World-wide distribution of the Cromar and Robb surnames in 2014. Dark red equates to higher frequency, transitioning to pale yellow representing lower incidence. Robb is more geographically dispersed, but Cromar seems to be easier to trace. We’ll explore why. | Screen-captures from Forebears

A couple of posts back, I had arrived at a mid-point in data collection on the descendancy line of Peter Cromar 1690 of Aboyne, my 6th great-grandfather and presumed refugee from Glencoe. This journal has taken a bit of a nerdy side-track into the process of constructing a descendancy chart, starting with a description of my methods and a discussion of the interesting phenomenon I call generational drift. We’re continuing the nerd-fest as the descendancy is still being constructed; while this series started when I had compiled about 2400 persons, the number as of this writing now stands at about 2800, nowhere near the end.

From hobby to research

But the end of what, exactly? This journal started as a hobby, a distraction from our pandemic lock-down dystopia, and it has morphed into an extension of my professional work as an artist and designer interested in the visual expression of massive data. I assumed that a pedigree chart — the kind of stereotypical family tree that starts with the author and defies the arrow of time — was the goal.

I also assumed the search for my family with its unusual surname would be quite a narrow one. Never did I assume I would learn much about the larger forces of history — the involuntary burden of the refugee/immigrant, the ubiquity of disaster both natural and anthropogenic, ancient tribal feuds still playing out in the wars and separatist movements we see in our newsfeeds this very day — and how directly they affected my family’s story. I simply did not know there were so many ways to tell it. In this post, we’ll investigate just a few of those ways, and speculate on whether this study is evolving along the lines of one or more of them.

Toponymies and diminutives

Cromar: a toponymy

We know that Cromar is a toponymic surname, and we investigated its gàidhlig roots in Competing theories on the “How” of Cromar. To recap, as a toponym Crò Mhàrr breaks down into “circle” or “enclosure” — Crò, pronounced crrrouuu with a rolled r and looong vowel — and a personal name — Mhàrr, pronounced vaaahrrr — meaning “of Mar.” Without the common gàidhlig lenition device of adding an h to turn the m sound into a soft v, Mar is a Brythonic name-within-a-name, whose origins within that defunct language appear to be lost to history. English conventions corrupted the pronunciation, diluting the impressively battle-ready Crrrouuuvaaahrr down to a much tamer Cromar. We also recall this name is sept of Clan Farquharson (Clann Fhionnlaigh), which may account for the frequency of Farquharson as a give name in the line stemming from Peter Cromar.

Robb: a diminutive

By way of contrast, Robb is a diminutive surname, derived from the given name Robert and implying “son of” and therefore a kind of patronymic. It is quite without a single identifiable geographic source, although early groupings of Robbs were abundant in the areas now known as Aberdeenshire and Lanarkshire. Some theorize the popularity of the name in Scotland is attributable to the frequency of kings named Robert. Spelling variants include Rob, Robe, and the occasional Robie. This makes it harder to pin down. In fact, the name is a sept belonging to Clan MacFarlane, which historically has roots far to the west of Aberdeenshire. As John Robb observes:

Unfortunately for our genealogical enterprises, surnames with such common derivations as “Robb” are bound to have arisen independently in many different places, and to constitute as many unrelated patrilineages, and the proliferation of patrilineages is perhaps the biggest problem with using surnames to trace relationships. …

Since Aberdeenshire appears to be particularly thick with ROBBs, it’s perhaps worth taking a closer look at this county. Although Aberdeen has its own city, the eponymous Aberdeen, the 1881 UK Census shows that only about a quarter of the county ROBBs lived in the city or its environs. The largest concentrations of Aberdeenshire ROBBs are found in the parishes of Old Deer, New Deer, and Strichen, so that area would seem to be a logical place to look for ancient ROBB origins. In the 1841 UK Census fully 23% of all Scottish ROBBs reside in Aberdeenshire, and most of the oldest ROBBs (born between 1750-1780), appear in the coastal parishes of Peterhead and Cruden, just one parish to the east of Old Deer.

