Sir William Seton of Seton, Winton, Tranent and Winchburgh, West Lothian, 1^st Lord Seton, had by his wife, Katherine, daughter of Sir William Sinclair of Herdmanston, two sons.  The elder, Sir John Seton of Seton, was ancestor of the Earls of Winton, attainted 1716; of the Earls of Dunfermline, Lords of Fyvie and Urquhart, attainted 1690; and of the Viscounts of Kingston, attainted 1715.  The second son, Sir Alexander, was the ancestor of the Seton’s of Strathbogie and of Garioch, the Gordon Earls of Huntly and their descent.

Sir Alexander Seton married, circa 1408, Elizabeth de Gordon, heiress of Gordon, and became the 1st Lord Gordon, and their three sons were Alexander, 1st Earl of Huntly; William, 1st Seton Laird of Meldrum; and Henry, dsp., killed along with his brother William at the battle of Brechin (1452).

Seton of Meldrum

I. – William Seton married Elizabeth de Meldrum, heiress of Meldrum, whose mother was a daughter of the Earl of Sutherland.  He fell in the battle of Brechin, in 1452 (p. 112).

II. – Alexander Seton 2^nd of Meldrum, their son, married Muriel, daughter of Sutherland, ancestor of the Lord Duffus.  He was served heir to his mother in 1456.

III. – William Seton 3^rd of Meldrum was put in possession of the estate in his father’s lifetime, but predeceased him.  He and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Leslie of Wardes, had a charter of Balcairn, in 1490.  She married John Collison, Provost of Aberdeen, after the decease of her husband, William Seton (p. 138).

IV. – Alexander Seton 4^th of Meldrum (p. 137), son of William, was, in 1512, served heir to his grandfather in the Lordship of Meldrum.  He was killed at Aberdeen in 1527.  He married – 1^st Agnes, daughter of Patrick Gordon of Haddo, ancestor of the Earls of Aberdeen, and had by her two sons, William of Meldrum and Alexander of Mounie.  By his second wife, Janet, daughter and co-heiress of George Leith of Barnes he had John Seton of Disblair (Blair), who got a charter, in 1526, of the lands of Auchleven (whence he began the house later known as Licklyhead), Drumrossy, and others, inheriting also Blair (Disblair) from his mother.

V. – William Seton 5^th of Meldrum, served heir to his father Alexander in 1533, married (first) Janet, daughter of James Gordon of Lesmoir, and by her had three sons – Alexander of Meldrum, John of Lomphard, afterwards of Mounie, and William of Slattie.  By his second wife, Margaret, daughter of Innes of Leuchars, he had two sons – George Seton of Barra and James Seton of Pitmedden.  William Seton of Meldrum died in 1571.

VI. – Alexander Seton 6^th of Meldrum, served heir to his father William, 3^rd May 1581, married twice.  His first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Irvine of Drum, bare him one son, Alexander, who married, in 1584, Christian, daughter of Michael Fraser of Stoneywood, and a daughter, Elizabeth – afterwards heiress of Meldrum, and ancestor of the Urquharts of Meldrum.  He died before his father, having been killed in 1590 (p.151).  The second marriage of Alexander, 6^th of Meldrum, was with Jean, daughter of Alexander, 6^th Lord Abernethy of Saltoun.  Two sons were born of it – John ; and William, the last Seton of Meldrum – and two daughters, Margaret, wife of Chalmers of Balbithan, and Isabel, wife of Erksine of Pittodrie.

VII. – John Seton 7^th of Meldrum succeeded his father, and married Lady Grizel Stewart, but died without issue, about 1619, and was succeeded by,

VIII. – William Seton 8^th of Meldrum, his brother, who married Ann, daughter of James Crichton of Frendraught.  Having no children, he settled the estate, in 1635, upon Patrick Urquhart of Lethinty, the son of his niece, Elizabeth Seton, by her marriage with John Urquhart of Craigfintry, Tutor of Cromarty, contracted in 1610.

Patrick Urquhart, first Urquhart of Meldrum, succeeded about 1636.  His mother, in her widowhood married Sir Alexander Fraser of Philorth, afterwards tenth Lord Saltoun, and had a son, Alexander, who died Master of Saltoun, in 1682, and was the father of William, eleventh Lord Saltoun.

Arms: - Seton (Meldrum, co. Aberdeen; heiress m. Urquhart, of Craigfintry).  Quarterly, 1^st and 4^th, or, three crescents within a double tressure flory counterflory gu. ; 2^nd and 3^rd, argent, a demi otter sable issuing out of a bar wavy crowned gules, for Meldrum.

