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 5 ! 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 .