Sir Robert I Beatty Adair, of Ballymena & Kinhilt

Sir Robert Adair (William Adair , Ninian Adair , William Adair , Ninian Adair , Alexander Adair , William Adair , Niegello Adair , Robert Fitzgerald de Adair , Gerald Fitzgerald , Maurice , Thomas , Maurice , John , Thomas , Maurice , Gerald , Maurice , Gerald , Walter ) was born in 1583. He died in 1665.

Biography

Robert Adair was knighted by King Charles I, which gave him the title "sir". He was well balanced mentally and physically and he took a promient part in public affairs. During the reigns of Queens Mary and Elizabeth, the Civil History of Ireland presents a succession of rebellions and ferocious internal fueds. Exhaustion brought peace. King James I took advantage of the desolation of Ulster to introduce Scotch Settlers. These settlers were strongly opposed to prelacy and formed a basis for the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. King Charles I tried the ruinous policy of using Ireland for a power against his Parliament. The Protestants were systematically disarmed, and the frightful outbreak of 1641 was the result. The Parliament sent Scotch troops to Crarrickfurgus, attended by Chaplains and among them in 1642 was organized the first Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. It was this movement of Scotch Settlers and then of Scotch troops into Ireland that brought ADAIRS among the others into Ireland. Sir Robert Adair was a colonel and then was elected to the Scotch Parliament in 1638. Before this Parliament adjourned they appointed a committee to act for them in vacation, or when not sitting. This committee was called the Committee on Governing the Kingdom and Sir Robert Adair was a member of that committee. In 1647 Col. Sir Robert Adair was elected a member of the Scotch Parliament again and served almost continously for four years. He was one of the Barons who rode to the Capitol at Edinburgh from the west on horseback. Sir Robert Adair was born in 1583 and died in 1655. His seats were Kinhilt in Galloway, Scotland and Ballamene in Antrim County Ireland. He married Jean Edmondstone, daughter of Sir William Edmondstone of Duntrieth, a lineal descendant of William the Conqueror, King of England.

Family

https://landedfamilies.blogspot.com/2013/04/23-adair-of-ballymena-c...

Sir Robert Adair (d. 1655) of Ballymena and Kinhilt. Elder son of William Adair (d.1626) and his first wife Rosina, daughter of Sir Thomas McClellan. Made a denizen of Ireland, 1624. MP for Wigtownshire 1639, 1648. He raised a troop for service in Ireland in the 1640s and was commissioned to serve as a Colonel of horse under General Monck in Ulster in 1648; he was knighted about that time.

He married Jean or Jane, daughter of William Edmondstone of Duntreath (Stirlingshire) and had issue:

• (1) William Adair (d. 1661) (q.v.);
• (2) Archibald Adair of Litter (Leix) (d. 1692); married and had issue a son;
• (3) Alexander Adair of Drumore;
• (4) Robert Adair;
• (5) Isabella Adair, m. Patrick or Robert MacDowal of Logan (Wigtownshire);
• (6) Anne Adair, m. Rev. Kennedy;
• (7) Joan Adair, m. Patrick (surname unknown).

He inherited the Ballymena and Kinhilt estates from his father in 1626, and built Ballymena Castle as a centre for his property in Antrim. He died 1 March 1655.

From “ William Adair (d.1626) m. Catherine Kirchart”

https://www.ancestry.com/boards/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=723&p=surname...

In a book on the County of Suffolk, England, vol. 1 by Suckling 1846 there appears a chart for the family of Adair (which may or may not be correct)

William Adair married Catherine KIRCHART. William and Catherine Kirchart had children :

1. Sir Robert Adair was made a denizen of Ireland with his father 1624, served heir to his father and grandfather in the Scottish Estates, Feb. 19 1629. Was made Knight c 1648. Had livery of his Irish estates Dec. 2 1628, made his will Feb 15 1655. Died March 1, 1625. Married Jane, dau. of Archibald Edmonstone of Duntreath.

2. William Adair, younger son, made a denizen of Ireland with his father and brother 1624.

3. Marian, wife of William Houston, of Killester, in Scotland.

Sir Robert and Jane had children :

• 1. William Adair d. Nov. 30, 1661 m. Anna Helena Scott.
• 2. Archibald Adair of Litter, Queen's co. had son William of Litter, Queens co, Ireland.
• 3. Alexander Adair, 3rd son.
• 4. Robert Adair, 4th son
• 5. Isabella, wife of Robert Macdowall of Logan in the shire of Wigton in Scotland
• 6. Joan, wife of (Rev.) Patrick Adair

References

• Sir Andrew Agnew, The Agnews of Lochnaw: A History of the Hereditary Sheriffs of Galloway (Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1864), p. 617, digital images, GoogleBooks 9. Sir Robert Adair (eldest son of the above by his first wife), M.P. for Wigtownshire, 1639 and 1648; married Jean, daughter of William Edmonstone of Duntreath, by whom he had, besides his successor, a third son, Alexander, of Drumore, and Isabel, married to Patrick M'Dowall of Logan.