Seton of Lumphart, Broomhill and of Mounie, First Line, and of Udny and Menie

I.                     – John Seton of Lumphard, son of William Seton, fifth of Meldrum, and Nephew of Alexander Seton the Vicar of Bethelnie and Chancellor of the Diocese of Aberdeen, got the separate farms of the lands of Mounie, which had been held partly by his father and partly by his uncle Alexander, under Episcopal Charter of 1556, united under a Great Seal Charter in 1575.  He married Marjory, daughter of John Panton of Pitmedden, and dying about 1596, left a son,

II.                   – William Seton of Mounie; who was served heir in 1597; and, in 1598, was admitted an honorary burgess of Aberdeen, at the request of Alexander Seton, Lord Fyvie. He married Helen, daughter and heiress of Udny of that Ilk; and in 1623, under the designation of William Seton of Udny, he sold Mounie to John Urquhart of Craigfintry and Elizabeth Seton, his wife, heiress of Meldrum.  Their son, Patrick Urquhart, disponed Mounie in 1636-7 to Mr. Robert Farquhar, - whose heirs lost the lands by bankruptcy in 1702; when they became temporarily the property of Alexander Hay of Arnbath, and were re-purchased, in 1714, by George Seton, ancestor of the present Setons of Mounie.  William Seton had two sons – William Seton of Menie and Alexander Seton of Kinloch, which last died in 1672.

III.                 – William Seton, called of Menie (Meanie), in Buchan, son of William of Mounie and Helen Udny, married Margaret Graham, daughter of Sir Robert Graham of Morphie, and had a son,

IV.                 – William Seton of Menie, whose son,

V.                   – James Seton, last of Menie, died without issue in 1707, when the line was represented by

VI.                 – Robert Seton of Scotsmiln, son of Alexander Seton of Kinloch the second son of William Seton of Mounie and Helen Udny.

VII.               – Captain Robert Seton, Captain of Blackness Castle, his son, was the last of the line.  He had a son also Robert Seton and commonly called “of Mexico”, in Belhelvie who predeceased him, sp.

Setons of Mounie. Second Line

I.                     – George Seton, Advocate, who was the second son of Sir Alexander Seton (a Lord of Session, by the Title of Lord Pitmedden), having inherited a considerable provision from his mother, purchased Mounie.  By his second wife, Ann, daughter of John Leslie of Tocher, grandson of James Leslie of Warthill, he had a son and several daughters, of whom Isabela married Dr. Skene Ogilvy, minister of Old Machar.  He died about 1763.

II.                   – William Seton, the son, succeeded his father, but died unmarried, and was succeeded by his sister, Margaret Seton, wife of James Anderson, LL.D., of Cobenshaw, who, in terms of succession, assumed the name of Seton.  Their son became

III.                 – Alexander Seton of Mounie (born 1769, died 1850).  He married, in 1810, his cousin, Janet Skene, daughter of the above named Dr. Skene Ogilvie, and had three sons – Alexander, David and George.  George, a Major in the Army, married Anne-Lucy, daughter of Baldwin Wake, Esq., grandson of Sir William Wake of Courteen Hall, Northamptonshire, seventh Baronet, and has issue – Alexander,David.

IV.                 – Alexander Seton, Colonel in the Army, was the commander of the troops on board the troop-ship ‘Birkenhead,’ which was wrecked, 26^th February, 1852, near the Cape of Good Hope, when Colonel Seton and almost all on board perished.  He was succeeded by his brother,

V.                   – David Seton, of Mounie, formerly an Officer in the 93^rd Highlanders and 49^th Regiment.

Arms: - Seton (Mounie, co. Aberdeen).  As Pitmedden, with a crescent az. in the centre of the quarters.

Setons of Blair

John Seton of , son of Alexander Seton, fourth of Meldrum, and his second wife, Janet Leith, daughter and co-heiress of George Leith of Barnes, inherited Blair from his mother.  His descendants cannot be traced continuously.

        William Seton of Blair was a burgess of Aberdeen in 1595; and superior of Licklyhead.

