The origins of the forebears of Presbyterian Irish William Givan, Sr. are unknown but they were likely from the Scottish Lowlands.  There were Givans in the early 1600's in the county of East Lothian in the Scottish Lowlands (number 12 above) listed in the International Genealogy Index.
It is believed that the Givens/Givans migrated from Scotland to Ulster, Ireland during or after the Ulster Plantation of the early 1600's initiated during the reign of James VI/I of Scotland and England.  There is evidence that Givans were at Dungiven in County (London)Derry, Ireland by the mid-1600's.
Likewise, Hamilton is a surname from the Scottish Lowlands so our Irish Hamiltons may also have originated in that region.

James Sutherland, Sr., was a sergeant in the 59th regiment and was born in Tain, Ross-shire in the late 1700's as stated in the regimental casualty lists.  Nothing else is known of his forebears at this time but Sutherland is a common name from the Scottish Highlands, and the main export of the feudal/clan system within the Highlands was men with fighting ability.  In the Highland uprising of 1745, the Sutherland clan was one of the northern clans that remained loyal to the reigning House of Hanover in contrast to the followers of "Bonnie Prince Charlie", the last of the exiled Stuarts in France.
The county of Sutherland is number 31 in the map above, a distinction which disappeared after 1975 when it was incorporated into the larger region simply called Highland.   As seen below in a map from 1645, the county of "Southerland" was a more localized region at that time centred on Dornoch which was just north across the Dornoch Firth from Tain in east Ross-shire.

James' son James Sutherland Jr. later also served in the 59th Regiment but never lived in Scotland. Later, when married, James Jr. was stationed in Ireland at least from 1848 to 1852 where three of his children were born before retiring to England.

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Site maintained by Norman Franke. Last modified September 23, 2007