 Clouston, Orkney 1880 | According to Joseph Storer Clouston the Cloustons are descended from the Earls of Orkney circa 1000 A.D.. In his book 'Family of Clouston' (Kirkwall Press 1948) he makes a compelling argument for ancestry which includes Earl Sigurd the Stout and Máel Coluim mac Cináeda (better known as Malcolm II) King of Scotland from 1005 until his death in 1034. It is said that in 1005 Sigurd married Malcolm's daughter, Donalda of Alba, and that this marriage produced a son, Thorfinn Sigurdsson (Orkneyinga Saga (Penguin Books 1981)), who was 5 at the time of his fathers death on the 23rd April 1014 at the battle of Clontarf.Protected by Malcolm, Thorfinn would reclaim his inheritance from his half brothers with (as you would expect in such tales) the spilling of some blood. In the late 11th Century appears the Viking Chief - Harvard Gunnason. Harvard married Bergliot, the daughter of Ragnhild (granddaughter of Thorfinn). Bergliot's dowry included Nether-Bigging and it is this land, still Clouston Land 22 generations later, that provided JSC with his road map for the origins of the family. It is from Harvard and Bergliot's son, Haakon Harvardson Klo (Klo is Norse for Claw), that Clouston is derived, his nickname was Klostaðir. |
Enough of 'real' history, moving forward 15 or 16 generations we find at Nether-Bigging the family of Richard Clouston who's lifespan covered the first 50 years of the 1600's and his wife Ursilla Wishart. It is from their 5 sons that most modern Cloustons can trace their ancestry, sometimes not without a little effort. The trade routes to North America and the Orkney base of the Hudson Bay Company saw Cloustons heading for Canada and the American Colonies. Others travelled to Africa, the Caribean and later to Australia and New Zealand. 2 familes arrived in London and in 1786 Robert Clouston grandfather of Joseph Storer was born in Newcastle Upon Tyne, the earliest known birth. Follow these links for more information on the various families;- The Tyneside Family So far 10 Heads of family have been identified. The Challenge This came out of a moment of boredom, see if you can beat the entries I've found.
Enjoy browsing, you'll need to allow scripts the pop-ups won't work with out them. Errors and omissions please let me know via the webmaster link below. Watch for the various icons that will take you to more images or documents, these are attached to people or events |  From St. Magnus, Kirkwall, Orkney |
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