Agnes Robertson

     
     Agnes Robertson was born cir. 1786 in ENG (place from 1851 & 1861 census records, date derived from same, plus dth cert, a remarkedly consistent lady for the time).^2,3
     Agnes Robertson married Walter Fairbairn, son of Archibald Fairbairn and Alison Crosser, on 22 Nov 1806 at Morebattle, ROX, SCT, OPR entry reads: "Walter Fairbairn and Agnes Robinson, date of irregular marriage 22 Nov 1806, date of confirmation 3 Jan 1808.⁴'
     Agnes Fairbairn died on 1 Apr 1863 at Morebattle, ROX, SCT; Dist (Morebattle) cert #6 reads: Agnes Fairbairn, pauper, widow of Walter Fairbairn, ag. lab, died 1st Apr 1863 6am at Morebattle, no medical attendant, aged 77, d/o John Robertson, cooper, dec, Mother Ann m.s. unknown, dec. Inf. Mary F. dtr, present, reg 4th Apr.¹ She was buried with Walter Fairbairn in the Churchyard, Morebattle, ROX, SCT, Described in the MI booklet as "Ivy covered stone leaning against enclosure wall" entry reads: "IMO Walter Fairbairn who died at Morebattle 19.1.1959 (sic, should be 1859!!) aged 75 yrs and Agnes Robison his wife died 1.4.1863 aged 77 yrs also Peter Holiday died Oct 1883 aged 62 yrs also Mary Fairbairn wife of Peter Holiday died 28.11.1902 aged 76 yrs and of Ann Fairbairn their dtr who died 8.11.???? (now known to be 1891) aged 81 yrs". I managed to visit this cemetery, and find the stone with the help of the kindly couple who lived on the corner of Teapot Lane (or similar name). They also opened the church and showed me the interior, which post dated my Fairbairn ancestors' stay in Morebattle. The cemetery has a lovely outlook over rolling fields.^5,6
     Her surname was also spelt Robson. In Mar 1808 yet another name variant for Agnes was Agnes Robinson (on the baptism of her son Archibald).⁷
     From the naming pattern of existing children I expected a daughter called Alison and a son John to eventually surface to complete the Scottish naming pattern and fill in the gap in the known children of Walter and Agnes. Jan 2008 saw Alison surface! All as a side effect of being found by a descendant of an unexpected dtr of Peter Sinton. I went looking for other Mabon researchers, picked one who happened to live in NZ, and instead of finding a related set of Sinton/Mabon Jedburgh families, I found a descendant of the missing Alison Fairbairn. All I need now is confirmation that the John in New York of an age to be the expected John in the family, is actually related.
May 2009 update: a descendant of the New York John has been found for the dna project, with preliminary 12 marker dna results in. With a 12/12 match with descendants of the Archibald I believe to be Walter's brother, considerable weight has been added to both these theoretical linkages.
I have to add however, that there is another candidate for Walter, yet another Walter born c 1787 Swinton (marr. Agnes Renton), who just has to be related too. On balance though, my Walter of Morebattle is the better candidate in that we have evidence that he at least lived in Roxburghshire.⁸
     Agnes appeared on the census of 7 Jun 1841 in Morebattle, ROX, SCT, with Walter Fairbairn, as FAIRBAIRN: Walter, 50, b ENG; Agnes, 50, born ENG, no occupation stated; Mary 14, b. county (NB instructions to the enumerators for this census were to round ages to the nearest multiple of 5, children tended to have their ages accurately recorded - or at least as accurate as such things can be. These instructions were not always followed).⁹
     Walter and Agnes Fairbairn appeared on the census of 30 Mar 1851 in Morebattle, ROX, SCT, as FAIRBAIRN: Walter, 66 b Swinton, BEW, pauper, street cleaner; Agnes, 65 b ENG, pauper's wife; dtr Mary, 23 b Morebattle, emp. in house.³
     Agnes appeared on the census of 7 Apr 1861 at Morebattle, ROX, SCT, enumerated as FAIRBAIRN: Agnes, pauper age not known, mar. (should be widow), b ENG, dtr Mary, unm, 34, seamstress, b Morebattle.¹⁰
     The final name variant for Agnes Robertson was Agnes Robison as shown on her h/stone, and son's 1867 dth cert.^2,11