Early Scottish Gastons

There also was a clan of Gastons living in the Roxburgshire district of Scotland (modern Scottish Borders) who evidently trace their descent from a knight from Gascoigne who arrived in Britain with, or not long after, William the Conqueror.  These could be ancestors of the extensive George Gawstoun family who lived in Edinburgh at the turn of the 17th century.   Baptismal records indicate that George Gawstoun was a cordiner, which is sometimes regarded as synonymous with "shoemaker" but in reality encompassed a wide variety of leather goods. 

We have found evidence of two other cordiner Gastons, Henry and Robert, who lived in the Stirling area in the late 16th and 17th centuries.  Unfortunately their Wills are indecipherable except to those familiar with the legal script of the time.  We will gladly provide copies to anyone who thinks he or she may be able to "translate" them.

Interestingly enough, among George Gawstoun's many children were William (born 1596) and John (born 1600). By the mid-1600s, George's descendants were spelling the name Gastoun or Gaston.  While they are probably not related to the American Gastons, we're still reminded of the legend about "Jean Gaston, the Huguenot," supposedly born around 1600

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