Hello. This is my first post to this list, and a very long shot. Looking to connect with family of a ROBERTSON man who married into my FREELOVE line in 1904, in Plumstead, Woolwich, Kent. I have little to go on except he states in Census that he is born Scotland. The reason why I appeal on this list for help and guidance is: Appearing on the English 1901C living at 6 Witherington Road, Islington. RG13 pc 202. are: 1. ROBERTSON, William G Head Married M 30 1871 Commercial Clerk Scotland ROBERTSON, Jessie E Wife Married F 27 1874 Scotland. Plus 2. George ROBERTSON m 31 Drapery Warehouseman b Scotland and Emma 31 pob Scotland. Margaret 4 pob Highbury Elsie 11 mos pob Highbury. I'm reasonably confident family no 1 appear in the 1911C with the added info of pob for William Gordon ROBERTSON as Garmouth, Elgin (Moray). Going back to the ROBERTSON/FREELOVE connection, the marriage took place in the Primitive Methodist Chapel, Robert Street, Plumstead. This was the first entry for a Methodist event I've made, and the bride was one of 9 children. Father of the groom was Donald ROBERTSON. A witness was William G ROBERTSON hence my interest in the William G in first paragraph. Hoping to follow on from the marriage and find children - disappointment! Donald ROBERTSON had died by 1911C, as his wife showed as a widow, domestic servant, with another household, only 25 yo. Several contacts have looked for his death entry in England for me with no success. However, it looks as though a son was born, but appears in 1911C with another family under their surname. Is there perhaps a death logged for a young Donald ROBERTSON between 1904 and 1911 in the county? If anyone can tell me that I have got the wrong family, it will at least point me in another direction. Obviously I will be making other searches. I've browsed the roberts-L@rootsweb archives but nothing there for me. Thank you for reading. Joan.

> Hello. This is my first post to this list, and a very long > shot. Hello Joan, and welcome to the list. > Looking to connect with family of a ROBERTSON man who married > into my > FREELOVE line in 1904, in Plumstead, Woolwich, Kent. >From FreeBMD, I take it that this is Donald Robertson and Elice Ethel Freelove, and you say that he has the same name as his father? How old was he in 1904 according to his marriage certificate? > I have little to go on except he states in Census that he is > born Scotland. Which census was this? If the 1901, before he was married, how can you be sure he is the right Donald Robertson? > Appearing on the English 1901C living at 6 Witherington Road, > Islington > ROBERTSON, William G Head Married M 30 1871 Commercial Clerk > Scotland > ROBERTSON, Jessie E Wife Married F 27 1874 Scotland. > Plus > George ROBERTSON m 31 Drapery Warehouseman b Scotland and > Emma 31 pob Scotland. > Margaret 4 pob Highbury > Elsie 11 mos pob Highbury. I presume this information is from Ancestry? The reason I ask is that the original census does not give a DoB. The DoB is calculated by subtracting the age from the census year. Because the census is held three months into the year, this means that three DoBs out of four are wrong. Someone aged 30 on 31 March 1901 would have been born between 1 April 1870 and 31 March 1871. I wish Ancestry wouldn't give these estimated DoBs as they are potentially misleading! Unfortunately the International Genealogical Index at www.familysearch.org doesn't list a William Gordon Robertson among the many William Robertsons born in Scotland between1868 and1872. Nor, though there are 7 William Robertsons born 1868-72 in Moray, is there one born in Garmouth. Armed with the 1891 information from Rhoda's message, I found Annie Robertson, wife of a ship carpenter, at High Street, parish of Urquhart in the 1881 census CD, with son William, 10, and daughters Mary Ann, 4 and Helen, 2. The children's PoB is given as Speymouth. I think that this is in fact High Street, Garmouth, parish of Urquhart, because the LDS omitted all the town and village names when they transcribed the 1881 census on to CD-ROM. Now, the IGI lists four Williams born in Speymouth between 1868 and 1872 named William with a mother named Ann. Three of the four (William Cameron, William Newlands and William Rhynes) are in the 1881 census but the fourth one, William Cruickshanks Ellies, is not. His birth reference gives his mother's name as Ann Ellies, but