Scattered Stones · Documentary Evidence Gallery
The Documents Behind the Proof
The load-bearing records in the disambiguation of James Penmuire Paterson Robertson — with citation, transcription, and analysis
This gallery presents the documents that carry the proof in One Name, Three Men — not an exhaustive dump of every record consulted, but the load-bearing evidence, selected because each illustrates a specific point in the argument. The complete source list appears in the methodology; here the records are shown, transcribed, and analyzed.
Each entry follows a consistent structure: the document image, a source citation, a transcription of the relevant text, and an analytical note explaining what the record proves and how it bears on the research question — whether the James Penmuire Paterson Robertson baptized at Blairgowrie in 1841 is the Liverpool gamekeeper, the husband of Mary Kennett, and the father of the Canadian and New York families, and whether he is the Brooklyn watchman who died in 1906.
A note on standards
Citations are given at working level — repository, collection, and digital location — and will be upgraded to full Genealogy Standards form for portfolio submission. All records are English-language manuscripts or civil indexes; no translation is required. Transcriptions preserve original spelling and abbreviation.
Group A — The Identity Chain
The records that bind one man across Scotland, marriage, and Liverpool
S-01
Baptism of James Robertson, Blairgowrie, 1841 Confirmed
Citation
Old Parish Registers, Births 335 (Blairgowrie), p. 131, James Robertson, 31 May 1841; National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh; digital image, storylinegenealogy.com.
Transcription
“George Robertson Lochside and his Spouse Margaret Paterson had a child born on the 21st inst, baptized named James Robertson.”
Analytical note
This is the anchor record: it fixes the subject’s parents as George Robertson and Margaret Paterson, and his place and date of birth at Lochside, Blairgowrie, 21 May 1841. The distinctive triple name James Penmuire Paterson, recorded on later documents, is here given simply as James — consistent with parish-register brevity. Every subsequent identification in the case is tested against the parental names this entry supplies; it is the fixed point of the GPS analysis.
S-05a
Marriage of James Robertson & Mary Kennett, Edinburgh, 1870 Confirmed
Citation
Statutory Registers, Marriages 685/4 no. 221 (St Giles, Edinburgh), James Robertson and Mary Kennett, 26 September 1870; National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh; digital image, storylinegenealogy.com.
Transcription
“1870, on the Twenty-sixth day of September at St Columba’s Chapel … James Robertson, Mercantile Clerk, Bachelor, 24 … [father] George Robertson, Farmer … [mother] Margaret Robertson, M.S. Paterson … Mary Kennett, Spinster, 25 … [father] Joseph Kennett, Butcher … [mother] Mary Kennett, M.S. [Sandilands].”
Analytical note
The linchpin. Scottish statutory marriages name both parties’ parents; here the groom’s are George Robertson and Margaret Robertson, maiden surname Paterson — the identical pair from the 1841 baptism (S-01). This single correlation converts the link from a shared given name into a documented identity: the man marrying Mary Kennett is the Blairgowrie son. George’s occupation appears as “farmer,” one of several occupational variants across the records (see S-07); the names, not the trade label, carry the proof. The bride’s mother’s maiden surname is partly illegible and shown bracketed pending confirmation.
S-13
Census, Brighton, 1891 — Mary Kennett & granddaughter Confirmed
Citation
1891 census of England, Brighton St Martin, Sussex, RG12/808, p. 13, household of Mary Kennett; The National Archives, Kew; digital image, storylinegenealogy.com.
Transcription
“Mary Kennett, Head, Widow, [age], Cook & Housekeeper, born Lancashire Liverpool / Mary J. Robertson, Granddaughter, Single, [age], Servant Domestic, born Lancashire Liverpool.”
Analytical note
The second weld. Where S-05a binds the 1870 marriage to the Blairgowrie son, this entry binds Mary Kennett to the Liverpool family: her granddaughter Mary J. Robertson — one of the 1875 twins (S-06) — lives in her household. A widowed Mary Kennett born in Liverpool, with a Liverpool-born granddaughter named Robertson, can only be the wife of the 1870 marriage whose children were baptized in Liverpool. The chain marriage–children–family is now closed without reliance on the shared surname alone.
S-09
Census, Everton, 1891 — the gamekeeper & second family Confirmed
Citation
1891 census of England, Everton (St Benedict), Liverpool, RG12/2946, p. 5, household of James P. Robertson; The National Archives, Kew; digital image, storylinegenealogy.com.
