The ancestral home of the Laidlaw family is in the Scottish-English border
region where they once lived among the clans of the Boernician tribe. They
lived in Selkirk (now part of the region of Borders). They moved there
from Laidlawstiel in Galashiels; however, it seems likely that Laidlawstiel was named after the family, not vice versa. The traditional view of the origin of the name is
that it derives from the town of Ludlow, in Shropshire, with the name
changing over time as the family migrated north into Scotland. The dark rolling moors of
the Scottish/English border are home to this notable surname Laidlaw. Its ancient history is closely woven into the rich and beautiful tapestry of the border chronicles.
In-depth research into some of the most ancient manuscripts such as the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, the Inquisitio, the Ragman Rolls, the Domesday Book, baptismals, parish records, tax records and cartularies, gave researchers the first record of
the name Laidlaw in Selkirk where they were seated from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.
Your name, Laidlaw, appeared in many references, and from time to time, the
surname was spelt Laidlaw, Laidlay, Laidler, Laidley, Ladlyle, and these changes in
spelling frequently occurred within the family name. Scribes and church officials spelt the name as it sounded, and frequently the spelling changed even during the person’s own lifetime.
The family name Laidlaw is believed to be descended originally from the Boernicians. This ancient founding race of the north were a mixture of Scottish Picts and
Angles, a race dating from about the year 400 A.D. By 1000 A.D. this race had formed into
discernible Clans and families, perhaps some of the first evidence of the family structure in Britain. From this area come some of the most impressive names in history, surnames with unique nicknames such as the Sturdy Armstrongs, the Gallant Grahams, the Saucy Scotts, the Angry Kerrs, the Bells, the Nixons, the Famous Dicksons, the Bold Rutherfords, the Pudding Somervilles, and most of the names ending in “son.”
From these fighting clans of the border the surname Laidlaw was found in Selkirkshire. They held territories in the Vale of Yarrow, although they were originally
from the south at Laidlawstiel in Galashiels. The Laidlaws were a ferocious border clan
holding territories in Liddesdale and were responsible for the defence of the Scottish East March. In 1585 they killed Hobby Forster’s son and this important English Clan was brought out against the Laidlaws. However they ran afoul of the Laidlaws across the border and were forced to flee, including the thirty riders which the Captain of Bewcastle had sent to protect the Forsters. After 1603 they moved to Mosfennan in Peebleshire but had been officially recognized in 1590 by Act of Scottish Parliament as being a Border Clan with its own Chief. Notable amongst the family name during the early history was Laidlaw of Selkirk.
The Clans or families to the north of the border became Scottish after about
the year 1000 A.D., and to the south they became English. Nevertheless, despite the border, many would still be united clans, but strangely loyal to the defense of their respective countries.
Clan feuds became so intense that in 1246 A.D., six Chiefs from the Scottish
side and six from the English side met at Carlisle and created a set of laws for all the border territory. These were unlike any laws prevailing in England or Scotland or, for that matter, anywhere else in the world. For refusal of assistance when called a person could be hanged on the instant, without a trial. While clans were on this “hot trod” to recover stolen property,(from which we get the modern expression “hot to trot”), they were protected from almost all eventualities.
In 1603, the crowns of Scotland and England unified under James VI of
Scotland who found it expedient to disperse the “unruly border clans.” The Border Clans were dispersed to England, northern Scotland and to Ireland. Some were banished directly to the Colonies.
In Ireland, they were granted lands previously held by the Catholic Irish. They signed an “Undertaking” to remain Protestant and faithful to the Crown. The name Laidlaw may well have arrived in Ireland early in the 17th century during the reign of
James I of Britain, when six counties in Ulster were confiscated and settled by the Protestant “Planters” or “Undertakers,” as these settlers were known.
The New World beckoned and the many settlers in Ireland, known as the Scotch/Irish, became disenchanted. They sailed aboard the armada of sailing ships known
as the “White Sails” which plied the stormy Atlantic.
Some called them, less romantically, the “coffin ships.” Amongst the early settlers who could be considered kinsmen of the Laidlaw family, or who bore a variation of the surname Laidlaw were David Laidlaw, an “emigrant in bondage,” who arrived in America in 1750; Douglas Laidlaw, who arrived in Canda in 1790; James Laidlay, a Scotch-Irish immigrant to New England in 1718; and Thomas Laidler, who arrived in America in 1768. In the 19th century, Alexander Laidlaw settled in Philadelphia in 1849; James Laidlay settled in New Hampshire in 1718; James Laidley settled in Philadelphia in 1805; J. Laidley arrived in San Francisco in 1850; Edward and Joseph Ladley settled in Philadelphia in 1838.
In America, the early pioneers became the nucleus of the first settlements
from Maine to the Cumberland Gap. They provided much of the stock which produced the early presidents and governors of the United States. In Canada they settled Nova Scotia, the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa Valley.
Prominent bearers of the Laidlaw surname in contemporary times include: Alice Anne Laidlaw (b. 1931), maiden name of Canadian Author Alice Munro, David H. Laidlaw, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Brown University.
The coat of arms found for a bearer of the Laidlaw surname did not include a motto. Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of
arms, and many families have chosen not to display a motto.