COBBAN family

[fred21]

Hi

I am trying to trace the COBBAN family that lived in and around Forgue and later on Gartly in Aberdeenshire.

George COBBAN (born and married unknown) had the following children:

William COBBAN 1784 Forgue
John COBBAN 1785 Forgue
George COBBAN 1787 Forgue
James COBBAN 1791 Forgue
Janet COBBAN 1793 Forgue
Isobel COBBAN 1795 Forgue.

Son George COBBAN b. 1787 in Forgue married Christian SMITH in 1805 in Drumblade, Aberdeenshire.  They had 2 sons that I know of :
Alexander COBBAN  1806 Gartly
George COBBAN      1808 Gartly.  This George went on to marry a Anne Martin and had 4 children all born in Gartly.  His daughter Jane is who I am descended from.

I would love to know more about this family and any further leads.

Many thanks

[John Rodgers]

Hello Ford21.

I have been researching the Cobban family but have hit a wall with George Cobban marrying Christian Smith in 1805. You have George coming from Forges - how do tou connect him with Christian and the family that follows?

John

[fred21]

Hi,

As we most things there is no 100% proof but this is what I have and found.

George COBBAN
bapt 16 April 1808 Gartly states that his parents are George COBBAN and Christian SMITH (this record is on Scotland's People)

Searching further I then found a marriage for a George and Christian - 26 May 1805 Drumblade (also on Scotland's People and Ancestry)

Drumblade is about 7 miles away from Gartly.

I also found that George and Christian had another son - Alexander also bapt in Gartly in 1806.

Searching through records for the area around both Drumblade and Gartly I then found the most likely candidate for George COBBAN snr

His bapt was in Forgue which is only a few miles from Drumblade  19 Aug 1787 - only a father is listed (George) and no mother

There was a George born in 1796 in Forgue but this one would be too young to be the father of Alexander and George jnr.

There are no other George's in the area for about the right age so the one born in 1787 in Forgue seemed to me to be the most likely candidate. (all the others I found who could have been the right age or older were bapt very far away which could be possible but as you know generally back in those times families stayed in or around the same small area occasionally moving between nearby villages)

The names also seem to fit into the family as well

George the 1st (wife unknown) seems to have had the following children:
William, John, George the 2rd, James, Janet and Isobel

George the 2nd (wife Christian Smith whose father was Alexander Smith) had just the 2 children that I have found so far
Alexander (named after her father) and George the 3rd (named after himself and his father)

George the 3rd( wife Anne Martin) had the following children
Mary, Alexander, ( grandfather's name), George the 4th (fathers, grandfathers and great grandfathers names), James, Jane, Jessie, William, John, Anne and Anthony.

As with most things there could be doubt but so far I'm reasonably confident. We can only confirm for sure (or as sure as we can be) once and when or if we find out more information.

[John Rodgers]

Hello again, it is always good to come across someone looking into a similar branch of the family tree. May I ask which of the Cobbans your line comes from?

I too went down the line of looking at the Cobbans of Forgue - (Westerton of Conzie), from memory, but was not confident for a few reasons.

Looking at Scottish naming patterns-
The first son was named after the father's father.
The second son after the mother's father.
The third son after the father.

and considering, Christian Smith's Dad is Alexander Smith, but the second child to Christian and George (married in 1805) is a George (born 1808) and not an Alexander, I drew from this that, George and Christian's first child being an Alexander (born 1806) may have killed two birds with one stone, meaning George's father would have been Alexander also.

Some tax records of the time George and Christian were in Little Shanquar Gartly refers to an Alexander Senior and Junior, placing an older Alexander in the household. Other searches have an Alexander old enough to be George's father in the Gartly area, but I can not make the link.

I think I have worked out why I cannot make the link. Having looked at the Gartly LDS Family History material from 1712 - 1854 ish - there is a discrepancy in the data of baptisms in the parish over a 10 - 11 year period. The average number of births prior to discrepancy was about 23, but drops to 10 - 11 during the time George (who marries Christian) may have been born. The data then shows the averages returning to around 22 - 23 outside this 10 - 11 year window. The interesting thing is that the local minister at the time of this discrepancy was transferred out of the parish for improprieties. The records then return to the normal average. From this, I believe George's birth was not properly recorded either because the minister didn't do it, or the family lost faith in the minister and did not formally register him. Who knows.

