MALCOLM, a surname originally Gillecolane or Gillechallum, derived from
two Gaelic words signifying the servant of St.
Columba. Somerled, thane of Argyle, had a son of this name, who was
slain with him near Renfrew in 1164.
The chief of the clan Challum or the MacCallums, an Argyleshire sept.
originally styled the clan Challum of Ariskeodnish, is
Malcolm of Poltalloch, whose family has been settled from a very early
period in that county. One of this house, titled Zachary
Uad Donald Mor of Pultalloch, was killed May 25, 1647, at Ederline,
in South Argyle, in single combat with Sir Alexander
Macdonald, titled Allaster Mac Collkittoch, or left-handed He was in
the force of the marquis of Argyle when General David
Leslie advanced into Kintyre to drive out the royalists, and was renowned
in his day for his great strength. It is alleged that he
slew seven of his assailants before he was himself slain. He was getting
the better of Colkitto, when a Maclean came behind him with a scythe and
hamstrung him; he was then easily overpowered.
In 1414, Sir Duncan Campbell of Lochow granted to Reginald Malcolm of
Corbarron, certain lands of Craignish, and on the
banks of Loch Avich, in Nether Lorn; with the office of hereditary
constable of his castles of Lochafly and Craignish. This
branch became extinct towards the end of the 17th century, as Corbsarron
or Corran is said to have been bequeathed by the
last of the family to Zachary MacCallum of Poltalloch, who succeeded
his father in 1686.
Dugald Maccallum of Poltalloch, who inherited the estate in 1779, appears
to have been the first to adopt permanently the
name of Malcolm as the family patronymic. Besides Poltalloch, the family
possesses Kilmartin house and Duntroon castle, in the same county.
John Malcolm, Esq., of Poltalloch, born in 1805, a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant
for Argyleshire and Kent. succeeded his
brother, Neill in 1857. Educated at Harrow and Oxford, he became B.A.
in 1827 and M.A. in 1850. He married 2d daughter
of the Hon. John Wingfield. Stratford, son of 3d Viscount Powerscourt,
with issue. Heir, his son, John Wingfield.
The Malcolms of Balbeadie and Grange. Fifeshire, possess a baronetcy
of Nova Scotia, conferred in 1665. In the reign of
Charles I., Sir John Malcolm, eldest son of John Malcolm of Balbeadie,
acquired the lands of Lochore in the same county. A
branch of the Malcolms of Lochore and Innertiel settled in Dumfries-shire.
In 1746, Sir Michael Malcolm, baronet, being related to the last Lord
Balmerino, was sent for to be present at his execution on Tower-hill. A
daughter of Lord Chancellor Bathurst saw him on the scaffold, and fell
in love with him He subsequently married
her. Sir Michael sold the estate of Lochore, which subsequently came
into the possession of Mr. Jobson, whose daughter
married the 2d Sir Walter Scott, baronet.
On Sir Michael's death, the title devolved upon James Malcolm of Grange,
and at the death of the latter in 1795, upon John
Malcolm of Balbeadie, descended from the youngest brother of the first
baronet. Sir John's son, Sir Michael Malcolm, married
in 1824, Mary, youngest daughter of John Forbes, Esq., of Bridgend,
Perth, and with three daughters, had one son, Sir John
Malcolm born April 1, 1828, who succeeded to the baronetcy, on the.
death of his father in 1883.