Robert Munro born 9 May 1836

[AngelaMM]

Kia ora,
Searching for information on my GGG grandfather Robert Munro who was born 6/5/1836 (or so) and who emigrated to New Zealand on the ship The Clontarf landing 5 January 1859. He was approximately 22 years of age then. He made a life in the South Island of New Zealand and at one time worked as a Police Constable. We believe he had 7 children.

We are led to believe he was born in Aberdeenshire but there is information floating around that he could come from Inveraray.
We have no information on his family in Scotland.
Any help would be much appreciate.
Kind regards,
Angela  - New Zealand.

[AMBLY]

Hi 
I see there is some more background information here:
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=770757.0

(I was looking for children's names for a naming pattern possibilities, especially if he and wife Sarah were both from Scotland and could be potentially useful)

They had 7 known children
Catherine 1865
Robert 1866 (Twin) died 1867
John Alexander 1866 (Twin
William Daniel 1868
Hugh Charles 1870
Robert Henry Thomas 1871
Sarah Jane 1873 (could she have been born after father died?)

Is your Robert - the Robert Monro death indexed 1872, aged 36 years? or Robert Munro death indexed 1873 aged 36 years?

(One was of Pigeon Bay, Publican/Hotel keeper, wife  Mary Ann Slater?)

Cheers
AMBLY

[Rosinish]

We are led to believe he was born in Aberdeenshire but there is information floating around that he could come from Inveraray.

Where did the above info. come from?

Could it be Inverurie (Aberdeen) rather than 'Inveraray' (Argyll)?

Annie

[AngelaMM]

Hi Annie,
A non family member did a quick search and came up with the information about Aberdeenshire or Inveraray. The information we definitely know for sure is that he came to New Zealand on the Clontarf arriving 1859 and these records listed him as 22 years old. Searching for Robert Munro born 1836 I get 2. One born in Petty and the other born Old Monkland or Coatbridge from Parish records. But we may have the wrong birth date for him if he needed to be a certain age to get on the boat. Just trying to see if i can track a bit further for the family. Thanks for your message - much appreciated.

[AngelaMM]

Hi AMBLY,
Yes my Robert Munro had those 7 children with Sarah McNee in an area called Little River NZ.
My great grandfather was the surviving twin.
We believe he died in 1873. On his marriage certificate, his occupation was listed as Constable.
We dont know any thing about Sarah McNee at all other than she died in 1916.

The Publican is not the same Robert Munro.

I am trying to track Robert's family back a bit.
Thanks for your help.
Angela

[Forfarian]

I had a look at some of the records of Robert M*nr*. I used wildcards to pick up spelling variations such as Munroe, Monro, Monroe etc.

Coatbridge is in the parish of Old Monkland.

However your Robert Munro isn't the one baptised in Old Monkland because that one died in Old Monkland in 1918.

Petty is a parish in Inverness-shire, a few miles east of Inverness.

The one baptised there is a fisherman, living with his parents in the parish of Duffus in 1851. I haven't found him in 1861, so he could be yours, but there is nothing to connect him with either Inveraray, Argyll or Inverurie, Aberdeenshire.

To do it properly you need to go through the 1851 census and extract all references to Robert M*nr*. Then do the same with the 1861 census and eliminate any who are in both censuses. Then look at each remaining one and use the baptism indexes to see what the mother's maiden surname is, then cross-check the death index and eliminate any who died in Scotland.

It won't be an easy task because there are so many gaps in the pre-1855 baptism records.

And don't rely on transcriptions. I have found some real howlers in the transcriptions on FindMyPast, and Ancestry is notorious for transcription errors. Once you have eliminated the obvious ones as above, you will have to go for the original documents. Maybe you could get together with some of the RootChatters on the older post and share the cost?

[AMBLY]

A shame there is no information about Sarah McNie/McNee  - the Scottish naming pattern can be a powerful tool -  but a bit difficult in this case, with such middle names and nothing to go on   Did you ever find more on the McCall/McCull alt name for her? 

Also wondering if this was the source of the non family member's  quick search results:
Cemetery Records - Auckland Symonds Street/Grafton
Donald Munro late of Inverany Scotland, d 14 Jul 1872 a 29
His bro. Robert Munro d  29 Oct 1876 a 36
Donald Stewart Munro d 12 Sep 1883 a9
Sarah Munro d 2 Oct 1924 a77

You have a birth-date for your Robert - and the ship name he arrived on, Clontarf 1859 Robert Munro 22, Agricultural Labourer. Just wondering on the source of these ( family knowledge passed down? bible? etc).

The Robert Munro who died 1873,  is he the man buried Addington? Was there any information on the Death record?

In trying to take Robert back a bit,  it's sometimes the positive negatives that can help 

Cheers
AMBLY

[Rosinish]

A non family member did a quick search and came up with the information about Aberdeenshire or Inveraray. The information we definitely know for sure is that he came to New Zealand on the Clontarf arriving 1859 and these records listed him as 22 years old. Searching for Robert Munro born 1836 I get 2. One born in Petty and the other born Old Monkland or Coatbridge from Parish records. But we may have the wrong birth date for him if he needed to be a certain age to get on the boat.

A 'quick search'...it would be an idea to post the info. found to see if we can discover anything further?

The Clontarf - "sailed from Plymouth 20 September 1858 and after a voyage of 105 days arrived Lyttelton 5th January 1859"...
https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~nzbound/genealogy/clontarf.htm

How can you be sure this is your Robert & where did the specific date of birth "6/5/1836" come from?

I've come across instances of people with varying birth dates for different reasons but in my experience it's only ever been the actual year which has differed, normally the date was pretty precise although in those days 'birthdays' as we celebrate them were unheard of.

"He made a life in the South Island of New Zealand and at one time worked as a Police Constable"
"We believe he died in 1873. On his marriage certificate, his occupation was listed as Constable.
We dont know any thing about Sarah McNee at all other than she died in 1916"

What is the exact info. recorded on the marriage cert. to Sarah, who were witnesses, were parents named?
What is the exact info. recorded on the death cert. of Sarah?

Is it not possible to access the 1873 death details?
I'd have thought a Police Constable would have had a Will?

What info. is given about Robert on the births of his children, the marriages of his children &/or the deaths of his children?

Have you found any obits for any family members as a Police Constable would surely be mentioned somewhere.

Was there an obit for Sarah which may give info. on her roots?
How old was she when she married or does it give her age on the births of the children?

Annie

[AngelaMM]

Hi All,
I have ordered my great grandfathers birth certificate (Alexander John Munro) and also his parents marriage certificate for more information.  But it wasnt Sarah McNee on the marriage certificate by Sarah Macull. So will share more when they arrive. Thanks for helping. Angela