Individual Details
William Ball
(3 Jun 1505 - 21 Aug 1558)
The Lineage of the Baillies of Lamington
In genealogical records and online family trees, the English title Lord of Wokingham / William Ball is frequently conflated with the Scottish house of Baillie of Lamington due to historic surname variations (such as Balliol, Baille, and Baillie). However, the core narrative of this prominent family belongs to the Scottish peerage and the eventful history of the Barony of Lamington in Lanarkshire across the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Generation I: Royal Favor under Queen Mary (c. 1540s)
The story of this branch of the family rises to prominence with Sir William Baillie of Lamington. On January 24, 1542, King James V granted Sir William the prestigious position of Principal Master of the Royal Wardrobe under the Privy Seal of Scotland.
Sir William secured a key alliance through his marriage to Janet Hamilton, daughter of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran and Duke of Châtellerault (a leading noble family closely tied to the Scottish crown). From this union came:
• Sir William Baillie, his primary heir and successor.
• A younger son, from whom the cadet branches of the Baillies of Bagbie and Hardington descended.
Generation II: The Royalist Loyalist and the Inheritance Feud (1560s–1600s)
Succeeding his father as Laird of Lamington, the younger Sir William Baillie became a devoted supporter of Mary, Queen of Scots. During the Marian Civil War, Sir William took up arms for the Queen at the fateful Battle of Langside on May 13, 1568. Following Mary’s defeat, Sir William was declared forfeited by Parliament, though he eventually managed to retain his family holdings.
Sir William married Margaret Maxwell, daughter of John, Lord Maxwell, and widow of Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. The couple had a single daughter:
• Margaret Baillie, who married her cousin Edward Maxwell, Commendator of Dundrennan (third son of Lord Herries of Terregles).
Because Sir William had no legitimate male heirs with Margaret Maxwell, he settled the entire Lamington estate on his daughter Margaret and her Maxwell children, under the explicit condition that any heir of entail assume the surname Baillie. A special Act of Parliament was procured to legally enforce this requirement.
The Second Family and Legal Battle
Following the death of his first wife, Sir William sought to legitimise a son born during an extramarital affair with a Mrs. Home. Sir William married Mrs. Home after his wife's passing and mounted legal challenges to break the original entailment, attempting to pass Lamington to his son, also named William Baillie.
However, because the younger William was proven to have been born while Sir William’s first wife was still alive, Scottish law deemed him illegitimate for inheritance. The legal settlement in favor of Margaret Maxwell's line stood firm.
Generation III: The Soldier of Fortune — General William Baillie (c. 1600–1653)
Unable to inherit the Lamington estate, the disinherited son William Baillie sought his fortune abroad as a mercenary. He moved to Germany and enlisted in the army of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden during the Thirty Years' War, rising through the ranks to become a Major-General.
When the Wars of the Three Kingdoms broke out in 1638, the Scottish Covenanters summoned foreign-trained Scottish officers back home. Baillie returned to Scotland and was appointed Lieutenant-General of the Covenanter forces.
During the Scottish Civil War, General Baillie faced the royalist commander James Graham, Marquess of Montrose:
• Battle of Alford (July 1645): General Baillie’s forces were defeated by Montrose’s tactical maneuvers.
• Battle of Kilsyth (August 1645): Montrose inflicted another major defeat on Baillie’s army.
In 1641, General Baillie made a final, unsuccessful effort in the Scottish Parliament to overturn the Lamington estate settlement. Although he failed to claim Lamington, he acquired the Letham estate in Stirlingshire through his marriage to Janet Bruce, daughter of Sir William Bruce of Glenhouse and heiress of John Baillie of Letham.
The Union with the Lordship of Forrester (1650s–1670s)
Through General William Baillie's children, the family acquired the peerage title of
Lord Forrester of Corstorphine:
1. James Baillie (Eldest Son): Married Joanna Forrester, daughter and heiress of entail of George, 1st Lord Forrester. Upon her right, James succeeded as the 2nd Lord Forrester in 1679.
2. William Baillie (Second Son): Married Lillias Forrester, another daughter of the 1st Lord Forrester. Their son William Baillie subsequently succeeded to the title as the
3rd Lord Forrester.Summary of Key Lineage
1. Nisbet, Alexander. A System of Heraldry, Speculative and Practical: With the True Art of Blazon. Appendix, Vol. II, p. 138.
2. Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage: Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland. David Douglas, 1904–1914.
3. Baillie, James William. Lives of the Baillies. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1868.
4. Reid, Stuart. Scots Armies of the 17th Century: The Covenanters. Partizan Press, 1988.
5. Genealogie Online / WikiTree / FamilySearch Historical Records. Entries for Ball / Baillie of Lamington lineage disputes.
In genealogical records and online family trees, the English title Lord of Wokingham / William Ball is frequently conflated with the Scottish house of Baillie of Lamington due to historic surname variations (such as Balliol, Baille, and Baillie). However, the core narrative of this prominent family belongs to the Scottish peerage and the eventful history of the Barony of Lamington in Lanarkshire across the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Generation I: Royal Favor under Queen Mary (c. 1540s)
The story of this branch of the family rises to prominence with Sir William Baillie of Lamington. On January 24, 1542, King James V granted Sir William the prestigious position of Principal Master of the Royal Wardrobe under the Privy Seal of Scotland.
