It’s been over two months since I promised here and here to take a deeper look at Ann Meston, one of the farming wives of the Cromar men along my patrilineal line. I feel a bit guilty, as I had been on quite a roll, working back up the time ladder from Janet Bonar, wife of Peter Cromar; to Jannet Dunn, spouse of Robert Cromar; and thence to Ann Cromar from another Cromar branch, who wed John Cromar and gave birth to Ann Meston’s husband George.

Ann: the last piece of the puzzle

Ann and George were well documented in George Cromar and Ann Meston: tragedies and mysteries, and although the focus of that entry was the enigmatic stone George had erected at Kirkton of Aboyne, we did uncover a good bit about Ann at the time. To recap, she was born in Kincardine O’Neil, daughter of David Meston (als. Maston) and Ann Milne, and married George on 29 December 1822 most likely in the kirk of Saint Finan in Lumphanan. Because I had already delved quite deeply into the life of Ann George, who had married Ann Meston’s ill-fated son John Cromar, and Christiana Berry Robb, who married their son Theodore, Ann Meston represents the last piece in this puzzle.

But what a puzzle! In the many twists and turns through all those posts, I created not a few hypotheses that turned out to be spurious. The most egregious of these was incorrectly identifying the wrong Ann as mother to George Cromar, an error corrected here. Following that, and nearly as fatal, was my incorrect conflation of son John Cromar with another John, which was later corrected by cross-referencing material provided by Ron Cromar, Paul Smillie, and Kevin Cromar.

Untangling those knots allowed me to move forward with this project at large, but it sure got in the way of getting to Ann Meston as promised! Expanding on Ron’s genealogical notes has evolved into an outrageously ongoing Herculean lift which merits a separate discussion. However, this interruption to research on Ann has not been without benefit, as it has provided some insight about the Mestons and other allied families of the Cromars in Aberdeenshire.

Mestons — or Mastons, or Mestouns, or Maistins…

In an earlier post we previously mentioned David Meston (1774-1857), the father of Ann, and her mother Ann Milne (1775-1851). As of that writing, the origins of both David and Ann were shrouded in documentary ambiguity. New information has surfaced which sheds a bit more light on both.

The Meston family has been carefully documented in Meston Genealogy, a small-edition family history published in the late 1970s by Gordon Meston. This appears on MestonClan, a website whose development appears to have stopped around 2009, but not before the book was digitized in a somewhat hard-to-research image form. I’ll let the book speak for itself, but I will say that, for 1977, it is a monumental work I can’t imagine someone doing without the web-based research tools we have today. Like Ron Cromar’s research notes (or, for that matter, anyone’s genealogical research, including my own), I treat this book as a hypothesis that is open to revision and expansion if and when information unavailable to its author comes to light.

Left | Gordon Meston’s tree diagram showing David Meston on the Lumphanan branch of the Cluny Mestons, page 76 of Meston Genealogy. Right | Gordon’s list of David’s family on page 94; conspicuously absent is our Ann. Both images: MestonClan, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US

Meston’s Cluny-Lumphanan branch

In the book, David shows up on page 94 as part of what Gordon identifies as the Cluny-Lumphanan branch of the family. We immediately run into headwinds here, as several children are listed including Robert (b. 1797), Margaret (b. 1800), Barbra (b. 1804), and several others — but no Ann! There is, however, a suspicious gap to investigate between Margaret and Barbra. With a birth year of 1802 fitting neatly between those sisters without conflict, Ann could easily have been overlooked by Gordon back in the day. There can be no doubt this is the case, as an Old Parish Register record is available for Ann Meston clearly showing a David Meston and Ann Milne as parents. Gordon confirms their marriage on 20 July 1797 in Kincardine O’Neil, as well ad David’s occupation as a farmer in Craigtown, Lumphanan parish.

This is a great connection, as it amplifies our understanding of Ann’s origins. Among other things, we now know Ann’s siblings, father David’s line and siblings, and the birth and death data for both of Ann’s parents. Gordon also tells us several things about the Mestons at large, with a small sample being:

Meston facts

• A first appearance in Aberdeenshire around 1608, with several members found in Scotland and England, but with the family actually originating in France, specifically Brittany.
• The migration from France seems to stem from religious persecution, like so many similar movements at the time, around 1575.
• The vast majority of Mestons in the world today are Aberdeenshire in origin.
• There are branches in Cluny, Monymusk, Alford, Ellon, Fintray, Kincardine O’Neil, and Midmar parishes, as well as Aberdeen city proper.
• Common spelling variations include Mestin, Mestone, Mestoun, Mestoune, Mastin, Maistin, Merston, Merstone, Merstoun, Merstowne, Merstoune, Measton, and Meastone… making the family a bit of a challenge for Gordon to compile!