        William Seton of Blair was served heir to his father William in 1612 and 1616.  He had a brother, Alexander, admitted a burgess of Aberdeen, 20^th September, 1619.  in 1629, William was in the service of the Marquis of Huntly, as one of Chamberlains to the Marquis, and noted in the Domestic Annals of Scotland as having been included in the charges against the Marquis for encouraging popery on his estates.  The Council in Edinburgh following this, so charged Seton to be removed from his residence as a result and to be jailed.  Through the influence of the Marquis, Seton and others under the Marquis' service were shielded from the religiously-motivated actions of the Council.

        George Seton of Blair, in 1651, was noted as having protested against the appointment of an assistant and successor to the minister of Bourtie.  His daughters, Margaret and Elizabeth, were served heirs portioners in the lands of Blair in 1661; and are so stated in the Poll Book, 1696.  George seems to have been a physician, and was regarded by the Church Courts as a propagator of Romanism.

Individuals of the two Aberdeenshire families of the name of Seton – viz., Setons of Schethin and of Disblair (connected with the Seton’s of Meldrum) – appear in the Spalding Club publications.  The Abreviates of Retours of Service contain the following notices: -

Setons of Disblair

April 26^th, 1623 – William Seton of Disbair, heir portioner of Andrew Tulliduff of that Ilk, his grandfather on the mother’s side.  Feb. 27^th, 1658 – William Seton, sometime of Easter Disblair, heir male and of taillzie of John Seton of Easter Disblair, his brother, in the lands of Easter Disblair and the Mill of Cavill, within the Regality of St. Andrews.

Setons of Schethin

Oct. 4^th, 1625 – To George Seton of Schethin deceased, his son, William Seton of Schethin, served heir in various lands, 4^th October.  June 26^th, 1668 – Mr. William Seton, Rector of Logie Buchan, server heir to his brother, Mr. John Seton, Minister of the Church of Foveran, in the lands of Schethin, in the parish of Tarves, 26^th June.  Nov. 1^st, 1672 – James Seton, son of Mr. William Seton, Minister at Logie Buchan, served heir to his said father, in the lands of Schethin, in the parish of Tarves.

Seton of Meldrum to note:

William Seton was a noted as one of the most learned men of his time.  In his "History of Scottish Writers", Dempster refers to William Seton Regius Professor of Jurisprudence at Angiers, as one of the greatest lawyers of his age.  He was residing at Rome when Dempster wrote his History (c. 1627), and was the same "le docteur William Seton" mentioned by Francisque Michel (Les Ecassais en France, ii. 295) as one of the most learned men of his time - a distinguished "jurisconsulte," and, in the opinion of his contemporaries, "le flambeau de l'epoque".

Seton of Bourtie, now of Pitmedden

Mr. George Seton of Barra, Chancellor of Aberdeen, and his brother and heir, were the sons of William Seton, fifth of Meldrum, by his second wife, Margaret, daughter of Innes of Leuchars.  William Seton of Meldrum, the Chancellors nephew, was, in 1627, served heir male to him in Barra, - which must have meant part of Barra, as James Seton was, in 1598, styled portioner of Barra.

I.                     – James Seton, portioner of Barra, in 1598, acquired from the Barclays of Towie the lands of Auld Bourtie, with the Mill, Hillbrae, Selbie, and Lochtulloch; which two last properties were afterwards sold to Sir George Johnston of Caskieben.  He married Margaret, grand-daughter of Mr. William Rolland, Master of the Mint at Aberdeen to King James V.  In 1619, in a Crown charter of Auchmore, &c., he was styled of Pitmedden.

II.                   – Alexander Seton of Pitmedden, his son (served heir to him in 1628), married Beatrix, daughter of Sir Walter Ogilvy of Dunglass, sister of George, first Lord Banff.  He had a charter in 1630 of the estate of Barra disponed to him by William Seton, last of Meldrum.  He was succeeded by his son,

III.                 – John Seton of Pitmedden, the Royalist soldier; who, in 1633 shortly after succeeding, married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Samuel Johnston of Elphinston, by whom he had two sons.  He fell in battle at the Bridge of Dee, in June, 1639, with the Royal Standard in his hands, and was buried with military honours by the Covenanters’ General, the Earl of Montrose.  His two sons, James and Alexander, left fatherless very young, were taken charge of by the Earl of Winton, their mother marrying the Earl of Hartfell.  The boys were educated at Marischal College, and both attained some eminence.  “Bonnie John” of Pitmedden’s elder son,

