Robson of Leeds Yorks

[EssexCorinne]

Can anyone tell me where to look next for Robert Robson 1785-1836? The events I have for him are:

• married Elizabeth Shires at Leeds, St Peter 1808 when he was a plumber and glazier.
• Son William baptised at Leeds, St Peter 1812, address Back High Street, Leeds (which I believe is Quarry Hill)
• Buried 1836 in St Annes, Limehouse, London.

No entries found in trade or resident directories in Leeds. There are Robsons in Leeds, builders, at that time but no first names. I haven't been able to find these families in any records either.
No newspaper references except articles and adverts for Robsons but no first names. They mostly refer to Robson businesses in Wakefield which I have also checked.
I have trawled through 20+ years in parish registers including non conformists for Leeds and all surrounding areas including Wakefield, for births, marriages etc to try and build up families but no Robert.
I cannot find any other children except William so assume Robert and Elizabeth only had the one child.
I have exhausted all records for Elizabeth to try and find clues including her family of Harewood who were also builders but no clues found.
I have found several Robson families across Yorks but just cannot find any definite link to any of them without some sure clue to my Robert's origins.

I will contact Leeds local and family history centre next but wondered if anyone here is familiar with Leeds and can point me in a good direction?

Thanks
Corinne

[susan h]

Corinne, how certain are you Robert was born in Leeds, do you have documented proof? As no records prior to his 1808 marriage can be found in Leeds I'd be inclined to widen the search area.

[kylejustin]

what evidence do you have linking the london burial to the leeds robson?

[EssexCorinne]

Susan h - I have no proof that Robert was born in Leeds but started looking there because his marriage is the earliest proof I have of him. I have looked at lots of places around Leeds and some further afield if they looked possibles. I have looked into the possibility he was born in london and went to Leeds for some unknown reason but have nothing to confirm the one baptism I found in Aldgate. It is his definite birth and parentage I'm stuck on.

Kylejustin - the family moved to Limehouse some time between sons baptism in 1813 and the 1841 census when he wasnt present - wife Elizabeth born Leeds and son William born Leeds: Class: HO107; Piece: 701; Book: 10; Civil Parish: St Anne Limehouse; County: Middlesex; Enumeration District: 19; Folio: 35; Page: 15; I looked for a death before 1851 because Elizabeth was recorded as a widow and found Robert, burial age 52 at St Annes, Limehouse. I am temporarily assuming that is my Robert Robson while I keep an open mind to any possibilities ..as ya do....

I cant find him in any early directories/electoral rolls at all.
Thanks
Corinne

[susan h]

Hi Corinne, I agree that the death record in Limehouse is very probably 'your' Robert.

You do have a dilemma here in trying to prove Robert's parentage and place of birth. Most Robert Robson's born within a reasonable time frame (family search) were born north of Leeds in Nort Yorks/Durham/Northumberland.

[EssexCorinne]

I'm glad you agree that the death record in Limehouse is probably my Robert! It gets a bit lonely relying on one's own judgement and it's reassuring when you get a second opinion isn't it. It feels like I've looked at thousands of Robsons these last months and without any strong leads I got a bit paranoid that I was clutching at straws! It does seem to check out tho, so will plod on with hunting. I'll contact Leeds local history dept and see if they have any local knowledge that might help.

Thanks for your help, I don't feel so lonely now! :o
Corinne

[susan h]

Corinne, I've done a little more digging and found a potential daughter of Robert and Elizabeth.

Baptised St Peter's: Luisa [sic[ Jane dau of Robert Robson born 1 Oct 1808, baptised 3 Dec 1809. http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/22...l=ReturnRecord

And a possible marriage for Louisa Robson: http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/16...l=ReturnRecord

Married Charles Philcox 1828 St George London. Robert Robson was a witness; be an idea to compare his signature with his signature on his own marriage cert.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'll look for Lousa and her husband Charles Philcox on census returns to see if her place of birth is Leeds.

[susan h]

Yes, Louisa Philcox WAS born Leeds, I think it's most likely she is Robert and Elizabeth's dau.

The 1851 census has some mistakes which an Ancestry member has corrected, however I'm certain she was born Leeds as later censuses have Leeds as POB.

http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/8860/MDXHO107_1547_1548-0095/427853?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3frank%3d1%26gsfn%3dlouisa%26gsln%3dphilcox%26gsco%3d%26s0RealGL%3dUKICen%26f1%3dlondon%2bmiddlesex%26f2%3d%26f5%3d%26f18%3d%26rg_81004011__date%3d1808%26rs_81004011__date%3d0%26f14%3d%26f15%3d%26_8000C002%3d%26_80008002%3d%26_80018002%3dcharles%26f7%3d%26f8%3d%26f9%3d%26gskw%3d%26prox%3d1%26ti%3d5538%26ti.si%3d0%26gss%3dangs-c%26pcat%3dUKICEN%26h%3d427853%26recoff%3d9%2b10%2b151%26db%3duki1851%26indiv%3d1%26ml_rpos%3d3&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord

1861: http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin...iv=1&ml_rpos=2

1871: http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin...iv=1&ml_rpos=1

[susan h]

1841 indexed as Phileo (original sheet very faint) http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin...iv=1&ml_rpos=3

[susan h]

There's trees on Ancestry which have Louisa Jane Robson and Charles Philcox, unfortunately they don't have Robert's parentage.

[susan h]

Charles John Philcox (Louisa Jane Robson's husband) was a witness at William Robson and Susanna Camp's marriage - I think that definitely confirms Louisa and William were siblings. Unfortunately it doesn't help in establishing who Robert's parents were, or where he was born.

[EssexCorinne]

THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! I have checked your findings out and yes.....! I am very impressed, thank you so much. I must have missed that baptism about 3 times because I trawled those records around William's baptism in 1812 so many times to build up a family for Robert, I must have gone cross-eyed. I feel daft now to have missed it! I've checked out and saved the records you found and yes, the signature for Robert pretty well checked out so I'm happy it's him. I'll go and check the other records that are now coming up (I'm on ancestry) and the other trees and see if there are any other leads I can explore from the new info.

Thanks again Susan h, you are brilliant :D
Corinne

[EssexCorinne]

The bonus to finding Louisa Robson, daughter of Robert, is that another family legend has been confirmed which was that "great uncle so and so worked in the Tower of London" and Louisa's husband Charles Philcox has turned out to be that "great uncle so and so".

Thanks again
Corinne

[susan h]

Really pleased for you, Corinne.

I hope you can find a lead to Richard's parentage.