Surname Pinkerton

[Bryan]

Hi. I was wondering if anyone had any info on the origin of the surname Pinkerton. I believe it originated in East Lothian, Scotland, at least that's what the internet says so of course it has to be true. ;) Is it truly Scottish or is it actually an English name?

Anyone have any insight? Thanks in advance.

[cessna152towser]

Well I knew or knew of a few Pinkertons when I lived in Paisley which is in the west of Scotland, but haven't come across the name since I moved to the south-east of the country over eighteen years ago. Though there is a locality in East Lothian, about ten or fifteen miles east of Edinburgh known as Pinkie or Pinkie Braes, so perhaps that is where the family originated.

[macwilkin]

The most famous Scottish Pinkerton is Allan Pinkerton, who served as Lincoln's spymaster during the Civil War & later founded the Pinkerton Detective Agency that took on Jesse James and the Molly Maguires during the late 19th century. Granted, they didn't make any friends on those two jobs...

T.

[Coemgen]

So are you going to be breaking any strikes soon? Perhaps you could arrange for the Colbert Report to come on earlier

[highlander_Daz]

there is quite a famous piper/instructor called Bob Pinkman. Hes from the Edinburgh area maybe a connection there

[Phil]

Pinkertons are (or were) farmers in the Lanark area. Don't know if it is a Scottish name but if someone has a copy of Black's surnames of Scotland they can look it up for you.

[cessna152towser]

Pinkertons are (or were) farmers in the Lanark area.

They also farm(ed) in Renfrewshire, just to the west of Glasgow Airport, where they produced turkeys. They shot to fame when their lawyers went to court one Saturday morning and obtained an Interim Interdict against the RAF Red Arrows aerobatic team displaying that afternoon on the grounds of commerical damage which would be caused if the birds were scared by the noisy jets!

[Cawdorian]

Pinkerton is Scottish and is a recognized sept of Clan Campbell.

Checkout this website: www.ccsna.org

[Bryan]

I knew that Pinkerton was a recognized "sept" of Campbell. I'm just wondering if the name itself originated in Scotland or was maybe brought there during the Norman conquest. The more I research it, the more I believe it to be Scottish, but I could be mistaken.

[Cawdorian]

Bryan,

"A History of Clan Campbell, Volume I" notes The surname of Pinkerton comes from the place of the same name near Dunbar, in East Lothian. In 1483, Colin, 1st Earl of Argyll, "for his faithful and gratuitous service" received a Royal Grant of the lands of Meikle and Little Pinkerton, forfeited by the Duke of Albany. The lands were by the same charter incorporated into the Barony of Pinkerton.

And further states, On the tenuous basis of the above, the name Pinkerton has been listed as a Campbell sept. The most famous holder of the name is the well-known American detective, Allan Pinkerton.

I hope this helps answer your question, I'll look a little further in some of my books and see if I can find anything else.

You might take a look at www.electricscotland.com and look under "The Great Families of Scotland", there may some more information there.