Robert Walker Stewart
1836 - 1907 (71 years)
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Name Robert Walker Stewart [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16] Born 6 Apr 1836 St. Fergus, Buchan, Aberdeenshire, Scotland 
[1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13] Gender Male Baptism 26 Apr 1836 New Aberdour, Aberdeenshire, Scotland [6] Residence Rockwood, Wellington, Ontario, Canada [8] Residence Rockwood, Wellington, Ontario, Canada [5] Residence 1841 Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland [3] Residence 1879 Guelph, Wellington, Ontario, Canada [10] Residence 1881 Guelph, Wellington South, Ontario, Canada [9] Occupation: Carpenter; Religion: Canada Presbyterian Church; Marital Status: Married Residence 1891 Guelph City, Wellington South, Ontario, Canada [4] Occupation: Carpenter; Marital Status: Married; Relation to Head of House: Head; Religion: Free Church Residence 1894 Guelph, Wellington, Ontario, Canada [12] Occupation: carpenter Residence 1901 Nippissing, Ontario, Canada [11] Marital Status: Married; Relation to Head of House: Lodger; Religion: Methodist Died 16 Oct 1907 Guelph, Wellington, Ontario, Canada [1, 13] Buried Guelph, Wellington County, Ontario, Canada [13] Person ID I17352 Brown Genealogy Last Modified 9 Apr 2025
Father Alexander Stewart, of Copland Hill, b. 8 Jun 1810, New Aberdour, Aberdeenshire, Scotland , d. 3 Nov 1841, Peterhead, Old Deer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (Age 31 years) Relationship natural Mother Agnes Walker, b. Abt 22 Nov 1813, New Aberdour, Aberdeenshire, Scotland , d. 28 Nov 1887, Peterhead, Old Deer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (Age 74 years) Relationship natural Married 18 Jun 1835 New Aberdour, Aberdeenshire, Scotland [17, 18] Family ID F4099 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family 1 Christian Smith, b. Abt 1836, Aberdeenshire, Scotland , d. UNKNOWN Married 20 Mar 1856 St. Fergus, Banff, Scotland [7, 19] Last Modified 9 Apr 2025 Family ID F4654 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family 2 Mary Isabella Wilson, b. 12 Aug 1841, Puslinch, Wellington, Ontario, Canada , d. 26 Feb 1929, Guelph, Wellington County, Ontario, Canada (Age 87 years) Married 4 Oct 1859 Guelph, Wellington, Ontario, Canada [5, 8] Children 1. Agnes Celine Stewart, b. 25 May 1861, Guelph, Wellington, Ontario, Canada , d. 4 Oct 1912, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (Age 51 years) [natural]2. Alexander W. Stewart, b. 1865, Guelph, Wellington, Ontario, Canada , d. 12 Oct 1909 (Age 44 years) [natural]3. Margaret Robena Stewart, b. 1865, Georgetown, Halton, Ontario, Canada , d. 23 Feb 1879, Guelph, Wellington, Ontario, Canada (Age 14 years) [natural]4. Minerva May Stewart, b. 1868, Guelph, Wellington, Ontario, Canada , d. 28 Jul 1935, Wellington, Ontario, Canada (Age 67 years) [natural]5. William Samuel George Stewart, b. 18 Sep 1870, York, Ontario, Canada , d. UNKNOWN [natural]6. Isabella Gertrude Stewart, b. 15 Apr 1873, Simcoe, Ontario, Canada , d. Jul 1883, Guelph, Wellington, Ontario, Canada (Age 10 years) [natural]Last Modified 9 Apr 2025 Family ID F4653 Group Sheet | Family Chart
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Notes - Robert Walker Stewart was five years old when his father died. He'd already lost both his sisters. Then when Robert was 19 his younger brother died, leaving just Robert and his mother who was, by this time, remarried with a new family. His first wife came from similar circumstances, having been half-orphaned before the age of 17. She died shortly after their marriage (possibly in childbirth so there may have been an unrecorded death of a child). In 1879, a daughter from his second marriage died at the age of 13. Then in 1883, their youngest daughter Isabella died at age 10. This appears to have been too much accumulated grief for Robert and he began drinking heavily and left the family for a number of years, only to return in poor health shortly before his death.
In 1841, at age 5, Robert Stewart was residing at Copland Hill, Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, with his parents and brother, Alexander.
Robert Stewart has not been found in 1851.
On 20 Mar 1856, at age 19, Robert Stewart, a cartwright at Back Street, Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, son of Alexander Stewart, farmer (deceased) and Agnes Walker, married firstly in St. Fergus, Banffshire, Scotland to Christian Smith, age 17, daughter of Alexander Smith, farmer (deceased) and Isabella Gammet.
Christian Smith presumably died shortly after their marriage.
