Forrester History  

It is possible that this family is of Celtic druidic origin, descending from Marnin the Forester, who held lands in Dunipace, Stirlingshire about 1200. Sir Adam Forrester, first of Corstorphine, is generally regarded as the founder of the clan. He was an ambassador, merchant, Provost of Edinburgh, Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland and Deputy Chamberlain of Scotland. In 1376 he acquired the estate of Corstorphine in Midlothian (now part of Edinburgh), where Corstorphine Castle (now demolished ) and the Collegiate Church of Corstorphine were built by the family. The Dower House of the Lords Forrester now houses a local history museum. Adam’s son, Sir John Forrester the elder, also became Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland and was Chamberlain of Scotland and Keeper of the Household to James I. Sir James, the seventh chief, was killed in the Battle of Pinkie in 1547. The tenth chief, Sir George Forrester, was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia and raised to the peerage as Lord Forrester of Corstorphine, in 1633. On his death the baronetcy title became dormant and it still awaits a claimant.
James and William Baillie, the sons-in-law of the first Lord, assumed the name and arms of Forrester and inherited the title under a re-grant of the peerage. James, an ardent royalist, was fined heavily by Cromwell and the estates became burdened with debts. The fifth Lord, Colonel George of the Grenadier and Life Guards fought under Marlborough at Oudenarde and Malplaquet, and was wounded in the Battle of Preston in 1715. Eventually the male line died out and the title descended through heiresses to the Earls of Verulam. The chiefly family had several landed cadets, including Le Forestiers in Normandy. Forresters were accessories to the murder of David Rizzio, secretary and close friend of Mary, Queen of Scots, and also in Mary’s imprisonment in Holyrood House. They held important posts, including those of Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland; secretary to the king; Chamberlain of Scotland; Master of the Household of James I; comptroller of the Royal Household to James IV and to his wife, Margaret Tudor; Grand Provisor to Queen Arabella; sheriff of Edinburgh, Stirling and Skipness Castles, and governor of Belle Island; Bishop of Brechin and Abbot of Balmerino; and heralds to French kings, Normandy King of Arms and Picardy Herald.
The Lords of Forrester of Corstorphine have been recognised as chiefs of this Lowland clan since the seventeenth century. The potential chief is Sir John Duncan Grimston, Baronet, seventh Earl of Verulam, sixteenth Lord Forrester of Corstorphine, and patron of the Clan Forrester Society. His seat is Gorhambury in St. Albans in Hertfordshire with its fine Palladian mansion. His heir, Viscount Grimston, is the Master of Forrester.
Among the relics and heirlooms is the Corstorphine Pendant, Sir Duncan Forrester’s Antiphony, a fifteenth-century vellum book of Eastertide Music and the Corstorphine Casket of carved oak mounted in silver.