The surname Kerrstarr was first found in Lanarkshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Lannraig) a former county in the central Strathclyde region of Scotland, now divided into the Council Areas of North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, and the City of Glasgow.
Carstairs is a parish in the Upper ward of the county of Lanark that includes the village of Ravenstruther. "The name is most probably derived from the word Car, or Caer, signifying "a fort," and stair, or stairs, "a possession;" descriptive of an estate or possession in a fortified place." [1]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Kerrstarr research. Another 204 words (15 lines of text) covering the years 1170, 1259, 1450, 1536, 1649, 1715, 1703, 1716 and 1649 are included under the topic Early Kerrstarr History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Medieval Scottish names are rife with spelling variations. This is due to the fact that scribes in that era spelled according to the sound of words, rather than any set of rules. Kerrstarr has been spelled Carstair, Carstairs, Kerstairs, Kerstair, Carstare, Carstares, Cairstare, Cairstares, Carrstairs, Carrstare, Carrstarr, Carstarr, Carstarrs, Carrstarrs, Kerrstarr and many more.
Notable amongst the family at this time was William Carstares (Carstaires) (1649-1715), Scottish minister of the Church of Scotland, Principal of Edinburgh University (1703-1716.) "He was the eldest of nine children of John Carstares, minister of Cathcart, near Glasgow, where William was born on 11 Feb. 1649, and Janet Mure of Glanderston, a branch of the Mures of Caldwell. His father, who had been at the battle of Dunbar, where he was taken prisoner by Cromwell, was exchanged...
Another 77 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Kerrstarr Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Many Scots were left with few options other than to leave their homeland for the colonies across the Atlantic. Some of these families fought to defend their newfound freedom in the American War of Independence. Others went north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. The ancestors of all of these families have recently been able to rediscover their roots through Clan societies and other Scottish organizations. Among them: Thomas Carstairs settled in Virginia in 1700.