The Official History of the Seeton Family of Nova Scotia (updated December 2009 - Please Note Important Changes)

The founder of this branch of the House of Seton was the 3rd son of George Seton 7th Lord Seton, Sir John Seton of Barnes.  Sir John's son and heir also called Sir John Seton, 2nd Baron of Barnes, purchased the land and estate of Moneylagan in Ireland and from him descend the Seton/Seaton/Seeton's of Nova Scotia.

Later, another John Seton younger of Barnes, married Anna Lothian and had son's who remained in Ireland after the family's estate was lost to the acquisitious Viscount Granard.  His brother, Hannibal Seaton was noted in rolls in Moneylagan, while their father Sir John Seton was in Shrule, Co. Longford, c1659.

Descended from John Seton and Anna Lothian was Thomas Seaton / Seeton / Seton, and of Thomas Seaton was also know very little.  We do know from Nova Scotian family notes from his son James, that he had three children: Mary, Thomas and James.  While there are precious few records remaining for this period in Ireland, his sons are listed on the Freeholder's List for 1796 in the Barony of Dungannon.  James Seeton's records in the Londonderry and Glenholm, Nova Scotia, state that he came from Ireland, that he was of Scottish descent, and that he had had a brother Thomas and a sister Mary.

Thomas Seaton (senior) died in 1811, aged 84 years and was buried in the Presbyterian Graveyard in the Town or Townland of Glebe (Derryloran also called Donaghenry), in the Civil Parish of Donaghenry, Donaghenry Old, County Tyrone, Ulster, Ireland.  Of his three children: 1st a daughter Mary who died early in life at 19 years of age; 2nd his eldest son and heir also called Thomas (3rd) who died shortly after his father; and of course his 2nd son James Seeton, who married Martha Crawford of County Tyrone and who later emigrated to Nova Scotia and from whom descends the Seeton's of Nova Scotia.  (Note: Thomas may also have had other children who remained in Ireland who also utilized the spelling of Seeton as their family-name - noticed for George Seeton/Seaton who married Mary Coulter (called "Grimble or Trimble" in error) and who immigrated to America in the mid-to-late 1800's and his brother John Seeton who ended up in Australia circa the same time frame).

The family were ardent Freemason's, and Presbyterians, tradition's carried on for generations.  It was maintained that the family were a branch of the House of Seton, that the famed Mary Seton who had served Queen Mary Stuart was a sister of our ancestor, that we had originated in Seton, Scotland, and that there was a connection to a "Title and a castle in the Highlands", etc....  With the family records and Bible having been lost in a fire at the Seeton Farm in Nova Scotia, researches into the origins for which branch of the family we descended from have taken generations to restore.

The history of the Seton family with the Estate of Barnes and of Ireland is a long one, where it was recorded:

Sir Alexander got from his royal uncle, Robert Bruce, important grants of land for services rendered by his father, and also certain honorable and uncommon additions to his paternal coat of arms. A little later he received another grant — this time of the Barony of Barnes, in East Lothian, for his own services, particularly in Ireland, whither he had accompanied the king's brother, Edward Bruce.

" The appeal of the Irish chieftains for deliverance from their English conquerors, the Scottish expedition to Ireland, the crowning of Edward Bruce as King of Ireland in 1316, his victorious march at the head of a small army of Scotchmen, with very little native assistance, from Carrickfergus to Limerick, his unsuccessful siege of Dublin, his retreat northward, and his final defeat and death with nearly all of his followers at the battle of Dundalk, on October 5, 1318, is one of the most chivalrous episodes, as it was one of the most ill-advised measures, in the history of Scotland.

"Sir Alexander Seton was one of the thirty-nine nobles and others who assembled in Pariiament at the Abbey of Arbroath on April 6, 1320, and addressed that famous letter to Pope John XXII. at Avignon, which is one of the most spirited and patriotic documents in history. It induced the Holy See to recognize the independence of Scotland and the title of King Robert Bruce.

" Sir Alexander was a benefactor of the monasteries at Haddington, and looked only to pass his remaining years in piety and repose; but the peace of the kingdom was violently broken by the attempt of Edward Baliol to seize the crown after the death of Bruce, and during the minority of his son David II.''

The Estate of Barnes having been in the family possession almost as long:

Of William Seton, 1st Lord Seton; "Lord Seton belonged to the third Order of Saint Francis, and dying in February, 1409, was buried in the Church of the Franciscan Friars in Haddington, to whom he left by will six loads of coal weekly, out of his coal-pit of Tranent, and forty shillings annually, to be charged to his estate of Barnes. His widow is described as a virtuous and energetic woman, who got husbands for four of her daughters, and built a chantry on the south side of the parish church of Seton, prepared a tomb for herself there, and made provision for a priest to say mass perpetually for the repose of her soul."
 

