About The Innes Clan

With today’s fast paced society, we can all benefit from keeping our ancestry close to us and also the honor held with it. A perfect example of this is the Innes Clan motto, ”Be Traist” ( meaning “Be faithful”), this simple message can be both an inspiration to you in everyday life, and a reminder of the ancestry and history behind every Innes Clan member. 


There has always been a presence of Innes Clan members in the academic society of Scotland, with the most prominent of such, being Father Thomas Innes author of “Critical Essay on the Ancient Inhabitants of Northern Parts of Britain or Scotland”; Father Lewis Innes who was the Principal of the Scots College in Paris which played a large role in keeping and preserving many historic Scottish documents; and also Cosmo Innes who was the Sheriff of Moray in 1840 and a Professor of Edinburgh University, he also played a role in the preservation of Scottish historical documents. 

But along with these men, there have been other inspirational individuals, namely the leaders of Clan Innes. In essence the first of these was Barowald who was granted the land known as Innes (being all the land between along the seashore between Spey and Lossie) by Malcolm IV in 1160, the land ownership was later confirmed in a charter by Alexander II. Later on, Sir Alexander Innes (son of “Good Sir Robert” 8th Laird of Innes) married Janet the heiress of the thane of Aberchirder, and thus could lay claim to the lands of her family, further expanding the Clan Innes lands. Their son Walter Innes became the chief of Clan Innes and held the position for 42 years. Further along, the son of Walter Innes, “Ill Sir Robert” became the 11th Laird of Innes and also formed the Greyfriars of Elgin. His son Sir James followed as leader and was succeeded by his son Alexander Innes. 

Later on, in 1579 the Privy Council decided to recognize Clan Innes as an official Clan, and thus the family became a clan of the form it is today. The succession of Lairds continued to this day, with the Innes Clan expanding in both size and prestige along the way. Some of the accomplishments in that time have included the building of Innes House, the construction of Coxton Tower, the appointment of Robert Innes of Blairton to lord Drpute of the Register of Arms and Bearings in Scotland, and also Lord Lyon and his son Sir Malcolm Innes to King of Arms ( at different times of course).