Aye, I have Scottish Urquhart ancestors❣️

My Watts, Gooden/Goodwin, and Urquhart lines.

Lydia Watts and Lewis Gooden are my 4th great-grandparents. Through DNA, I have been able to confirm that the James Watts that is directly next to Lewis Gooden in the 1820 U.S. Census for Crawford County, Illinois was the father of Lydia Watts.

Watts

Lydia Watts was born in Virginia and was the daughter of James Watts and unknown. She died before 1849. Her husband Lewis Gooden is found in the 1830 US Census in Crawford County, Illinois. He was in Illinois, Washington County, Arkansas by the 1850 US Census. She either died in Crawford County, Illinois or came with him to Arkansas and died there. She had numerous siblings and I am a DNA match to many descendants of her siblings as well as some DNA matches to descendants of her Watts’ uncles and aunts.

Her father James Watts was born 2 April 1772 in South Branch Potomac River, Virginia and died on 14 March 1820 in Crawford County, Illinois. He was the son of John Watts, Sr. and Mary Johnson. You will find my ancestors John Watts, Sr. and his son James Watts in the above Watts Cemetery Memorial.

John Watts, Sr. (the father of James Watts) was born 14 Dec. 1741 in Virginia and died 8 June 1830 in Cumberland, Tennessee. John Watts, Sr. was the son of James Watts and Rachel _____.

James Watts (the father of John Watts, Sr.) lived in Virginia. He may have been a descendant of Edward Watts who came from from Somerset, England and was an early arrival in America, coming to Virginia first in 1640 and marrying in Stafford County and then travelling between England and Virginia over the rest of his life. I do not have any additional details or a confirmed parentage for James Watts to share currently.

Watts surname meaning: Wat as a given name in England dates back to the 8th century and an early Saxon king of Sussex (who was recorded in charters at the time as Wattus rex). A later Wat was Wat Tyler, leader of the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381. Wat de Carnegy appeared in Scotland in 1446. Wat by this time was short for Walter, a popular name in medieval times derived from the Germanic Wattier or Wautier brought to England by the Normans.

In England Watts was a surname of southern England but was widely spread there. It was found on the east coast and the west coast, with the largest numbers in London. (3)

Gooden/Goodwin

The name is found in English church records in Conisbrough and in American records as Gooden, Goodin, and Goodwin

Lewis Gooden was born in Virginia. DNA has shown, he was the son of Thomas Gooden who was born 23 Nov. 1752 in Culpepper, Virginia and died 1820 in Greasy Creek, Bell County, Kentucky. Thomas Gooden was a Virginia Revolutionary War veteran.

Thomas Gooden was the son of Benjamin Goodwin (Goodin) and Hannah Urquhart. Benjamin Goodin was born Dec. 1724 in Conisbrough, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, he died 1801 in Knox County, Kentucky.

Through DNA matches with Goodin cousins in England, it has shown that Benjamin Gooden was the son of Humphrey Goodin and his first wife Hannah Ellison. Both of Conisbrough, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England.

Benjamin Gooden/Goodwin married Hannah Urquhart on 6 Feb. 1742 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Goodin/Gooden/Goodwin surname meaning: “The Gooden surname finds its earliest origins with the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. Their name is derived from the baptismal name for the ‘son of Godwin’. The surname was a patronymic surname created for an ancestor of someone named Good. Thus, the name means “son of Good.” The name Good comes from the Middle English word “gode,” meaning “good,” in turn from the Old English “go-d,” and was a nickname surname, one which originally referred to a characteristic of the person, before evolving into a hereditary surname.” (4)

Urquhart

Hannah Urquhart was born 30 Jan. 1725 in Baltimore County, Maryland and died 1819 in Maryland County, Pennsylvania. Hannah Urquhart was the daughter of Alexander Urquhart and Elizabeth _____.

Alexander Urquhart was born in Scotland about 1695. He married in Maryland to Elizabeth _____ and had the following known children:

1. Mary born 30 Nov. 1717.
2. Ann born 1 Sept. 1721. She married William Reese.
3. John born 21 March 1724.
4. Hannah born January 30, 1725. She married Benjamin Goodin/Goodwin (my ancestors).
5. Elizabeth born 27 Sept. 1727. She married William Hodsworth.
6. Sarah born 28 July 1729. She married _____ Hodsworth.
7. Rachel born 5 Dec. 1731.
8. William born 31 Aug. 1733.

