Robert Spring (c1735-?)

Genealogy

 * Sex: Male
 * Born: abt. 1735
 * Died: aft. 1771
 * Buried: unknown

Pedigree
Robert Spring's parents are not known. The Spring surname in Scotland originates in the vicinity of Aberdeen. Of 200+ records in the IGI for Spring in Scotland, all but a handful are recorded in parishes near Aberdeen, most commonly Banchory-Devenick and Keithhall & Kinkell. The only earlier Robert found was a Robert Spring who christened a son Robert in 1688 in the parish of Keithhall & Kinkell (about 16 miles NW of Aberdeen). That Robert christened in 1688 may well be the grandfather of this Robert born circa 1735.

Siblings
Unknown

Spouses

 * 1) Margaret MARNS

Offspring

 * George (b. 1760, Banchory-Ternan)
 * Isobell (b. 1762, Banchory-Ternan; married Robert Sherrat; lived in Birse and Lumphanan)
 * Mary (b. 1764, Udny; not known to have married)
 * Christean (b. 1768, Udny; married Archibald Farquharson of Finzean; d. 1849, Lumphanan)
 * Robert (b. 1771, Udny; married Margaret Gordon; d. 1860, Aberdeen)

Biography
Robert Spring was a gardener who lived in the environs of Aberdeen, Scotland. What is known of him at this point is only what can be gathered from the christening records of his five children. His first two children were christened in the Kincardineshire parish of Banchory-Ternan (about 20 miles WSW of Aberdeen, along the Dee River), and his latter three children were christened in the Aberdeenshire parish of Udny (about 15 miles NNW of Aberdeen), suggesting that the family moved circa 1763. The christening records of the time typically only named the father, although the christening record of Mary names both a father and a mother. It is only a presumption that Mary's mother, Margaret Mearns, was the mother of all of the children, though it is also possible that the move from Banchory to Udny coincided with a second wife for Robert, and that the atypical nomination of a mother on the christening of Robert's first child in Udny was meant to indicate a different wife/mother than for his previous children.

Disambiguation
An online search of Church of Scotland records (which are comprehensively extracted in the IGI) shows several other Spring families around this time, but none of them with a father named Robert. One might question whether the Robert Spring in Banchory was the same Robert Spring in Udny. However, the connection is supported by the configuration of children, who are themselves shown to be siblings. It can be shown that the Christian Spring who married Archibald Farquharson of Finzean had a brother Robert, a sister Isobel who married Robert Sherrat, and a sister Mary. Isobel and Mary both followed Christian to Finzean. In Christian's will, she identifies her brother Robert as well as the children of her sister Isobel. Only by viewing Robert Spring of Banchory and Robert Spring of Udny as one and the same can we find a family in the approximate right place and time with siblings Christian, Robert, Isobel, and Mary. Moreover, the regular and non-overlapping sequence of christening years in the two parishes would support them being the same Robert.

Contributors
TomChatt