Fordyce

This is a famous Scottish surname. It is locational from an estate known as the lands of Fordyce, in the parish of Fordyce, Banffshire, Northern Scotland. It is said that the Fordyces were a sept of the famous Clan Forbes, and it seems that in the 16th century and perhaps later they were prominent landowners in the region. This was so much so that on the death of Helene Fordyce in 1541 her lands in Elgin were prominent enough to be claimed by the king of Scotland. The sept appeared regularly in the records of the county of Banff through the late Middle Ages, and it seems that they were regular providers of sherrifs and constables in the region. The name is recorded in the late 17century with a double ff. Examples being the brothers James and John Ffordyce of Rothemay, landowners who appear in the valuation rolls, whilst George Ffordyce of Achicreive was appointed a constable in 1702. The earliest known recording is probably that of John Fordise who was the vicar of Athy, Scotland in 1460, and Johannes Fordys, who was probably the same man, was vicar of Garvok in 1464.