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Clan Brisbane (Tartans, Crest) and The Story Behind

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Brisbane

Clan Crest: A stork’s head erased holding in her beak a serpent nowed, Proper

Clan Motto: Dabit Otia Deus (God will give repose)

Region: Lowlands

Historic Seat: Killincraig, Largs, North Ayrshire

Clan Chief: None, armigerous clan

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Clan Brisbane History

The name is derived from the Anglo-French brise bane, which means "break bone" or "bonebreaker."

The first of the name in Scotland was William Brisbone, who was most likely an Englishman and was among the list of archers sent from Berwick to Roxburgh in 1298.

Robert I granted Thomas Brisbane the charter of Litill Rothy in Aberdeenshire.

Alanus dictus Brisbane filius quondam Willelmi Brisbane obtained a grant from Donald, Earl of Lennox of the land known as Mucherach in the earldom of Levenax and the land known as Holmedalmartyne shortly after 1334.

In 1415, Thomas Brysbane, dominus de Latheris witnessed the charter of the barony of Cowie to William de Haya de Erole, and he was present at a perambulation of the lands of Tarwas and Udny in 1417.

In 1498, James Brisbane was the proprietor of the lands of Reise and Akirgyll in Caithness.

Around 1400, the Brisbanes of Bishoptoun purchased the lands of Killincraig and Goga in the parish of Largs. By a Crown charter in 1695, the estate was elevated to the barony of Brisbane, and the family became known as Brisbane of Brisbane.

Thomas Brisbane, 1st Baronet (1773-1860) had a distinguished military career, and the Australian city of Brisbane is named after him.

According to George Robertson's 'A genealogical account of the principal families in Ayrshire,' "this family, confessedly chief of the name, appears to have possessed Bishopton in Renfrewshire, as well as lands in the counties of Stirling and Ayr, long prior to the date of any charters they have preserved."

Around 1332, the clan purchased the Bishopton lands and built Bishopton House on them. After being held by the Brisbanes for over 400 years, the land passed to the Walkinshaws around 1671.

Clan Brisbane Places & People

Brisbane Clan Members

Major-General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet (1773 - 1860)

Brisbane was born at Brisbane House in Noddsdale, Ayrshire, near Largs. At the University of Edinburgh, he majored in astronomy and mathematics. Brisbane. Following graduation, he joined the British Army and served under the Duke of Wellington in Flanders, the West Indies, Spain, and North America. He rose to the rank of Major General and served in the Peninsular War, earning the Army Gold Cross.

He was appointed governor of New South Wales in 1821, a position he held for five years as the colony grew rapidly. He was the first president of the Philosophical Society of Australasia, which later became the Royal Society of New South Wales, the Southern Hemisphere's oldest learned institution.

Moreton Bay was designated as a convict settlement in 1824. This was named after Brisbane and was established as a town in 1834, followed by free settlement five years later. Brisbane grew out of the settlement.

In 1826, Brisbane returned to Scotland and dedicated his life to science and his estate. In 1832, he succeeded Sir Walter Scott as President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and in 1836, he was made a Baronet.

Brisbane died in Largs and is buried in the Brisbane Aisle Vault, a small kirkyard next to Skelmorlie Aisle in Largs Old Kirk.

Clan Brisbane Locations

Brisbane House

Clan Brisbane Tartans

Tartans from Brisbane:

Brisbane Family Tartan (Not woven commercially)

Those with the name can wear the Paisley District tartan, which represents the area where the name is traditionally found, or the Gordon tartan, of which Clan Brisbane is a sept.

District of Paisley

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Gordon the Elder

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Gordon Contemporary

Clan Brisbane Crest & Coats of Arms

Brisbane Clan Crest

Worn by everyone with the same name and ancestry

Description of the Crest:

Proper, a stork's head erased holding a serpent in her beak nowed,

Brisbane Clan Coat of Arms

A word about Coats of Arms:

A coat of arms is granted to an individual under Scottish heraldic law (with the exception of civic or corporate arms). A 'family coat of arms' does not exist. With the exceptions noted above, the arms depicted below are personal arms. Only the person who has been granted these weapons has the right to use them.