Transcription
“James P. Robertson, Head, Married, [42], Game Keeper, born Canada / Martha, Wife, [30], Tailoress, born Lancashire Liverpool / James P., Son, [2] / Janet D., Daughter, [10 mo].”
Analytical note
Documents the subject mid-life with his second family and his defining trade, gamekeeper — the occupational thread running through S-06, S-07, S-08, and the children’s baptisms. The birthplace “Canada” conflicts with the 1841 Blairgowrie baptism; the baptism, as the original contemporaneous record, governs, and “Canada” is treated as an informant or enumerator error (consistent with the family’s later Canadian connections through the children). The entry also fixes son James P. (Jr.) and daughter Janet D. in the household, corroborating the baptismal record S-14a–b.
S-07
Marriage of James P.P. Robertson & Martha Williamson Bates, Liverpool, 1886 Confirmed
Citation
Liverpool, England, Church of England Marriages, Liverpool Parish Church (St Peter), no. 439, James Penmuire Patterson Robertson and Martha Williamson Bates, 7 December 1886; Liverpool Record Office; digital image, storylinegenealogy.com.
Transcription
“James Penmuire Patterson Robertson, 36, Widower, Herbalist, Duncan St … [father] George Robertson, Gentleman / Martha Williamson Bates, 26, Widow, Duncan St … [father] James Williamson, Tailor.”
Analytical note
Three points of value. First, the full triple name — James Penmuire Patterson Robertson — appears in a Liverpool record, matching the distinctive name of the Blairgowrie son. Second, the father is again George Robertson, the third decade in which that name attaches to the subject (1841, 1870, 1886). Third, “widower” confirms a prior marriage had ended — consistent with Mary Kennett’s death and the subject’s continuation into a second family. The father’s style “Gentleman” is an informant elevation (he was a mason/labourer); as with the 1870 “farmer,” the name carries the identification, not the rank.
Group B — The Three-Boys Disambiguation
Three near-identical names, told apart by vital records
S-14d
Baptism of Charles John Augustus Roper Derby Robertson (b.1899), West Derby, 1901 Confirmed
Citation
Liverpool, England, Church of England Baptisms, St James, West Derby, p. 79, Charles John Augustus Roper Derby Robertson, baptized 22 September 1901 (born 20 January 1899); Liverpool Record Office; digital image, storylinegenealogy.com.
Transcription
“Charles John Augustus Roper Derby [Robertson], parents James Penmuir & Martha Robertson, 6 Spencer’s Cottages, James — Sportsman; born Jan 20 1899.”
Analytical note
The surviving son, and the key to the three-boys problem. Born 20 January 1899 to James Penmuir and Martha Robertson, he is the John Charles Robertson who emigrated to New York and married Helen Pape (S-16b); his 1942 draft card (S-16c) gives the same January 1899 birth. He must be distinguished from two earlier, similarly named sons who died in infancy (S-18, S-19) — a distinction the unsourced trees routinely fail to make, collapsing three children into one.
S-18
Baptism of Charles Augustus Roper Robertson (b.1896, d.1898), Rock Ferry Confirmed
Citation
Cheshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, St Barnabas, Rock Ferry, no. 95, Charles Augustus Roper Robertson, baptized 27 May 1896; Cheshire Archives; digital image, storylinegenealogy.com. Death registered 1898 (GRO index, S-18b).
Transcription
“Charles Augustus Roper [Robertson], parents James Penmuire & Martha, 7 Bedford Place, James — Gamekeeper.”
Analytical note
A separate child from the 1899 survivor, despite the near-identical name. Born 1896, baptized at Rock Ferry to the same parents James Penmuire and Martha — father again a gamekeeper — this Charles Augustus Roper died in 1898 (S-18b). His existence and early death explain the name’s reuse for the 1899 son, a common Victorian practice when an infant did not survive. Including this record prevents the error of merging the two boys or transferring the dead child’s data onto the New York emigrant.
S-19
Death of John Robert Duncan Robertson (b.1894, d.1897) Confirmed
Citation
General Register Office, England, Death Index, 1897, John Robert Duncan Robertson; GRO, Southport; digital image, storylinegenealogy.com. Baptized 1896 with sister Frances Ann (S-14c).