— The Surname ROBB by John Robb

The wider world distribution of the Robb name we saw above is reflected in Scotland as well. (1) The Cromar map shows a high concentration in Aberdeenshire, while (2) the Robbs are found in every shire of Scotland. This makes the Cromars a bit less difficult to track down. | Screen-captures from Forebears

I feel fortunate not to possess an occupational name like Smith — so many towns had a blacksmith! My family names are a bit less of a struggle to trace. While it is a bit unfair to say as yet because it is still a work in progress, it seems that my toponymic surname Cromar is much easier to dive into than the more dispersed Robbs.

One-name studies

This leads to the value of what genealogists call a one-name study: the investigation of all persons with a common surname, whether or not they bear any direct relation to a particular family line. The Guild of One-Name Studies is a specialty group in the genealogy world doing just that. But why would someone invest in such an enterprise? For example, John Robb, cited above, created such a study based on the branch of the Robb line that settled in colonial Pennsylvania. My Robbs, through Christiana Berry Robb, bear no direct relation to John’s Robbs, but a one-name study of sufficient depth could reveal a distant connection. This, however, may not be the only reason to delve deep into a name:

I’ve also learned that to research a particular line, one must widen one’s field of study to encompass all families of the same surname, as well as the in-laws, neighbors, and family friends of members of the focus family, as indicated by the names found associated with them in the records. Thus, I had to learn as much as I could about all six of the 1790 John Robb householders, and to try to account for their ancestry as well. And although I have by now done enough work to support a reliable, evidenced, account of my own family line, I have inevitably become, somewhere along the way, a Robb family historian, interested in all the early Pennsylvania Robbs.

— John Robb

Though I do not yet have enough data on my Robbs to do the same, I’ve been sufficiently engaged with the Cromar side of things that I’ve dug up many Cromar members who are not in the direct descendancy of Peter Cromar 1690. In fact, I’ve discovered several who Ron Cromar included in error in his research — no offense, as all studies are hypotheses, and I’m sure my own work is just as leaky a bucket! In any event, these “missing links” have proven to be a tantalizing mystery that perhaps a one-name study could untangle, at least in part. This effort could amply our understanding of the Cromar story generally, and the Peter Cromar line in particular — perhaps even revealing something about the Holy Grail of the origins of Peter himself.

Missing links

In my research at Family Search alone, I’ve identified the following Cromars who are not directly in the Peter Cromar line. I’ve listed them below in chronological order. Those who are italicized have progeny who later marry into the Peter Cromar line — yes, in-line Cromars marrying out-of-line Cromars, such as we saw with John and Ann Cromar, parents of George Cromar 1792-1871. The missing links so far, with birth year and birth place, are:

• Robert Cromar, about 1610, Bogloch
• Thomas (Thomae) Cromar, 1640, Leochel-Cushnie
• Unknown Cromar, 1692, Clatt
• Robert Cromar, about 1718, Charlestown or Monymusk
• Robert Cromar, 1724, Boat of Charlestown, Aboyne
• Peter Cromar, about 1727, Logie-Coldstone
• Robert Cromar, 1749, Monymusk
• Robert Cromar, 1750, Marywell of Birse (daughter Christian marries into line)
• Robert Cromar, about 1754, Aberdeenshire
• John Cromar, 1755, Lumphanan (marries Agnes Meston)
• George Cromar, about 1758, Peterculter
• John Cromar, about 1758, Stirlingshire
• George Cromar, about 1760, Perthshire
• George Cromar, about 1770, Kincardine O’Neil
• Arthur Cromar, about 1772, Montrose, Angus
• James Cromar, about 1776, New Hills
• William Cromar, about 1779, Aboyne
• Alexander Cromar, about 1786, Aberdeen
• Robert Cromar about 1817 Peterculter
• Robert Cromar, 1821, Aberdeenshire

Whether or not I take the leap into a one-name study here remains to be seen as I’m still deep in the compilation of the descendancy chart! But John Robb makes a compelling case to do so. As we move forward in whatever way lies ahead, two more related phenomena will be unearthed: the “allied” Cromar-Robb families (those who, by marriage, enter the line and contribute their names to it), and how this line contributes to the Scottish Diaspora in which my great-grandparents played a role. That will be the topic of my next post in this series.