In Dumfriesshire
Members of the merchant family from which descended the Paisleys of Craig begin to be noticed at Erkinholm (Langholm) in Eskdale from about 1688 onwards. To this family belong the Pasley Baronets of Craig, a family founded by Admiral Sir Thomas Paisley (first Baronet), fifth son of James Paisley of Craig, (granted arms in 1747). Sir Thomas, who lost a leg and an eye during 'the glorious first of June' in 1794, subsequently omitted the 'i' in the spelling of his name as a tribute of respect to Admiral Lord Nelson he too having become partially sighted from earlier battles. From the Paisleys of Craig also descend the Pasley-Diroms of Mount Annan, Luce and Cleughhead.
General Sir Charles W Pasley General Sir Charles W Pasley KCB., FRS., DCL. (1780 - 1861), grandson of James Paisley of Craig, was Military Commander and Engineer, served with distinction under General Sir John Moore of Coruna in the Peninsular War. (Moore was cousin of the Westerlea Paisleys). He subsequently founded the School of Military Engineers at Chatham, and also belongs to this distinguished Scots family.
His son Major General Charles Pasley, CB., (1824 - 1890), also a prominent engineer was Colonial and Inspector General of Public Works in Victoria (Australia) whilst on leave from the DPW, he volunteered to serve with the British troops in New Zealand and fought in the Maori wars of 1860. He married Charlotte Roberts, a cousin but had no family dying in 1890 with the representation of this distinguished family resting with the Pasley-Tylers. Captain Sir Henry Whatley Tyler, who died in 1908 was an instructor at the School of Military Engineering under General Sir Charles Pasley, married his daughter Margaret Pasley, an accomplished portrait artist.
Sir Malcolm, the 5th Baronet (1926 - 2004), following the family tradition, served in the Royal Navy 1944/45 before pursuing an academic career at Oxford. He was appointed a lecturer at Magdalene College in 1950 and a Fellow in 1958. He received numerous academic awards during his career but his most notable achievement was the personal retrieval of the Kafka papers from a Zurich bank in 1957. This cloak 'n' dagger mission was accomplished driving under difficult conditions across Europe to the Bodelian Library in Oxford where editing and commenting on the text became his life's work. In 1988 Sir Malcolm Pasley became Patron of the Society. In 1994 recognising the Westerlea line to be the senior line of Paisley, happily surrendered any claims to Chiefship of the family to the current Laird. The 6th Baronet is Sir Robert Killigrew Pasley.