Clan History

Origins of the clan

The clan MacGillivray was an important clan even before the Norsemen were driven out of the Outer Hebrides by King Somerled, who was Lord of the Isles in the 12th century. In 1222, Alexander II of Scotland subdued Argyll, and the clan Mhic Gillebrath became dispersed. Some of the clan remained on the Isle of Mull, while others stayed in Morvern. There is a tradition that asserts that the chief of the clan placed himself under the protection of the chiefs of clan Mackintosh, who were also chiefs of the Chattan Confederation. Thereafter the clan MacGillivray belonged to the clan Chattan.

16th to 17th centuries

The MacGillivray clan was first accurately recorded in Dunmaglass in 1549. In 1609, there was a great gathering of the Chattan Confederation, at which loyalties were given to the Mackintosh chief, and the haill kin and race of MacGillivray was represented by Malcolm MacGillivray of Dalcrombie and Duncan MacGillivray of Dunmaglass. The MacGillivrays were persecuted by their Calvinist and Presbyterian neighbours owing to their support of Episcopal polity of the church.

18th century & Jacobite risings

Along with most of the other clans of the Chattan Confederation, the MacGillivrays were staunch Jacobites in both the Jacobite rising of 1715 and the Jacobite rising of 1745. During the 1745 rising, the chief of Mackintoshes and clan Chattan was however a serving officer in the Black Watch regiment of the British Army, but his wife, Lady Anne Mackintosh (née Farquharson), rallied the Chattan Confederation in support of the Jacobites and placed chief Alexander MacGillivray in command of the clan Chattan regiment. Alexander MacGillivray was killed leading his clan at the Battle of Culloden in 1746 along with many of his followers. A graveyard at Dunlichity commemorates the many MacGillivrays who fell in the battle. After Culloden, many MacGillivrays emigrated across the Atlantic, where many of them were successful, particularly as traders.