Sir John Seton, 1st Baron of Barnes (d 05.1594).  Knight of the Order of St. James of Calatrava 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, the highest Honour that he could bestow upon a subject.  He was recalled home to Scotland by King James VI, and so distinguished was he that he was recalled by his King; not wanting to have so noble a subject be lost from his Court and Kingdom.  He was appointed Treasurer, Master of the Kings Horse, and Master of the Kings Household (1586) and an Extraordinary Lord in the College of Justice as Lord Barnes (1588) in place of his younger brother Alexander Seton who at that time was Lord Urquhart, (later Lord Fyvie and 1st Earl of Dunfermline, and Chancellor of Scotland) and who was promoted to President of the College of Justice.

The 2nd Sir John Seton of Barnes was a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber and officer of the Court of King Charles I.  He succeeded his father and was a noted companion of the Marquis of Montrose in 1646. 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. He is noted in the Funeral of Chancellor Seton in 1622, and he later acquired the lands of Hailes from the heirs of Hercules Stewart of Whitelaw (d. 1594).  With the acquisition of the Castle and Estate of Hailes, he left his father's work at Barnes unfinished. 

Sir John Seton's son from his first wife (a daughter of Baron Ogilvy of Poury), Alexander Seton, travelled to Ireland and while visiting his father's estate met and married a daughter of the family of O'Ferrall's, or the O'Ferrall's of Buoy, Lords of Annaly in Co. Longford, Ireland, and was known as Alexander Seton of Monylagan (or Mionylangain).  Later, he was accused of having collaborated with the "Ferrell's" who had been known to have acted against the British Monarchy in the interest of Ireland, and was imprisoned in Dublin before being transferred to the Tolbooth in Edinburgh, from which imprisonments he became gravely ill and later died, predeceasing his father and leaving no issue; Seton Estate in Ireland however, remained in the hands of the Seton's of Barnes.

He was succeeded by his son Sir George Seton (of Hailes) from his third marriage to the daughter of Sir John Home of North Berwick.  There were continual legal actions between the Seton's of Barnes and the Seton's of Garleton, over encroaching on the lands of Barnes, during the late 17th century and noted in Edinburgh court records.

The Seton's of Barnes became generally known as the Seton's of Hailes (or Hallis) after their acquisition of that Castle (from the heirs of Hercules Stewart), and who also had later acquired Crichton Castle, albeit briefly, from James Stewart, brother of Lord John Stewart, Prior of Coldingham.  In 1650, Hailes was largely dismantled by Cromwell's forces during the raids in Scotland, along with many other Seton strongholds, and left in ruins.  Sir George Seton "quitted" Hailes Castle during Cromwells sacking of Dunbar, and was later reimbursed by the Government to the sum of 4,700 "in English money for troops quartered on his tenants and for damage caused by them", in 1650.  He pursued the Irish Estate of his father noted in legal proceedings records in Edinburgh.  The ruined castle and estate of Hailes was eventually sold by Sir George Seton, 5th of Barnes in 1700 to Sir David Dalrymple, of the noted legal family (who's son became Lord Hailes) and who died in 1721.

George Seton (Seaton) of Barnes pursued the Irish Estate from Sir Arthur Forbes, Viscount Granard, when Forbes assumed ownership of that estate in Ireland as he was expanding his territory there.  The courts records in Edinburgh noted for years during the 18th century, and the estate was finally lost to Forbes.  The Seton/Seaton/Seeton descandants (such as Hannibal Seaton) having to locate elsewhere throughout Ireland.

Some of the descent of the Seton's of Barnes were Vice-Admirals and Governor's of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Carribean, and also Governor's of Gibraltar (the son of Anne Seton and John Don - General Sir George Don); in the late 1700's and early 1800's.

For the Seeton family of Nova Scotia, some of them are buried in Ireland as per the Headstone inscription from Dungannon as follows:

Here lieth the body of Mary Seaton who departed this life May 9th 1781 aged
19 years. Also Thomas Seaton who departed this life 14th May 1811 aged 84
also his son Thomas who departed this life 19th June 1818 aged 44 years.
Also Jane Seaton also departed this life 18th Novr. 1828 aged 103 years.

