Hendry family of Arran

[Eanruig]

My ancestor Robert Hendry (father- John Hendry) emigrated from Arran Scotland to America (North Carolina) circa 1770. He is said to be a native of the isle and from the northern area of Lochranza. In my great(2x) grandmother's Bible it says he was banished for support of "Bonnie Prince Charlie" but I suspect the Highland Clearances were the cause for leaving. I have always been told that the Hendry family was formerly MacHendry(MacEanruig?) and part of Clan MacNaughton but I find it is also tied to Clan Henderson. I'm wondering why this branch of Hendry's ended up on the Isle of Arran - away from the lands of their brothers. I would very grateful for any knowledgeable information pertaining to this line of Hendry.

[jafapete]

Hi Eanruig,
Presumably, you are familiar with:
Robert Hendry, R.S.

My connection with the Arran Hendrys is tenuous (my great-great grandmother's sister married one) and I can't claim to know a great deal about them, but...

I can tell you that your ancestor was probably not displaced by the Clearances if he left around 1770, although the wretched condition of many tenant farming and cottar families on Arran was more than sufficient reason to seek a better life elsewhere. It wasn't until 1766, that the seventh Duke of Hamilton’s trustees commissioned John Burrell, a factor at the Duke’s Firth of Forth estates, to draw up plans for ‘improving’ the Arran estate. It was eventually decided that the 99 run-rig farms on the island, then supporting some 1100 families, would be divided into 250 farms, each to support one family. But it took 70 years from 1772, when the first leases came up for renewal until the Duke of Hamilton's estate was divided into 458 family farms. The process took longer than Burrell anticipated, most of the changes on the western side of the island coming some decades into the nineteenth century. It might pay to check whether the first new leases were in the Penrioch-Lochranza area.

While you're right to be sceptical - Charlie had been gone for a quarter century by 1770 - the family tradition about fleeing on account of his support of "Bonnie Prince Charlie" is much more romantic, so why not stick with that?

The Hendrys don't get a mention in the text of the "Book of Arran", although in Appendix B a Robert Hendry is listed as a tacksman (principal tenant) of Penrioch (with a Neill Robison) in 1773, which was a promotion, since the tacksman in 1766 was John Currie. Another Robert Hendry is listed as tacksman for Glenrosie in 1766 & 1772, and a J.D. Hendrys at Algollach.

Penrioch is about five miles south of Lochranza on the west road and Glenrossie is near Brodick.

Robertson, in "Clans of Shiskine: Past and Present", doesn't mention the Hendrys, excpet in a list of attendees at a meeting of the Kilmory Parish Kirk Session at Clachan, Shiskine, in 1719:
"the following gentlemen were present :-- Dougald Bannatyne, minister; Elders-Patrick M'Nargid, Auchencarr; Patrick Silver, Sliddery; Robert Hendry, Peneoch; ..."

Looking at the pre-1855 monumental inscriptions, most of the Hendrys are indeed buried at Lochranza, lots in fact. Many of them farmed in Penrioch and Algollach. The loss of the Kilmory Parish Records of the early-mid 18thC means that we can't research family connections for that period using the PRs.

Hope this helps.

Cheers Peter

[cartolina9136]

Ah I know a Arran Hendry. Check him on facebook! x

[BonnieGal]

Eanruig, I think you and I might be related!

My mother descends from at least two different Henry/Hendry lines--one Jane Henry from Long Island, NY, (daughter of a Scots-born William Henry and his wife Jennet Wiley) married another William Henry in North Carolina! Apparently the two Henry families were not related--William Henry the husband of Jane (known as "Long Billy" Henry) was descended from the Henry/Hendry family of the Isle of Arran. We're not so certain about Jane's father William Henry (known as "Tailor Billy" Henry), but he may have come from the area around Glencoe, Scotland.

Both families seem to have left Scotland around the same time--the late 1700's. Tailor Billy apparently settled briefly in New York before moving down to NC. The family of Long Billy seems to have come straight from Arran to NC--they settled in the Bladen/New Hanover/Pender county area of NC. There's still a church in Ivanhoe (Bladen County) NC built by the "men from Arran" as they were known--it's called "Black River Presbyterian Church" and I believe it's on the National Register of Historic Places. The church is still an active place of worship. It's a great place to visit, and the cemetery is full of gravestones of the first Scots from Arran.