The Haun Tartans

So recently my uncle Rock asked if I knew which tartan (Scottish kilt pattern) belonged to our family. I thought this would make a great post (since I haven't posted in a while)! Now if you want some in-depth history of tartans, check here, but basically a tartan is "a woolen cloth woven in one of several patterns of plaid, especially of a design associated with a particular Scottish clan."

If you have ever been to the Payson Scottish festival, you may have noticed the section with all the booths dedicated to clans. You may have even searched all the surname boards to try and find YOUR clan. Well, if you're related to me, you don't have to do that because I have already done some research on it. Both sides of my family actually have roots in several clans, so you do have a choice of which tartan you want to sport at the next festival.

Let's start with the Haun side.

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HAUN CLAN'S

Unfortunately, the Haun name is German and is not associated with any Scottish clan. However, despite the fact our last name IS German, us Haun's are quite a bit Scottish. I'd say we are 40% Scottish, 40% English, 10% German, and 10% Other.

I've traced each line to the point where they crossed the ocean and a lot came from Scotland to America. I have ten ancestors on my Haun side who made the trip from Scotland to America at some point in time. I've included a visual aid to show where in Scotland they came from. Now this doesn't mean I only have ten Scottish ancestors, it means ten of my ancestors left Scotland and came to America. The ancestors above them in the trees are also Scottish. Also notice the concentration in the south-east area of Scotland. A lot of those are in the Fife district.

Side Note: while researching this, I actually went further back in my tree than I ever have been on some of these lines. And I found some pretty interesting stuff Im excited to post about....eventually.

Now when you trace all the lines and look up all the surnames, the Haun's can fit into 4 main clans: Clan Gordon, Clan MacDuff, Clan Jardine, and Clan Gunn. You could also use the Fife district tartan which is the Duke of Fife's tartan, but since we aren't direct descendants of the Duke of Fife, I went with the general Fife's, who are included in Clan MacDuff. There are a couple minor clans we could claim, but most of them end up being assimilated by the big clans in the end so I'm going to say that Haun's have the best claims at these four clans.

Let's take a look at each of those individually.


CLAN GUNN

Clan Gunn Modern

We Haun's can claim Clan Gunn through the Monson and Thompson sides of our family. I also can claim Clan Gunn on my moms side too so ultimate Clan Gunn for me. And just so you know, we are the norse-side of the descendant of this clan. Anyways, Clan Gunn is "descendant from the Norse Jarls or Earls of Orkney and from the ancient Celtic Mormaers of Caithness through Ragnhild, daughter of Moddan in Dale, son of Moddan, Mormaer (High Steward) of Caithness, who was killed in 1040, and granddaughter of Saint Rognvald, Jarl of Orkney, who married Gunni, the reputed name-father of the Clan. Gunni was himself a grandson of Sweyn Asleif's-son, the 'Ultimate Viking' and hero of the Orkneyinga Saga."

Now I know that that sounded like you opened a "History of the Empire" book in Skyrim or like some strange-butt scroll in Lord of the Rings but yah...there's some stuff going on in ancient Scotland. If you want to read a lot longer history, you can go here, but here are the highlights.

So this Ragnhild chick inherited a bunch of land, which then went to Gunni's son Snaekoll which means white head, cool name bruh, but he had to forfeit the land because he murdered the Jarl in Orkney, not cool bruh. But Snake-man (As I have taken to call him) did build the first "Castle Gunn" which was like three twigs and some stones on the side of a cliff, but fancy for the time. And that castle was burned down by some angry Norwegians because Snake-man had a fake lighthouse and basically caused a whole boat of them to crash.

