Brief Life History of William
When William Ruthven 1st Earl of Gowrie was born in 1541, in Forfarshire, Scotland, his father, Patrick Ruthven 3rd Lord Ruthven, was 21 and his mother, Lady Janet Douglas, was 21. He married Dorothea Stewart on 17 August 1561, in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 11 daughters. He died on 3 May 1584, in Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland, at the age of 43, and was buried in Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland, United Kingdom.
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Family Time Line
Sources (43)
- Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
- William Ruthuen, "Scotland Marriages, 1561-1910"
- Death of William's father William Ruthven
Spouse and Children
Parents and Siblings
Name Meaning
Scottish: habitational name, traditionally pronounced ‘Ri-ven’, from Ruthven by Huntingtower (Perthshire); also possibly from Ruthven (Angus) and various other places of that name throughout Scotland, named either with Gaelic ruadh ‘red’ + mhaighin ‘place’ or with a cognate of Welsh rhudd faen ‘red stone’. The oldest family of this name, the lords of the barony of Ruthven by Perth, were descended from Thor, son of Swain, lord of Tranent in Lothian and first sheriff of Edinburgh on record in the mid 12th century. The family eventually gained the title of Earl of Gowrie, but because of what became known as ‘the Gowrie Conspiracy’ the title was forfeited and from 1600 to 1641 the surname itself was proscribed. The title was later restored to the family, and the present Earl of Gowrie bears the surname Ruthven.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
Story Highlight
The Ruffin-Ruthven Family Story
The Ruffin –Ruthven Family Story Book of Jared Vol. 3, by Eleanor M. Hall Pgs. 250 –263 with reference to the book, The Ruthven Family Papers: The Ruthven Version of the Conspiry and Assassination at …
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