Falling between Two Censuses
James Robertson is a case in point. Ewing only tells us the date and place of his licence and ordination – Dalkeith Presbytery, 1852 and 1855 respectively; his place of ministry – Falmouth, Jamaica; and his early death there. But we can reasonably expect that he would appear in the 1851 census as a divinity student. And, common though his name is, the most likely person in the 1851 census to be him is a James Robertson, born in Crichton, Midlothian, about 1821 and living in Minnigaff, Kirkcudbrightshire, in 1851. He was then a divinity student, acting as a tutor.
He is likely to be our James Robertson because Crichton is in the catchment area of the Dalkeith Presbytery where James Robertson was licensed and ordained. Although there was no Free Church in Crichton, the nearest Free Church was in Pathhead, where the minister was Robert Court and it was he who proposed in Presbytery that James Robertson be taken on trials for licence. It is normal that a man be proposed for licence by his own minister.
The only relevant reference to a James Robertson in the Kirk Session records of Pathhead Free Church is one in which he was received as a member on 2nd February, 1846 – but that may not be this James Robertson.
We can be reasonably certain that James Robertson, the minister, was born in Crichton, Midlothian, about 1821. More we cannot say with any certainty, at the moment.
A similar case is William Chalmers. Ewing does not give us much to go on: short ministries completed between the censuses. But at least he gives a date of birth. Again, we can build on the probability that he was a divinity student at the time of the 1851 census. Again, too there is really only one candidate: a William Chalmers, 27, student in divinity, lodging in Edinburgh, born Aberdeen. If we then look for this man in other censuses, there is again really only one candidate: the son of David Chalmers, Westburn, Aberdeen. And we know who he is – a man from a very prominent church family – see the Chalmers Burns Guthrie Tree.
After his resignation, he appears as a lodger in Glasgow – in 1881 he is a clerk; in 1891 a compiler and writer of books – the sort of occupation you might expect a retired minister to take up.
This seems a fairly certain identification but we may know for sure when I get round to looking at his death certificate.
So falling between two censuses may not be too damaging an experience.
PS In William Chalmers’ death certificate he is said to have been a Free Church minister, retired – a son of David Chalmers, publisher of the Aberdeen Journal. So that confirms the identification which we had tentatively made on other grounds.
Are there any records of a minister marrying a Margaret Buchanan in the 1840s probably in Edinburgh Scotland. Thank you.
I have had a look at this matter and I can’t find any minister that meets your specifications. The nearest I found was John Thomson who married Margaret Buchanan in 1834, but not in Edinburgh. She was the sister of Robert Buchanan, another minister. You can find something about these men on this web-site by clicking Ewing’s Annals / List of Ministers.
I’m interested in tracking down any biographical information about a Robert Kingan. I have found only one Robert Kingan birth on Scotland’s People between 1805 and 1845 – 28 May 1815 (S.P. – O.P.R. Births: 622/50 316 Barony). I believe he graduated from Edinburgh University and was ordained in the early 1840’s by the Free Church of Scotland. Scotland’s People has a Robert Kingan marriage to Ann Carton in Barony, Lanarkshire, on 01 Jun 1845. (S.P. – O.P.R. Marriages: 622/180 610 Barony). Though this appears to be the only Robert Kingan marriage between 1835 and 1855 I am uncertain whether I have the same individual. Would you be able to provide me with further information? Thank you.
Regarding the ecclesiastical status of this man – he was never an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland; nor was he an ordained minister, occupying a charge in Scotland, of any other Presbyterian Church in Scotland. If he had been, he would have been in the General Index on this website.
This does not mean that he wasn’t ordained, say, by the Free Church for service abroad. But I have looked at some of the early church magazines, which might have mentioned anything of that nature, and I haven’t found anything.
However, he appears in the 1841 census in Edinburgh as a divinity student. More importantly his name appears on the “Roll of Probationers adhering to the Free Church” at the Disruption in 1843, when the Free Church was formed. He signed himself: Robert Kingan, Scalloway, Lerwick. This suggests he may have been doing church work for the Church of Scotland there in 1843. (There was a mission hall in Scalloway, within the parish of Tingwall.) I don’t know if I need to mention that a probationer was a man who has been licensed to preach – he can call himself “Rev.” and he is a minister – but he has not yet been ordained.
Some of this information does not sit kindly with some of the earlier information about this man at: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Kingan-6
Given that Robert Kingan seems to disappear from the Scottish scene and that his name at that time in Scotland (that is, born in 1815) seems unique, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that he is the Robert Kingan born Scotland, Free Church by religion, who is in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, with his family in 1861. He is also in the 1881 and 1891 censuses (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/Pages/census.aspx). This supports the later information in the website just mentioned.
Given the uniqueness of his name, it seems reasonable to think that he married Ann Carton – but if the wikitree is right she must have died fairly soon after his marriage. Sorry I can’t be of more help on that one.
There is one more source of information that I have to check but I can’t do it sitting at my desk – so that will have to wait. If I find anything further, I shall let you know. If there is anything you want to ask, you can contact me at ecclegen1843@gmail.com