William Oliphant

Abt 1664 -

• Name	William Oliphant  [1]
  Birth	Abt 1664	Fife, Scotland
  Gender	Male
  Occupation	1684	Scotland   [2]
  	Tailor
  Role	1685	East Jersey, New Jersey, USA
  	Transported prisoner
  Religion	1685	Scotland
  	Covenanter
  Imprisonment	12 Mar 1685	Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland   [3, 4]
  	Warded in Edinburgh Tolbooth by order of the Privy Council, brought from Leith, having arrived under guard from England
  	Fellow prisoners: Andrew Craffurd, William Cuningham, Charles Gray, John Forman, John Frazer, John Mortine, Alexander Shiell
  Imprisonment	24 May 1685	Dunnottar, Kincardineshire, Scotland   [5]
  	Held in Dunnottar Castle until c12 August, then marched to Leith arriving 17 August
  Legal	18 Aug 1685	Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland   [6]
  	Granted to George Scot for transportation
  Departure	5 Sep 1685	Leith, Midlothian, Scotland
  	Aboard the Henry and Francis
  Arrival	7 Dec 1685	Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA   [7]
  Name	"The Covenanter"
  Property	14 Jul 1690	Monmouth, New Jersey, USA   [8]
  	Deed of purchase of land for £32 from James Johnstone north east of Wemcock Brook. Witnesses: John Barclay, John Reid, John Nesmith
  Origin	Anstruther, Fife, Scotland   [2]
  Person ID	I44682	East Jersey Genealogies
  Last Modified	23 Mar 2026

  
  

  Father	John Oliphant,   b. Abt 1640, East Lothian, Scotland d. Bef 1690, Monmouth, New Jersey, USA (Age < 49 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Janet Gilchrist,   b. Abt 1641, Fife, Scotland
  Relationship	natural
  Marriage	15 Feb 1662/63	Kilconquhar, Fife, Scotland   [9]
  Family ID	F31346	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - Abt 1664 - Fife, Scotland Occupation - Tailor - 1684 - Scotland Religion - Covenanter - 1685 - Scotland Imprisonment - Warded in Edinburgh Tolbooth by order of the Privy Council, brought from Leith, having arrived under guard from England - 12 Mar 1685 - Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland Imprisonment - Held in Dunnottar Castle until c12 August, then marched to Leith arriving 17 August - 24 May 1685 - Dunnottar, Kincardineshire, Scotland Legal - Granted to George Scot for transportation - 18 Aug 1685 - Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland Departure - Aboard the Henry and Francis - 5 Sep 1685 - Leith, Midlothian, Scotland Arrival - 7 Dec 1685 - Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA Property - Deed of purchase of land for £32 from James Johnstone north east of Wemcock Brook. Witnesses: John Barclay, John Reid, John Nesmith - 14 Jul 1690 - Monmouth, New Jersey, USA  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  Later deeds refer to land formerly owned by William Oliphant "and sisters" as late as 1718 - see, eg, in NJ Early Land Records (Monmouth Co Deeds Volume E : Folio 154-155 (CMNCL001)

  
  

• Sources

  [S3522] Book of the Old Edinburgh Club, (Name: Old Edinburgh Club; Location: Edinburgh; Date: 1916;), Vol. XII, 1923, p166. [S3526] National Records of Scotland, (Location: Edinburgh;), JC39/76/1. [S3522] Book of the Old Edinburgh Club, (Name: Old Edinburgh Club; Location: Edinburgh; Date: 1916;), Vol. XI, 1922, p40. [S3611] Privy Council of Scotland, The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 3rd Series, X, p180. [S3610] Anderson, James, The Black Book of Kincardineshire, p9. [S3611] Privy Council of Scotland, The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 3rd Series, XI, p154. [S3601] Glasgow, W. Melancthon, History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in America, pp 230-231. https://archive.org/details/historyofreforme00glas [S3652] "Early Land Records, 1650-1900s", State of New Jersey, Department of State, Early Land Records, 1650-1900s, D (EJ): Folio 242-243 (SSTSE023). [S3608] Marriages (OPR) Scotland, (Name: National Records of Scotland; Location: Edinburgh;), Kilconquhar 436 10/357.