If you are interested, I have made a rough webpage that tracks some of the people you seem to be researching. It goes as far back as Alexander Smith - Crofthead, Drumblade. I have added a few photos I took recently as well as a few maps

The link is http://johnrodgersfamilytree.weebly.com/

I'd love to hear more from you. My email address is on the homepage if you would like to chat more.

John

[fred21]

Thanks for that.

Interesting about the LDS records for Gartly - I hadn't realised that there was a gap or drop in baptisms so it is possible that George was born in Gartly or Drumblade or nearby but the baptism was never recorded for what ever reason.

In regards to naming patterns I have found that they are a guideline only and that many
Scottish families (or at least in my family tree)  didn't follow them so strongly i.e. first born son being named after the father's father.  Family names do still crop up but just not in that strict order and a father's father name can appear as the 2nd or 3rd or 4th etc son. 

This is why George snr (born in Forgue 1787) seemed like a strong candidate.  At this stage I feel we can still put a pencil query next to his name as being the possible correct George until or if we every find another George that fits better.

Possibly if records are missing or were never recorded then we may never find him which means that
the family search for further Cobbans would stop there.  Maybe as more people get DNA tests done then we might find the missing links.

[fred21]

The COBBAN connection is through my partner.

His great grandmother was Jane COBBAN daughter of George COBBAN and Anne MARTIN.

Jane married a James PIRIE (I know - the Scottish equivalent of Smith making it super hard to trace because there are so many)

James was a policeman and later on an Inland Revenue Officer.  He died young at 35 living Jane to raise 3 kids alone.  She ended up working as a washerwoman to bring money in.  Quite sad really.

[John Rodgers]

Yes, I agree, a sad story. Jane's sister Mary also had a tough life. I have records that she ended up in a poor house in Gartly.
Do you have any photos of the family? As mentioned I have a web page that I add to when other distant relatives discover photos or information.
I have attempted to cut and paste some information sent to me by a kind researcher - I have misplaced the persons name. But it has information on the COBBAN family in and around Gartly. I hope you can use it too.
As the file is too large, I exceed the word limit. If interested, email me and I can send the rest of the document.

Descendants of Alexander COBAN


Generation No. 1

1.  ALEXANDER1 COBAN was born Bef. 1693.  He married ANN DASON.  She was born Bet. 1679 - 1693 (Source: Inferred from offspring.).

More About ANN DASON:
Name 2: Agnes Dason (Source: OPR - Gartly.)
   
Children of ALEXANDER COBAN and ANN DASON are:
2.   i.   MARGARET2 COBBAN, b. 06 Apr 1711, Kirkhill, Gartly, Aberdeenshire.
3.   ii.   ANN COBBAN, b. 11 Mar 1713, Kirkhill, Gartly, Aberdeenshire.
   iii.   COBBAN, b. 01 Feb 1719, Shanchar, Gartly, Aberdeenshire (Source: OPR - Gartly, no name given.).
4.   iv.   BESSIE COBBAN, b. 23 Apr 1721, Shanchar, Gartly, Aberdeenshire.
5.   v.   ALEXANDER COBBAN, b. 09 Aug 1723, Gartly, Aberdeenshire; d. Aft. 1797.

Generation No. 2

2.  MARGARET2 COBBAN (ALEXANDER1 COBAN) was born 06 Apr 1711 in Kirkhill, Gartly, Aberdeenshire (Source: OPR - Gartly.).  She married JOHN BURNET (Source: cobban.net.) 21 Nov 1752 in Gartly, Aberdeenshire (Source: OPR - Gartly, John in Cairney, Margaret in Gartly.). 

LOTS MORE BEYOND THIS THAT WOULN"T FIT IN LIMIT.