Family History

A friend of mine who shall remain nameless (but is an ex-librarian) informed me that there was a new service available online called AskScotland (http://askscotland.org.uk/).

I thought I would try it to see if they could give me any information about Gilbertson's that fought at the Battle of Bannockburn.

Now I know that my branch of the Gilbertson's never set foot in Scotland until the 1800's (ish) and that before that we were in Shetland and before that we hailed from Norway (thanks to my Auntie Nancy for all of the research) - but thought I would ask anyway.

The reply I got was as follows:

Hi Graeme,

We have found some information on a Sir Walter Gibertson. We have not found any other Gilbertson mentioned in the literature covering the Scottish Wars of Independence
Walter Gilbertson seems to have been on King Edward's side until after the Battle of Bannockburn in June 1314. He was keeper of Bothwell Castle in Lanarkshire which was under English control before the battle.

The Earl of Hereford, Edward II's brother-in-law, sought safety there with other prominent English Knights after they fled from Bannockburn. Sir Walter Gilbertson changed sides and took Hereford and his fellow knights prisoner. They were later exchanged for members of Robert Bruce's family who had been prisoners in England. This Gilbertson then joined Bruce's side.
My main souce has been David Cornell's "Bannockburn : the triumph of Robert the Bruce" published in 2009 by Yale University Press ISBN 978 0 300 145687.

Just goes to show that the Gilbertson's always like to be on the winning side :-)