It is likewise recorded for the Seeton's in Nova Scotia that James Seeton, 1st of Nova Scotia, had a brother Thomas and a sister Mary.  We know that James was the youngest of his family, and the above inscription confirms that, by the death-date of his father, brother and sister.  James was born circa 1776, was married to Martha Crawford of County Tyrone in 1808 in Donaghmore, County Donegal by the Rev'd Samuel Dill.  He and his family immigrated to Nova Scotia, Canada, leaving from the port of Belfast in either May 1821 or the 22nd of June 1822 and arriving in St. John's New Brunswick in either June 1821 or the 22nd of July, 1822 respectively.  There are two stories regarding their crossing, which are both currently under research.  Nevertheless. they remained in St. John's for only one month before settling at Londonderry, Nova Scotia (now called Glenholm, just north of Truro) and he died there in his 82nd year, in 1858.

Our family then, descends from Thomas Seton (Seaton), who’s descendant, James Seeton (also spelt "Seaton" and "Seton") was raised in County Tyrone and married in Donaghmore, County Donegal, Ireland.  James married Martha Crawford of nearby County Tyrone, in 1808.  James was a Presbyterian, and an active freemason like most of the family.  They were married in the Donaghmore Presbyterian Church in Co. Donegal by the Reverend Samuel Dill, Presbyterian, and had seven children, the first four children were born in Ireland:  Mary Ann (1810), Andrew (1812), James (1814) and Elizabeth (1818).  In 1820 and 1821, James attempted to gain a grant of land in the colony of Nova Scotia and was unsuccessful.  However, in June of 1822, after liquidating his assets, he left on a ship with his family from Belfast, Ireland and landed in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, in July, 1822.  There he remained with his family for one month before acquiring land in what was then called Londonderry, Nova Scotia, just north of the city of Truro.  James and Martha had three other children in Nova Scotia:  John-William Seeton, Joseph Seeton, and Robert Barry Seeton.

The family is listed on the 1838 Census for Londonderry, Nova Scotia, held in the National Archives in Ottawa, Canada.

Of the family in Nova Scotia, some remained there and others left for America.  However, before the death of James Seeton Sr., the principle family had relocated from the farm at Londonderry to that of Meagher's Grant near Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia.  Besides farming, the family in Nova Scotia were also involved in land investing and in various business ventures, including Robert and Joseph Seeton's merchant and shipping business which held the contract for the overseas mail in the mid-to-late 19th century and having a marital-alliance with the Inman family of the famed shipping line, and 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, and their older brothers', Andrew and James, acquired lands in various parts of Nova Scotia, also finally settling in Meagher's Grant. 

Author's note: The senior line of the family of Nova Scotia, then, follows that of Andrew Seeton and Matilda Porter and which line I will follow along with shortly. The family farm at Meagher's Grant, known as the Seeton Farm was passed to James Seeton (3rd), who had my grandfather Harold there in "The Grant", before passing it to the Bayers family.  Harold (d. Nov, 1963) had, as his oldest son, Robert Seeton, my father, and I (website author Kenneth Robert Seton) am Robert's oldest son and now live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Some of the Nova Scotia family buried in the Cemetery at Meagher's Grant, Nova Scotia are as follows:

SEETON, Aldon R.  b. d. 1863 age 10
SEETON, Rupert b.  d. 1875 age 4 mos
sons of James & Sophia SEETON broken stone

SEETON, Fenwick Willliam b.  d. June 14, 1867 age 4 mos, son of Andrew & Matilda SEETON
SEETON, Frances b. 1864 d. 1940
 

SEETON, James b. d. Nov. 9, 1901 age 87

SEETON, James E.  b. 1870 d. 1936
SEETON, Emma M.  b. 1872 d. 1939

SEETON, John W.  b. 1844 d. 1907
VAUGHAN, Margaret b. 1859 d. 1903

SEETON, Joseph H.  b. 1846 d. 1922
SEETON, Annie L. b. 1855 d. 1951

SEETON, Lottie Maggie b.  d. Dec. 30, 1880 age 1 mo
daughter of Howard & Ruby SEETON

SEETON, Mary b. Oct. 2, 1834 d. May 29, 1918
wife of James SEETON

SEETON, Maud b.  d. May 4, 1900 age 23
daughter of James & Mary SEETON

SEETON, William S.  b. March 26, 1879 d. Jan. 11, 1943
buried at Crescent City, California, USA
SEETON, Frederick E.  b. Jan. 6, 1886 d. Aug. 18, 1963
buried at Gays River, NS