#52Ancestorsin52Weeks - Week 15/52 Robert Forfar - How Do you Spell That?

 

Week 15/52

Robert FORFAR – 1817 - ?

Ahnentafel Number 56

Context for discovery:

This biography was written as part of the 52 ancestors in 52 weeks exercise devised by Amy Johnson Crow.  You can join in too here. The theme for this month is Check It Out and this week is How Do You Spell That?  

Robert was my 3^rd great-grandfather. 

FORFAR is not an easy surname to search for, mostly because there is a place called Forfar in Scotland and the word can also be used to describe a type of fabric or linen.  This makes it quite difficult to search for in newspaper articles. Sigh.

These are the variations of spelling FORFAR that have been suggested on this website: FORFAR, FARFAR, FORFER, FORFARE, FORFAYR, FORFAIR

 

Childhood

 

St Ninian's Old Parish Graveyard Copyright Colin Kinnear and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Birth Date/Place:

Baptism Date/Place:

Robert was baptised 6 November 1817 by Bishop Gleig at St Ninians, Stirling, Scotland.  His parents were John Forfar and Isabella Rae[i].  Robert seems to be the youngest of five children.  His siblings were as follows:

1. Helen baptised 2 July 1804 and married Thomas DOUGALL, builder, died 23 July 1887, father John Forfar, manufacturer (deceased) and Isabella Forfar M.S. Rae (deceased)
2. Jean baptised 15 May 1806 married Robert ARCHIBALD, farmer 1831
3. Isabella baptised 23 May 1808, married James DONALDSON, weaver and died 1886, aged 77, father John Forfar, Manufacturer (deceased) and Isabella Forfar m.s. Rae (deceased) [ii]
4. Alexander baptised 24 May 1812 and died 1877, woollen weaver, married to Jane STIRLING, father John Forfar (woollen manufacturer -deceased ) and mother Isabella Forfar M.S. Rae (deceased)[iii]

 

1841 Census Scotland - I can only find Isabella Rae aged 65 living with her son Alexander Forfar aged 25 and a child Jean Dugal aged 3 in Bannockburn (her granddaughter from her eldest daughter Helen).  Alexander is a carpet weaver.

So, most of the children have left home and it seems Isabella's husband, John,  has either died or left.  I cannot find any record of his death on Scotland's People.

This article gives us some idea of why people may have left Bannockburn. This document describes local heritage landmarks thankfully.  

A document sent to me recently by another researcher advised that

"amazingly the ruins of part of the carpet factory owned by the Forfar family at Carpet Close are still standing....on the opposite side of the burn is where the Forfars built property described as "at the Bridge of Bannockburn"....the road from the bridge leading up the north side of the valley is called "The path" and was where the Forfar family owned other property." (Jim Mackison of Newcastle upon Tyne from a Roots Chat forum)

 

Snip from National Library of Scotland Ordnance Survey map London (First Editions c1850s) LX Surveyed: 1864 to 1866, Published: 1869

 

1841 Census England – I found a Robert Forfar, aged 20, a mason living in Queen Street, Charlton Next Woolwich, Borough of Greenwich, county of Kent.  The head of the household is Thomas Archibald shipwright, born Scotland aged 55 and his wife aged 60 and I guess their son Thomas Archibald, aged 20 engineer apprentice.  Was Thomas Jnr a brother or Thomas Snr. father to Robert Archibald, Robert’s brother-in-law?

Interestingly, I also found a will for a Robert Forfar, shipwright of 36 Salmons Lane, parish of St Anns, Limehouse proved 11 November 1851.  His wife was Elizabeth. I do not know how or if they are related but it seems likely no? (Will of Robert Forfur or Forfar, Shipwright of Sant Anns Limehouse, Middlesex PROB 11/2142/35 The National Archives UK)

 

Asylum layout" by John Weale (1791-1862)

Also in the 1841 Census is Robert Forfar’s future wife Lucy Swait working at the Hanwell Lunatic Asylum as a laundress.[iv]  There is also a John Forfar, Patient Upholsterer aged 55. Unfortunately, there is no information about whether he was born in Middlesex or not or another county or country e.g. Scotland.  The age is a bit off for Robert’s father – but not too far off – maybe 20 years which sounds a lot, but if he is in a lunatic asylum maybe he wasn’t too good a judge of his age. [v]

1845 Irish potato famine

1845 Irish potato famine

Married Life

 

Interior St James' Piccadilly by Steve Cadman on Flickr

 

Marriage Dates/Places:

Robert married Lucy Swait 30 January 1842 at St James Westminster.[vi]  Robert’s father is named as John and deceased.  Robert is of full age and described as a Bachelor and a Stone Mason living in the city.