Using this resource, I’ve integrated Ann’s sibling information into the shared family tree at FamilySearch. This list includes (deep breath!):

Ann’s siblings

• Robert 1797-
• Alexander 1798-, not in Gordon’s list
• Margaret 1800-1831
• Ann, of course, not in Gordon’s list
• Barbra 1804-
• Elspet 1805-
• Elizabeth 1807-
• David 1808-1838, died in Jamaica
• Archibald 1814-1899
• Charles 1819-
• Catherine 1822-

What about Ann’s grandparents? According to Gordon, her father David is the son of Robert Meston, a presumed brother of William Meston. All the Cluny Mestons can be traced to one of these brothers active in the 1750s. William, a farmer in Birslazie, was married to Janet Birse, a surname with close ties to the Cromars, while Ann’s grandfather Robert, also a farmer in Birslazie, wed Margaret Thompson, no strangers to the Cromars either. Everyone knew everyone else in these close-knit communities. Connecting these dots at FamilySearch brought up a common couple name for the parents of Robert and William: William Meston and Margaret Deans, both apparently active staring around 1700. William and Margaret are not mentioned by name in Gordon’s text, so this remains an unsourced claim that should be treated with caution.

Birslazie

Searching for this family group’s geography proved difficult. A search for Birslazie, the boyhood home of father David, seems to lead nowhere, until we discover the alternate spellings Birselawsie and Birselasie. This leads to a pair of ferm-touns in the southernmost tip of the crescent-shaped Cluny parish, bring it close to Midmar, Banchory, and Kincardine O’Neil. This proximity no doubt contributes to Ann Milne’s ability to meet and marry David.

A search for Craigtown in Lumphanan parish, home to David’s farm and daughter Ann’s upbringing, seems to lead nowhere, too, until we realize that parish borders are fungible though time. Craigtown, alternatively Craigton, is divided in to an Upper and Lower settlement, just north of nearby Kincardine O’Neil, but lies close enough to Lumphanan proper that Ann Meston is in proximity to her future husband George Cromar.

Left | Upper and Lower Craigton (a.k.a. Craigtown) to the north and slightly east of Kincardine O’Neil. In spite of the proximity to Kinker, Craigtown is listed as belonging to Lumphanan parish at the time of Ann Meston’s birth.
Right | Birselawsie, Birselassiegate, and Birselawsie Croft give evidence to Birslazie, as it is called in David Meston’s time, in the very southernmost portion of Cluny. Today, the spelling is Birselasie. Both images: Screen-captures from GENUKI, 6th OS map 1843-82, National Library of Scotland, CC BY

Contemporary images of the Meston’s environs. The first two images show Upper and Lower Craigton. The compound at Upper Craigton is showing a bit of dereliction in the roof on the outbuilding at right. The large distant compound in the third image is Birselasie. Images: Screen-captures from Google Maps Street View.

… and Milnes. So. Many. Milnes.

As I’ve dug up several generations emerging out of the patriarch Peter Cromar, I’ve noticed several standout names associated with the Cromars. Beyond the obvious high frequency of the Cromar and Robb surnames in a Cromar-Robb family tree that boasts over 2000 entries and counting, the surname with the largest presence is — yep, the heading is a spoiler — Milne. There are nearly 100 entries for that allied family as of this writing, a number that is sure to grow as work progresses. There are other prominent names in the tree — Durward, Buckner, McPherson, George — but nothing compares to the intertwined relationship between the Cromar-Robb line and the Milnes.

David’s wife Ann Milne is among the earliest members of the Milne family to arrive in the tree, having been born in 1775 in Aboyne and married into the Meston line in 1797 in Kincardine O’Neil. Confirmed connections between Ann and other Milnes in the tree have yet to be established, but I have no doubt they will be as research uncovers new relationships. Among the other early Milnes associated with the Cromar-Robb line we may find that Ann could be related to:

Possible Milne relations to Ann

• Robert Milne, b. 1730, father to John Milne, b. 1756 in Aboyne, who was spouse to Janet Cromar, b. 1753.
• Andrew Milne, b. 1735 in Aboyne, who m. an unnamed Cromar, b. 1735 in 1753.
• Barbara Milne, b. 1773 in Kincardine O’Neil, who in 1792 m. Peter Cromar, b. 1773.
• Euphemia Milne, b. 1774 in Aboyne, mother to John Gillanders, b. 1814, who m. Ann Wilson of the Cromar line in 1849. She is herself daughter to a different Ann Milne, in turn daughter to the aforementioned John Milne and Janet Cromar.
• Peter Milne, b. 1783, who in 1809 m. Catherine Cromar, b. 1791.
• James Milne, b. 1805, father to Margaret Milne b. 1836, who in 1879 m. Benjamin Buckner, b. 1832 of the Cromar line.
• John Milne, b. 1815, father to Alexander Milne, b. 1845, who in 1879 m. Ann Cromar, b. 1858.
• William Milne, b. 1815, father to Mary Ann Milne, b. 1843, who m. John Buckner, younger brother to Benjamin above.

