I haven’t had great luck tracing the Farquharson line past John Farquharson‘s parents. To orient you in the family tree, John Farquharson was Kate Farquharson’s grandfather. He was born 9 May 1784 in Cardross, Dunbartonshire to parents Colin Farquharson and Jean Robertson. This post is a collection point for research into Colin and Jean, not to be confused with John’s son Colin Farquharson and wife Jean Ferrier. The recycling of family names in Scottish ancestry is both a blessing and a curse in genealogy research!
The only possible matching record I have found for Colin and Jean’s marriage is from Edinburgh in 1780, so I will tentatively assume this is the correct couple. Colin is listed as a gardener, which would fit nicely with his son John’s vocation as an herbalist, however I don’t know what would have brought them to Edinburgh and have found no other records of them there. The record says Colin belonged to Old Gray Friar’s Parish and Jean Robertson to College Kirk Parish. She is listed as the daughter of a farmer in Perthshire. There is a blank where it seems perhaps the writer intended to fill in her father’s forename. The minister at Greyfriar’s at that time would have been John Erskine.
Resource: Scottish Record Society Register of Marriages of the City of Edinburgh 1651-1800. Also here.
Greyfriars Kirk was the first church built in Edinburgh after the Reformation. Construction began in 1602 and the church officially opened Christmas Day 1620. The church was used as barracks by troops under Oliver Cromwell during the Protectorate. In 1718 an explosion from a store of gunpowder destroyed its tower. And in 1845 the building was all but destroyed by fire. But the church still stands and is particularly known for its haunted kirkyard.
Children of Colin Farquharson and Jean Robertson
I have found 3 sons for Colin and Jean recorded in Cardross parish, and 1 recorded in Falkirk.
- John Farquharson, born 9 May 1784 in Cardross, Dunbartonshire
- Peter Farquharson, born 11 March 1787 in Falkirk, Stirlingshire
- Colin Farquharson, born 13 October 1789 in Cardross, Dunbartonshire
- James Farquharson, born 3 May 1792 in Cardross, Dunbartonshire, married Mary Johnston
John Farquharson’s birth and baptism were recorded twice in Cardross:
Jean Robertson’s Parents
I don’t have names for Jean Robertson’s parents. If she was between the ages of 18-25 when she was married in 1780, she would have been born sometime between 1755-1762. Since her marriage record states her late father was a farmer in Perthshire, we can wonder if she was born in Perthshire. There were 35 Jean Robertsons born 1755-1762 in that county. Scots often named their 1st born son after the father’s father, 2nd son after the mother’s father, and 3rd son after the father. We can wonder if Jean’s father’s name was John or Peter, and throw in James for good measure to narrow the list down to 10 Jeans:
| Birth | Father | Mother | Birth Date | Parish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jean Robertson (Other children: none listed) | James Robertson | Elspeth Stewart | 4 July 1756 | Dull |
| Jean Robertson (Other children: Peter, George, Alexander) | James Robertson | Anne Gow | 15 June 1761 | Moulin |
| Jean Robertson (Other children: Girzel) | John Robertson | Bettie Robertson | 31 May 1757 | Moulin |
| Jean Robertson (Other children: Marrian) | John Robertson | Marrion/Marrian Clerk/Clarke | 10 June 1759 | Kilmadock |
| Jean Robertson (Other children: Mary, Janet Alexander, Robert, Elizabeth, Elspet, Jo, Hector, James) | John Robertson | ? | 7 January 1759 | Blairgowrie |
| Jean Robertson (Other children: John, Christian, Finlay, Adam, Mary) | John Robertson | Grizel/Girzek Robertson | 24 April 1760 | Little Dunkeld/ Logierait |
| Jean Robertson (Other children: James) | John Robertson | Janet Binks | 4 June 1760 | Kinclaven |
| Jean Robertson (Other children: Margory, Jannet, Katharine, Grizel) | John Robertson | ? | 27 March 1757 | Weem |
| Jean Robertson. (Other children: James) | Peter Robertson | Mary Smith | 23 March 1755 | Fowlis Wester |
I looked up other children born into the above families to see if perhaps those names would give me any clues. If I were to go on that, I would say our best candidates are:
- Peter Robertson and Mary Smith in Fowlis Wester
- John Robertson and Janet Binks in Kinclaven
- John Robertson with no spouse listed in Blairgowrie (there are likely several though)
Obviously this is a lot of speculation and our Jean Robertson could have been born anywhere, with parents of any names, but this is the best I’ve got and have hit a brick wall. The search is complicated by the fact that Robertson was one of the most common surnames in Perthshire, as the area is considered the ancestral home of Clan Donnachaidh, also known as Clan Robertson.
I have also begun working forward in the family tree, in hopes I can find a distant cousin with information on Colin Farquharson and Jean Robertson:
John Farquharson’s brother James
James Farquharson and Mary Johnston were married 12 February 1811 in Cardross. James was a fishmonger and I believe the couple had six children, including another Colin and an Annabella! Note, my work on this has not been extremely thorough and there could be mistakes.
- Colin Farquharson, born 11 May 1811 in Cardross, fisherman
- John Farquharson, born 14 November 1812 in Cardross, fisherman, later worked as a porter
- Jean Farquharson, born 8 April 1815 in Cardross, married James McKindlay, had 3 sons: Andrew, James, and Donald McKindlay, and died 22 January 1845 in Victoria, Australia
- Annabella Farquharson, born circa 1821 in Dunbartonshire, married 2 February1844 to John Forsyth in Row parish, had 4 children: Mary L, Jessie, James, and John
- Mary Farquharson, born circa 1826 in Cardross, straw hat maker
- Elizabeth Witham Farquharson, born 29 September 1827 in Row parish, married 22 March 1852 to William Smith Stewart in Row, straw hat maker, had daughter Annabella Stewart
Ardoch
Colin Farquharson and Jean Robertson lived in the barony of Ardoch when sons John (1784), Colin (1789), and James (1792) were born. If Colin Farquharson was indeed working as a gardener in Edinburgh at the time of his marriage, it’s possible he was also a gardener at the Ardoch estate. At the time, Ardoch was owned by Robert Graham of Gartmore (1735-1797), 15th Laird of Ardoch, also known as “Doughty Deeds”, who built a fortune trafficking and enslaving human beings in both Jamaica and Scotland. His estates stretched from Perthshire (Gartmore & Kippen), through Dunbartonshire (Galingad & Ardoch) and across the Clyde to Renfrewshire (Finlaystone); in addition he held the lands of Lochwood in Lanarkshire and a Jamaican plantation at Roaring River.