Sometime between 1856-1859, Robert Stewart, still in his early 20s, immigrated to Rockwood, Wellington, Ontario, Canada, just east of the town of Guelph. Why he chose the Guelph area is unknown. He had no known Stewart family connections to the area. Although there were many other Stewarts from the Stewarts of Balquhidder who settled nearby, Robert's branch of the clan had been lost connection with the wider clan after his great-great-grandfather, Donald Stewart, 1st in Hythie, became a Jacobite fugitive in 1746.
On 4 Oct 1859, at age 23, Robert Stewart, residing in Rockwood, Wellington, Ontario, Canada, married secondly in Guelph, Wellington, Ontario, Canada to Mary Isabella Wilson of Puslinch, Wellington, Ontario, Canada.
Robert Stewart has not been found in the 1861 or 1871 census in Canada. However, his son William was born in Toronto, York, Ontario, Canada, so they may have been residing in Toronto in 1871.
In 1881, at age 45, Robert W. Stewart was residing in Guelph, Wellington, Ontario, Canada, with his wife and children. He was employed as a carpenter.
In the 1882-83 Vernon Directory, Robert is listed as a carpenter, with a house at 332 Woolwich in Guelph, along with children Agnes, a teacher, and Alexander W., a clerk.
According to descendant, Malcom Sissons, after Robert's daughter Isobella died in 1883, Robert began drinking and left Guelph, but he returned in poor health shortly before he died in 1907."
In 1891, at age 55, Robert Stewart was residing in Guelph, Wellington, Ontario, Canada, with his wife and three of their adult children. He was employed as a carpenter.
In 1901, at age 63, Robert Stewart was residing at a lumber camp in Nippinssing, Ontario, Canada, with the family of Arthur Nesbitt. His employment was left blank, but most of the men around him were employed as shantymen (lumberjacks) or carpenters. Robert's wife, Mary, was residing in Guelph, Wellington, Ontario, Canada, with their daughter Minerva's family. Mary listed herself as widowed.
- Robert Walker Stewart was five years old when his father died. He'd already lost both his sisters. Then when Robert was 19 his younger brother died, leaving just Robert and his mother who was, by this time, remarried with a new family. His first wife came from similar circumstances, having been half-orphaned before the age of 17. She died shortly after their marriage (possibly in childbirth so there may have been an unrecorded death of a child). In 1879, a daughter from his second marriage died at the age of 13. Then in 1883, their youngest daughter Isabella died at age 10. This appears to have been too much accumulated grief for Robert and he began drinking heavily and left the family for a number of years, only to return in poor health shortly before his death.
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Sources - [S84] Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1938, 1943-1944, and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1947, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2010;), Database online.
Record for Robert Stewart - [S265] Ontario, Canada Births, 1832-1917, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2010;), Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Series: Registrations of Births and Stillbirths, 1869-1913; Reel: 12; Record Group: Rg 80-2.
- [S122] 1841 Scotland Census, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2006;), Parish: Peterhead; ED: 6A; Page: 13; Line: 1155; Year: 1841.
- [S148] 1891 Census of Canada, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2008;), Year: 1891; Census Place: Guelph City, Wellington South, Ontario, Canada; Roll: T-6377; Family No: 115.
- [S729] Ontario, Canada, County Marriage Registers, 1858-1869.
- [S9] Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2014;).
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XY6Y-6MH - [S66] Scotland, Select Marriages, 1561-1910, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2014;).
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTL3-93D - [S516] Ancestry.com and Genealogical Research Library (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2010;), Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; County Marriage Registers, 1858-June 1869; Reel: 14.
- [S154] 1881 Census of Canada, Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2009;), Year: 1881; Census Place: Guelph, Wellington South, Ontario; Roll: C_13258; Page: 38; Family No: 201.
- [S898] Ontario, Canada Voter Lists, 1867-1900, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2008;).
- [S146] 1901 Census of Canada, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2006;), Year: 1901; Census Place: Ontario; Page: 15; Family No: 119.
- [S391] Canada, City and Area Directories, 1819-1906, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2013;).
- [S308] .
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/240095075/robert-walker-stewart - [S516] Ancestry.com and Genealogical Research Library (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2010;), Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Reel: 69.
- [S265] Ontario, Canada Births, 1832-1917, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2010;), Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Series: Registrations of Births and Stillbirths, 1869-1913; Reel: 3; Record Group: Rg 80-2.
- [S277] Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1950, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2010;), Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Deaths, 1935; Series: 527.
- [S66] Scotland, Select Marriages, 1561-1910, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2014;).
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTNZ-5ZJ - [S66] Scotland, Select Marriages, 1561-1910, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2014;).
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTNZ-5ZV - [S66] Scotland, Select Marriages, 1561-1910, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2014;).
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTL3-938
- [S84] Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1938, 1943-1944, and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1947, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2010;), Database online.