Name `Napier' is of English origin;
the Napier had charge of the Royal linen.
Robert Bain states that, according to tradition, the Napiers descend from the ancient Earls of Lennox. John de Napier, who held lands in the county of Dunbarton, is recorded in a charter of the Earl of Lennox in 1280 and in the Ragman Roll of 1296.
He assisted in the defence of Stirling Castle in 1303.
William Napier, a descendant of John, was governor of Edinburgh Castle in 1401; William's son Alexander, who owned their lands in Merchiston, was provost of Edinburgh in 1437; Alexander's son, Sir Alexander Napier of Merchiston, was comptroller to James II in 1440, Provost of Edinburgh in 1455, Vice-Admiral of Scotland and Ambassador to England in 1461, and held several other offices.
John Napier in Merchiston (born 1550) was the celebrated inventor of logarithms and considered the greatest mathematician of his age.
According to Scots Kith and Kin, Clan Napier was in the Lennox in
the 13th Century. It is a sept of Clan MacFarlane and of Clan Scott.
= In Scotland =
Napier
Courtesy Electric Scotland: Grangemouth, Scotland
Links to other Clan Napier Websites