IV.                 – James Seton of Pitmedden entered the Navy, after having spent some time in foreign travel.  He fought in the victory obtained over the Dutch by the Duke of York, off Harwich in 1665.  He died of wounds received in another naval engagement, in 1667.  He had sold Bourtie, in 1657, to Mr. James Reid, Advocate, Aberdeen.  He was married, but died without issue in London.  His brother,

V.                   – Sir Alexander Seton, a Judge oft eh Court of Session, by the title of Lord Pitmedden, under Charles II., was his successor in Pitmedden.  He was Knighted in 1664, and appointed a Judge in 1677.  He served in several Parliaments for Aberdeenshire; and in 1684 Charles II. Bestowed upon him the rank of Baronet.  After the Revolution, King William offered him his old position of Judge, but he declined, thinking acceptance incompatible with the oaths previously taken.  He married Margaret, daughter of William Lauder, one of the Clerks of Session, and had, besides several other children, two sons – Sir William, his heir, and Mr. George Seton, Advocate, first of the second Setons of Mounie.  Sir Alexander died at a very advanced age, in 1719.  Of three daughters, Elizabeth married Sir Alexander Wedderburn of Blackness, Bart.; Margaret married Sir John Lauder of Fountainhall, Bart.; and Anne married William Dick of Grange.  The Baronets, Dick Lauder of Grange, descend from a son of Margaret and a daughter Anne.

VI.                 – Sir William Seton, second Baronet of Pitmedden, who in his father’s lifetime represented Aberdeenshire in the Scottish Parliament from 1702 to 1706, (when Queen Anne appointed him one of the Commissioners about the union between Scotland and England,) married Katherine, daughter of Sir Thomas Burnet of Leys, and had five sons and four daughters.  He died in 1744, and was succeeded by three of his five sons, and by a son of his fifth son.  Two of his daughters married; Margaret becoming the wife of Sir John Paterson, Bart.; and Katherine, the wife of Rev. – Forbes.

VII.               – Sir Alexander Seton of Pitmedden succeeded his father as third Baronet.  He was an Officer in the Guards, and died, s.p., at Pitmedden House, in July, 1750, aged 47.

VIII.             - Sir William Seton of Pitmedden, fourth Baronet, succeeded his brother, but died s.p.

IX.                – Sir Archibald Seton of Pitmedden, fifth Baronet, succeeded his brother.  He was in the Royal Navy.  He died, s.p.

X.                  – Sir William Seton of Pitmedden, sixth Baronet, son of Charles Seton, the fifth son of the second Baronet, succeeded his uncle, Sir Archibald.  Sir William married Margaret, daughter of James Ligertwood of Tillery, and had issue – 1, Charles, died young; 2, James, Major in the 92^nd Highlanders, killed in the Peninsular War, 1814.  He married Frances, daughter of Captain George Coote, nephew of Sir Eyre Coote, and had issue, William Coote, who succeeded his grandfather.  Sir William died in 1819, and was succeeded by his grandson,

XI.                – Sir Wiliam Coote Seton of Pitmedden, seventh Baronet, who was admitted a member of the Faculty of Advocates, Edinburgh, in 1831.  He married, in 1834, Eliza Henrietta, daughter of Henry Lumsden of Cushnie, county Aberdeen, and relict of Captain John Wilson, H.E.I.C.S., and had issue: - 1, James Lumsden, Captain 102^nd Foot (retired); 2, William Samuel, major, Bombay Staff Corps, married Eva Kate St. Leger, only daughter of Colonel Hastings Wood, C.B., and has issue; 3, Henry, in Holy Orders, died, unmarried, in 1867; 4, Matthew, Barrister-at-Law, married Theresa Prudence Rose, only daughter of Mr. Pierre Bonnet; 5, Charles; daughters – 1, Eliza, wife of David Bryce Brown, Esq., M.D.; 2, Magdalen Frances, wife of Arthur Talbot Bevan, Esq.; 3, Frances.

Arms; - Seton (Pitmedden, co. Aberdeen, bart., 1684).  Quarterly, 1^st and 4^th, or, three crescents, and in the centre a man’s heart distilling blood, the whole within a double tressure flory and counterflory gu., for Seton; 2^nd and 3^rd, ar. a demi otter sa. crowned or issuing out of a bar wavy of the second, for Meldrum.  Crest – A demi man in military habit, holding the banner of Scotland, proper.  Supporters – Dexter, a deerhound argent collared – gu. charged with a crescent or; sinister, an otter sa.  Mottos – Above the crest: Sustento sanguine signa; below the arms: Merces haec certa laborum.