Gordon Brown
In recent issues we have looked at how you can find out about your ancestors through genealogy. In a new
series we look into the ancestry of some famous Scots. First up, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Being Scottish and the leader of the United Kingdom takes some balancing act. New British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has done it by stressing his loyalty to the Union between Scotland and England while taking a calculated and deliberate decision with his wife Sarah to have his children born not just in Scotland, but in Fife, where they have a home and where Brown serves as a Member of Parliament.
This is significant because although he was born in Giffnock in the west of Scotland, James Gordon Brown comes from a long line of Fife farmers.
From the birth of John Brown in the parish of Ballingry in 1804 to that of John Ebenezer Brown in Largo in 1914, the direct line of descent is associated with the land, most being described variously as farm labourers, ploughmen and farmers. Unlike their acclaimed descendent, his father apart, they all married young and in the manner of the times, were survived by several offspring.
John Ebenezer, Gordon’s father, was the first to step out of his almost pre-destined agricultural occupation and took Holy Orders to become a minister of the Church of Scotland. The Rev. John’s mother, Rachel Mavor, was the daughter of James Mavor, who progressed from being a mason at the time of the 1870 marriage in Burntisland to being a ‘builder employing 17 men and three boys’ by the time of the 1881 census.
On his death he was said to have been a ‘house builder’ and clearly his was a success story. He also found time to remarry after the death of his fi.....
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By Sally Toms
Section : Scotland Genealogy
Page number : 45
