I can't answer the merchant question but for wills, go to www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk The index is free to search after you register but you pay £5 to view the actual will. There are quite a few Boyds from Irvine and from other parishes. These are a couple of examples. BoydHew19/10/1611in Kirktone of Kilbryde, in the parish thereofTestament Testamentar & InventoryGlasgow Commissary CourtCC9/7/8 BoydRobert10/07/1620merchant within the baronie of Glesgow and parish thairofTestament Dative and InventoryGlasgow Commissary CourtCC9/7/1 BoydHew04/11/1634in Langhirst, parish of LargsTestament DativeGlasgow Commissary CourtCC9/7/2 I just wish the Irish government - North and South - would do something similar and I could have nearly all your genealogy needs met in one website. Rachel snip.... > In the Boyds of Portincross I have this entry:- > > Hew Boyd, b / /15xx ( ), d /10/1610 (Irvine?, Ayrshire), bu , m / /15xx > (church, town, etc), Marion Ross, dau of and (nee ) Ross, b / /15xx ( ), d > / > /16xx, died after 1610, bu , and had issue:- > > [Lived: , Irvine, Ayrshire ] > > - Merchant in Irvine [What sort of merchant.] > > > How would you find out what sort of Merchant this Hew Boyd might have been > in 1610? > > Secondly, do any Wills or Letter Wills survive for this period and where > might they be found today? > > At this point, I THINK that the Thomas Boyd of Dervock who died in 1634 > and > was Provost of Irvine in 1608-1610 are the same person. So this would > mean > that the Boyds of Ballycastle - who stem form Thomas Boyd of Dervock - > came > from Irvine. > > It is said that the Boyds of Ballycastle/Danson Hill, Kent came from the > Portincross family and the link is Alexander Boyd second son of the First > Earlof Kilmarnock. >>From the book Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British > Empire, Vol. 1., John Burke 1883, page 135, under the Boyds of Danson Hill > (see chapter 29), it says > > "The family of Boyd is of very great antiquity in Scotland, and the > similartity between its armorial bearings and those of the Srewarts, has > given ground for conjecture, that it branched from that toyal and > unfortunate stock. The present family is directly descended from the > > Honorable Alexander Boyd, of Portencross, (second son of William, ninth > Lord > Boyd, created by King Charles II. Earl of Kilmarnock;) whose descent in > the > fifth degree, > > John-Augustus Boyd, esq married in 1717, Lucy, daughter of Judge Peters, > of > the island of St. Christopher's and left and only son." > > This CLAIM that Alexander was the second son of the First Earlof > Kilmanrock > is incorrect. He was the fifth son and eighth child. > > Q8 Alexander Boyd, b / /1675 ( ), C 9/9/1675 (Dumbarton, Kirkintillock > Parish, Dumbartonshire), d 16xx, m ? bc 1669-71 (a guess) d probably in > Belgium, and not sure if married:- > > [Lived: ] > > - Joined the Scots Dutch Brigade before 7/5/1694. This Alexander could be > the ancestor of the family of Danson Hill - see Chapter 29, if so he could > have spent sometime in Ireland in the 1670's and 1680's. > > Alexander BOYD (M).................. C: 9 Sep 1675 B: 17 Jun 1988 IFALL > Ba: > C114982 ^- > > Father: William Earl Kilmarnock BOYD Kirkintilloch, Dunbarton, Scotland E: > 9 > Nov 1988 IFALL So: > > Mother: Jean CUNNINGHAM SP: 21 Dec 1988 IFALL > > However, the CLAIM that this family came form the Portincross Boyd's may > not > be incorrect. > > Sir Thomas Boyd, third Feudal Baron of Kilmarnock [F1] younger brother > Robert Boyd [F3] held Portincross > > F3 Robert Boyd, b 13xx, d 13xx, m 13xx, wife unknown and had issue:- > > [Lived: ] > > - He was ancestor of the Boyds of Portincross in Ayrshire, his male > descendants held Portincross until the death of Robert Boyd of Portincross > in 1721. He having lost his only son, disposed the Barony of Portincross > and > Ardneil to his grandson William Fullarton, afterwards Boyd, son of > Alexander > Fullarton of Kilmichail in Arran and Grizel Boyd, 13 April 1712. (see > Chapter 12) > > So Portincross was still in this Boyd family until 1721, so this Alexander > Boyd son of the first Earl of Kilmarnock could not have come from > Portincross. > > [However those Boyds found in and around Dervock in 1614 MIGHT COME FROM > later younger generations of the Boyd family of Portincross, through the > Irvine connections. One of whom is Merchant in Irivine and died in 1610. > So > could this Hew Boyd [see K2 in chapter 12] have been an uncle to Thomas > Boyd > and perhaps the other Boyds - John Boyd who died in 1615 and is buried in > Derrykeighan and William Boyd who died at Dunluce in 1624.] > > This is THEORY on my part, but that maybe where this information is > leading > us. > > Thank you > > Mike Boyd > HIstorical Commitee, HBS > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NIR-DERRY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message