Geographic probability

A close familial relationship simply must be a reality among these geographically proximate Milnes. But researching a Milne in Aberdeenshire is like finding a particular piece of straw in a haystack, never mind a needle! Even though the etymology of the Milne name seems obviously traceable to an Anglo-Saxon-derived term for a mill or being a miller, we find this particular surname name is specific to North-East Scotland, and thus acts more like a toponymic than an occupational surname. Why would this name be so concentrated in Aberdeenshire, when mills and millers are found everywhere? On this question, Graham Milne observes:

According to the Lyon Clerk and Keeper of the Records (Court of the Lord Lyon) in a letter to me dated 24th October 2000, ‘it would seem that there were people called de Molendino in Aberdeenshire in the 14th century and the name quickly moved into being Myll or Myln’. The words ‘de Molendino’ evidently occur in a … 1382 charter … written in Latin, and mean ‘of the mill’. It is possible that ‘de Molendino’ means exactly that, as in, say, ‘John of [that is, who lives at or near] the mill’. However, it is also possible that ‘de Molendino’ is a Latinized form of ‘de Molyneux’, derived from the French ‘moulineau’, a diminutive of ‘moulin’, meaning ‘mill’. There was a Norman family called de Molyneux, later Earls of Sefton, who came to England with the Conqueror, apparently from Moulineaux near Rouen (VCH, Lancs, iii. 67, n. 7).

Thus, it’s likely that the origin of the family name came from French roots, rather like the Mestons. Sadly, though, we have yet to find a Rosetta stone for the Milnes such as we found for the Mestons, making it nearly impossible to connect the dots between the family members as of this writing. Nevertheless, a parentage for Ann is claimed in the persons of David Milne 1741-1794 and Isobel Adam or Cuthbert 1743-1770 or 83.

Ancestry GIGO

This claim can only be among the best examples of Ancestry crowd-sourced GIGO (garbage in, garbage out). According to the Ancestry profile for David, he is born in Dundee, far to the south of Aboyne, marries Isobel Adam or Cuthbert in 1761 or 1770 in Arbroath or Rescobie, also far south, and dies in Montrose, again far south. Isobel herself is born in Inverness, far to the north. While it’s not impossible (at least in the instance where Isobel dies in 1873!), one should not accept this crude algorithmic deduction without further ironclad proof from a primary source.

If nothing else convinces me of the danger Ancestry poses to the integrity of research, this seals the deal. So, given the sheer quantity of Milnes living in and around Aboyne who are solid candidates for Ann’s parentage, we attempt to find a more reliable result, keeping in mind our straw-in-a-haystack metaphor.

Eight Anns

Ann Milne’s birth is recorded in the 1841 Census as 1775, and knowing census data is often a mere clerical estimate, we center an Old Parish Register (OPR) search between 1772 and 1778 for Aberdeenshire — and eight Anns pop up. If we choose by proximity to the target date 1775, we’d find Ann born to an Andrew Milne in Kinnethmont, a settlement north of Clatt and west of Insch. If we choose by geography, the most likely result is in Drumoak, near Banchory, to a Robert Milne. But the claim is for Aboyne, so the OPR turns up nothing concrete. Ann’s line remains as foggy as a Scottish morning for now, but perhaps the fog will lift in time.

My personal intuition tells me to investigate any possible link between Ann and Barbara Milne. Barbara was born 1773 in Kincardine O’Neil, and though Ann was born in Aboyne in 1775, their proximate dates suggest they would be cousins, if not sisters. Alas, concrete evidence of parentage is lacking for Barbara at present.

Family allies

The Mestons and Milnes who brought Ann Meston, my 4th great-grandmother, into the world are representative of two long and strong family alliances with the Cromar line. The fate of the Milnes is especially entwined with the Cromars over time and geography. But these are simply the prominent tip of a large iceberg, as my ongoing research on the extended ancestors of Peter Cromar continues. I’ll soon provide a snapshot of the current status of that work and how it illuminates the Cromar-Robb Diaspora, one of many chapters in the larger Scottish Diaspora. There are ten generations that separate Peter Cromar from my children, and I’ve only completed about 6 generations — but I’m getting ahead of myself. We’ll explore the exhausting ramifications of exponential population growth combined with the excessively large family groups found in agrarian Scotland in my next post!