Clan Gunn Ancient

Over the next few hundred years the Gunn's gradually lost more and more land to the Keith's and the Sinclair's. Then in the 1400's there was this dude named George Gunn, nickname "Am Braisdeach Mor" which means Big Broochy, and he fought with Clan Kieth in little battles. Most important the Battle at Tayre's Chapel where us Gunns kinda...tricked the Kieth's and then killed them all. Then there was a peace treaty. Then Big Broochy died and his three oldest sons kinda split up. One of his younger sons, William Gunn stayed in Caithness and it is from him we get the Wilson Gunns, which I believe is where my Wilson side came from.

Clan Gunn lives to modern times, though the majority of the clansmen do not have the name Gunn since everyone split up and then like...only had daughters. They meet in Caithness every three years for a big party. I've also included pictures of the Modern and Ancient Gunn Tartans. If you were to buy a Gunn kilt now, might I suggest the Modern one since, hate to break it to ya, we are modern.



CLAN GORDON

Gordon Modern

We Haun's can claim Clan Gordon through the Gardner side of our family. Gordon was a land name in the 1000's. The Baron of Gordon in 1150 was the first recorded person using that name/title.

In 1306ish Sir Adam of Gordon went to Rome to ask the pope to not excommunicate Robert the Bruce (King of the Scots) after he killed Red Comyn in a church. So that's interesting. Sir Alexander Gordon became Earl of Huntly in 1449, they had Huntly Castle. The Gordons went to fight for the King and the Douglas family came and burned their castle, such weenies. The Gordons came back and literally destroyed the Douglas family. Never make a Gordon mad.

With no Douglas' the Gordon family pretty much grew unchecked and basically became royalty. "As the Douglases were removed from all their positions of power, the Gordons grew without challenge. Their near-regal status earned their chiefs the still-used nickname “Cock ‘o the North”"

Gordon Dress Modern

I thought that was funny since Haun means cock/rooster. The Gordon's got so big that they literally avoided the reformation and remained Catholic. That being said, they fought with Mary, Queen of the Scotts and several Gordons were beheaded along with her. After that some weenie took over the Gordon house and a lot of people blame him and the Gordons for Scotland not gaining their independence in their war for independence. He was beheaded after the war.

As far as tartans go, I really like the Gordon ones. Especially the modern and modern dress. If I ever got a kilt or a fly or whatever, I'd probably get it in a Gordon style.





CLAN JARDINE

Jardine Modern

Haun's can claim Clan Jardine through our Jardine line. Also, you could argue that we can claim it through the Gardner line as well, but I think we fit more with the Clan Gordon Gardners than these.

Anywho, the Jardine's made their way to Scotland sometimes during the Norman conquests of the 1000s. It is a French name, and their symbol is an apple blossom. However their motto is "Beware, I am here" Very non-apple-like.

So they settled a place they named Applegirth in Scotland and built Spedlings Tower. Which they had to move from after they starved a dude to death in their dungeon and his ghost haunted them. So they moved across the river and built Jardine Hall. The Jardine's were like the Scottish border patrol. They were constantly fighting off the English. They had their buddies come up from France to help squash those damn Britts.

The Jardine family originally supported Mary, Queen of Scots, until her crazy-butt scandals and then they supported her baby sons right to the throne. And then the Jardine chief married off his daughter the freakin Douglas'. The 4th Baronet of Jardine became a Knight of Malta and remained celibate. The title passed to his brother.

In 1873 Frank Jardine married a Samoan Princess (not even kidding) and moved to Australia. A William Jardine became a Dr and sold opium-based remedies in the Far East during the British Occupation of India.

Currently: "Sir William Jardine, 13th Baronet and 24th Chief, born in 1984, is active in promoting clan activities and is a member of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs."

And they have like the worst tarten.



CLAN MACDUFF

Finally, we Haun's can claim Clan MacDuff through the Fife and Spencer side of our family.

MacDuff Modern

Clan MacDuff is SUPER cool because Shakespeare's MacBeth is based off of MacBeth and his wife Queen Gruoch (AKA Lady MacBeth). Queen Gruoch was the senior representative of clan MacDuff at the time.

