In our post Jannet Dun or Janet Dunn or Janet Dune, c. 1720-1770?, we discovered previously unknown sources that provide potential new insights as to the makeup of the Cromar’s family and origins, and I promised a post that would revisit the thorny problem of the many Roberts that we have never conclusively solved. Not having a clear record to either confirm or deny the linkage between Robert 1717, his father Peter 1690, and his son John 1755 had created an inconclusive end to the exploration of that patrilineal blood line. Although I’m very happy with the virtual work I’ve been able to do while locked out of Scotland during the pandemic, it meant one mission of this journal, which was to provide as definitive a lineage to Peter as possible, was so far up in the air it could be classified as stratospheric.

New primary sources

But as I’ve started to dig into the genealogy of the Cromar wives, starting with Janet Bonar, wife of Peter, and moving up in time to Jannet Dun, wife of Robert, even more new material has been unearthed, amazingly much of it from hitherto unknown primary sources. We have members of the Utah branch of the Cromar diaspora to thank for posting these historic documents to Family Search — and I have the Cromar wives revealed therein to thank for potentially untangling the many Robert Cromars who seem to be kicking around the Howe of Cromar and environs in the confusing post-Jacobite era!

In this post, we will combine the cross-comparison table developed in Jannet Dun’s post with this new historical material to draw some conclusions that I believe will shore up the record and confirm identities for the various Roberts. We may even be able to shore up the theoretical blood line to Peter Cromar.

Family record redux

Recall this table from our previous post, included here in whole to simplify references to it:

Mother	Child	Born	Place	Died	FS	WS	FG	SP	Ot
Jannet	George 1	1743	Aboyne		●				◼︎
	James 2	1747	Aboyne					●
	Isabel 3	1749	Aboyne			●		●
	Robert	1752	Aboyne		●				◼︎
	Rebeca 4	1752	Aboyne		●	●		●
	Janet 5	1753	Aboyne	1846	●	●	●
	Alexander	1754	Aboyne		●				◼︎
	John	1755	Aboyne		●			●
	Peter 6	1757	Aboyne		●	●		●
	Elizabeth 7	1763	Aboyne		●	●		●
	James 8	1766	Aboyne	1825	●		●	●
Margaret 9	George 10	1772	Aboyne	1829	●	●	●	●
	Alexander 11	1775	Aboyne		●				◼︎

KEY

FS: Family Search | WS: Waifs and Strays | FG: Find A Grave | SP: ScotlandsPeople | OT: Other primary source | ◼︎ under OT: Christening record for Alexander 1775
For the purposes of this study we consider FG, SP, and OT to contain the most reliable data.

NOTES

1 | Date inferred by witness to christening of Alexander, son of brother Robert.
2 | Only listed at SP, suggests confirmation of a second Robert contemporary to Robert 1717 in Aboyne.
3 | SP record 1749 listed as 1747 at WS.
4 | Confirmed record for both Jannet and Robert, unusual for the time.
5 | Headstone at Kirkton of Aboyne burial ground.
6 | SP records only for marriage and birth of children, no birth record or connection to parents.
7 | SP record for 1763 links to parent George, not Robert.
8 | SP record 1766 listed as 1765 at FS.
9 | Surname Nichol at WS, Smith at FS and in Ron Cromar’s note. Discussion of surname also found in comments on christening record for Alexander 1775.
10 | FG record claims birth 1776 with no documentation, whereas SP confirms 1772.
11 | A controversy at FS assigns Alexander to two sets of Roberts, one wed to Margaret Smith and another to Isobel Ley.

Anomalies

As we look at this data with a critical eye, several suspicious anomalies bear deeper scrutiny:

• At some points it becomes implausible, and at others it becomes impossible, to conclude that one Robert Cromar could be responsible for all these children — 13 spread over 32 years — with two or possibly three or four wives — Jannet Dun, Margaret Smith, Margaret Nichol, and Isobel Ley. It may even be proved that one of Robert 1717’s sons, Robert 1752, is responsible for some of this brood with at least one of these wives! I have been skeptical of the theory that Robert 1717 would be siring children at the age of 55 (in the case of George 1772). The addition of Alexander 1775 increases that age to a very frisky 58, an age when those of Robert’s ilk are more likely becoming grandfathers or even great-grandfathers.
• It’s a stretch to believe that a single Robert would name two of his sons George and two more Alexander, even if those sons were the issue of a second marriage. While it is not uncommon for a later, surviving sibling to receive the same name as an earlier sibling who tragically dies at birth, such does not appear to be the case with these Cromars.
• There are some remarkably tight birth cycles in this list, most notably between the years 1752 and 1755, where 5 children are listed in the span of 4 years (from January ’52 to the December ’55). That’s a cycle of 9.6 months between births — technically not impossible, but exhaustingly implausible. We’ll be scouring the record for evidence of less-than-40-week cycle between birthdays.

New old evidence: enter Isobel and Margaret

Kevin Cromar of Utah offered up several images of primary source documents at Family Search that help to illuminate this murky situation. Below, I’ve cleaned up the scans a bit and highlighted the relevant entries in these parish records. Many of these records are found under the Memories tab of the Family Search entry for Robert Cromar 1752, who is also listed in the table above. Just what do these records attest to?

