| Notes |
- [dunbar_tree.FTW]
Robert's parents are not proven.
"Dunbar: Robert Dunbar, immigrant ancestor, was b. in Scotland, 1630. Name is believed to be derived from the ancient Scottish city of the same name. It is also a general belief in the family that he was a descendant of George Earl Dunbar in the regular line." Ninian Dunbar, founder of Grange Hill, had a son, Robert, supposed to have been Robert the immigrant who married Rose____, and in 1655 settled in Hingham, Mass. It was the general opinion that he brought with him considerable sum of money to begin life in the new country, inasmuch as for years there were but two men in the town who paid a higher tax than he. {-"Gen. and Fam. History of the State of Connecticut in Four Volumes," New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1911, II:788, which also gives Robert's death date as 5 Oct 1693; the Hingham, Mass. History, Vol. 2, publ'd by the town in 1893, gives his death date as 19 Sept 1693 and reports that his will is dated 13 Sept 1693.} Robert resided on Scotland Street in Hingham.
NOTE: the possible father of Robert is first identified in print in "The Genealogy of the Dunbar Family," by the Rev. Melzar Dunbar (1886), who reports it as merely family lore.
What IS known circumstantially is that Robert was a Cromwellian prisoner of war. The name of Lt. Col. Dunbarr [sic] is on a handscript list of prisoners taken at the Battle of Dunbar; no first name is given for any officers; he is listed second after Col. Leslie. In 1659 Robert deposed that he had been a servant of Mr. Joshua Foote when Mr. Foote lived in Boston. He also stated (in 1659) that he was 25 years old. Robert Dunbar's name appears on a plaque at the Saugus Iron Works (a National Monument); Mr. Joshua Foote was one of the proprietors of these Works. No record has been found of the marriage to Rose; perhaps they married in Scotland and Robert wrote to her for the funds to release himself from his indenture to Mr. Foote. Perhaps she subsequently came to America and brought whatever wealth they had. This could explain the Rev. Peter Hobart's comment that "the opinion generally prevailed in Hingham that Mr. Dunbar brought money enough with him to begin life without embarrassment, as for years there were but two men in the place who paid a higher tax." [The above is from a letter from Ann T. Chaplin, Clan Genealogist, Clan Dunbar, RFD 2 - Box 668, Center Barnstead, NH 03225, to AEM 7 Dec 1990; she wrote further, 27 Dec 1990: "I continue to disbelieve that Robert Dunbar of Hingham is the son of Ninian Dunbar of Grange Hill. Ninian had a son Sir Robert Dunbar, knighted in 1660 (assorted sources...). This then can NOT be the Robert who is in Hingham at that time!!" However, there is likely SOME relationship to this line.] See "The Descendants of Robert Dunbar of Hingham, Mass.," by Ann Theopold Chaplin (1992).
From: "Barbara Jones" (b.j.jones@worldnet.att.net) 20 Jul 1998: "I was considering the thought of Robert returning to Scotland to be knighted. As I was doing this it occured to me that as a Cromwellian prisoner he would have supported the Stewarts who may have been reinstated by then. Charles II immediately rewarded those who had supported the house of Stewart after he was crowned. I looked it up and discovered that he was crowned in 1660, the same year Robert was knighted. Cromwell would have stripped Robert of his lands and holdings and given them to someone loyal to him, as was the common practice of the time. It only makes sense that Robert would have returned to Scotland when the dynasty he fought for had returned to power. Certainly this would be preferable to remaining in servitude in a strange land, away from his family and kin. He likely knew that Charles Stewart would reward his supporters and re-institute their lands and wealth, and certainly would have felt a desire to return to his beloved Scotland. In fact it was quite common throughout the history of Jacobitism (support of the house of Stewart) for Jacobites to return from exile in other lands to be rewarded when the Stewarts would return to power. This is a witness to the great connection the Scots feel with the land of their forefathers. This would explain Robert returning to Scotland and being knighted and then returning again to the New World with substantial wealth. These events may seem strange at first, but are actually quite in accordance with Scottish history at that time. Exiles returning from far off lands and prominent individuals experiencing dramatic changes of fortune, depending on who was in power and who they had supported, is common in the history of Scotland. "I noticed that Robert Dunbar's great grandmother is from the Clan Rose. The thought occurs to me that Rose may be Robert's wife's maiden name. This would follow the common pattern of the the time, of nobility marrying among their own extended family. This was also the common practice of the Scottish Clans."
