T H E C O C H R A N E S

RE NFRE WSH I RE , SCO TLA ND

TH E A NC E STRY

A L E X A ND E R C O C H RA N E

B I LLE RI CA A ND M A LD E N, M A SS ! . s . A .

WA LTE R ! E NDA LL W A T! I NS

! R I VA TE L Y ! R I N TE D

B OSTO N , ! . S . A . 1 9 04

T H E C O C H RA NE S O F RE NF RE W S H I RE .

fa mi l ea rlt i me found The y name of Cochrane , in y s, is to be almost

x - e clusively in Renfrewshire and the bordering counties. This is a c

counted for in the derivation of the name . Like other Scottish fami

lies it is a place name, the family deriving it from the barony of

Cochran . Crawford states , in his description of the shire of Renfrew ,

that the name is of great antiq uity in this shire. The most prominent

Wa ldevus of the name at an early period was de Cochran , whose son

William was one of the Scotch barons who swore fealty to Edward I . 1 2 6 of England in 9 . John de Cochran was of prominence in Robert ’ B w - ruce s time, and from him ere descended the Cochranes of Bar ba chl y, located in the parish of Bathgate, where we still find the farm

B r hl and mill of a ba uc a w . The lands of the ancient barony of Cochrane were across the Black w Cart Water, opposite Johnstone , and ere held by the Cochranes till

t M E s . sold by Thomas, eigh h Earl Dundonald , to James illiken , q , of

- M i w . N of lliken , hose daughter Jean married Col William apier Cul

creuch m . A , into whose fa ily the lands then came century ago part

of the old manor house was still standing , and one of the old vaults

. ! was used as a cart house Situated in the parish of ilbarchan , the

u hr n l name is still perpet ated in Coc a fie d and Cochran Cottage .

Of that branch of the family who were the most prominent, and

from lesser barons through a daughter became Earls of Dundonald , we have the history as presented in Douglas ’ s “ Peerage of Scot land and later works . The public records of Scotland furnish little relating to the family 1 6 outside of this branch previous to 0 0 . A s the seventeenth century advances we find the name confined to the parish of ! ilbarchan and

Lochwi nnock . Paisley, and Neilston parishes that adjoin

We a ndelmui r B owfield Li nt hi lls find T , , Beltrees, Bridgend , , Gavin , L lnd w a d a . o y , Shillings orth , etc , were the locations, still kn wn at the present day, where farms were held for generations by those of the name, younger branches of the main line . Prominence to the name has not been accorded the main branch n alone duri g the last century. 1 5 8 9 ! I n , Linwood , a farm in ilbarchan , had as a tenant under 4

H A James amilton , first Earl of bercorn , who possessed it, one William H i Cochrane . s brother was Stephen Cochrane of Linwood , of whom

tradition says he sold himself to the devil for a peck of gold , and while

H i s M be Satanic ajesty was filling the dish clipped a piece of his tail ,

Cli ens . and this gave the name to the estate of pp , held by the family

u 1 65 0 - In s pport of this oral tradition , we find that in Stephen Coch rane was apprehended for witchcraft . H William Semple, in his continuation of the istory of Renfrewshire , 178 2 in , says of Clippings that it was the property of John Cochrane , whose ancestors of that name possessed the land for more than three u H f h ndred years . e rebuilt the mansion with a slate roof and o fice houses in the form of a court.

M Lochwi nnock This John Cochrane married ary Wilson of , and

1 75 5 e they had a son Peter, born in , d stined to create renewed interest hi in this branch of the Cochrane name . Peter in s yo uth went to In dia and was in the ser vice of the East India Company a nd a ccum u - lated considerable wealth . 1 79 0 In it was claimed he married a native Indian lady, called

Ra hei m Furrucha b a d u - Beebee, at , a province of O de , by the cere ” n M a ho med a n mony called nikah , accordi g to the rites of the church ,

u . O n 1 7 1 8 07 u n by a m llah or priest December, , a da ghter was bor

M rs . at Cawnpore of that marriage afterward known as Susan ,

M 7 M 18 0 8 . orehouse . She was baptized there on arch ,

1 8 0 8 . M r In November, , Dr Peter married at Cawnpore, arga et u 18 1 8 1 1 Do glas Ferron . On December, , a son , Peter, was born of this last marriage, and in the following year the doctor moved