Children’s Birth Dates/Places:

George, Robert and Lucy’s only child, was christened on 23 September 1848 at the Episcopal Church Stirling. His parents are recorded as Robert Forfar and Lucy Swait - residence in Bannockburn.[vii]

The next time I find a record of the family members is in the 1851 Census. 

Son George seems to be staying with his step-great-grandfather James REMNANT. James is Lucy's step-grandfather - I know, weird - in Mitcham, Surrey.  In turn James seems to be staying with his sister-in-law Elizabeth FRANKS.  James is described as being on Parish Relief, a former Ag Lab aged 90.  How come he is left holding the baby? Well maybe he isn't holding the baby.  Maybe it is Harriet Franks aged 28 unmarried who was looking after George.  Anyway - it's all very odd.

In the same census (1851) Lucy is working as a Nurse at 56 Grove Terrace in Barking, Ilford for the solicitor Edmund Griffin.  

What has happened to Robert????

In the 1851 Census for Scotland, Robert’s mother Isabella is now aged 75 and living with her grandchild Jane Dougal aged 13, a scholar.  Both were born in St Ninians Stirling.

snip of Map courtesy of National Library of Scotland ordnance survey map London (First Editions c1850s) XLII Surveyed: 1863 to 1865, Published: 1869

 

I did find a Robert Forfar in an 1852 Poll Book working as a printer in 20 Pitt Street (West Side). (Ancestry.com. UK, Poll Books and Electoral Registers, 1538-1893 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.Original data:London, England, UK and London Poll Books. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Library.)

The only reason I am paying attention to this record is that his name is part of a household including Robert Galloway and Galloway was Robert’s grandmother’s maiden name on his father’s side of the family.  I am wondering if perhaps he changed occupation from stone mason to printing.  Just a thought.

Snip of ordnance survey map from National Library of Scotland Middlesex Sheet XV Surveyed: 1864 to 1865, Published: 1868

1861 Census, George Forfar is a school boy at the Byron House School in Ealing.  This became Ealing Grammar School and closed in 1917 according to this website.  I wrote to the Ealing Local History Library to ask if there was any further clarifying information about Robert or George Forfar as they hold the letters and accounts for the Byron House School.

This was their reply:

"There are 56 letters in this archive dating to 1866 (mostly dating from 1866) or previously, and a number of undated ones, which you would be welcome to examine, but which we do not have staff time to read.

However, there is an index to boarders' accounts for 1859 and 1861 and both these list Forfar (no Christian names listed).

The 1859 list notes expenditure on boots and clothing for pupils and under these headings, against the name Forfar, are 4s 4d and 8s, though the writing is not very legible. Later in the same pamphlet are references to expenditure, probably for the first quarter of the year, on shoes, clothes, pocket money, hair curling and oil; for Forfar these are 4s 9d, 2s, 2s, 1s and 1s. Later there is a list of pupils and a monetary figure by each; for Forfar this is £5 5s 3d.

The 1861 document mentions Forfar in a list of pupils and £5 6s noted next to his name but the entry has then been crossed out, but bon the next listing therein he is included and £5 7s 6d entered next to his name.

Then there are itemised accounts for the Christmas term. Forfar has 1s 8d for shoes, m1s 4d for clothes, 3s 6d for drawing (this entry ruled through), hair and oil 1s each, a blank next to 'Train' and 4s pocket money.

There is another list of pupils under headings of the first five months of the year (year not stated) and Forfar has a 1 marked under each of the months' four sub-divisions. Others have the same or higher numbers.

I hope all this helps; it certainly suggests he was at the school from 1859-Christmas 1861 at least."

Lucy is now working as a servant at 152 Westbourne Terrace Paddington for Roseth (Rosetta in later census) Ballin aged 56 of independent means and her three sisters!

Lucy died in 1866 (George would have been about 17 or 18 years old) and her name can be found on the register, the probate calendar as well as a death duty register.  It is worth looking at all three documents.  The death duty register gives me her address – Harrow Road. William Wise was the executor of her will.  She is described as a widow in the probate calendar so we can assume that Robert had died by this time.  She leaves a modest inheritance of effects under £200.

What happened to Robert Forfar?