Sir William secured a key alliance through his marriage to Janet Hamilton, daughter of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran and Duke of Châtellerault (a leading noble family closely tied to the Scottish crown). From this union came:
• Sir William Baillie, his primary heir and successor.
• A younger son, from whom the cadet branches of the Baillies of Bagbie and Hardington descended.
Generation II: The Royalist Loyalist and the Inheritance Feud (1560s–1600s)
Succeeding his father as Laird of Lamington, the younger Sir William Baillie became a devoted supporter of Mary, Queen of Scots. During the Marian Civil War, Sir William took up arms for the Queen at the fateful Battle of Langside on May 13, 1568. Following Mary’s defeat, Sir William was declared forfeited by Parliament, though he eventually managed to retain his family holdings.
Sir William married Margaret Maxwell, daughter of John, Lord Maxwell, and widow of Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. The couple had a single daughter:
• Margaret Baillie, who married her cousin Edward Maxwell, Commendator of Dundrennan (third son of Lord Herries of Terregles).
Because Sir William had no legitimate male heirs with Margaret Maxwell, he settled the entire Lamington estate on his daughter Margaret and her Maxwell children, under the explicit condition that any heir of entail assume the surname Baillie. A special Act of Parliament was procured to legally enforce this requirement.
The Second Family and Legal Battle
Following the death of his first wife, Sir William sought to legitimise a son born during an extramarital affair with a Mrs. Home. Sir William married Mrs. Home after his wife's passing and mounted legal challenges to break the original entailment, attempting to pass Lamington to his son, also named William Baillie.
However, because the younger William was proven to have been born while Sir William’s first wife was still alive, Scottish law deemed him illegitimate for inheritance. The legal settlement in favor of Margaret Maxwell's line stood firm.
Generation III: The Soldier of Fortune — General William Baillie (c. 1600–1653)
Unable to inherit the Lamington estate, the disinherited son William Baillie sought his fortune abroad as a mercenary. He moved to Germany and enlisted in the army of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden during the Thirty Years' War, rising through the ranks to become a Major-General.
When the Wars of the Three Kingdoms broke out in 1638, the Scottish Covenanters summoned foreign-trained Scottish officers back home. Baillie returned to Scotland and was appointed Lieutenant-General of the Covenanter forces.
During the Scottish Civil War, General Baillie faced the royalist commander James Graham, Marquess of Montrose:
• Battle of Alford (July 1645): General Baillie’s forces were defeated by Montrose’s tactical maneuvers.
• Battle of Kilsyth (August 1645): Montrose inflicted another major defeat on Baillie’s army.
In 1641, General Baillie made a final, unsuccessful effort in the Scottish Parliament to overturn the Lamington estate settlement. Although he failed to claim Lamington, he acquired the Letham estate in Stirlingshire through his marriage to Janet Bruce, daughter of Sir William Bruce of Glenhouse and heiress of John Baillie of Letham.
The Union with the Lordship of Forrester (1650s–1670s)
Through General William Baillie's children, the family acquired the peerage title of
Lord Forrester of Corstorphine:
1. James Baillie (Eldest Son): Married Joanna Forrester, daughter and heiress of entail of George, 1st Lord Forrester. Upon her right, James succeeded as the 2nd Lord Forrester in 1679.
2. William Baillie (Second Son): Married Lillias Forrester, another daughter of the 1st Lord Forrester. Their son William Baillie subsequently succeeded to the title as the
3rd Lord Forrester.Summary of Key Lineage
1. Nisbet, Alexander. A System of Heraldry, Speculative and Practical: With the True Art of Blazon. Appendix, Vol. II, p. 138.
2. Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage: Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland. David Douglas, 1904–1914.
3. Baillie, James William. Lives of the Baillies. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1868.
4. Reid, Stuart. Scots Armies of the 17th Century: The Covenanters. Partizan Press, 1988.
5. Genealogie Online / WikiTree / FamilySearch Historical Records. Entries for Ball / Baillie of Lamington lineage disputes.
Events
| Birth | 3 Jun 1505 | Berkshire, England | |||
| Marriage | 1521 | Wokingham, Berkshire, England - Margaret Moody | |||
| Burial | Aug 1558 | Bathgate, Linlithgowshire, Scotland |  | ||
| Death | 21 Aug 1558 | Wokingham, Berkshire, England | | ||
| Alt name | Sir Lord Of Wokingham William Robert Ball |
Families
| Spouse | Margaret Moody (1507 - 1525) |
| Child | John Paris Ball (1525 - 1599) |
| Father | William Balliol (1475 - 1546) |
| Mother | Margaret Rey (1480 - 1542) |
Endnotes
1. "BillionGraves Index", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK7P-S3Y6 : Fri Oct 03 12:53:08 UTC 2025), Entry for William Baillie..
2. "BillionGraves Index", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK7P-S3Y6 : Fri Oct 03 12:53:08 UTC 2025), Entry for William Baillie..