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A Presumed History of the Roblins in North America (and beyond)
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The Parents of Philip1 Roblin (ca 1750-1788)

By Richard Owen Roblin III and Nancy R. Roblin © 2014 - All Rights Reserved
Last revised: 7/23/14 (used by permission)

Introduction

After completing An Early Roblin Family in America in 2013 about Philip1 Roblin (ca 1750-1788), we continued our attempts to locate his parents. While doing genealogical research online in early 2014, Dick came across a Roblin family that looked interesting. The father's name was Philip, and the mother's name was Anne1 Meredith, and they baptized three children named Ann, Phillip and John between 1752 and 1754 in Christchurch, Bristol, England. These names immediately brought to mind the family of Philip1 Roblin in America, as he had close relatives (probably siblings) named Ann and John.

On our genealogical research trip to England and Wales in June 2014, we investigated this family further. However, we soon noticed that there were multiple records for Philip Roblin in Bristol, England during this time period. To distinguish these records, we designated them Philip(a), Phillip(b) and Philip(c). We first list the records found and then describe how we think they fit together.

Philip(a) Roblin and Anne Meredith were married in Doynton parish, about 10 miles from Bristol on October 8, 1749,2 although they were said to be "of the parish St. Philip and Jacob" in Bristol. They subsequently became associated with Christchurch parish, Bristol, christened their daughter Ann at Christ Church on 12 Jan 17523, and christened two sons there, Philip4 on 25 March 1753 and John5 on 7 July 1754. These dates are close to the estimated birth dates for Philip1 Roblin's siblings.

Phillip(b) Roblin and Grace Meredith were married on 9 May, 1737 at Clifton, Gloucestershire, probably at St. Andrew.6 Clifton is about 1.5 miles from the center of Bristol. Despite extensive searches at the Bristol Record Office, no additional information about Phillip(b) Roblin was found, except for the recording of the burial of a Grace Roblin on 9 Aug 1748.7

Philip(c) Roblin married a woman named Ann whose last name is unknown. We know her first name because it is on the baptism record of their daughter Anne, who was baptized 3 Nov 1738 at St. Philip and Jacob, Bristol.8 In addition, an Ann Roblin died and was buried at St. Philip and Jacob in 1743.9

We also found a record for a Philip Roblin, "victualler" [noun, old English: a licensed purveyor of spirits or innkeeper], listed in Christchurch parish in 1754.10 We viewed Bristol victualler license records from 1740 to 1766. The license records use the name Philip Robling from 1750 to 1753; from 1754 to 1756 the name Philip Roblin is used.11

Philip Roblin's victualler's license was for the alehouse "A Plume of Feathers" in Bristol.12 It was located on Wine Street in Bristol, in close proximity to Christ Church which was on the corner of Broad Street and Wine Street [Google Map Street View]. There is a 1756 victualler's license record for Philip Roblin. No Bristol victualler's license record could be found for Philip Roblin in 1757, or thereafter up to 1766.

A Philip Roblin died and was buried 8 Apr 1757 in Bristol, Gloucester.13 We suggest that this was Philip(c), who was the same person as Philip the victualler, because of the disappearance of Philip the victualler's alehouse license record after 1756.

An Ann Roblin married Joseph Shepherd on 24 July 1757 at Christchurch, Bristol, by license dated 20 July 1757.14 The marriage record appears to contain her signature as Ann Roblin. The daughter of Philip(c) would have been about 19 years old in that year, and is a good candidate to be this Ann Roblin.