I did find a Robert John Forfar working as a boatswain in the UK Naval Officer and Rating Service Records.  I suspect this is the same Robert John Forfar who was admitted to Greenwich Hospital School in 1834, born 1823 – parents being John and Elizabeth Forfar nee Webber.[viii]

 

Snip of Map courtesy of National Library of Scotland London (First Editions c1850s) XXXVII Surveyed: 1870, Published: 1875

 

There is a Robert Forfar, china dealer who lives in 36 Salmon Lane, Limehouse, Old Road, Stepney. He is listed in directories from about 1830.[ix]  Robson’s London and Birmingham Directory for 1839[x] and the Post Office London Directory in 1845 under China, Glass and Earthenware dealers.[xi]  This seems to sit well with our Robert Forfar's son and grandsons being grocers further down the track. But who knows?  Maybe he's an uncle or a cousin.

There are three deaths for Robert Forfar in England that I can find in the rough time period we are looking for i.e. between 1842 when he married Lucy and 1866 when Lucy died and is described as a widow.

They are as follows:

1.     Robert Forfar December 1849 Luton, Bedfordshire, UK – Volume 6, Page 66, 4^th quarter

2.     Robert Forfar, December 1851, Stepney, London, UK

3.     Robert Forfar, Mar 1859, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK – Volume 8B, Page 163, 1^st quarter

I shall order the Stepney one first from 1851 as this is our china dealer.  Luton is not too far from London, so if the first one is not our Robert Forfar, that is my second choice.  And then if that fails, the Liverpool record.

Conclusion

Looking at MyHeritage there are about 58 Family Trees featuring Robert Forfar.  To the best of my knowledge none of them have found a death date for him.   

Then there are three who say he was Robert Alexander Forfar who died at Seggiebank, Kinross in 1888 but I don’t think that can be right as that man was 44 years old when he died, i.e. born in 1844, way after our Robert Forfar.[xii] Many researchers have confused the father with the son, i.e. Robert Forfar with George Robert Forfar and put his death date down as 1917.

Maybe Robert went to the United States of America.  There is a Robert Forfar who completed a declaration of intent to become a citizen of the U.S. in 1858 together with John Deans.[xiii]

Wish me luck as I try to get to the bottom of what happened to Robert Forfar, mason and possible dealer or printer, born St Ninians, Stirling, Scotland in 1817 and married to Lucy Swait in 1842, father of George born 1848

And of course, if you have any suggestions as to where I should hunt next please let me know!

To finish off - here are some great old photos of Bannockburn - unfortunately without any descriptions attached.

My thanks to other researchers/cousins who have helped me in my research: Sue VanDijk, David Murie, David Chalmers, and Anne Forfar.

 

References

 [i] FORFAR, ROBERT (Old Parish Registers Births 488/40 265 St Ninans) Page 265 of 278, National Records of Scotland accessed via Scotlands People 17 April 2022

[ii] 1186, FORFAR, ISABELLA (Statutory registers Deaths 490/105) National Records of Scotland accessed via Scotlands People 11 July 2021

[iii] 1877 FORFAR, ALEXANDER (Statutory registers Death 488/2 30) National Records of Scotland accessed via Scotlands People 17 April 2022

[iv] Lucy Swatt 1841 Census, Class: HO107; Piece: 656; Book: 11; Civil Parish: Hayes; County: Middlesex; Enumeration District: Middlesex Pauper Lunatic Asylum; Folio: 26; Page: 17; Line: 1; GSU roll: 438774

[v] John Farfar 1841 England Census, Class: HO107; Piece: 656; Book: 11; Civil Parish: Hayes; County: Middlesex; Enumeration District: Middlesex Pauper Lunatic Asylum; Folio: 20; Page: 5; Line: 1; GSU roll: 438774

[vi] Ancestry.com, City of Westminster Archives Centre; London, England; Westminster Church of England Parish Registers; Reference: STJ/PR/6/19

[vii] FORFAR, GEORGE (O.P.R. Births 488/00 0060 0179 ST NINIANS) National Records of Scotland via Scotlands People accessed 17 January 2016

[viii] Robert John Forfar, The National Archives, ADM, 73/229/31

[ix] Ancestry.com. London, England, City Directories, 1736-1943 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018.

Original data:London Directories held by the London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Library, London, England.

[x] Ancestry.com, UK, Midlands and Various UK Trade Directories, 1770-1941 [database on-line].
Original data:Midlands Historical Data collection of Trade Directories. Tony Abrahams. Midlands Trade Directories 1770–1941. Midlands Historical Data, Solihull, West Midlands.

[xi] Ancestry.com. London, England, City Directories, 1736-1943 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018.Original data:London Directories held by the London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Library, London, England.

[xii] Scotlands People Statutory registers Deaths Search results

[xiii] New York, County Naturalization Records, 1791-1980," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPBY-XHLN : 8 April 2021), Robert Forfar, 1858; citing Naturalization, New York, United States, citing multiple County Clerk offices of New York; FHL microfilm 005382182.