The Brebners and the Learney EState

To trace the Innes estate of Learney we must first look at the Brebner family. The earliest Brebner found is John Brebner of Corskie , born in 1630. He was a merchant in Aberdeen and in 1653 he married Agnes Moi r who is believed to have been the daughter of John Moir, 1st of Stoneywood, Aberdeen. They had five sons and two daughters and to date I have only been able to trace information on the marriage of one of these children, James, born in 166 5, married in 1704 to Elizabeth Gordon, daughter of John Gordon, 2nd of Fechil.

James and Elizabeth had ten children; the one that matters for this record is William who was born in 1713. William acquired the barony of Learney and it is from here that we must look for the Innes connection.

In 1743 William Brebner married Jean Buchan, the daughter of Major James Buchan , 11th of Auchmacoy. They are said to have produced nine children but only one of the children is reported to have had children of his own, that being Alexander , born in 1753. In 1783 Alexander Brebner married Christian Leys, the daughter of Francis Leys of Glasgoforest. The wedding took place in Aberdeen, the city whe re Alexander became Lord Provost. As was the Brebner tradition, this marriage was said to have produced a large family, twelve in all, ten girls and two boys.

Neither of the two sons had any children and indeed, only three of the daughters married and had children. Daughter Frances was born in 1789 and she married Hugh Lumsden, 2nd of Pitcaple, and they had a daughter, Christina Lumsden. I presu me that Frances died after the birth of her daughter as Hugh Lumsden married for a second time and had other children but that need not worry us here. France's younger sister, Anne was born in 1799 and in 1825, in Aberdeen, she married William Gordon-Cuming-Skene, 12th of Pitlurg, but they had no children. William Gordon-Cuming-Skene was supposedly a relative of Elizabeth Gordon, the great grand mother of his wife Anne. The third daughter of Alexander Brebner and Christian L ey to be married was the eldest one, Jean (or Jane). She was born in 1786 and in 1812 she married William Innes of Raemoir, born circa 1785. We now have a link between William Brebner of Learney and the Innes Clan through the marriage of his granddaughter Jean to William Innes of Raemoir. Jean Brebner inherited Learney estate jointly with her unmarried sister Mary on her father's death in 1823.

William Innes and Jean Brebner had two sons, Alexander, the eldest to whom the Innes of Balvenie line descends, and Thomas. On the death of Jean in 1872, at the age of 86, the barony of Learney went to her younger son Thomas and so we now have the first Thomas Innes of Learney. Thomas had 3 sons who all predeceased him. The eldest William who was in the Royal Engineers, was killed in Malaya in 1875, William Street in Torphins is named after him. Col Francis Innes was the youngest son, died in 1907

Born in 1893, Thomas was the son of Col Francis Innes who married Lady Lucy. Thomas who was to become Sir Thomas Innes of Learney and become prominent in the Lyon Court of Scotland. He was to become a Knight Grand Cross of the Victorian Order (G CVO) and he was honoured as a Doctor of Law (LLD) and was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (FSA(Scot)). In 1928 he married Lady Buchan, daughter of the 18th Earl of Caithness. In 1945 Sir Thomas of Learney was appointed Lo rd Lyon King of Arms, the head of the Lyon Court in Scotland. a post which he held until 1969, about two years before he died. Whilst holding the office of Lord Lyon he was the author in 1965, of the revised edition of The Clans, Septs and Regiments of the Scottish Highlands by Frank Adam

A book which he wrote in 1938, The Tartans of the Clans and Families of Scotland is still regarded today as one of the finest works on tartans.<br><br>

Sir Thomas and Lady BUCHAN were married in 1928. Sir Thomas died in 1971 leaving three sons and a daughter. He was buried about 16 Oct 1971 in Kincardine O'Neil (Plot 292). He is reference number 57. The eldest son, Thomas, now Thomas Innes of Learney,BSc (Agric) OStJ., was born in 1930 and educated at the Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh University where he obtained a BSc degree in Agriculture. He served for a time in the army in the Royal Corps of Signals. In 1958 married Rosemary Elizabeth Jackson, daughter of the late Brigadier Cecil Vivian Staveley Jackson, CIE, CBE, of Burnside Arboyne, Aberdeenshire. They have a daughter, Maureen Cecila, born in 1962. From 1971 to 1976 he was president of the Deeside Field Club.<

The second son of Sir Thomas Innes and Lady Buchan is Berowald Fortesque Innes of Inverisla. Born in 1931, he was educated at Melville College and, like many of the Innes family, is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

The third child born to Sir Thomas Innes and Lady Buchan was their daughter, Sybil Marjorie Innes, born in 1934.

The fourth offspring was a recent Lord Lyon King of Arms, Sir Malcolm Rognvald Innes of Edingight, born in 1938.