A Brief History of the Logan Clan Chiefs
By Sean Logan and Marlee Logan, Updated August 2026
The purpose of this blog is to introduce you to our former Chiefs of the Logan Family/Clan and to share what we have learned about them through our continuing research.
The first known Chief of the Name and Arms was Alexander Logan of that Ilk, who in 1516 was asked for a precept of the king by Patrick Logan. The exact relationship between Patrick Logan and Alexander Logan is not known, nor do we know what was contained in the precept. However, the treasure for Clan Logan was the fact that the record identified Alexander as "of that Ilk." This basically means Logan of Logan and names him as Laird of Logan in Ayrshire, near Old Cumnock.
Alexander Logan of that Ilk was succeeded by "Patrick Logan of that Ilk" in 1531 when Patrick, among others, chose the new clerk for the parish church in Cumnock.
● Our earliest armorial evidence of a prominent Logan was when Walter Logan affixed his seal to the Ragman Roll in 1296. In this, he swore fealty to King Edward of England, an oath he would later break as he aligned with Robert the Bruce. Walter Logan's seal is described as a shield bearing three piles in point between the antlers of a stag's head cabossed.
● The Logans of that Ilk and the Restalrig Logans should not be treated as the same family. As of today, there is no evidence connecting them. They may or may not be related. What we do know is that the Restalrig Logans were Barons, but not Chiefs of the Name and Arms of Logan.
In 1558, Patrick Logan was recorded as "Patrick Logan of that Ilk" in a document that named him as a member of a panel to determine the right of inheritance. That same document named his son and heir apparent, William Logan. This gives us a documented succession from Alexander to Patrick to William.
However, we do not know if William ever was "William Logan of that Ilk." That is because things go quiet until 1604, when "George Logan of that Ilk" and his wife Bessie put a prenuptial agreement in place for their son William Logan. William was to marry Jonet Campbell.
Their son William succeeded George and was first named "William Logan of that Ilk" in 1628 in his daughter Agnes's Testament Dative.
In 1637, William Logan of that Ilk aligned himself with the Protestant Covenanter cause when he signed the Cumnock Parish petition to the Privy Council. This petition opposed the introduction of the new Scottish Book of Common Prayer, introduced by King Charles I. Two years later, the Bishops' Wars began between the Covenanters and the Scottish Royalists.
William had at least two sons, George and James. George appears to have predeceased his father because, by June 1647, his brother James had become legal guardian to George's son, also named George Logan. Therefore, it appears that William's son George never became "George Logan of that Ilk." However, William's grandson George Logan is especially important to our story.
In 1672, "George Logan of that Ilk" registered his arms with the Court of the Lord Lyon. The arms included three passion nails meeting at their points and piercing a man's heart. His crest was a passion nail piercing a heart, with the motto Hoc majorum virtus.
This heart represents Clan Logan's strong connection to Robert the Bruce. They fought with him for Scottish independence, and it was two Logan knights who accompanied Sir James Douglas and the heart of Robert the Bruce in battle in Spain.
At the time his arms were registered, George Logan of that Ilk was living in Old Cumnock in Ayrshire and was a lawyer by profession. He had three sons named William, Allan and Hugh.
William Logan succeeded his father. In 1704, "William Logan of that Ilk" was a signer of the Act anent Supply. This act ordered 432,000 pounds to supply an army in Scotland's last attempt to choose its own monarch. It failed, and in 1707 the Scottish Parliament ceased to exist. William died in 1727 and was succeeded by Reverend Allan "Logan of that Ilk."
Our research into Allan is continuing. Earlier accounts of the Logan succession described him as dying without issue, but later research has confirmed that Reverend Allan Logan married Mary Colville. They did have one child who sadly died prior to his first birthday. Allan Logan passed without any heirs in 1733, making his younger brother "Hugh Logan of that Ilk."
Hugh Logan of that Ilk married Agnes Mitchell, and they had at least four children: George, Janet, William and Hugh.
It appears that George and William predeceased their father without lawful heirs. This meant that, for the second time in two generations, the youngest brother became Chief of the Name and Arms of Logan.
He was "Hugh Logan of that Ilk." Hugh never married and had no lawful children. He did have at least three natural children. Alexandrina Logan, born in 1762, and Janet Logan, born in 1765, were daughters of Euphan Cannon. Hugh also had a son named Hugh Logan with Jean Weir.
The children were deemed illegitimate since they were born outside of marriage, which meant they could not inherit the chiefship. Hugh was also not a particularly effective manager of the Logan estate. When he passed away on 12 May 1802, he left behind no legitimate heirs, and the estate was heavily in debt.
His sister Janet Logan inherited the lands of Logan. Janet had married James Goodlet Campbell and had a family of her own. She died on 3 May 1803, and the estate then passed to her son, Hugh Goodlet Campbell.
Hugh Goodlet Campbell died in 1814. Court of Session records later identified his surviving sisters, nieces, and nephew and documented what ultimately happened to the Logan lands. Following litigation begun in 1817, the remaining estate was divided into six lots and sold.
The lands passed out of the family, but the family itself did not disappear.
Our research has traced descendants of Janet Logan through her children, including descendants of her daughter Janet Campbell and grandson John Kenneth Mackenzie. Some of those descendants continued halfway around the world to Australia.
Does that mean we have found our hereditary Chief?
Unfortunately, no.
The search for a lawful heir to the Chief of the Name and Arms of Logan continues. John Logan Marjoribanks spent decades investigating the descendants and collateral lines of the Logans of that Ilk. His work provided the foundation on which much of our present research has been built.
Since this article was first published in April 2024, however, something very important has changed.
In April 2025, the Logan Family Convention was held as part of the process of restoring leadership to the Clan. J. Kevin Logan was selected as the preferred candidate for Commander, and on 18 December 2025, the Lord Lyon King of Arms formally commissioned J. Kevin Logan as Commander of the Logan Name for a period of five years.
We still do not have a hereditary Chief of the Name and Arms of Logan. However, for the first time in more than two centuries, the Logan name once again has officially recognized leadership while the search for our hereditary Chief continues.
And, as our research keeps proving, there are still plenty of Logan stones left to turn over.
Sources and Further Research
For sources, documentation, and continuing research into the Chiefs of the Name and Arms of Logan, visit our Clan Logan research page on WikiTree.
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