JOHN SIMPSON & MARGARET ROFS

[wildcats13]

I am in Australia researching the Robbie family history, and looking for information on John Simpson and Margaret Rofs who married in Forfar, Scotland on 21 June 1788.

What I know at this stage is that their daughter Amelia Simpson (born 22 June 1802, Dundas, Angus) married my gr.gr.grandfather John Robbie on 25 September 1825, Arbroath, Forfar, Scotland.

Also have been unable to find when & where Amelia died as it appears that she may have died after giving birth to their son John Simpson Robbie, born 21 July 1 826, as it appears he was raised by his grandmother Helen (Ellen, eleanor) Robbie, nee Barclay. It also appears that John Robbie was at the same time of the birth, conscripted into the Army in 1826 and did not finish until about 1837, but I am awaiting confirmation on those details.

Hope someone can shed some light.

Best Regards,
Wildcats13

[Flattybasher9]

"I am in Australia researching the Robbie family history, and looking for information on John Simpson (Simson) and Margaret Rofs (Ross) who married in Forfar, Scotland on 21 June 1788.

What I know at this stage is that their daughter Amelia Simpson (Simson) (born 22 (27)June 1802, Dundas, (Dundee) Angus) married my gr.gr.grandfather John Robbie (Robie) on 25 (28)September 1825, Arbroath, Forfar, Scotland.

Also have been unable to find when & where Amelia died (her death is probably under the surname "Robb" d 19 September 1826, Dundee)as it appears that she may have died after giving birth to their son John Simpson Robbie, born 21 July 1826, as it appears he was raised by his grandmother Helen (Ellen, eleanor) Robbie, nee Barclay. It also appears that John Robbie (Robie, b 21 Sept 1791, Forfar, d 1874, Angus)was at the same time of the birth, conscripted into the Army in 1826 and did not finish until about 1837, but I am awaiting confirmation on those details."

Best Regards,

Wildcats13"

Considering the era and the education levels then, it is not surprising that dialects affect the spelling of names. The above in "Red" is what I have found. The spellings and dates are correct. They are the only ones which I can find to fit the scenario.

Regards

Malky

[GR2]

It is Ross, not Rofs. What looks like f is what is called the long s. When you see it printed, the bar does not go through the upright in the way it does with f. It is very common when you have a double s for the first one to be long. In the middle of a word it it common to find both letters in a double s to be long (witnesses, for example).

Graham.

[Forfarian]

in Forfar, Scotland
.....
Arbroath, Forfar, Scotland.

You might find it useful to know that 'Forfar' means two different things in the two place names above. In the 1788 marriage, Forfar is the parish[/b] where the marriage took place. In the 1825 one it is the county[/b] and Arbroath is the parish.

From some time in the 18th century until 1928, the County of Angus was known to officialdom as Forfarshire or the County of Forfar. The traditional name was formally restored by Act of Parliament in 1928.

So you can come across cases where an event took place in the Burgh of Forfar, which is in the Parish of Forfar, which is in the County of Forfar.

I recommend http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/ANS/parishes.html as an introduction to the parishes of Angus. Notice that in the extracts quoted from the Chalmers Gazetteer of 1803, the name 'Angus' is used for the county, in spite of the use of 'Forfar' or 'Forfarshire' by officialdom at that time.

Fullarton's Gazetteer of 1842 names the county as 'Forfarshire, or Angus' and uses 'Forfar' only for the parish including the Royal Burgh of Forfar. There is also a cross-entry "Angus, the ancient name of Forfarshire; which see."

My solution is to make a point of using 'Forfar' only for the burgh or parish, and 'Angus' for the county, so that there is never any possibility of confusing the burgh/parish with the county.

A similar problem exists with the counties of Moray (Elginshire), West Lothian (Linlithgowshire), Midlothian (Edinburghshire) and East Lothian (Haddingtonshire), all of which endured the same sort of change of official name.

There are also several counties which did take their name from the county town, and where the potential for confusion has always existed: Inverness, Nairn, Banff, Aberdeen, Perth, Kinross, Clackmannan, Stirling, Lanark, Wigtown, Kirkcudbright, Dumfries, Ayr, Renfrew, Peebles and Selkirk

and several whose traditional names, for whatever reason, were not changed: Shetland, Orkney, Caithness, Sutherland, Ross and Cromarty, Argyll, Bute, Kincardine and Fife

and finally two named after a town which is not the county town: Roxburgh and Berwick, and one which uses a slightly different spelling to distinguish parish/town from county: Dumbarton is the parish and Dunbarton is the county.

[muppetprincess]

John Simpson Robbie is my gg grandfather. He came to Australia aboard the "Anna" in 1855. I am at work at the moment, and don't have all the info at hand, BUT..... if you check out the Monaro Pioneers website, you will find a lot of very useful info there. It is mostly about J S Robbie, and his descendents, but you may find it of use.
Cheers, Jude

[wildcats13]

Hi Jude,

Great to hear from you. I see from your profile sheets that you are from the Helen Sophia Robbie line, a daughter of John Simpson. My grandfather was Helen's brother, James Robbie, and Thomas Daniel Robbie was my father. Dad and the rest of the family moved to Canberra from Bombala with his mother (old nana) after James died in 1917, lived in Molonglo and later in The Causeway. Dad then moved to Murray Crescent justone street back from the Manuka shops. I currently live in Brisbane, but two brothers still live in Canberra.

I have all the info from Monaro Pioneers, and in 2008 went back to Bombala with my brothers to see if there were any Robbie's still there and visit the cemetery. Found many head stones and also found Noel Robbie in the Nursing Home. Noel told us about a Robbie Family History Book that had been produced a couple of years earlier. I took some details and was lucky to get the last books printed. I am now in the process of preparing my own book as I found many discrepencies in some of the details. This may still take some time to round up all the details, hence, my listing you responded to for the parents of John Simpson's mother.

I have always been concerned about what happened to JS's parents, as his mother, Amelia died not long after his birth and father John was not around during his growing up as he was raised by his grandmother, Helen Robbie (nee Barclay). The answers above explain some of the details, but still trying to find what happened to the father. I have found where a John Robbie from that area went into the army at much the same time as JS was born and was discharged in 1837, but they are still digitising the records so unable to check all the details to confirm the connection.

Not sure what records you have yet on the Robbie descendants, but happy to exchange details with you if you are interested. I am interested in knowing where you fit in to the line.

Look foward to hearing from you soon,

Peter Robbie

[muppetprincess]

Thank you, Peter. I've sent you a PM.
Jude