The Price of Being a King’s Daughter
Extraordinary Women, Part 10
My mother, Helen Isabella Estes Seltzer, died Dec. 28, 2010, at the age of 90. She had a life-long interest in family history. In her memory, I compiled profiles of powerful and strong-willed women among her ancestors, thinking those women might inspire her descendants. These brief biographies are grouped by the lines of descent, which are shown afterwards, leading down to the present.
In 1306, when Marjorie Bruce was nine years old, her father, Robert the Bruce, was crowned King of the Scots. Just three months later, her father was defeated at the Battle of Methven, and she and all her female relatives were captured and betrayed to the English.
Marjorie spent eight years in solitary confinement in a convent. At the age of 16, she was finally set free in exchange for English noblemen captured at the Battle of Bannockburn and was given in marriage to Walter Stewart as a reward for his performance in that battle.
Two years later she went horse-riding while in advanced pregnancy. She was thrown, went in to premature labor, delivered the child, and died soon after.
That child succeeded to the throne of Scotland as King Robert II, the first king of the Stewart dynasty.
Line of Descent
1) Marjorie Bruce (1296–1316) (md. Walter Steward)
2) Robert II, King of Scotland, first king of the Stewart Dynasty) (1316–1390) (md. Elizabeth Mure)
3) Robert III, King of Scotland (1337–1406) (md. Annabella Drummond)
4) James I, King of Scotland (1394–1437) (md. Joan Beaufort)
5) Joan Stewart (1428–1486) (md. James Douglas, First Earl of Morton)
6) John Douglas, Second Earl of Morton (1459–1513) (md. Janet Crichton)
7) Agnes Douglas (md. Alexander Livingston, Fifth Lord Livingston of Callandar, guardian of Mary Queen of Scots)
8) William Livingston, Sixth Lord Livingston of Callandar (1528–1602) (md. Agnes Fleming)
9) Alexander Livingston (1561–1621) (md. Eleanor Hay)
10) Margaret Livingston (1586–1634) (md. John Fleming)
11) Alexander Fleming, emigrated from Scotland to Virginia (1612–1668) (md. Elizabeth Anderson)
12) John Fleming, emigrated with his father from Scotland to Virginia) (1627–1686) (md. Mary)
13) Charles Fleming (1659–1717) (md. Susannah Tarleton)
14) Susannah Tarleton Fleming (md. John Bates)
15) James Bates (1721–1786) (md. Winnifred Grymes)
16) Daniel Bates (1756–1801) (md. Elizabeth Cary Bell)
17) Sarah Langhorne Bates, moved from Virginia to Tennessee (1781–1825) (md. Joel Estes)
18) Albert Monroe Estes (1804–1863) (md. Mildred Colman)
19) Louis Powhatan Estes (1849–1902) (md. Lily Yates Moore)
20) Smith William Estes, moved from Tennessee to Philadelphia (1881–1943) (md. Mae Griffith)
21) Helen Isabella Estes (1920–2010) (md. Richard Warren Seltzer, Sr.)