R a he i m b . to Calcutta, the Bee ee forming part of his establishment

M t e - eanwhile his father, having become embarrassed financially, was li d 1 eve with money advanced on the family estate ; and in 78 9 Dr.

li n . Peter became purchaser of C pp e s from the creditors Dr . Peter

u v Cli ens M a 1 8 25 be - ret rned from India and li ed at pp till y, , when,

x coming displeased at an e cessive assessment for the poor rates , he

Cli e ns left pp and lived on the Continent , mostly in France, till he died ,

1 8 1 8 3 1 . June,

fl r . The con icting claims of the widow of Peter Cochrane, J , and the ’ M . interest of M rs. orehouse (Dr Peter s daughter) threw the personal

. we estate of Dr Peter into Chancery, where, may add , it still remains . These claims were before the courts for t went y- five years for the possession of pounds sterling.

e our In presenting their evid nce, several of the claimants, including w u own branch of the family, ere nable to furnish certain data from the

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! i n ilbarchan register, there being a gap in the records early the

eighteenth century, which they declared was caused by the abstracting

- of leaves from the register book. This claim is borne out by the a p ea ra nce p of the register at the present time . The first name that can be traced in our direct ancestry appears in

this neighborhood (Renfrewshire). In the A bbey Church of Paisley there appears in the parish register H ugh Cochran and Janet Lochead were booked in order to proc-

l i o 2 a ma t n 3 1 72 1 . for marriage, November , 2 John , son to Hugh , was born and baptized on December,

1 72 2 .

In the first parish church of the burgh of Paisley in the parish reg- ister is recorded

“ John Cochran and M argaret Craig were booked for proclama - 4t h tion in order to marriage of November,

The baptisms of their children are also here .

“ son M Hugh , lawful to John Cochran and argaret Craig, was

1 7 2 1 1 75 9 . born and baptized October,

24 1 743 . December, , John Cochran was made burgess of the burgh ! n d In the churchyard of the Low irk, Joh Cochrane ma e provision for the burial of himself and family, as we find in the burgh records. No regular register of the deaths has been preserved for Paisley pre - v i ous to the nineteenth century. 1 64 ’ It was in 7 that John Cochran was master of the Weavers So - ” ci et y a nd was made free of q uarter compts .

A s to the residence of John Cochran in Paisley, we find that New 1 73 4 Street was laid out in , and the house of John Cochran was on

- ! the right hand side, coming up from the Low irk, just below the

Bull Tavern . In 1 748 the burgh purchased at the public roup the lands of Fergus - ’ ndon l b D u a d s m . lie, held y a branch of the Cochranes, Earl fa ily 1 775 29 September, , by feu disposition of the magistrates of

o a nd Paisley to J hn Cochrane, weaver town treasurer of Paisley, of a part of the M oss -land of Fergusley on the north side of the New I n -

Fer usli e . closures at Craigs of g (P R .

i n 1 778 - He was also bailie of Paisley , and his name as such a p ’ pe a red on the inscription placed on the M artyrs M onument erected w at that time, and hich has been reproduced on the monument erected W 1 83 5 e . in , still standing in a secluded nook of the oodside Cemet ry In the Low Burgh church register we find this fragmentary record 1 2 Bethia Douglas , Renfrew , January, 6

This was the ma rriage record of Hugh Cochrane with the daughter A ’ of Francis Douglas, the farmer of bbot s Inch , on the border of

Paisley and Renfrew .

w a S x The ne ly married p ir resided on torie Street, the ne t street to New Street. In the A bbe y register is the record w u William, son la ful to H gh Cochrane and Bethia Douglas, l 1 2 2 st a nd 3 m 78 . born the baptized Nove ber, H u B gh , son lawful to Hugh Cochrane and ethia Douglas, born

2 0 A 1 78 6 . pril , D n Francis ouglas, lawful son to Hugh Cochra e and Bethia l 1 5 1 ot h M a 788 . Douglas, born the and baptized y,

A t G la nderst on about this date Hugh Cochrane moved to , in the

si x . parish of Neilston , miles south of Paisley In the Neilston register is recorded

- 1 9 0 . 7 Hugh Cochrane and Bethia Douglas, spouses, at Gland n 6 A 1 1 t h ers t o , had a daughter born pril and baptized the ,

named Bethiah . 2 G la nderst on 1 79 . Hugh Cochrane and Bethia Douglas, spouses, ,

