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Clan Galbraith (Tartans, Crest) and The Story Behind

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Galbraith

Gaelic Name: Galbraith

Clan Crest: A bear’s head couped Argent muzzled, Azure

Clan Motto: Ab obice sauvoir (Sweeter for there having been difficulties)

Origin of Name: Gaelic: Foreign Briton

Historic Seat: Culcreuch Castle, Stirlingshire

Clan Chief: None, armigerous clan

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Galbraith Clan History

During the first centuries of Christian Scotland, the southern half of the country was divided into three kingdoms: Strathclyde (which includes Glasgow), Rheged, and Gododdin (which includes Edinburgh). Throughout the Dark Ages, Northumbrian English invasions destroyed all social structure, including the Welsh language, which had been the language of the time.

Dumbarton was Strathclyde's capital, and its massive jutting rock became known as the Fortress of the Britons. One of Loch Lomond's islands, a few miles north, became known as the Island of the British Foreigner. This is Inchgalbraith in the widely spoken Gaelic.

Scotland became a single kingdom down to the border with England in 1124. Gilchrist Bretnach, the Galbraith's first chief, emerged at the end of the 12th century. He was equal to royal Lennox in the Scots hierarchy. He had a son, Gillespic, with the grand-daughter of the new order's 1st Earl of Lennox.

The family's home was located on Inchgalbraith.

Sir Arthur, the 5th Chief of Galbraith, was a supporter of Robert the Bruce and benefited from his success.

The Galbraiths had ties to the House of Lennox, which meant that their fate was influenced whenever the Lennox was present. When James I returned from English imprisonment to exact his vengeance on Scotland's unsupportive families, Albany and Lennox were high on his list. At the time, the Galbraith Chief was James of Gilcreuch, who helped in the sacking of Dumbarton before shepherding 600 Galbraiths and their families to Gigha and Kintyre to avoid the King.

Until the 16th century and the 16th Chief, the Galbraiths backed the Lennox at every turn. The 17th Chief, Robert, brought shame on himself and his family by abusing his powers in pursuit of a personal vendetta. Despite Galbraith's objections, the Chief of the Clan MacAulay was his widowed mother's new husband. Galbraith's treatment of his stepfather eventually led to him being labeled a rebel. In 1622, he fled to Ireland to avoid arrest and died there ten years later. He left nothing to his son, and his grandson, James, the 19th Chief of Galbraith, was the last of his line.

Galbraith Places & People

People of Clan Galbraith

Sir Thomas Galloway Dunlop Galbraith, KBE, MA, LL.B (1917-1982)

He was educated at Aytoun House, Glasgow, Wellington College, Christ Church, Oxford (MA), and the University of Glasgow (LL.B). He was the eldest son and heir of Thomas Dunlop Galbraith, 1st Baron Strathclyde. From 1939 to 1946, he was a Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. Before being elected to Glasgow Hillhead in 1948, he ran unsuccessfully for Paisley in July 1945 and Edinburgh East in October 1945.

He served as an Assistant Conservative Whip in 1950, a Government Whip from 1951 to 1957, Civil Lord of the Admiralty from 1957 to 1959, Under-Secretary of State for Scotland from 1959 to 1962, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport from 1963 to 1964. From 1970 to 1980, he was President of the Scottish Georgian Society and a member of the Royal Company of Archers. In 1982, he was knighted (KBE).

His death in 1982 triggered the Hillhead by-election, which saw Roy Jenkins elected. His son, Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde, went on to become a Conservative junior Minister, Lords Chief Whip, and Shadow Leader of the House of Lords.

Sam Galbraith

Sam Galbraith (born 1945)

A member of the Scottish Labour Party. He has served in both the Houses of Parliament and the Scottish Parliament. He was elected Member of Parliament for the new Strathkelvin and Bearsden constituency in the 1987 general election, and he held the seat until the 2001 general election.

Galbraith served as Minister for Children and Education in the Scottish Executive under Donald Dewar from 1999 to 2000, and then as Minister for Environment, Sport, and Culture under Henry McLeish until his resignation from Ministerial office and his parliamentary seats for health reasons on March 20, 2001. Between 1997 and 1999, he was a Scottish Office Minister, and before that, he was a well-known neurosurgeon.

Galbraith Tartans

Ancient Galbraith

Galbraith Contemporary

Galbraith Crest & Coats of Arms

Clan Galbraith Crest

Crest: A bear's head couped Argent muzzled Azure.

Coats of Arms of Galbraith:

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.