Elliot Family History


This branch of the Elliot family is probably descended from the Scottish Borders family, Elliot of Falnash. The earliest known Elliot ancestors were born in Roxburghshire. Following the Jacobite Rebellion, the family migrated a short distance to Langholm, Dumfrieshire and were probably associated with the tweed-cloth industry.

By 1810, the old lawless traditions of the family surfaced as John Elliot ran into some trouble by poaching on the Duke of Bucleuch's estate. John's flight south to escape justice ended in Blackburn, Lancashire where he took up tailoring. John Elliot's descendants in Blackburn included iron foundry workers, weavers and saddle-makers. There may still be many living descendants of John in the Blackburn area although the last known survivor was Constance the daughter of Thomas the saddlemaker who married into the Cooper family in 1926.

The spelling of the name Elliot (with one "t") is the traditional spelling used by the Elliot's of Minto. Scottish records use the single "t" but all known English family documentation, including signatures, up to 1893 use two "t's". Beginning with Thomas and Ellen's marriage certificate of 1893, the name Elliot (with one "t") comes back into use but not with complete consistency. The name "Elliot" has persisted to recent times in other branches of the family as a middle name, as with Duncan Elliot Pickup (b.1960) and Gabriel Elliot Cooper Jackson (b.2000).

There is a strong possibility of an Elliot family connection with the famous road and bridge engineer, Thomas Telford (1757-1834). Telford's paternal aunt is believed to have married into this Elliot line around 1763.

Click here to go to the surname list

Click here to go to the timeline

Click here to go to the Elliot tree     Click here to go to the Telford tree

E-mail address: martynpickup (at) aol.com

This data was updated on Thursday 11 November 2004


This page was produced using Kith and Kin Pro version 2.02
For more information about Kith and Kin Pro, visit the SpanSoft Web site at www.spansoft.org