Q: General Internet
What is your connection to the Seton's of Winton in Scotland?

However, due to the challenges of sourcing information in Irish records there have been error's, between two different John Seton's: one from the Barnes line and one from the Meldrum line which caused significant confusion in tracing the family information.   This has been corrected, and it should be noted by the Nova Scotian Seeton/Seaton family that we are in fact descended from the Seton's of Barnes line.

Because the old family Bible was lost in a fire at the Seeton house  on the Seeton farm in Nova Scotia, much of the documented history of the family line had been lost.  However there were records from the local Presbyterian parish of Glenholm, we did have the family traditions that had been passed on through the generations as keys to help re-construct our history: 

We knew that we originated from at the Seton Palace, at Seton in Scotland; that our ancestor was a brother to Mary Seton who was the famed hand-maid to Queen Mary, and that the Royal Family was of blood relation; that our family had been instrumental in saving the life of Queen Mary and also of King James VI and I; we knew that we had served in the Royal Courts and helped raise King James' sons; that our ancestor had served in a Royal Court in Europe; that there was a Highland-connection and a connection to Fyvie Castle; that we were in line as heirs of a Title; that our  direct-ancestor was from a John Seton's line, who's descendant had settled in Ireland; that the family had owned an estate in Ireland and had lost it; that there was enmity between our family and that of the Forbes' as a result of a feud over our land in Ireland.

Our ancestor then, was Sir John Seton, Lord Barnes and 1st Baron of Barnes who was a diplomat and Knight of the Order of St. James in Spain (St. Jago) and of the Kings personal bodyguard, a Gentleman of the BedChamber and Master of the Kings Household,  under King Philip II of Spain.

Recalled home to Scotland by King James VI and I who, "not wanting so noble a subject to be excluded from his court", was made Master of the Kings Horse, Master of the Kings Household (1586) like his illustrious father, Treasurer, and an Extraordinary Lord in the College of Justice and sat in Parliament as Lord Barnes (1588) in place of his brother Alexander Seton (at that time Lord Urquhart, later Lord Fyvie and 1st Earl of Dunfermline) who was promoted to President of the College.

Sir John Seton was named as heir male of his younger brother, following his own heirs male, which later made the Seton's of Barnes the heirs of the Lordships of Fyvie and Urquhart, and the  Earldom of Dunfermline.  It was he who had begun the Spanish-styled castle of Barnes in East Lothian, which was never completed beyond the first level following his death, which remains still exist  and are now commonly-known as the Barney Voults, or Vaults.

Sir John Seton, 2nd Baron of Barnes and heir of his father, was educated in France and Spain, and became a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber and officer of the Court of King Charles I.  He was also a noted companion of the Marquis of Montrose, in 1646 for which he was fined heavily.

He acquired land in Ireland from Sir Robert Gordon of Lochinvar, the estate of Monylagan (Mionylangain or Moneylagan), Clongish Parish, in Co. Longford before 1646 and is occassionally referred to as Sir John Seaton of Mionylangain, Longford.  Noted in the Funeral of Chancellor Seton in 1622, he acquired the lands of Hailes from the heir of Hercules Stewart of Whitelaw (d. 1594), Francis Stewart.  The Moneylagan estate was active in Linen production, which made the estate worth more the 500 pounds sterling a year.

Some of the Seton-Seaton-Seeton descendants of Sir John Seton, 2nd Baron of Barnes and of Moneylagan, settled and maintained the estate in Ireland (such as Hannibal Seaton) before it passed out of the family in the mid-1700's through the actions of the Viscount of Granard, who was expanding his estate there.

Sir George Seton, Knight, 3rd of Barnes (and 2nd of Hailes or "Haillis"): was a noted scholar at Oxford and was frequently referred as George Seatton of Hallis, or Dr. Seaton, and who had obtained a Degree of M.A. granted by University of St. Andrews, Doctor of Theology, and was a fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge circa 1619-1629, noted in the "Memorabilia Cantabrigiae" where in he was recommended personally by King James VI and I.

Sir John Seton 4th of Barnes, and of 3rd of Hailes (d. 03.1659):  active in the affairs of his father, he succeeded but died a relatively young man shortly afterwards in Edinburgh, and was buried at his request, "with decency, but without pomp or great show", and interred in the place of his father's burial at Seton Collegiate Church.  He was however twice married: his son George from his first marriage succeeding him; and from his second marriage to Lady Margaret Hay, the daughter of 9th Earl of Erroll and sister to Lady Ann Hay who married George Seton, 3rd Earl of Winton, he had son's: John Seton who settled in Ireland and from whom descend the Seaton/Seeton's of Nova Scotia; and Hannibal Seton who also had settled for a time on the family estate in Ireland, before returning to Scotland and becoming a Burgess of Haddington; as well as other issue.

Sir George Seton, 5th of Barnes Proclaimed the Pretender in 1715, and was acknowledged as the heir of the Earldom of Dunfermine.  He likewise claimed the Lordship of Urquhart, including the Abbott's House in Elgin, before selling the Lordship to the Gordon's.