We put forward the following hypotheses:
  1. Philip Roblin (son of Philip Roblin and Anne Meredith, baptized on 25 March 1753) is the same person as Philip1 Roblin described in the earlier work, An Early Roblin Family in America. Along with his parents and his siblings Ann and John, he came to America in 1755.
    This hypothesis is consistent with:
    • His presumed age at marriage ca 1771 to Elizabeth Miller (he would be about 18 years old).
    • The reference to a Philip Roblin in a minor community post ca 1765 in Orange County, NY.15 That could now refer to Philip1's father named Philip, rather than Philip1 who would be only about 13 years old in 1765.
    • The names of two of Philip1's presumed siblings, Ann and John, and their approximate birth dates. It seems unlikely that there was more than one Roblin family in England or Wales whose children are named Ann, Philip and John and who are all baptized between 1752 and 1754.
    • The availability of ships going to America from Bristol in 1755.
    This hypothesis is not consistent with:
    • Canadian and US historical records16 indicating that Philip1 had a close relative (probably a brother) named Owen. Despite a variety of online and parish record searches, we were unable to find a birth or baptism record for Owen Roblin in England or Wales during this time period. However see (6) below.
    • A concern that it would take a very special set of circumstances for a father and mother of three children who are 3, 2 and 1 years of age to undertake an arduous sea voyage to America in 1755.

  2. The records for Philip(c) and Philip the victualler refer to the same person. Philip the victualler did not come to America in 1755.
    This hypothesis is consistent with:
    • Philip the victualler is still living in Bristol in 1756 because there is an alehouse license issued to him in 1756. Therefore, he cannot be the Philip Roblin who came to America in 1755.
    • Alehouse licenses for the years 1750-1756, for the alehouse A Plume of Feathers, located on Wine St. in Trinity ward in the parish of Christchurch, Bristol, were issued to Philip Robling/Roblin.

  3. The Philip Roblin who is buried 8 Apr 1757 is Philip(c).
    This hypothesis is consistent with:
    • The disappearance of the name "Philip Roblin" from the Bristol victualler's license records after 1756.

  4. The Ann Roblin who marries Joseph Shepherd on 24 July 1757 is the daughter of Philip(c).
    This hypothesis is consistent with:
    • Her age. As she was born in 1738, she would be about 19 years old (a prime marrying age) in 1757.
    • The recent death of her father. If the Philip Roblin who was buried in 1757 [see (3) above] was her father, there would be extra incentive for her to marry.
    • The disappearance of "Philip Roblin", and new appearance of the name "Joseph Shepherd" in the Bristol victualler's license records in 1757. The alehouse A Plume of Feathers was presumably owned by Philip(c) until his death. Assuming that he bequeathed it to his daughter (or wife - see Endnote 9) Ann upon his death, then the new Joseph Shepherd in the victualler license records is the same person as the Joseph Shepherd who married Ann Roblin in 1757.

  5. The records for Philip(a) and Phillip(b) refer to the same person.
    This hypothesis is consistent with:
    • Phillip(b) marries Grace Meredith in 1737. A Grace Roblin was buried 9 Aug 1748. We believe that the woman who died in 1748 was Grace Meredith Roblin. She may have died in childbirth [see (6) below]. Phillip(b) is now a widower and perhaps the father of an infant, but probably still in his early 30's.
    • We suggest that the Philip(a) Roblin who marries Anne Meredith in 1749 is the widower Phillip(b). Grace and Anne Meredith are probably not sisters because they appear to have different parents.17 However, they could have been cousins, and Philip could have become acquainted with Anne through previous contacts with the Meredith family. As a widower in his 30s, who may have an infant to care for, Phillip(b) could have been eager to start or continue his own family.
    • Anne Meredith Roblin (b. 1729) being the mother of Stephen Roblin, the brother of Owen, Philip1, Ann and John Roblin. Stephen was born in America in 1761. Anne would then have been only 32 years old.

  6. Grace Meredith Roblin died in childbirth and was buried 9 Aug 1748. She died giving birth to Owen Roblin, brother of Ann, Philip and John.
    This (speculative) hypothesis is consistent with:
    • Owen's estimated age. Previously in An Early Roblin Family in America we estimated that Owen was born ca. 1747.
    • Owen Senior's age at marriage, estimated as ca. 1766 as his son, Owen Jr., was probably born ca. 1767. Owen Sr. would have been about 18 in 1766.
    • Owen's close relationship to Philip1 (their families leave New York City for Canada together in 1783; they initially have adjacent lots after resettlement in Adolphustown, Ontario in 1784; in 1788 they substantiate each other's claims on the British government for losses during the Revolutionary War).
    • Ann Roblin Wessels (from the information contained herein now clearly Philip1 Roblin's sister) naming her third and fourth sons Philip and Owen Wessels, after their uncles, Philip1 and Owen Sr. Roblin.
    This hypothesis is not consistent with:
    • The absence of a baptism record for Owen Roblin. If he was in the same family as Ann, Philip and John, there were multiple opportunities in 1752-54 for him to baptized with his siblings.

