Clan Lennox

History

Lennox is a place name first and a family name second. The clan society derives it from the Gaelic leamhan, 'elm', which shifted to Leven, then to Levenax, and was finally anglicised. The Lennox was the country around the River Leven, which links Loch Lomond to the Clyde, and its valley is still called the Vale of Leven. In that respect it is typical of Scottish surnames, which often started as a description of where someone lived.

The clan society places the origins of the family in the ancient Earls of Lennox. They held Dunbartonshire and parts of Renfrewshire, Stirlingshire and Perthshire from the twelfth century. The society points to Sir William Fraser's history, The Lennox, which begins with Alwin MacArchill in the early twelfth century. The origins of the earldom itself are disputed, so we say no more than that.

The earldom did not stay with the Lennox name. Later it passed to the Stewarts. Britannica notes that Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, was the father of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, who married Mary, Queen of Scots. Their son became James VI. The society also lists branches that grew from the Lennox stock. It names Clan MacFarlane, Clan Galbraith and the Napiers of Merchiston as documented cadets, and sees some evidence for MacAulay, Buchanan and Colquhoun.

The Lennoxes of Woodhead, near Lennoxtown, carried the name on in Stirlingshire. Margaret Lennox of Woodhead tried to prove a right to the earldom. When she died in 1833, her nephew John Lennox Kincaid, whose aunt she was, inherited. He took the name Kincaid-Lennox and built Lennox Castle beside the old house at Woodhead, partly, it is said, to strengthen that claim. The claim to the earldom itself was not established.

Lennox Castle stayed with the family until 1927, when it was sold to the Glasgow authorities along with much of the estate. It opened as a hospital in 1936 and closed in 2002. The castle is a ruin now. By then the family's story had moved on. The society records that a patent of arms and a crest for Lennox was issued by the Lord Lyon on 28 June 1984.

The modern clan is organised around that chiefship. On 31 May 2017 the chief declared a constitution that set up the society, with a chamberlain and commissioners in several countries. Other families have since been welcomed. The Spruell family, in all its spellings, was recognised as a sept in 2019. The society says the term sept has little historical use for Lennox, so we treat these names as associated rather than as part of the clan.