Person Page 410

William ("onetime Commendator of Whithorn and Provost of Biggar Collegiate Church") Fleming, of Persillands

Birth

Parents

Working life

• On 10 March 1572 William ("onetime Commendator of Whithorn and Provost of Biggar Collegiate Church") Fleming, of Persillands, was occupied as commendator in Whithorn Priory. He may not have been a cleric.Summary of Key Grantees
  Period
  Grantee or Administrator
  Role/Status
  Pre-1560
  Premonstratensian Canons of Whithorn
  Ecclesiastical owners
  1560–1568
  Malcolm Fleming (commendatory prior)
  Last Catholic prior; imprisoned
  1587 onward
  The Crown (via Annexation Act)
  Legal owner of former monastic lands
  1606 onward
  Bishop of Galloway (Episcopalian)
  Secular administrator of priory lands
  Post-1688
  Various lay possessors under Crown oversight
  After abolition of episcopacy 📜 William Fleming as Commendator of Whithorn
  •
  The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol. 2 (1569–1578), confirms William Fleming in this role.
  •
  His appointment reflects the post-Reformation practice of granting monastic benefices to laymen or clerics aligned with the Crown, often for political or financial reasons.
  •
  As commendator, Fleming would have had administrative control over the priory’s lands and revenues, though not necessarily spiritual authority.
  •
  His tenure fits within a broader pattern of Fleming family involvement in ecclesiastical and administrative offices in Galloway and Carrick.
  William Fleming’s later role as Provost of Biggar Collegiate Church does suggest that he held clerical status, but not necessarily that he was a priest in the traditional Catholic sense.🧭 What “Provost” Meant in This Context
  •
  In collegiate churches, the provost was the head of the chapter, overseeing the church’s administration, revenues, and sometimes spiritual duties.
  •
  After the Scottish Reformation (1560), many collegiate churches were secularized, and provostships were often granted to laymen or politically connected figures.
  •
  William Fleming’s earlier role as commendator of Whithorn (a secular administrator of monastic lands) fits this pattern: he was likely a lay commendator, not a Catholic cleric.🧾 So Was He a Priest?
  •
  Probably not in the post-Reformation sense. He was more likely a lay administrator with ecclesiastical titles and income, but without ordination.
  •
  His appointments reflect the Fleming family's influence and the Crown’s practice of rewarding loyal families with church benefices.¹
• On 1 January 1573 William ("onetime Commendator of Whithorn and Provost of Biggar Collegiate Church") Fleming, of Persillands, was occupied as Provost at Biggar Church in Biggar.²

Citations

1. [S148] editor P Hume Brown, "Caution for William Fleming," The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol ii, 1569-1578 (1877), online image (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112089254764&seq=324 : viewed 11 Aug 2025), p 206.
2. [S28] Sir James Balfour Paul, The Scots Peerage, vol viii, Fleming Earl of Wigtown pages 519 - 558