Eventually Aedh Canmore became the Earl of Fife. After his death the Fife and Duff title did not return until 1759 with William Duff, who became the Earl of Fife.

"Later Alexander, the sixth Earl of Fife, married the Princess Royal, HRH Louise (daughter of King Edward VII).

The direct line of the ancient house, continued in Wemyss whilst in the northern territories, families of Clan Duff emerged in historical record with no proof of royal descent."

Pretty straightforward clan eh? And the tartan's are decent. A little Christmas-y for my tastes.




And that's the history of the clans that the Haun's can claim. Grab a tartan and party at the next Scottish festival like the informed person you now are!

William Heaps: Cheese Thief

Hopefully you have read my previous post located here. In it I talk about the craziness that went on with the Heaps/Spencer side of my family. I promised I'd elaborate more on the people in there, and here to fulfill my promise...I present William Heaps, the first husband of Mary Cragg. This post will just be on William, since I prefer to group Mary with her second husband. This post will also just be on William because frankly, the guy needs his own post. (Note: if you look him up on familysearch, LJTB-JH9, the photo's they have on there for him are incorrect. They are actually photo's of his grandson.)

William Henry Heaps was born in December of 1809 in Garstang, England. Garstang is a small market town near Lancaster. Around the time that William was born, the town was quite prosperous for being so small. It's on a canal that was used to transport all sorts of stuff, and almost everyone in the town was a trader of some sort. Garstang was famous during the early 1800s for producing the finest quality rope, it was also famous for the "Garstang Cattle and Cheese Fair." It was considered the "crossroads" town between Preston and Lancaster. The ruins of Greenhalgh Castle overlook the town. 

I don't know a lot about his childhood, I know that his father was in the British military and may have been in India at the time of his birth (I expect to learn more about that when I research his father specifically). I also know that the Napoleonic Wars were underway and there were some food shortages going on in Britain. Whatever struggles his childhood held, he still managed to marry Mary Cragg in December of 1831. Mary was also from Garstang. They were together for 7ish years and had 3 confirmed kids, two of which are my grandpas at some point. 

William's entry in an England Criminal Register

And then William decided to be a criminal. On October 18th, 1837 he is charged with Larceny, for the theft of a carriage-load of cheese. (I wonder if he stole it during the Cheese fair eh?). He is tried in Lancashire, England, found guilty, and sentenced to 7 years transportation. Which means he will be banished from England and will be sent to the penal colonies in Australia. Let me just say that being banished from your country for stealing cheese seems....a tad excessive... If you notice on the image of the register I included, several men were charged with receiving stolen goods, which was a consequence of the smuggling problem in Britain brought about by the Napoleonic Wars. Also note the wild difference in sentencing for these criminals. Other dudes who were charged with larceny got like 1 month in prison. But you know...apparently Britain takes it's cheese theft more seriously.

Moving on, William spent about half a year imprisoned on a hulk ship named the "Fortitude" moored at Chatham awaiting his transportation. A hulk ship is a ship that has lived out it's service days and can basically only float now. So England used them as prisons. This image to the left is a UK Prison Hulk Register for the Fortitude. On it you can see William's entry. It lists when and where he was convicted and how he stole cheese. What I love though, is it also lists that he can read (but not write) and that he will be a laborer. I also love that the Gaoler's report on him is that he has "bad habits in prison for poaching" which is where that stealing a deer thing I mentioned in my last post comes from. Also, it was kinda funny to read all the crimes the other people were convicted of, and their respective sentencing. I quite like the man who got 7 years for stealing a duck.

