William Robb, Mary & James Kelman/Kellman

[Stanza]

Hi

I'm new to this, so please be gentle!

In the 1881 Census, at Bluebog farm in Rathen lived the unmarried son of the house, William Robb (b 1843 approx  in New Aberdour) as well as the domestic servant Mary Kellman (b 1843 approx in St Fergus) and James Kellman (b illegitimate 29 April 1870 in Lonmay).

The name "Kelman" on the birth certificate is spelled "Kellman" in the census.

I'm trying to find out what happened to any of these three, and/or if they had any descendants, but I haven't been able to track them subsequently.

In 1868, ie 2 years prior to the birth of James Kel(l)man, William Robb was the father of an illegitimate child (John Simpson) by another servant girl (Isabella Simpson).

I am in direct descent from that John Simpson, so (without wishing to cast too many aspersions on the name of William Robb) I am keen to find out if I have any long-lost half-cousins out there! Any help appreciated.

[JAP]

Hi Stanza,

Sorry if this is a daft question but ...

I assume you've searched for William, Mary and James on the 1891 and 1901 censuses without success?

If not, those censuses can be accessed on the (pay per view) site ScotlandsPeople at:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

Or, given your location, possibly in local libraries?

JAP

[Stanza]

Hi JAP

Not a daft question, as I said I'm new to this so it's quite possible I miss the obvious.

I have done searches on the 1891 and 1901 census, and also the statutory death registers, using the http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk website but without success.

I guess they may well have left Scotland, but maybe someone can come up with another suggestion?

[MonicaL]

Hi Stanza

This looks like William Robb and Mary (?) in 1891:

William Robb    48, police carter, b. Aberdour,
Mary Robb    48, b. St Fergus, Abdn
Annie Robb    14, daughter, b. Lonmay, Abdn

Address: 152 Wellington Rd, Old Marchar

Have you tried searching for a marriage for William and Mary?

Regards.

Monica 

[MonicaL]

They do look to have married  From Scotlands People marriage search:

1885   ROBB   WILLIAM   KELMAN   MARY   OLD MACHAR   ABERDEEN CITY/ABERDEEN   168/02 0122

Stanza, have you used Scotlands People before? If not, we can all give you plenty of advice on it!

Regards.

Monica

ADDED: Just seen that you have used SP before which is great ~ you should find the above marriage entry there.

[MonicaL]

Sadly, Mary died a couple of years after the 1891 census. A likely death entry for her on SP:

1893   KELMAN   MARY       ROBB   F   46   ABERDEEN OLD MACHAR   ABERDEEN CITY/ABERDEEN   168/02 0197

[Stanza]

Many thanks, Monica - these are the right people!

Now all i need to do is track down James - possibly he changed his name to Robb at some time, so I'll go looking down that track.

[Wendy A. Robb]

Hello, Wendy Robb here, also live in Canada.  Looks like your William Robb is the brother of my husband's great-grandfather Alexander Campbell Robb (b 1869, father James Robb (b 1839, married Jane West))...making William a great-uncle.  Alexander C and another brother Daniel both appear to have died in Ontario in 1929 and 1923 respectively.

[Stanza]

Hi Wendy, Thanks for getting in touch.

It's been several years since this thread started, and I've amassed quite a bit of detail since then about the Robbs, but your info is new so that's great.

Alexander Campbell Robb was actually the nephew of "my" William Campbell Robb. Alexander's father James was William's brother, and THEIR father was George Robb (1810-1883).

I'm guessing James took his family to Canada between 1891 and 1901, as they don't appear in the Scottish 1901 Census. Do you have any information on this?

I'm also not sure about your saying that James' wife was Jane WEST, as I have her maiden name as Jane ROSS (from Alexander's birth registration) and their marriage date as 28 July 1846 in Rathen (from Wiliam's birth registration). Could she have been married to someone else at some time?

I'm happy to exchange information with you and I'll send you a PM with a link to my tree.

Best wishes.

John