His wife Elizabeth _____ died in 1734 and he married second to Mary Reese in Apr. 1735 and no children were born of this second union.

Urquhart DNA matches.

I have several Urquhart DNA matches in Canada, Australia and Scotland. Three of those in Australia, who would be distant cousins, their Urquhart lines all go back to East Lothian in the 1800’s and Dunfermline, Scotland in the early 1900’s. East Lothian and Dunfermline are 29 miles apart.

Here are some additional findings from my DNA detective work:

Five of my Urquhart DNA matches go back to Rev. Thomas Urquhart of Kinudie and Christian Bruce.

Three DNA matches in Australia go back to John Urquhart born 1764 Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. One of the three has a later connection to Dunfermline, Scotland.

Three DNA matches go back to Urquhart in Ross and Cromarty County, Scotland.

An additional Aussie line goes back to James Urquhart born 1728 in Turriff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

One DNA match goes back to Isobel Urquhart born 1707 Nairn, Nairnshire, Scotland. She married John Lessley.

A few of the Ross and Cromarty group are Urquhart/McKenzie/MacKenzie.

Matches in Scotland or one generation removed from Scotland:

I have a match to a person in Scotland born to Scottish parents. His father was Jewish, his mother an Urquhart. The family is from Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.

An additional match in Australia, she was born in Scotland to Scottish parents. Her maternal grandmother was an Urquhart and goes back to 1893 in Longriggend, Lanarkshire, Scotland.

All these above DNA match lines are in Australia, Canada, and Scotland and only have links to me back in Scotland. My other Urquhart DNA matches, that I did not include in the analysis, are in the USA and share my Maryland Urquhart ancestors with me.

I am descended from two children of Thomas Goodin/Goodwin (son of Benjamin Goodin/Goodwin and Hannah Urquhart) and Rachel _____:

First line of descent:

1. Thomas Goodin/Goodwin and Rachel ______.
2. Lewis Gooden and Lydia Watts.
3. Mary Ann Gooden and Maguire/McGuire Doughty.
4. John Louis Doughty and Cynthia Ann Barrett.
5. Mary Adalaide “Mame” Doughty and James Francis Fay (my great-grandparents).

Second line of descent:

1. Thomas Goodin/Goodwin and Rachel _____.
2. Sarah / Elizabeth Goodwin and William Barrett.
3. Aden Barrett and Nancy Anna Rogers.
4. Cynthia Ann Barrett and John Louis Doughty.
5. Mary Adalaide “Mame’ Doughty and James Francis Fay (my great-grandparents).

My Doughty (Doty) lines (back to Mayflower Pilgrim Edward Doty), my Rogers, Barrett, and Irish Fay (Fahey) ancestors will be featured in future blog posts.

Some general information about the Urquhart surname:

It is a habitational name, that can be derived from any of four places with the name. Other places named Urquhart, including one by Loch Ness, are derived from the Brythonic elements ar, meaning “on”, “by”; and cardden, meaning “thicket”. The Scottish Gaelic form of the surname is Urchardan. (2) (3)

Urquhart links:

Link to Clan Urquhart that is open to all those descended from an Urquhart.

Clan Urquhart | Meane Weil, Speake Weil, Doe Weil

Link to Clan Urquhart Facebook page:

Clan Urquhart Association | Facebook

Clan Urquhart Facebook Group page:

Clan Urquhart | Facebook

Clan Urquhart of Scotland: The Urquhart clan, castle, crest, motto, legends, warriors, ghosts, and a love story; Urquhart and the Kinsmen from Urquhart:

Urquhart of Scotland – A Scottish Highland Warrior Clan (historyandlegends.com

References:

1. “Learn about the family history of your surname”. Ancestry.com. Retrieved 25 March 2021. Which cited for the surname “Urquhart” Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press.
2. Mark, Colin (2006), The Gaelic-English Dictionary, London: Routledge, p. 722
3. Watts Surname Meaning, History & Origin | Select Surnames
4. Gooden Name Meaning, Family History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

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