1 4 u a n 1 5 . had a son born J ne d baptized the th , named Robert

u - 1 795 . Hugh Cochrane and Bethia Douglas, spo ses, in Glanders

a 1 2 8 M ton , had son born February and baptized arch named ” James . t he The record of birth of their oldest child, John , in Paisley, is 1 78 1 n not to be found . He was born in , accordi g to his death

o n record at N ei lst . G la nde rst on 29 1 8 0 2 Hugh Cochrane, bleacher, , seized October, , in one - third share and t wo -t hi rd shares of part of the M oss land of Fer -

usle e r usle g y, on the north side of the New Inclosures at Craigs of F g y, on Feu Disposition by the magistrates of Paisley to John Cochran , 2 9 1 775 weaver and Town Treasurer, Paisley, September, , disponed hi m and assigned by to Hugh , William and Robert Cochran , his sons , 179 6 25 A pril, , on Disposition by the said William Cochran , then

n 8: mercha nt , Glasgow , and one of the partners of Chapman , Cochra 2 ” C o . 27 1 8 0 . . , there, October, (P R G la nderst on t he - John , the eldest son of Hugh Cochran , of , had fol b w lo wing children a t Neilston by his wife, Isa ella Ramsay, as sho n by the church register N 1 8 0 4 . John Cochran and Isabel Ramsay, spouses, eilston, had 1 6 a son born 1 6 September and baptized December, named

Robert .

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1 80 6 . n a nd b m A r hurli John Cochra Isa el Ra say, spouses, at t e, ha d their second child and second son born 2 9 July and bap-

t i z d 26 A . e ugust, called Hugh

180 8 . a nd o A rt hurli e John Cochran Isabel Ramsay, sp uses, at , 23 had their third son born and baptized October, named

William .

1 8 1 1 . a h - John Cochran and Isabel R msay, Barrhead, a d Fran 3 1 4 A 1 8 1 1 cis born and baptized pril, .

18 1 3 . h John Cochran and Isabel Ramsay, spouses, Gateside, a d 2 7 A a nd e 9 M a A a son born pril baptiz d y, named lex ander. ! This was the

1 8 15 . a h John Cochrane and Isabella Rams y, Gateside, a d a u 13 a nd 24 da ghter born baptized named Isabella .

18 18 . s John Cochran and Isabel Ram ay , spouses, Springbank, 7 2 1 e had a son born and baptized June, nam d James Douglas.

18 2 0 . n s a n John Cochra e and I abel Ramsay, Springfield , d

members of the Established Church , had their eighth child

A 3 0 a n a 1 and second daughter, gnes, born July, d b ptized 3

A ugust .

18 2 2 . h Joh n Cochran , bleac er, Springfield, and his spouse,

a l Is be la Ramsay, had their ninth child and third daughter born ” 1 9 M a 2 e A . y, baptized Jun , named gnes

b 1 2 A 1 8 3 0 M r s. Died at Bar ead on ugust, , Bethiah Cochran , ” e M r. h a e G la n relict of the lat Hugh Coc r ne, bl acher, derst on. — (Neilston Register. )

H er son n Gla nderst on i e e i n - , John Cochra e, , was nt rr d the church

- of 3 1 n 1 83 2 fift one. n yard Neilston , Ja uary, , aged y His gravesto e is still t o be found there . t he A dver t zlrer 28 n 1 83 2 The following is from Paisley , Ja uary, “ l on 25 t h A t G a nderst e r M r. n , on the cur ent, John Cochra e ,

5 2 nd . bleacher, in the year of his age “ H ff e was a loving and a ectionate husband, a kind and tender

n u t he - pare t, a tr e and steady friend , and a man of most unimpeach

. i able integri ty He was highly esteemed by all who knew him . H s death is much and justly regretted, and his memory will be long cherished by t hose who had t he pleasure of being intimately a c- ” q ua i nt ed with him .

A s a a A x n o n 27 A ppe rs from the foregoing, le a der was b r pril, and

9 M a 1 8 1 3 . baptized y,

wa s h a He grandson of Hugh Coc r ne and Bethiah Douglas, daughter

' E li z a bet h O cht e rlon e of Francis Douglas and y, and his d scent from 8

the O cht erlony and Douglas families ha s be en pri nted in se parate

pamphlets . A s appe ars from ex tra cts in the registers and records of Paisley and

h w en- vicinity, t is branch of the Cochranes ere among the earliest to n gage i h ma nufacturi g in this part of Scotland . I n the Renfrewshire

Se i s i nes n f t John Cochra , bailie , is styled John Cochrane, manu ac urer,

New Street, Paisley .

