Author Topic: James Robertson - Bo'ness  (Read 4049 times)

Offline andrew shanks

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James Robertson - Bo'ness
« on: Sunday 08 October 06 17:59 BST (UK) »
I have James Robertson christened 14 Nov 1756 in Bo'ness and married to a Margaret Clarkson on 12 May 1777 at Bo'ness.

I have James' parents as James Robertson and Margaret Hoggan.

I also have a James Robertson born circa 1756 in Bo'ness who married an Elizabeth Gordon on 7 May 1777 at Bo'ness.

It has been suggested to me that the parents of the James who married Elizabeth Gordon were James Robertson and Margaret Hoggan!

Does anyone know which is correct?

I would welcome any assistance with this.

 :)
Ireland: Arlour, Arlow, Hammond, Hannah, Shanks, Templeton

Scotland: Allan, Black, Carlyle, Corkingdale, Fleeting, Grant, Hammond, Hannah, Kirkwood, Lothian, McFarlane, Main, Neilson, Shanks, Sneddon, Stirling, Wood
 
Sussex/Hampshire/Surrey/London/Kent: Beagley, Champion, Clark, Douch, Earl, Jones, King, Ladyman, Ley, Pattenden, Peskett, Pink, Readings, Standen, Stonestreet, Windiate

Offline robineaston

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Re: James Robertson - Bo'ness
« Reply #1 on: Tuesday 09 January 07 11:35 GMT (UK) »
Hi

Unfortunately Scottish parish registers contain rarely information useful for identifying our ancestors. Best way to get reasonable results is to judge by the names of children.

By the way, I myself descend from James Robertson and Margaret Clarkson ;) I have no certain information about my James' parents but in my opinion he was no doubt a grandson of Charles Robertson from Bo'ness (James had children named Giles and Charles).

Regards
Rob

Offline andrew shanks

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Re: James Robertson - Bo'ness
« Reply #2 on: Tuesday 09 January 07 18:11 GMT (UK) »
James Robertson and Margaret Clarkson are my wife's 5th gt grandparents.

I already have James' grandfather as Charles Robertson of Bo'ness, which ties in nicely with your theory.

 :)
Ireland: Arlour, Arlow, Hammond, Hannah, Shanks, Templeton

Scotland: Allan, Black, Carlyle, Corkingdale, Fleeting, Grant, Hammond, Hannah, Kirkwood, Lothian, McFarlane, Main, Neilson, Shanks, Sneddon, Stirling, Wood
 
Sussex/Hampshire/Surrey/London/Kent: Beagley, Champion, Clark, Douch, Earl, Jones, King, Ladyman, Ley, Pattenden, Peskett, Pink, Readings, Standen, Stonestreet, Windiate

Offline msrobertson

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Re: James Robertson - Bo'ness
« Reply #3 on: Wednesday 20 January 16 15:01 GMT (UK) »
Hello,
I realize this is an old thread, but on the off chance this forum notifies you of new posts, I will give this a shot.  My grandfather (Malcolm Stewart Robertson) was born on Prince Edward Island, Canada in 1888.  He immigrated to the US in the early 1900's. 

I have a casual interest in genealogy and have made attempts to trace the lineage of our PEI ancestors back to Scotland.  My efforts, as well as the efforts of much more professional researchers, all seemed to dead-end with a Thomas Robertson (b.1776, d. 1841) who married a Susannah Jenkins (b. 1780, ).  A number of years ago, while I was actively using Ancestry.com, this seemed to the case for most every other researcher who was looking into the line.

Recently I logged onto Ancestry.com after a long hiatus.  I noticed there are quite a number of family trees that now carry on the line well beyond Thomas.  Most of them list Thomas' father and mother as the James Robertson and Margaret Clarkson (Clerkson) your post speaks of.  However, I haven't seen any source documentation that would confirm this linkage.  (I am a casual user of genealogical software/websites, so it's quite possible the source is right under my nose).

I am intrigued by the linkage for a few reasons.  My father, uncle and aunt adamantly maintained that our first ancestor on PEI was a James Robertson.  The story I was told was that James was a school teacher, who after swearing an oath of allegiance to the King, was given a land grant/charter on PEI.  My grandfather had the charter, and all three children have vivid memories of seeing it.  Sadly, no one in the family now knows where it is.  I made several inquiries with researchers on PEI who were able to identify a couple of James Robertsons who had potential to be our missing ancestor, but no documentable linkage could be made at that time.

While going through some of my father's papers the other day, I discovered a letter from my uncle that roughly listed out our PEI lineage.  My uncle, born in 1911, spent a summer on PEI working with an uncle on the family farm.  Consequently, he probably was the most well-versed in the family history.  Anyway, in this letter (written nearly 40 years ago), he listed the first ancestor as "James Robertson, born 1756". 