Endnotes
  1. There are several people named Philip Roblin or Ann this account. The difference in spelling between Ann and Anne, and between Philip and Phillip in different records may be significant. Where the spelling of the name is known from an original document, we have used that spelling and the name appears in bold type. Elsewhere, the names are in regular type as they appear in the written record or in an online source.
  2. Bristol Record Office, Bristol, England (BRO), "Bishop's Transcripts, Gloucestershire #5", microfiche record FCEP/V/4/67(a)13, for Doynton. Doynton is about 10 miles from the center of Bristol. We have a printed copy of this record. Also, ancestry.com search record FHL Film #1595996, Item 8.
  3. BRO microfiche record for Christ Church, Bristol, "Christenings, Anno 1752". We have a printed copy of this record. Also, ancestry.com search record FHL Film #1596358.
  4. BRO microfiche record for Christ Church, Bristol, "Christenings, 1753". We have a printed copy of this record. Also, ancestry.com search record FHL Film #1596358.
  5. BRO microfiche record for Christ Church, Bristol, "Christenings Anno 1754". We have a printed copy of this record. Also, ancestry.com search record FHL Film # 1596358, Item 2.
  6. BRO microfiche record for St. Andrew, Clifton "Marriages for ye year 1737". Also ancestry.com search record FHL Film #1749584, p. 39
  7. Ancestry.com search record. FHL Film #1596926. Source: "England, Selected Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991". We searched BRO microfiche burial records for St. Andrew, Clifton but did not see one for Grace Roblin dated 9 Aug 1748.
  8. BRO microfiche record "Baptisms, St. Philip & Jacob, 1738". Also, ancestry.com search record FHL Film # 1596677. Text transcription is: "3 Nov Anne ye daughter of Philip Roblin".
  9. Ancestry.com search record FHL Film #1596677. There are two alternatives: 1) the mother Ann Roblin died in 1748, leaving Philip (c) with a 10 yr old daughter, Anne. 2) the daughter Anne Roblin died, and it was Philip(c)'s wife Ann (Roblin) who marries Joseph Shepherd in 1757. We favor the first alternative.
  10. UK, Poll Books and Electoral Registers, 1538-1893. Poll Year: 1754, Parish or Rectory: Christ-Church (another record says Christchurch). Text: "Roblin Philip, victualler"
  11. BRO, Victualler License Records. [More here]
  12. References for A Plume of Feathers
  13. Ancestry.com search record FHL Film #1596926; burial record says only Bristol, Gloucester with no parish designation.
  14. BRO microfiche record, Marriages, Christ Church, 1757. A printed copy of this record was obtained. The text reads in part: This marriage was solemniz'd between us...Jos Shepherd Ju-squiggle [interpreted as the abbreviation "Jr"] Ann Roblin. Ann Roblin's name in particular looks like a signature. Also, ancestry.com search record FHL Film #1596358, 2:1N7BGQG.
  15. Philip Roblin community post 1765 reference
  16. An Early Roblin family in America, by Richard O. Roblin, III © 2013, p. 4-7. [Other references to Owen Roblin]
  17. An Ann Meredith was christened on 11 May 1729 in Bristol, England, so she would have been about 20 years old in 1749. Her father's name was Evan Meredith and her mother was named "Cremrocy". Ancestry.com search record FHL #1595986. A daughter, born to Charles Meredith and wife Dinah, was christened in 1717, at Wootton-under-Edge, Gloucester. Wootton-under-Edge is about 13 miles from Bristol as the crow flies. Assuming that this was Grace Meredith, she would have been about 20 years old in 1737, when she married Phillip Roblin. FamilySearch.org search record; FHL microfilm #427812.

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