1 798 b Gla nde rst on - In Hugh Cochrane, son of the bailie , uilt Bleach n ery, and pla ted additional trees about the mansion house ; and his

A x a nd son John, the father of le ander, continued the business died 2 there in 1 83 . A lex ander lived with his mother and the family in G la nderst o n house until the failure of his elder brother Robert necessitated their givi ng .

up the place . There is a print of this ancient mansion in the Levern Delinea ted and it illustrates the tenacity of custom even in modern u Scotland that , although long in ruins, this ho se still carries with it the right to occupy one of the two cushioned pews which are permitted

i n Neilston church.

A x Thrown upon his own resources, le ander, with one of his brothers,

- essayed the new process of making starch from potatoes. This cre

a nd ated alarm disturbance among the peasantry and poor people, who feared an advance in the price of one of their chief articles of food and this feeling resulted i n an attack on and partial destruction of the n works by a mob . A occurrence of this kind seems to belong to the M iddle A ges ; but it only serves to show the rapid strides we have

made since these beginnings of modern manufacture . The old has

n w r passed and the e has come in hardly more than a sho t hundred years. He early took an interest in such chemical changes as took place in

’ his father s works. It is related that the ancestor of the since famous Tennant family here made some of his early ex periments in bleaching

chemicals .

He enlarged his knowledge of chemistry, then just coming forward

as one of the useful sciences, and he investigated its application in the

x manufacture and decoration of te tile fabrics . u He mastered processes for making muriatic, nitric and s lphuric

n x acids , aq ua ammo ia, sulphate of copper and e tract of indigo , and

- learned the secret of making and usi ng various mordants . Informa tion collected at that time a nd still ex tant among his papers now is

ul- o - t hu mb more curious than useful . Empirical and r e f methods still

a nd e - had a firm hold , the elem nts of secrecy lingered in chemical pro

. cesses, allying them to alchemy, their predecessor

1 0

185 9 M r. u M a i den e e e In Cochrane took p his residence in , and r ct d

e s t he - works ther for him elf, and laid foundation for the business sub

- seq ue ntly ca rried on by the corporatio n which bears his name . With out going into t he details of the hard work involved in building up a ffi business, which is so much alike in all fields of enterprise , su ce it to

ffi u ss w say that these di culties had been s rmounted , and the busine , hich

n e i n a u - has si ce b come the largest of its kind New Engl nd , was s ccess u 1 1 A 1 8 65 t he f lly established before his death . He died ugust , , at

a e fift -t wo g of y , at Swampscott, where he had taken a house for the

summer with his family . ’ T he acco unt of a man s life is incomplete without some hint of t he

- e . M r . p rsonality that marked him Cochrane was tall , of fine pres

ence, unassuming in manner, and in character was simple , sincere and

ff . kindly, winning and retaining a ection to a marked degree His

n a nd e on ge erosity was proverbial , laid him op n to imposition this

e m e - sid of his character, and some of his family still reme b r the numer ous applicatio ns of his impecunious countrymen who called upon him n for assistance. It may well be doubted whether in ma y of these u cases it was either deserved or put to a useful purpose . A ltho gh n ge ial , he always preserved a touch of a usterity that did not invite

u a n e und e familiarity, and was perhaps inheritanc of his early training

! n t e- in the atmosphere of the irk, as an i stance of which he used to call the line of his brothers and sisters who on Sunday walked from ’ the house to Neilston church under his father s eye . His father brought up the rear in order that no youthful escapades should mar w the sacredness of the day. No reading was allo ed on that day but i n the Bible and a few other religious books . The early manners New England had many points of resemblance to life at the same period in

Scotland .

S His life, like so many other lives, was pent in the day of small t hi n — i A gs n sowing seed for others to reap . nd the parable of the u sower was selected as best ill strating his life, when his family placed n a window to his memory in Tri ity Church , Boston . e In a som what trying battle with Fortune, both in the Old World

New and in the , he did what his hands found to do, with true Scotch courage and perseverance . We have thus traced the a ncestry of the “ emigra nt of our family from the time when the first parish registers are obtainable to the time of his arriving in the ! nited States, and also a short account of his life .