On the day that our distant cousin Mary Elizabeth Donaldson becomes Queen Consort of Denmark following the abdication of her mother-in-law Queen Margrethe II and the succession of her husband as King Frederik X of Denmark, we look into the murder of her great (x6) grandfather, John Adam, in the 1797 Massacre of Tranent.
“I have had little time to pay thought to my father, John, who died this day 18 years ago. However he is likely not best remembered by the poor souls of Tranent, who will not look fondly on his actions during the riots and killings in 1797. A shameful moment and I never felt the same about him after that.”
Diary entry on 20th January 1832 by Hew (Hugh) Cadell, who was a son of John Cadell, Baron of Tranent & Cockenzie, one of those responsible for the Massacre of Tranent.
| ADAM | JOHN | THOMAS ADAM/ELSPETH JAMISON FR533 (FR533) | M | 14/09/1759 | 696 | 20 / 145 | NEWTON |
| ADAM | JOHN | HENRY ADAM/MARION MURDOCH FR545 (FR545) | M | 03/02/1764 | 696 | 20 / 157 | NEWTON |
| ADAM | JOHN | THOMAS ADAM/ELIZABETH WILLSON FR457 (FR457) | M | 23/12/1744 | 696 | 20 / 72 | NEWTON |
John Adam appears to have been born in Newton parish in Midlothian, but his exact year of birth and the names of his parents are somewhat of a mystery. It seems possible that he was either baptised in 1744, the son of Thomas Adam and Elspeth Jamison (with his second daughter being named after his mother) or in 1759 to Henry Adam and Marion Murdoch (with his eldest son being named after his father). However, in both these cases he would have been considerably younger than his wife, which would be unusual, but not unknown. A third possibility would be John Adam, baptised in 1744, the son of Thomas Adam and Elizabeth Willson.
On 28 October 1781, John Adam and Janet Kinley were summoned before the Kirk Session of Newton. The Old Parish Register of Banns & Marriages for Newton parish also recorded the event: “This day the session met and being constituted having been summoned appear John Adam and Janet Kinley ….. and acknowledged they were irregularly married. They were rebuked for this irregularity in the presence of the session.”
Janet Kinly had been born on 20 December 1749 in the town of Tranent, the daughter of John Kinly and Janet Cunningham. Throughout her lifetime, her surname had a number of spelling variants including Kinly, Kinlay, Kinley, McKinlay and McKinly.
Janet (Mc)Kinly was a widow, having herself been summoned before the Kirk Session of Tranent in East Lothian on 02 March 1777 along with John Redpath, where they produced “lines” certifying that they had been irregularly married in Edinburgh on 08 June 1776 by a Charles Johnson. The Old Parish Register of Banns & Marriages for Tranent parish also recorded the event: “Compeared John Redpath and Janet McKinly, produced marriage lines dated at Edr. (Edinburgh) 8 June 1776, subscribed by Charles Johnson; they were reproved etc.“
John Redpath and Janet Kinly had two children, Rosina Redpath, who was born on 24 March 1777 and John Redpath, who was born on 26 August 1778, both in Tranent parish.
John Redpath is assumed to have died as Janet then seemingly went on to marry John Adam in Newton parish in Midlothian as detailed above. Between 1784 and 1795 they had five children: Janet, born 01 October 1784, Elspeth born on 15 August 1786; Henry born 20 August 1789; John born 24 May 1790; and Elizabeth born 18 April 1795, all in Newton parish, Midlothian, with the place being specified as at Kirktown in most cases.
Some time after the birth of Elizabeth in 1795, the family relocated to Macmerry in Gladsmuir parish in East Lothian. This move ultimately proved to be fatal for John. On 29th August 1797, while on his way from Macmerry to Tranent to purchase medicine for his wife, who had just given birth to their sixth child, he was set upon and murdered by dragoons who had participated in the Massacre of Tranent and were now rampaging across the surrounding countryside and indiscriminately attacking anyone they encountered.
The sad story of John’s demise is as follows:
“John Adam, a collier, in a small village, about a mile and three quarters from Tranent, when walking quietly on the public Haddington road, was shot through the head by a dragoon belonging to one of the parties of cavalry. Adam, on receiving the shot, fell down into the ditch by the road-side; and three or four other dragoons of the party as they came up fired their pistols at the wounded man’s body as he lay in the ditch, and others hacked the body with their swords. He had got 2s. out of the family purse that morning, to buy some necessaries for his wife, then lying in child-bed. Some of the troops having dismounted, were supposed to have robbed the dead body of the 2s., as no money was found about Adam when his corpse was brought into his house.“
It seems almost certain that Janet McKinly’s husband was the John Adam who was killed and robbed by rampaging dragoons dragoons after the Tranent Massacre on 29 August 1797. According to the account above, his wife was “lying in child-bed“. John and Janet had a daughter, who had been born on 21 August 1797 and no children are known after that date.
Their daughter was born at Macmerry, while John’s body was found at Annfield, which is very close, and on the road to Tranent.
There was a burial of a John Adam in Newton parish on 1st September 1797, which is presumably our John whose body had been returned to the parish where he had been born.
John and Janet’s daughter Jackie was baptised on 02 September 1797, four days after the massacre and the day after her father’s funeral. Although the record does not state that John was deceased, the details match the John Adam who had been murdered.
One of the witnesses to the Jackie’s baptism, James Selkirk, is believed to be a distant connection of Jackie’s mother. He was baptised at Newton parish in Midlothian on 24 August 1737 and died of old age on 13 January 1809 in Blindwells in Tranent parish, East Lothian.
It seems likely that Jackie Adam was named after Jackie Crookston, one of the ringleaders of the protests against the Militia Act, who was also killed in the massacre.
Although John Adam’s murder, like that of so many others in Tranent, has largely been forgotten by history, there is statue of Jackie Crookston in Tranent’s Civic Square which serves as a reminder of the event. And although John himself may have been forgotten, he might be permitted a wry smile should he have been aware that on this day one of his descendants would become the Queen Consort of Denmark.
RIP John Adam great (x6) grandfather of Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, Queen of Denmark.
Vecchio 