Signatories of the 700-year-old Declaration of Arbroath have been linked to Strathclyde University. 

A geneology study has traced the signatories lineages to lecturers and students at the university. 

The Declaration of Arbroath, signed on April 6, 1320, was written by Scottish barons and addressed to Pope John XXII, proclaiming Scotland’s sovereignty during the First War of Scottish Independence.

Descendents traced from the Arbroath Family History Project includes Dr Julie McFarlane, a director of learning at the university's Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship. 

She is descended from Walter Stewart who served as the sixth High Steward of Scotland. His son went on to become King Robert II.

The descendants also include Philip Stead, a postgraduate student at the university, whose ancestor, Alexander Seton, was steward of the King's household and placed his seal on the declaration.

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Dr McFarlane sought to learn more about her family history through genealogy website Ancestry.

Dr McFarlane's more recent ancestry also includes a miner who was one of 207 killed in the Blantyre disaster of 1877, the worst mining accident in Scottish history.

Philip found that he is descended from a child of George Seton, the Fifth Earl of Winton, a Jacobite supporter who was imprisoned in the Tower of London before escaping to mainland Europe.

The Earl, in turn, can be traced back to Alexander Seton.