John Forbes

• Preferred Name: John Forbes
  
• Gender: M
  
• FSID: GCM7-7F1
  
• Death: ABT 1226 in Forbes, Aberdeenshire, Scotland at LATI: N7.245 LONG: E2.7262
  
• Birth: ABT 1175 in Forbes, Aberdeenshire, Scotland at LATI: N7.245 LONG: E2.7262
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  «b»Disputed Existence«/b»
  Why it was thought John Forbes and his son Fergus existed
  
  1667 Evidence: An undated charter "given by Alexander Earl of Buchan to Fergus Lord Forbes son to John Lord Forbes of the Lands and Tenement de Forbes" was mentioned by William Forbes in his Preface to the Reader in "The Genealogie of The Name of Forbes composed by Mr Mathew Lumsden of Tillicarno Anno 1580 And Carried on from thence to 1667 by William Forbes of Leslie and Continued by a friend of that Noble Family & Name to the Year 1706" in Volume II of Genealogical Collections ... made by Walter MacFarlane 1750-1751.
  
  1716 Evidence: Crawfurd's The Peerage of Scotland says a grant was made "by King Alexander II to Fergus, the son of John [Forbes], of the Lands and Tenement of Forbes in Aberdeenshire" based on the "Original Charter in the Custody of the Lord Forbes".
  
  1764 Evidence: Douglas in The Peerage of Scotland, says "John de Forbes, ... flourished in the reign of king William the Lion. He possessed the lands and barony of Forbes, [Scotland], and was the father of Fergus de Forbes, who got a charter from Alexander earl of Buchan, Fergusio, filio Johannis de Forbes" which was witnessed by William Cummin, the earl of Buchan's brother, and John Cummin, his eldest son, among others, about the year 1236; and of this Fergus all the Forbes's in Scotland are descended." A margin note says "Chart. penes dom. Forbes, and book of orig. charters, pene McFarlane, vol. I. p.158." (William I, known as the Lion, was king of Scotland from 1165 to 1214.)
  
  1819 Evidence: In an 1819 publication of the Genealogy of the Family of Forbes from the Account of Mr Mathew Lumsden of Tulliekerne by an unknown editor, it says "a charter given, without date, by Alexander Earle of Buchan, to Fergus Lord Forbes". This publication also quotes Nisbet's Heraldry, originally published in 1722, which cites Mr Crawfurd's Peerage, saying "by an original charter in the custody of the Lord Forbes, Fergus, the son of John, got the lands of Forbes from King Alexander II from whence the surname."
  
  Why the existence of John Forbes and his son Fergus is questionable
  
  James Balfour Paul's The Scots Peerage published in 1907, says the original charter at Castle Forbes was for John de Fothes, son of Fergus de Fothes or Fiddes, not Fergusio, filio Johannis de Forbes, and refers to the lands of Fiddes acquired by Sir Alexander Forbes in 1436. Also, Douglas' speculative date of 1236 couldn't be correct because one of the witnesses, John Comyn, wasn't born until circa 1260.