Transcription
“Robertson, John Robert Duncan — [registration district], 1897.”
Analytical note
The third son in the cluster. Born 1894, baptized 1896 alongside his sister Frances Ann (S-14c), and dead in 1897. His name — John Robert Duncan — partially echoes the surviving son’s American name, John Charles, compounding the risk of conflation. With two of the three boys (this child and S-18) proven to have died young, only the 1899 son (S-14d) remains as the New York emigrant. The vital-record arithmetic — three births, two infant deaths, one survivor — is the resolution.
Group C — The Children’s Overseas Marriages
Where England gave only “George,” the transatlantic records named both parents
S-15
Marriage of James Panmuir Robertson Jr., Ontario, 1910 Confirmed
Citation
Ontario, Canada, Marriages, York County, Woodbridge, registration no. 024978, James Penmuir Robertson and Winn Florence Kate [Winn], 18 July 1910; Archives of Ontario, Toronto; digital image, storylinegenealogy.com.
Transcription
“Robertson, Jas Penmuir — Conductor St. Ry. — Bachelor — 22 — Toronto — [father] Robertson, Jas Penmuir — [mother] Martha Williamson.”
Analytical note
A central record of the third proof leg. English baptisms and the 1886 marriage named only the father, “George Robertson” — too common to narrow. The son’s Canadian marriage names both parents: father James Penmuir Robertson, mother Martha Williamson. This two-parent naming binds the second family conclusively to the subject and his second wife. The shared distinctive name James Penmuir, passed father to son, is itself corroborating.
S-17
Marriage of Frances Ann Robertson & Harry Artt, Ontario, 1922 Confirmed
Citation
Ontario, Canada, Marriages, York County, Richmond Hill, registration certificate no. 2769, Harry Artt and Frances A. Robertson, 25 November 1922; Archives of Ontario, Toronto; digital image, storylinegenealogy.com.
Transcription
“Frances A. Robertson — 29 — b. England — [father] James Robertson — [mother] Martha Williamson — Birthplace of Bride’s Father: Scotland.”
Analytical note
Doubly valuable. It again names both parents — James Robertson and Martha Williamson — reinforcing S-15, and it records the bride’s father’s birthplace as Scotland, independently corroborating the subject’s Scottish origin against the erroneous “Canada” of the 1891 census (S-09). A daughter, marrying in Ontario, testifying that her father was Scottish-born, is exactly the convergence the GPS seeks: an independent source agreeing with the 1841 Blairgowrie baptism.
S-16b
Marriage of John C. Robertson & Helen Pape, New York, 1930 Confirmed
Citation
New York City, Certificate and Record of Marriage no. 13694, John C. Robertson and Helen A. Pape, [1930], Borough of [Brooklyn]; New York City Department of Records; digital image, storylinegenealogy.com.
Transcription
“John C. Robertson — 31 — Laborer — birthplace England — [father] James — [mother] Martha Williams[on] … Helen A. Pape — 27.”
Analytical note
Completes the third proof leg on the American side and confirms the identity of the surviving 1899 son. “John C. Robertson,” born in England, names his parents as James and Martha Williamson — the same couple as the Ontario records (S-15, S-17). This is the “John Charles Robertson” whose baptism (S-14d), 1919 immigration (S-16a), and 1942 draft card (S-16c) all align on a January 1899 English birth. Three of the second family’s children — two in Canada, one in New York — thus name both parents, where no English record did.
Group D — The First Family & the Occupational Thread
The 1875 twins, the daughters’ marriages, and the gamekeeper trade that runs throughout
S-06
Baptism of twins Rose Anne & Mary Jane Robertson, Liverpool, 1875 Confirmed
Citation
Liverpool, England, Church of England Baptisms, St Silas, nos. 519–520, Rose Anne and Mary Jane Robertson, born 27 October 1875; Liverpool Record Office; digital image, storylinegenealogy.com.
Transcription
“Rose Anne / Mary Jane — [parents] James and Mary [Robertson] — 59 Gill Street — Game Keeper — born 27 October 1875.”
Analytical note
The first-marriage children of James and Mary (Kennett) Robertson, and the start of the occupational thread: the father is a gamekeeper. Mary Jane reappears in 1891 living with grandmother Mary Kennett (S-13), the weld that ties this family to the 1870 marriage. Rose Anne and Mary Jane later marry in London (S-10, and the 1904 Southam marriage), carrying the line forward on the first-marriage side.
