RootsChat.Com

Hi Monica -- Thanks for these items: I had not been aware of of the link to info on James Stark, and much appreciate it.
Re. George Robertson Sr., here's a brief summary of what I have:
118. George Robertson
b.c. 1791, St. Andrew’s Parish, Edinburgh; d. 5 March 1853 age 62, at 28 Albany Street [why couldn’t he have waited till 1855 and the initiation of SR record-keeping?]; bu. Warriston cemetery, Edinburgh. William Robertson I’s will named George as his third and youngest son. George’s monument in Edinburgh’s Warrison cemetery reads as follows:“In memory of George Robertson, Esq., one of the Deputy Keepers of the Records of Scotland, who died 5th March 1853, aged 62 years And of his son George Brown Robertson Deputy Keeper of the Records of Scotland, who died 26th November 1873, aged 54 years, and  of his Daughter Sarah Isabella Robertson, who died 18th March 1874, aged 40 years; also of his widow Eliza Brown who died 17th March 1877, aged 80 years, and of his eldest son William Robertson, M.D., F.R.S.E., who died 25th August 1882 aged 64 years. And of his daughter Eliza Robertson who died 3rd October 1901 aged 74 years. [Base] Also of Christina Rose, widow of George Brown Robertson, who died 14th September 1912 aged 68 years  Also of William Rose, younger son of George Brown and Christina Rose Robertson and husband of Eleanor Mary Robertson, who died 24th June 1937 aged 64 years.” George was commissioned Joint Deputy Keeper of the Records of Scotland in 1809, and re-appointed under the Clerk Register on 31 Dec. 1829. He became (sole?) deputy keeper of records in 1835.

The one small discrepancy between my records and yours is that I have Eliza (Brown) Robertson's parents as George Brown and Margaret Clerk, and (down a generation), George B. Robertson's wife as Christina Rose.

I had not checked out ScotlandsPlaces yet, but certainly will do so now; thank you for that tip!

I am on the hunt for one Captain Alexander Donald of the 41st Regiment of Foot (Invalids), born circa 1725, place and parentage unknown, who died at his home in the Canongate, Edinburgh, on 20 November 1797, and is buried in Canongate kirkyard, “east of Allan’s stone”. He was married (date and place unknown) to Marjory Robertson, who was born circa 1733 (place and parentage unknown); she died 9 May 1819, age 89, at Howard Place, Edinburgh, and is buried in William Robertson's tomb in Greyfriar's.

Aitchison's Edinburgh directory for 1797-98, p. 84, has an entry for an Alexander Donald, living at the head of Somerville’s Close (later renamed Brown’s Close), Canongate. Thomas Aitchison’s A Directory for Edinburgh, Leith, Mussleburgh, and Dalkeith. July 1794-July 179[6]?, page 68 , has a listing for “Donald Capt. Alexander of Invalids, foot of New str. Canon.” And Williamson's Edinburgh Directory, June 1790 to June 1792, p. 29, has an entry for “Donald Captain Alexander, Wier’s close, Canongate.”

I do not know if Alexander and Marjory Donald had any sons, but they had an only daughter, Sarah [or possibly Margaret], born circa 1752, date and place unknown, who died 15 April 1831, age 79, at Edinburgh. She married William Robertson, Deputy Keeper of the Records of Scotland.

Alexander Donald appears to have served as an officer in the 41st Regiment of Foot (Invalids), the 89th Regiment of Foot (or Gordon’s Highlanders, and the 85th, as well as in "Lieut. Col. Morris’s Battalion. I have no dates for his service for the 41st. In the 89th, an Alexander Donald was variously Ensign, Adjutant and Lieutenant between 1759 and 1764. In 1781, he still gave his rank as Lieutenant (at the baptism of his granddaughter Sarah, in Edinburgh), but he was made "Captain in the army by brevet" in 1783 (London Gazette, May 27) At that time, he was in the 85th.

Perhaps significantly, he was identified in 1760, in a list of officers in Lieutenant Colonel Morris's battalion as "Gent[leman]. Adjutant.”  There were several well-kent Banff and Moray names among his fellow officers.

There was also an Alexander Donald was or aspired to be a landholder in Aberdeenshire and/ or Banffshire between 1769 and 1771. Peter May, surveyor, factor and farmer in Linkwood, near Elgin, had dealings in April 1769 with a Captain Alexander Donald who was interested in acquiring a farm called Dykeside, held by Lord Findlater. Donald lost to a competitor for Dykeside (one George Stronach), but he was also looking at a farm in the Muirtown estate. See Ian Adams, ed., Papers on Peter May (1979). However, my Alexander Donald appears not to have become a captain until 1783.

Moray Heritage Centre’s LIBINDX database has an Alexander Donald (NM234795), a soldier and tacksman, living at Manbeen, near Elgin, who in 1771 raised a court action against his servants for desertion from service (ref. ZBEL B32/771/31). In Adams, ed., Papers on Peter May, p. 109, there is a reference to a William Donaldson in Manbeen in 1768. (The surnames Donald, Donaldson and McDonald or M’Donald were sometimes used interchangeably in 18th-century records.)

As a North American, presently held captive by the pandemic, I don't access to any Scottish records not online. I am wondering if anyone with the patience to have read through this account might have this Alexander in their database, of if someone might be able to suggest any other leads I might follow up, either from a distance, or on some (still-anticipated) future visit to Scotland.