John ‘the Covenanter’ Welsh, of Irongray

John Welsh of Irongray (c. 1624-1681) was a leader of the Scottish Covenanters movement. He was the son of 3 - REV.JOSIAS WELCH,Of Temple Patrick. He was married, but left no surviving issue.

Origins

From The Life of Mr. Josias Welch. Biographia Scoticana (Scots Worthies) — John Howie link

... Thus died [1634] the pious and faithful Mr. Josias Welch, in the flower of his youth, leaving only one son behind him, viz. Mr. John Welch, who was afterward minister at Irongray in Galloway.

Biography

From http://www.scottish-places.info/people/famousfirst4092.html

Rev. John Welsh c.1624 - 1681

Prominent Covenanter. Welsh was the grandson of another John Welsh (1568 - 1622), who was minister of Ayr, and the great-grandson of John Knox (c.1513-72). He served as minister at Irongray from 1653 until 1662, when he was expelled by the Bishop of Glasgow and became a leader of the Covenanters. He led a force of horsemen on Dumfries four years later, an action said to have given rise to the Pentland Rising. Welsh held outside services for his Covenanting parishioners, commemorated by the Covenanters' Monument and Communion Stones, and also preached at Dura (Fife) with 8000 people attending and at Kinkell near St. Andrews in 1674.

Family

John Welsh of Irongray married Elizabeth Somerville (1624-1663) on 30 January 1653

From Charles Rogers. Genealogical memoirs of John Knox and of the family of Knox online. (page 11 of 14) link

John Welsh, minister of Kirkpatrick-Irongray, in the county of Dumfries, is known to have been a son of Mr Josias Welsh. ....
Dangerous undertaldngs, he was wont l to say, prompted and stimulated him. When the Covenanters were defeated at Bothwell Bridge, he retired to London. He died at Wapping on the 9th January 1681, in the house of the widow of Mr Alexander Carmichael [1], minister of the first Scottish church established in the metropolis, and which met at Lothbury. His remains were deposited in the grave of his paternal grandfather ; his funeral was very numerously attended, every dissenting minister in London inviting his people to be present.
He was married, but died without issue. [2]

• 1. Her name was Christian Inglis. She latterly became the second wife of Mr James Fraser of Brae, minister of Culross.
• 2. Fasti Eccl. Scot., ii. 592, 593; Young's Life of John Welsh, Edinb. 1866, 12mo, pp. 415-417 ; Kirkton's History, p. 219.

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From http://www.nasgaweb.com/forum/scottish-or-not_topic8741.html

John WELCH, son of Josias WELCH, was born in 1624 at Temple-Patrick, Irongray, Ireland. He was a minister of the parish of Irongray in the presbrey of Dumfries in Galloway, Scotland. He was a religious extremist, one of the Covenanters. He fought in the Battle of Bothwell Brigg (Bridge) in 1679 and was known as The Rev John WELCH of Irongray. He published a book "Directions to the Parish of Irongray" which was reprinted in Glasgow in 1769. John married Elizabeth SOMERVILLE on 18 February 1653 in Holywood. He was married a second time in 1669 but there is no information on her. John died on 9 January 1681 in London, England, Elizabeth died in 1663 in Cprsack.

Sources

• "Scotland Marriages, 1561-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XT12-5NR : 10 February 2018), John Welsch and Elizabeth Somervell, 30 Jan 1653; citing Canongate,Edinburgh,Midlothian,Scotland, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,067,743, 103,092.
• Annals of the persecution in Scotland, from the restoration to the revolution Author Aikman, James. Page 158 Archive.Org
• Bruce, George (1884). Wrecks and reminiscences of St. Andrews bay. p. 60. GoogleBooks
• "Scottish Covenanters" by John Howie.
• http://www.allshousefamily.org/getperson.php?personID=P34226&tree=A...
• https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/welch/4416/ (a descent is claimed)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Welsh_of_Irongray (a descent is claimed)

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GEDCOM Source

@R50363713@ Scotland, Select Marriages, 1561-1910 Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 1,60144::0

GEDCOM Source

1,60144::3648503

GEDCOM Source

@R50363713@ Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=106696557&pi...

• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Oct 22 2021, 16:38:43 UTC