679.
• Hugh Ross of Balblair, son of David Ross 2nd of Balblair, was born between 1680 and March 8, 1686.
• Margaret Stronach was listed as the spouse of David 2nd of Balblair on a sasine dated March 8, 1681.
• There was a Hugh Ross who can be found in Elizabeth City County, Virginia, as early as 1694.
• A Hugh Ross was listed as a headright on the New Kent County land patent of Benjamin Buckley in 1699. There are no records that indicate what became of him.
• Hugh Ross who married Margaret Cheeley. He was born previous to 1675 and died in Virginia sometime before ~1708.
• Hugh Ross the Jacobite who died aboard the Ship Scipio in 1716.
• Hugh Ross who died in Elizabeth City County, Virginia, before 17 Sep 1742.

Hugh Ross families found in records

• Hugh ROSS died circa 1809 in Anson County, North Carolina.
  • m. Margaret PRUETT. Margaret died before 1809.
    • Griffin ROSS.
    • Martin ROSS.
    • James ROSS
      • m. Lydia COBURN circa 1781 in Martin County, North Carolina.
    • William ROSS was born in 1770 and died after 9 Apr 1851.

Sources

• Baillie, W. R, ed. (1850). Ane Breve Cronicle of the Earlis of Ross. Including notices of the Abbots of Fearn, and of the family of Ross of Balnagown. Edinburgh: T. Constable. OCLC 1039478538. OL 25119441M.
• Bertie County, North Carolina. The Bertie index for courthouse records of Bertie County, North Carolina, 1720-1875 : deeds, land divisions, grants, abstracts of wills and marriage bonds, maps, illustrations.
• Boddie, J.B. (2009). Virginia Historical Genealogies. Genealogical Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8063-0042-9.
• Brashear, Charles (Dec 29, 2011). "Ross Families of Martin and Union Co, NC; StewartCo, TN, Trigg Co, KY". Ross Surname (Mailing list). 13112. Retrieved Nov 17, 2017 – via genealogy.com.
• Chapman, Blanche Adams (1980) [1st pub. 1941]. Wills and Administrations of Elizabeth City County, Virginia, 1688-1800, with Other Genealogical and Historical Items. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-8063-0909-5.
• Grimes, J. Bryan (1910). Abstract of North Carolina Wills Compiled From Original and Recorded Wills in the Office of the Secretary of State. Raleigh: E. M. Uzzell & co. OCLC 1038738149. OL 23410278M.
• Douglas, Robert. The peerage of Scotland : containing an historical and genealogical account of the nobility of that kingdom, from their origin to the present generation ; collected from the public records, ancient chartularies, the carters and other writings of the nobility, works of our best historians, &c. Edinburgh.
• Jordan, John W., ed. (1911). "Grubb Family". Colonial Families of Philadelphia. 2. New York, Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co.
• Leslie, Jonathan F. (1909). The Irvines of Drum and Collateral Branches. Aberdeen: Aberdeen Daily Journal office.
• Lundy, Darryl, ed. (Aug 6, 2016). "Margaret de Barclay #562414". The Peerage. Retrieved Oct 19, 2025. - citing Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition (2003).
• "The Mallory Family (Continued)". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. Virginia Historical Society. 14 (3): 320–325. 1907. ISSN 0042-6636. JSTOR 4242817. Retrieved Oct 21, 2022.
• Munro, Jean (1986). "The Earldom of Ross and the Lordship of the Isles" (PDF). In Baldwin, John R. (ed.). Firthlands of Ross and Sutherland. Edinburgh: The Scottish Society for Northern Studies. p. 61. Retrieved Jan 2, 2022.
• Neal, Rosemary Corley, ed. (1988). Elizabeth City County Virginia Deeds, Wills, Court Orders 1715 - 1721. Bowie, MD: Heritage.
• Nugent, Nell Marion, ed. (1934). Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800. 3. Richmond: Dietz Print. Co. ISBN 0884900835.
• Paul, James Balfour, ed. (1907). The Scots peerage; founded on Wood's edition of Sir Robert Douglas's peerage of Scotland; containing an historical and genealogical account of the nobility of that kingdom. IV. Edinburgh: D. Douglas. OCLC 635795533.
• Paul, James Balfour, ed. (1910). The Scots peerage; founded on Wood's edition of Sir Robert Douglas's peerage of Scotland; containing an historical and genealogical account of the nobility of that kingdom. VII. Edinburgh: D. Douglas. OCLC 635795533.
• Rankin, Samuel Meek (1934). History of Buffalo Presbyterian Church and Her People, Greensboro, N. C.. Greensboro, N.C.: J.J. Stone & Co., printers. OCLC 910535241. OL 22909428M.
• Read, Harmon Pumpelly; Reid, Francis Nevile (1908). Rossiana; papers and documents relating to the history and genealogy of the ancient and noble house of Ross, of Ross-shire, Scotland, and its descent form the ancient earls of Ross, together with the descent of the ancient and historic family of Read, from Rede of Trough-end, Reade of Barton Court, Berks, and Read of Delaware. Albany, N.Y.: Press of the Argus co. OCLC 1084513032. OL 23719559M.
• Rose, Hew; Shaw, Lachlan (1848). Innes, Cosmo (ed.). A genealogical deduction of the family of Rose of Kilravock, with illustrative documents from the family papers, and notes. Edinburgh: Spalding Club. OCLC 1045607019. OL 24829844M.
• Ross, Steve (Mar 18, 2007). "Hugh Ross 1680 Fayensfield". Nairnshire General. Ancestry.com. Retrieved Jan 3, 2022.
• Wertenbaker, Thomas J. (1959). "Appendix, Rent Roll of Virginia". The Planters of Colonial Virginia. New York: Russell & Russell. pp. 183–247. Retrieved Jan 9, 2022 – via Project Gutenberg.
• Tyler, Lyon G. (1893). "Ancestry of George Wythe, LL.D." The William and Mary Quarterly. Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture. 2 (1): 69. ISSN 0043-5597. JSTOR 2937020. Retrieved Oct 21, 2022.
• The parish register of Saint Peter's, New Kent county, Virginia from 1680 to 1787. Parish Record Series. 2. National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Virginia. 1904.
• Wright, Anne Mims (1911). A Record of the Descendants of Isaac Ross and Jean Brown and the Allied Families of Alexander, Conger, Harris, Hill, King, Killingsworth, Mackey, Moores, Sims, Wade, Etc. Jackson, MS: Consumers Stationery and Printing Co. OCLC 74815246. OL 23381559M.
• The vestry book of St. Paul's parish, Hanover county, Virginia, 1706-1786. Richmond: Division of purchase and printing. 1940. pp. 593–594. Retrieved Jan 11, 2022 – via HathiTrust.
• Visitation of Sussex, 1570. 6.
• Isaacson, Karen (Apr 28, 1996). "RSL: New P Surnames, Apr 1996 Update". Surnames (Mailing list). Retrieved Jan 5, 2022 – via RootsWeb.
• Ross, Les (Apr 1, 2016). "Hugh Ross and Margaret Cheeley, Old Elizabeth City, Virginia". Ross Surname (Mailing list). Retrieved Feb 17, 2019 – via Ancestry.com.
• Pont, Timothy (1654). Levinia Vicecomitatus [The Province of Lennox called the Shyre of Dun-Britton] (Map). Blaeu Atlas of Scotland. Amsterdam: Blaeu. Gushoom. Retrieved Jan 4, 2022.

Acknowledgements

Extending or containing work by Les Ross and Gary Violette.