General Notes

REFN: 5542AN
The surname Livingston is of territorial origin derived from the lands of
tha t same name in West Lothian, just to the southwest of Edinburgh. A
Saxon by t he name of Leving settled in in the area sometime during the
reign of Edgar ( 1097-1107) and it is from him that we get the name
“Leving’s Town” or “Living ston”. Leving's grandson, William was
designated in a charter as William the Lion “of Livingston”. His
descendant, Sir William Livingston accompanied King David II on his
expedition to England in 1346 and it was from him that he ac quired the
Barony of Callendar, Stirlingshire, and whose heiress he married. These
are the “Lowland Livingstons” from whose branches descended the
Livin gstons of Dunipace, Kinnaird, Bonton and Westquarter.
The “Highland Livingston es” are of quite a different origin. The earliest
of the Highland Livingstone s were from the Isle of Lismore in the centre
of Loch Linne off the coast of Western Scotland.
Generation One
Baron De Leving a Saxon nobleman who accompa nied St. Margaret the Exile
when she arrived at the Court of King Edward the Confessor in 1057.
circa 1057
Baron De Leving had a son:
Leving
Generation Two
Leving, about whom little is known of Leving, except that his father was
Baron De Leving and his son was Leving of Levingstoun.
Leving had a son:
Lev ing of Levingstoun
Generation Three
Leving of Levingstoun settled in West Lot hian, southwest of Edinburgh
during the reign of King Edgar (1097 – 1107) and is also known to have
been there during the reign of King Alexander I (1107 – 1124) and King
David I (1124 – 1153). His name was recorded in the latinize d form
“Levingus” when he presented the church of his manor to the newly foun ded
Abbey of Holyrood in 1128.
circa 1100
Leving of Levingstoun had the fol lowing children:
Thurston of Levingstoun
Hugh of Balbard in Fife
German, Bur gess of St. Andrews in Fife
Generation Four
Thurston of Levingstoun In 1187, two of Thurston’s sons, Alexander and
William, witnessed a charter in which T hurston was involved.
circa 1150
Thurston of Levingstoun had the following ch ildren:
Alexander of Livingston
William the Lion of Livingston
Henry, who ma rried Maria De Scalebroc
Generation Five
Alexander of Livingston who was know n to have been living during the
reign of King David I (1124 – 1153)
Alexand er Livingston had the following son:
Sir William Livingston
Generation Six
S ir William Livingston who is known to have been living during the reign
of Ki ng William I the Lion (1165 – 1214)
Sir William Livingston had the following c hildren:
Sir Andrew De Livingston
Sir Archibald De Livingston (died 1313) was the founder of the
Livingstons of Linlithgow and Stirling, but the main line became extinct
in 1512. He was Sheriff of Linlithgow in 1302 and Sheriff of Linlithgow
and Stirling in 1303.