Anyway, he was at some time transported to a ship called the Bengal Merchant and that ship took him all the way to Botany Bay in New South Wales, Australia. He was one of 270 prisoners aboard the ship. The journey took about 4 months. They landed in Botany Bay on July 21, 1838. Now apparently, convict labor in 1800s Australia was really just slang for slavery. People in the area paid and laid claims for workers, essentially buying them. I also tracked down this newspaper article that ran in the Saturday 28 July 1838 Edition of The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. Found here. It's a to-the-editor article and in it some dude is complaining about the shortage of "convict servants" (maybe the reason they are sending a butt-ton of people to Australia for stealing cheese and ducks?) and the problems with allocating the labor. He pleads for the government to implement a "regular and just system of assignment."

Certificate of Freedom

I hope that William didn't go to that guy. But all I really know is that he was assigned to farm labor where presumably he worked until December 11th, 1844 when he was issued his certificate of freedom and became a free man. His certificate also provides a physical description of William. He apparently was 6ft tall and is described as having a "Dark and freckled complexion, dark brown hair, and dark brown eyes." He is also listed as having "eyebrows meeting, mole on right cheek, breast hairy, purple natural mark on the back of left hand, scar on middle finger of left hand, and mark of a boil on right knee" I drew a picture for your visual pleasure. Also, if at any point we try to bring back the descriptive term "breast hairy" I officially give permission to the aliens to blow up Earth.

What a babe

And apparently he gained his freedom, instead of going back to his wife and children (which I looked up, after he got his certificate of freedom, he was legally able to go back to Britain, but nah) he ran off to Pennsylvania where he may or may not (haven't found reliable proof) have married another lady. Mary Cragg told all her kids he died on the boat, she really...lost faith in him real quick. Probably because who wants to say they are married to a dirty cheese thief who got banished from Britain. But he does show up in one Pennsylvania census and he died on February 8th, 1882 in Pennsylvania. So yeah. Class act fella. Idk what his circumstances were for stealing cheese, and he did kinda get screwed by the British justice system (7 years for cheese?) but yeah...still not my most favorite ancestor. But wildly fun to research. And still not as bad as witch hunter guy right?

The Heaps/Spencers: AKA I'm My Own Grandpa

Oh boy let me tell you what a struggle sorting out this side of my family is. This will just be a short post on getting on the connections sorted out, I will post stories about each person/couple in more detail separately later.

I was originally trying to do a story on Joseph Spencer and Mary Cragg, my 4th-great grandparents on my paternal grandmothers side. The first issue is when I noticed Mary Cragg is my 4th-great grandma twice and my 5th-great grandma at one point. Needless to say, I was confused. I started trying to determine if their was an error in my records, or the church records, or an error anywhere! I didn't understand what was going on. But thanks to a buddy in my research group, the US West Genealogy Research Community, we got it sorted and discovered there was no error...just an extremely weird set of events and marriages that let's just say...they didn't travel far from the shallow end of the gene pool.

To understand all of this I have decided to create a visual aid. Prepare for the most amazing Microsoft Paint skills you have ever seen.

Can a girl draw or what? Anyway, the stuff in the black lines is what I want you to look at. Notice that Mary Cragg appears three times. She was married to William Heaps first, and then he stole a deer from the king and ran away, never to be seen again (more on that in a later story). Together they had Henry Heaps and Thomas Heaps.

After William ran away, Mary married Joseph Spencer and he pretty much took in all the kids. So Henry and Thomas are brothers. Henry is my 3rd-great grandpa, Thomas is my 4th-great grandpa. And their step-brother is Joseph Spencer Jr, who is my 3rd-great grandpa. And they all come from Mary Cragg, who as mentioned, is my double 4th-great grandma and my 5th great-grandma. which means that the lines before Mary Crag (i.g. her parents/grandparents/etc) are duplicated three times in my ancestry.

Apparently all the boys got along, because Henry, Thomas, and Joseph Jr. all immigrated to Escalante, Utah together. There Henry had a son named Henry Jr. And Thomas had a daughter named Mary Elizabeth, who had a daughter named Eliza Alice. And Henry Jr. married Eliza Alice, his 1st cousin once removed.

And that's probably why I'm so weird right?