I find the birth date of 1756 interesting because it is the same date most of the family trees attribute to the James Robertson you are referring to.  Furthermore, many of these trees show Margaret Clarkson having died on PEI (at the ripe age of 100, which makes me skeptical).

Sorry for being so long winded, but I wonder if your research on James Robertson and Margaret Clarkson lists a son named Thomas and/or shows they may have emigrated from Scotland to PEI?  The records on this side of the pond seem rather sketchy.  Perhaps they are better on your side?

Thank you for any light you might shed on this for me.

Malcolm Robertson



Offline andrew shanks

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Re: James Robertson - Bo'ness
« Reply #4 on: Wednesday 20 January 16 16:58 GMT (UK) »
Hi,

I have checked the information that I have regarding James Robertson and Margaret or Martha Clarkson.  They were married in 1777 at Bo'ness, which lies within what is now West Lothian in Central Scotland.  I have 10 children listed for them but none of these are named Thomas.

You will be able to search for Thomas in the Old Parish Records that are available online via the ScotlandsPeople website.  However, these records date from before the time of statutory registration in Scotland and will not necessarily list every birth/baptism that took place.

I am sorry that I could not be of more assistance here.

Regards

 :)
Ireland: Arlour, Arlow, Hammond, Hannah, Shanks, Templeton

Scotland: Allan, Black, Carlyle, Corkingdale, Fleeting, Grant, Hammond, Hannah, Kirkwood, Lothian, McFarlane, Main, Neilson, Shanks, Sneddon, Stirling, Wood
 
Sussex/Hampshire/Surrey/London/Kent: Beagley, Champion, Clark, Douch, Earl, Jones, King, Ladyman, Ley, Pattenden, Peskett, Pink, Readings, Standen, Stonestreet, Windiate

Offline msrobertson

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Re: James Robertson - Bo'ness
« Reply #5 on: Wednesday 20 January 16 17:38 GMT (UK) »
Thank you so much for your prompt reply.  It was probably too much to hope for, but the name and birth date of James meshed so well with our family's recollections, I hoped it might actually be true.

Best,

MSR

Offline andrew shanks

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Re: James Robertson - Bo'ness
« Reply #6 on: Wednesday 20 January 16 18:20 GMT (UK) »
That is no problem.

Another line of enquiry that you might want to look at is whether Thomas left a will (presumably these would be recorded somewhere in the Prince Edward Island archives, or even on a genealogical sites such as Ancestry.com?).  I have found that sometimes to go up a family tree you have to go down it first and a will might mention other relatives i.e. cousins, or brothers/sisters, some of whom could potentially be tied in with James & Margaret.

I hope this helps and wish you good luck with your research.

 :)
Ireland: Arlour, Arlow, Hammond, Hannah, Shanks, Templeton

Scotland: Allan, Black, Carlyle, Corkingdale, Fleeting, Grant, Hammond, Hannah, Kirkwood, Lothian, McFarlane, Main, Neilson, Shanks, Sneddon, Stirling, Wood
 
Sussex/Hampshire/Surrey/London/Kent: Beagley, Champion, Clark, Douch, Earl, Jones, King, Ladyman, Ley, Pattenden, Peskett, Pink, Readings, Standen, Stonestreet, Windiate

Offline gwh3591

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Re: James Robertson - Bo'ness
« Reply #7 on: Friday 14 June 19 16:19 BST (UK) »
Hi

I've just joined Rootschat and noticed the thread for James Robertson. I realise that I'm coming on board late on an old thread but I'm hopeful that someone who has researched this line before may be able to help me.

My three times great grandfather was Richard Robertson, b.1820 in Bo'ness, who married Barbara Grant. Richard died before 1851 as there is no mention of him in census returns for 1851 onwards, whilst Barbara is recorded as being widowed. I came across one reference suggesting he died in August 1850 in West Lothian. However, there is no death certificate available for a Richard Robertson on this date in Scotlandspeople which holds the statutory and old parish records for Scotland.

Searching on FamilySearch.org, I found references to Richard's father being John Robertson, b.1778 and his father, James, b.1756, m Margaret (Martha) Clarkson. James was mentioned in other posts on this thread. On FamilySearch.org, there is a reference to Thomas Robertson, b.1776 which that person has added to James Robertson's tree, and stating that James had 11 children, not 10 as another post suggested. Thomas appears to be the older brother of John Robertson, whom I mentioned earlier in my post. Thomas apparently died before 1841 in Mt. Albion, Lot 48, Prince Edward Island, Canada. I am not able to confirm, or otherwise, the veracity of this finding, but maybe someone else can.

Is there anyone who can confirm the death of Richard Robertson in 1850 in Bo'ness or West Lothian, and has been able to find the relevant paper trail? Also, are the names of Richard's father and grandfather, John and James respectively? Hopefully, someone will be able to help me with this quest. Thank you.