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"Surnames of the United Kingdom," Henry Harrison (Baltimore: Gen. pub. Co, 1969), I:124, reports that the surname Dunbar = "Belonging to Dunbar," which is the Fort of the Summit [Gaelic "dun" is a fort, "barr" is the high point].
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Another accounting of Robert Dunbar
http://www.clandunbar.com/robert.html
Robert of Hingham
Who was Robert Dunbar? For a great many of us who are descended from the Dunbar families that came from the Northeast states of the U.S.A., he is our immigrant ancestor. For everyone else, he was one of the first people named Dunbar to land in America.
Robert Dunbar was born sometime around 1634. A Suffolk County, Massachusetts Superior Court case heard in 1659 lists his age as "about 25 years". Counting back, that would place his birth "about" 1634. According to family tradition, he was born in the Moray province of Scotland. Despite 2-3 generations of research, no solid proof has yet surfaced to prove his origins, or how he came to be in Massachusetts. Erroneous research suggests he was Ninian Dunbar of Grange's son. I say erroneous because that Robert went on to serve in Parliament while our Robert was raising his family in Massachusetts and never left the Colonies.
A plaque on a monument at the Saugus Iron Works in Massachusetts commemorates the 300th anniversary of the settlement of the Scottish prisoners who were captured at the second Battle of Dunbar, September 3-5, 1650. Assuming Robert was born in 1634, that would make him "about" 16 years of age in that battle if he indeed was in it. A list of Scots at the Lynn Ironworks in 1651, now stored at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston, comprises 43 names including that of our young Robert, creating the supposition that he was captured at the Battle of Dunbar like his co-workers at the Ironworks. Other evidence suggests different possibilities of his origins.
One theory suggests he was a younger son of one of the land owning Dunbars of Moray, my own personal bias being that he was from the Dunbars of Burgie. This theory is also supported by a letter written by one Alexander (Ally) Knox of West Barns, East Lothian, Scotland. That man knows more about the House of Dunbar that anyone now alive, with the possible exception being Patrick Dunbar who is catching up on him. In a letter Ally wrote to Dan Dunbar in 1998, he says a American descendant of Robert's sent him (Ally) the family crest. Ally checked it with the Lord Lyon, who identified it as coming from the Dunbar's of Burgie. Ally further suggests Robert happened to be in London when the Scottish prisoners came through town, heard of the opportunity in the Colonies and volunteered for the trip to work for Joshua Foote.
The Scottish prisoners were marched to London after the battle. Those that survived the death march were indentured to Joshua Foote and John Becx, carried to Boston on the ship Unity, and put to work in the Lynn and Braintree Iron Works. Robert's name does not appear on the manifest from the Unity. Other prisoners were brought to America on the ship John and Sara. Another unidentified ship came somewhat later. Robert does not show up on the manifests from the Unity or the John and Sara. Possibly he came on the third ship. It was also common practice to group a few prisoners together and only list the assigned group leader's name in the manifest. If Robert truly was a prisoner, perhaps this explains how he got there.
According to Reverend Peter Hobart's diary, Robert arrived in Hingham, Massachusetts in 1655. In December 1657 the birth of his first child is recorded, so we can presume he married his wife Rose of the 'Unknown last name' family sometime between 1655 and March of 1657 or before. There is no record of their marriage in the Massachusetts Bay Colony records, but married they were. The landed Dunbar theory suggests that they were married in Scotland, and when he settled here in America he "sent home" for his wife and requested she bring his inheritance with him. Her dowry could also have contributed to his wealth. Why would a family pay such a dowry to a commoner' son? Rev. Hobart's diary further states that only two other men paid higher taxes than Robert in 1655. If he was a penniless prisoner and indentured servant in 1650, what other explanation could account for all the money he had in 1655?
Robert and Rose Dunbar spent the remainder of their lives in Hingham, Massachusetts and are buried behind what used to be their house on Scotland Street in Hingham, which burned down long ago. They had 11 children in total, and at last count have over 10,000 descendants. Someday proof will turn up. Until then, who knows?
Other Dunbar Sites
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~legends/dunbar.html
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1634 - 1693 (59 years)