The Seton's of Barnes have had descendants in both Scotland and Ireland, as well as into the America's, and the Senior representative in the late 1700's and early 1800's was Governor of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, heir to the Earldom of Dunfermline.

The Seeton's in Ireland and Nova Scotia then, descend from the younger son of Sir John Seton, 4th of Barnes, John Seton (or Seaton, younger of Barnes) who married m. Anna Lothian (married by the Dean, Mr. William Annand on 30th May, 1684) and who settled in Ireland.  Their grandson, Thomas Seaton is the ancestor.

The Seton's of Barnes having long held an interest and lands, in Ireland, and who were likewise long-active Mason's.  It is of no surprise then that our family that had settled in Ireland and continued the Masonic traditions there, brought them to Nova Scotia.

Click to read more

My 3rd great-grandfather, James Seton (Seaton-Seeton), was descended from Thomas Seaton and was born in the Scottish plantation of Ulster in 1776.  He married Martha Crawford (of the Moneylagan-Crawfords) in Donaghmore, Co. Donegal by the Rev'd Samuel Dill in 1808, and in 1822 left with his family from Belfast, Ireland and settled in Glenholm, Londonderry, Nova Scotia, Canada. 

The family in Nova Scotia were highly respected, active in real estate acquisition and were prominent Mason's.  They were also involved in various business ventures including: farming, grocery and Robert and Joseph Seeton's shipping business which held the contract for the overseas mail in the mid-to-late 19th century, as well as The Old Public House in downtown Halifax, which miraculously survived the Halifax Explosion during World War I.

Robert and Joseph were both younger sons of James Seeton (I), and their older brother, also James (2nd), acquired lands in various parts of Nova Scotia, finally settling in Meagher's Grant on what became known as the Seeton Farm.  The family farm there was passed to his son, also James (3rd), who had my grandfather Harold there in "The Grant".  Harold had, as his oldest son, Robert Seeton, my father, and I am Robert's oldest son.  I now live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  I am then, 6th generation in descent from James Seeton of Nova Scotia, where I was born in 1967.

Q: General Internet
Do you have any children?

I have three children, from my first marriage to Lorelee Mae Remus, of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  We were married while living in Ottawa, Canada (marriage in Bethesda, Washington, D.C., Aug. 25 1990).  My three children are Sarah Elizabeth Seton b.1993), James Alexander Seton (b.1994) and Natasha Mary Seton (b.1997).  Lorelee sadly passed away in Oct. 2000 and I subsequently married, 2nd, Maryna Syerhyeyeva of Kherson, Ukraine, in 2003 (later div, np).

Q: General Internet
What can you tell us about yourself?  What do you do for a living?

As a descendant of the House of Seton, I have a passion for preserving our family's history; which of course has resulted in this website and for which I put countless years into.  My life's work is both a combination of this, and of my career in telecommunications. 

My father was a soldier who later took up carpentry and my mother was a senior training and policy officer at National Defense and the Government of Canada and at the University of Ottawa, and they influenced me greatly.  I spent three years piping with the Regiment of the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa, and have travelled throughout the world; with a passion for Asia, and China in particular. 

I am a Telecommunications Professional, having spent all of my  career in that industry.  I started working in the Technology and Telecommunications field when I was 18 years old, where my first exposure working in technology was at a company called "Filtran", in Ottawa, Canada, manufacturing electronic components.  Shortly afterwards I got a job working at Canadian Marconi, assembling telecom circuit boards, and it was that job that changed my life. There I was able to learn the basics of fiber-optics, which skill later enabled me to work doing fiber-optics installations, which I was introduced to by a few friends who got me a job with a company "Elan": contracted to build the data communications infrastructure for Stentor Canada, where I became a Field Supervisor after two years.  I went on to work at Belnet Canada in both Ottawa and in Halifax, Nova Scotia, performing large commercial data and voice communications installations, where I was a senior technology consultant and was later promoted to Vice-President of Operations for Eastern Canada 1996-97. 

After 1 year of service there, I moved my young family to Montreal in 1997, where I began working as a consultant for various companies as well as operating my own small communications business for two years, and where my youngest daugher was born.  In 1999, I took opportunity to join Frontier ConferTech as a 2nd level Global Field Technician and worked to be the local Engineering Site Manager for the Montreal facility, and I stayed on during the merger with Global Crossing and was promoted to 3rd Level Engineering, working with both the Conferencing Division as well as with Transmission Engineering for the global fiber optics design and support group. 

Following the bankruptcy of Global Crossing, and with almost 20 years in direct telecom design, installation, support and management, I was offered to join SITA, (the Societe Internationale de la Telecommunications Aeronautique) in their newly forming Global Network Operations Centre, which they were undertaking to build in Montreal, Canada, and as the first employee hired to be part of the team there.  Following a successful 5 years at SITA, I left to pursue a position at Superclick Networks, in the Hotel industry's wireless and HSIA service, managing their installations around the world, and was very successful in the Asian contracts.  Presently, I for the Norwegian communications pioneering company, TANDBERG, with the Videoconferencing service and support team in Montreal.

> Next page