Two confirmed Roberts

The marriage record above confirms there are two men named Robert Cromar in the parish who are contemporaries, and it confirms that one married Isobel Ley, ca. 1750-1794, while the other wed Margaret Smith from Birse. But which married which? Kevin Cromar provides more evidence:

Identifying one of the Roberts

This document lends credence to the theory that Robert 1752 from Aboyne married Isobel Ley in Aboyne, and Isobel’s mother Mary lived with or near them. Muiryhall is a farm settlement in Aboyne to the south and east of Kirkton of Aboyne. But the next set of evidence appears to seal the deal, at least in Kevin’s line of deduction, as he has provided not one but two birth records relating to this Robert. What do these records show and why do they prove Robert’s identity?

Process of elimination

For starters, the documents debunk the claim that George 1772 and Alexander 1775 are sons of Robert 1717 and therefore anyone named Margaret — a huge leap forward in reconstructing these families. Why? Because there are witnesses to these births: Robert 1752’s brothers George and Alexander. Up until now, we’ve only had an undocumented claim for George at Family Search. These documents prove George and his brother Alexander exist. Nevertheless, it’s a huge leap to positively identify one of the mystery Roberts, because even if he’s not part of my direct lineage, this will help identify that line by process of elimination, if by no other means.

There’s more: these documents pinpoint this extended family as residing in the Muiriha of Drumgask settlement (a.k.a. Muiryhall and Drumgesk) of Aboyne. We can also identify George 1772 is the same George that goes on to graduate from Marischal College in 1799 (see Notes at this link), and becomes a Schoolmaster at Bankhead of Birse, across the River Dee from Aboyne. This location, according to Kevin Cromar, may explain why the Robert Cromar who married Margaret Smith of Birse has been mis-identified in some family trees as being the father of George.

Even more: enter another Margaret and an unknown

Kevin Cromar has successfully untangled three Roberts: one from 1717 married to Jannet, another from 1752 married to Isobel, and a third c. 1750 married to Margaret Smith. Not to be outdone, he identifies two more:

The mystery of the Margarets is resolved with the record above, proving that two different Roberts married two different Margarets (Smith and, here, Nichol), in two different places. This fourth Robert is joined by a fifth, born c. 1750 and residing in Boat of Charlestown, a reference to the ferry that crossed the River Dee:

This comprehensive birth record covering four children establishes the identity of another Robert Cromar. James 1747 is the same James who is found attending Marischal College in 1784-88 and becomes the master of the Grammar School in Aberdeen (see Notes at this link). Unfortunately, there is no record of his wife’s identity.

Mapping the five Roberts

Kevin Cromar includes a faded map of uncertain provenance but which is clearly contemporary with the other records he discovered in Scotland. This map is a roughly accurate depiction of the major roads and settlements where the five Robert Cromars can be located:

Light image is the original map, contemporary to the post-Jacobite period. Darker image is enhanced for legibility, and highlights (from left to right):

• Robert c. 1724 m. Unknown, Boat of Charlestown (a ferry);
• Robert 1717 m. Jannet Dun, Kirkton of Aboyne;
• Robert c. 1750 m. Margaret Smith, Muiryhall;
• Robert 1752 m. Isobel Ley, Drumgesk;
• Robert c. 1750 m. Margaret Nichol, Marywell of Birse.

Map uploaded by Kevin Cromar, Family Search and enhanced by the author

The illustration below positions the locations above on a modern map:

Conclusions

With the help of the in-depth research published by Kevin Cromar, the mysterious Roberts and their dates and locations, along with most of their wives and children, have been definitively identified as follows:

• Robert 1717 Aboyne is my 5th great-grandfather, married to my 5th great-grandmother Jannet Dun exclusively, with issue:
  • George 1743
  • Robert about 1752 (probably before, based on Rebeca’s data)
  • Rebeca 1752 (born between April and June)
  • Janet 1753
  • Alexander 1754
  • John 1755 (my 4th great-grandfather)
  • Peter 1757
  • Elizabeth 1763
  • James 1766

The large gap between George and his proven brother Robert is yet to be explained and may contain yet-to-be-discovered children. However, we no longer assume Jannet suffers an early death to make way for a second marriage.

• Robert c. 1724 Boat of Charlestown has an unknown wife with issue:
  • Katharine 1744
  • Jean 1746
  • James 1747
  • Isabel 1749

• Robert c. 1750 Marywell of Birse is married to Margaret Nicol and has issue:
  • Christian 1776

This Christian Cromar later marries Alexander Cromar, son of Robert and Jannet, and this couple resides in Kincardine O’Neil, where Christian is the principal officer of the Post Office.

• Robert c. 1750 Drumgask is married to Margaret Smith

• Robert 1752 Miuryhall of Drumgask is the son of Robert 1717 above and is married to Isobel Ley. There is still some lingering controversy as to the lineage of the following, with either Robert and Margaret Smith or Robert and Isobel Ley being the parents of:
  • George 1772
  • Alexander 1775

Spinoffs

This journal has been less concerned with untangling that last small knot as it has been with untangling the larger Gordian knot of positively identifying the Roberts. Having done this, we’ll note there are interesting spinoffs and histories that will reveal the Cromar diaspora to Canada, the western US, the eastern US, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. After we’ve concluded exploring the wives of John (my 4th great-grandfather) and George (my 3rd), we may take a deeper dive into those lines and untie some of these residual knots in a future post.

Solved!

Much to my surprise, the solution to the puzzle Roberts is complete, and I am entirely indebted to our distant cousins in Utah for the research and discoveries recounted here. Without Jannet, the Margarets, and Isobel, the records that detail their weddings, and some linkages to the children through birth records, this web of relationships would be forever lost to the chaos of the post-Jacobite period of Scotland’s history. To Jannet, my fifth great-grandmother: I hope we’ve done right by your memory here, but if we have not, we’ll remain vigilant. This post has proven there is still much to learn about this family history!