 He was the son of Sir John Baird, a Lord of Session as Lord Newbyth, eldest son of James Baird.Charles I intended to make James Baird a peer as Baron Devern, but he died before the patent had passed the Great Seal.The first Baronet bought an estate at Byth in Aberdeenshire and later moved to Haddington where he established a new settlement which he named Newbyth.