James Baird of Little Fiddes

JAMES BAIRD OF LITTLE FIDDES

James Baird was a commisiary of the Ecclesiartical Court in the time of Charles I. He had two sons.

He was created Baron Deveron by Charles I but died before the patent passed the Great Seal. His second son was created Sir Robert Baird of Saughton Hall and his eldest son, John Baird Lord Newbyth, was a Lord of Justiciary.

References

• “Landed families of Britain and Ireland - (329) Baird of Newbyth and Saughtonhall, baronets“ (Monday, 7 May 2018) < link > The families with which this account is concerned are descended from James Baird (c.1588-1655), a younger son of George Baird (d. 1620), who purchased lands at Byth (Aberdeens.) but became an advocate in Edinburgh and a member of the Scottish Parliament. He was appointed by King Charles I as sole commissary of the Ecclesiastical Court in Scotland, and a warrant is said to have been issued for raising him to the peerage as Lord Doveran, but this was never executed, perhaps because Baird joined the Covenanters in the years before the Civil War. Among his large family were three sons who achieved eminence. The eldest, Sir John Baird (1620-98), kt., was an advocate and MP, like his father, and became a Lord of Session as Lord Newbyth. The second, Thomas Baird (1629-89), was sheriff-depute of Edinburgh; and the third, Sir Robert Baird (1630-97), 1st bt., became an eminent and wealthy merchant.
• Stirnet Genealogy, Peter Barns-Graham, Baird02 (Reliability: 3), 23 Mar 2008. Stirnet - ‘Baird02’