S-10
Marriage of Rose Anne Robertson & Walter Willis, London, 1900 Confirmed
Citation
London, England, Church of England Marriages, Christ Church, St Marylebone, no. 418, Walter Willie Willis and Rose Ann Robertson, 8 April 1900; London Metropolitan Archives; digital image, storylinegenealogy.com.
Transcription
“Rose Ann Robertson — Spinster — [father] James Robertson — Gamekeeper — deceased.”
Analytical note
Continues the occupation thread — the father is again a gamekeeper — and supplies the one genuine open conflict in the case. The entry calls James “deceased” in 1900, yet a James P. Robertson, gamekeeper, appears on the 1901 census, and is absent by 1911. The reading most consistent with the evidence is a death falling 1901–1911, with the 1900 “deceased” premature or mistaken (the notation was supplied by the bride, a more fallible source than a death record). The methodology page lays out all three possible readings; the death certificate, once located, will resolve it.
S-08
Liverpool Police Court report, 1888 Confirmed
Citation
“Liverpool Police Court” [report mentioning James Panmuir Robertson], [Liverpool newspaper], 1888; digital image, storylinegenealogy.com.
Transcription
“… James Panmuir Robertson, who described himself as a gamekeeper, residing at 35 Canterbury-street, Islington … an Irish setter dog, of which the prosecutor alleged he was the owner … valued at £25.”
Analytical note
A corroborator of unusual strength because it is an independent record type — a newspaper court report, not a vital record — carrying both identifying markers at once: the distinctive name James Panmuir Robertson and the trade gamekeeper. An Irish setter valued at £25 also fits the gamekeeping life. Coming between the 1886 marriage and the 1891 census, it confirms the subject’s continuous presence, name, and occupation in Liverpool.
Group E — The Excluded Candidate
The Brooklyn watchman who shared the name and nothing else
S-12
Death certificate, James P. Robertson, Brooklyn, 1906 Excluded
Citation
New York City, Certificate and Record of Death no. 14449, James P. Robertson, 4 November 1906, Borough of Brooklyn; New York City Department of Records; digital image, storylinegenealogy.com. Burial: The Evergreens Cemetery, Nazareth plot #6638.
Transcription
“James P. Robertson — 78 Fleet St — Married — Watchman — [Father’s Name:] (blank) — [Mother:] (blank) — died Nov. 4 1906 — cause: Asphyxia by Gas.”
Analytical note
The candidate the case formally excludes. On a same-surname, same-era death an ocean from Liverpool, every identifying field fails to connect: the father’s name is blank (no link to George Robertson), the trade is watchman (not the subject’s lifelong gamekeeping), and the age conflicts internally with the press reports (S-12a, S-12b). Disambiguation requires not only identifying the subject but excluding the impostor records; this certificate is the principal one ruled out.
S-12a / S-12b
Press reports of the watchman’s death — conflicting ages Excluded
Citation
“James Robertson, 45 years old, a watchman …” Times Union (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 6 August 1906; and “James P. Robertson, 60 … night watchman … 78 Fleet Street” [Brooklyn heat-wave report, 1906]; digital images, storylinegenealogy.com.
Transcription
“James Robertson, 45 years old, a watchman, was found dead in bed at No. 78 Fleet street” … / “James P. Robertson, 60 … night watchman, employed in a large shoe factory …”
Analytical note
Two press accounts of the same Fleet Street death give ages of 45 and 60 — a fifteen-year discrepancy that, with the blank father field on the certificate, marks this man as poorly documented and unconnected to the subject. The inconsistency itself supports exclusion: the records of the actual subject (baptism, marriages, census) agree on a man born 1841, whereas the Brooklyn watchman’s own contemporaries could not agree on his age within fifteen years.
How the gallery fits the proof
These sixteen records are the load-bearing evidence: the baptism and 1870 marriage that fix the parents, the two 1891 censuses that weld marriage to family, the children’s overseas marriages that name both parents where England named only one, the occupational thread that runs throughout, the vital records that separate three same-named sons, and the documents that exclude the Brooklyn watchman.
Each is shown here with citation, transcription, and analysis so the reasoning can be examined directly. The fuller argument, and the complete source list, appear in the companion pages.