no father. I ***speculate*** that William Robertson might possibly perhaps be William Ellies, his mother having married a Robertson who gave his stepson his name. The way to check this would be to use six of the 30 credits Rhoda advised you to buy on Scotland's People to find the birth certificate of Helen Robertson in Speymouth in 1878-9, and find out the maiden surname of her mother and the name of her father. If her mother's surname was not Elli(e)s, then I am wrong, but at least you will have his mother's correct name. (I would not bother looking at the 1891 census extract until you are sure you have the right William.) I see from FreeBMD that William Gordon Robertson married in the fourth quarter of 1899 in Islington, and that the bride was either Jessie Elizabeth Macdonald or Edith Mary Dawson. You could get this certificate and see what it says about William's father's name. I also see that George William Robertson married in the second quarter of 1895 in Islington. The bride was either Emma Allan or Minnie Elizabeth Marshall. You could get this certificate and see what it says about George's father. > Is there perhaps a death logged for a young Donald ROBERTSON > between 1904 > and 1911 in the county? FreeBMD doesn't list a likely-looking death of a Donald Robertson 1904-1911. There are four, but two are too young and the other two are probably too old and in the wrong places. It is possible that the relevant death has not been transcribed yet. There are 39 Donald Robertsons in the Scottish death indexes from 1904 to 1911, so that isn't a very profitable line of enquiry unless you can narrow down his age from his marriage certificate. As for the expense alluded to by Rhoda, you can download instantly from Scotland's People up to five images of birth, death and marriage or census records for less than the price of sending away for one English certificate which will take about a week to reach you. Does this help? Anne

Hello Joan Can you just confirm the first name of the Robertson bridegroom who married into your Freelove family? Was it Donald? And what age was he? Trouble is ROBERTSON is such a commonly found name in Scotland. There were 10 William G Robertsons whose births were registered in Scotland between 1868 and 1872 - but none with the middle name GORDON. The nearest is a William Gardine Robertson whose birth was registered in New or East Kilpatrick in Dumbartonshire in 1872. 'Your' William may have added the middle name when he became a young man. It is probably a 'family' name; perhaps his mother's maiden surname. However, I think I may have found William (the one in the 1911 census) in the 1891 Scottish Census. He is 20 and born in Garmouth, Moray; and his occupation is "Clerk, Mercantile Office". He was living at Laburnum Cottage, Garmouth with his mother Ann, a sick nurse aged 41, and his sisters Mary Ann, 14, and Helen, 12. His mother had a lodger, Marian Henderson, a 21 years old school teacher born in Blair Atholl, Perthshire. No sign of a father. This information is from the 1891 Census on Ancestry and unfortunately they don't have the images of the Scottish censuses. The Scottish register office held on to those, recognising a good source of income when they saw one! You can view the original census on the Scotlands People website at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk It is a pay site. Minimum charge is £6 for 30 credits and you would use up 5 of those credits to search for, and then view/download, the image of William's entry in the census. Rhoda ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joan" <jmmj75@talktalk.net> To: <MORAY@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 5:43 PM Subject: [MORAY] William Gordon ROBERTSON born abt 1870 > Looking to connect with family of a ROBERTSON man who married into my > FREELOVE line in 1904, in Plumstead, Woolwich, Kent. I have little to go > on except he states in Census that he is born Scotland. The reason why I > appeal on this list for help and guidance is: > > Appearing on the English 1901C living at 6 Witherington Road, Islington. > RG13 pc 202. are: > > 1. ROBERTSON, William G Head Married M 30 1871 Commercial Clerk Scotland > ROBERTSON, Jessie E Wife Married F 27 1874 Scotland. > > I'm reasonably confident family no 1 appear in the 1911C with the added > info of pob for William Gordon ROBERTSON as Garmouth, Elgin (Moray). >