Robert  [Dromore] Brewster

Brewster&BoydGraves Dromore41 Dromore Plot 12 Macosquin Parish Robert Brewster Tree modified

Robert  was born in 1811.

• Birth Notes

  1901 census has him aged 88 - Date of Birth of 1813.    Found his death in the Deaths Index at Derry Family History Centre.  He was given as Robert Brewster, aged 93, Coleraine, 1.368, 2nd Quarter of 1904.  This changes his Date of Birth to 1811.   

Robert 's father was Robert Bruster and his mother was Sarah "Sallie" [1860 - Philly] Barr.  His maternal grandparents were ???? Brewster and <Unknown>. He had four brothers and three sisters, named James, William, Charles, John, Mary, Jenny and Anne.  He died at the age of 93 on May 5th, 1904 in Dromore.

• Death Notes

  Probably buried in Ballylintagh graveyard under stone inscribed, "To the memory of the Brewster Family of Dromore".   (See explanation of church membership under Mary Brewster.) 
  
  Found his death in the Deaths Index at Derry Family History Centre.  He was given as Robert Brewster, aged 93, Coleraine, 1.368, 2nd Quarter of 1904.  This changes his Date of Birth to 1811.  The death entry, from Dublin General Registry Office, shows: 5th May 1904 Dromore, Robert Brewster,  widower, 93 years, labourer, debility and old age uncertified, Mary Brewster, granddaughter, Dromore, Present at Death. 
  
  A death notice in the Coleraine Chronicle on 7th May 1904 also gave his age as 93 (no other details other than that he was from Dromore). 

• General Notes

  Father of Annie Brewster according to her marriage cert of 1882 - except she is given as residing in Cullyvenny - this is the same Robert as the one mentioned in the Griffiths Valuation of 1859 as having a house in Dromore because the 1901 census later shows Annie Brewster's daughter, Anna Maggie Gray, living there as his granddaughter.
  
  There are no Brewsters in the 1828 TAB.
  
  There are no Brewsters in Dromore in the 1831 census.  However, a John Brewster does head a household of one male and two females in the 1831 Census in Drumcroon, not far from Dromore, and living right beside a household headed by a William Boyd!  Could this Robert be a son of John's, especially as this Robert called his only son John?
  
  There is this record of Brewsters in the Proceedings of the Londonderry Assizes (as recorded in a book held in Londonderry Central Library):
  "Spring Assizes 1833
  To the Reverend T Richardson, J A Smyth, Jas Gamble and James Browster to repair 30 perches of road, 18 feet by 14, from Nn Limavady to Kilrea, between Dromore and Managher in Cullyvenny at 4s.  £6.0.0."
  Was James from Dromore?  He could just as easily have been from Glenhall.
  
  There is a Thomas Brewster in Drumcroon in 1838, baptising his daughter, Peggy Ann.  Is this a brother of Robert's?  And if so, how do we explain the fact that there was only one male in the 1831 household?
  
  The Griffiths Valuation shows the following Brewsters in Macosquin:
  Brewster                      James                         Ballintaggart                                                  
  Brewster                      James                         Ballyvennox                                                          
  Brewster                      John                          Glenhall                                                                
  Brewster                      Robert                        Dromore
  Robert Brewster held House 12c in Dromore from James Ramsay.                                                   
  
  Griffiths Valuation Revision Books show house as 12c but Robert ceases to be the tenant when updated in 1889 (or 1886) although he is still shown as the lessor.  (The same Revision Book shows a John Brewster (probably his son, John) acquiring House 2Bc in 1885.)
  
  1901 census has Robert living in Dromore with Annie's siblings, John and Sarah, plus "granddaughter" (adopted), Mary, and granddaughter (Annie's daughter) Anna.  The Griffiths Valuation Revision Books suggest this is House 2Bc.:
  Residents of a house 9 in Dromore (Drumcroon, Londonderry)
  Show all informationSurname Forename Age Sex Relation to head Religion Birthplace Occupation Literacy Irish Language Marital Status Specified Illnesses
  Breuster Robert 88 Male Head of Family Seceder Orrignal Succession Co Derry General Labourer Read and write - Widower -
  Breuster John 56 Male Son Seceder Orrignal Succession Co Derry Mason Read and write - Not Married -
  Breuster Sarah 53 Female Daughter Seceder Orrignal Succession Co Derry Seamstress Read and write - Not Married -
  Breuster Mary 30 Female Grand Daughter Seceder Orrignal Succession Co Derry Seamstress Read and write - Not Married -
  Gray Anna 14 Female Grand Daughter Presbyterian General Assembly Co Derry Scholars Read and write - Not Married -
  
  A very simple scenario that fits the facts:
  Mary Boyd could have been the daughter of either William Boyd of Drumcroon, who was the head of household number 5, comprising 1 male and 4 females, according to the 1831 Census
  OR she might have been the daughter of Jane Boyd of Dromore, who was the head of household number ??, comprising ?? males and ?? females, according to the 1831 Census. 
  Neither Jane Boyd nor any other Boyd appears in Dromore in the 1850s GV so Jane Boyd's farm passed to someone with a different name.  (The 1828 TAB does not help as there are no Boyds and no Brewsters in either Dromore or Drumcroon.)
  Perhaps Mary Boyd married Robert Brewster either before or after she inherited the farm belonging to Jane Boyd in Dromore.
  
  01/05/2012:
  I have now made my great great grandfather, Robert Brewster, the brother of David Brewster's great grandfather, James Brewster of Ballintaggart.  This makes him the brother of the James Brewster's brother, Charles Brewster, who emigrated to Philadelphia and then erected a gravestone to his father "Robert Brewster of Camus" in Camus Old graveyard.  This meant I had a new great great great grandfather, Robert Brewster.
  The original evidence for this was that David's father took him and his brothers to visit my Mary Brewster of Dromore.  She told them that their grandfather, James Brewster (son of James brewster) of Ballintaggart had a brother called John and we concluded that this John was probably a full cousin of my great grandmother, Annie Brewster, and her brother, also a John Brewster.  Ballintaggart and Domore are contiguous.
  Furthermore, we had also firmly linked William Brewster of Philadelphia as the brother of David Brewster's great great grandfather, James Brewster and we know that William Brewster's mother, Sarah Brewster lived with him in Pholadelphia.  This gave me a new great great great grandmother.
  This was all speculation until David Brewster located a family tree he had drawn in 1973 based on information given to him by his father in that year.  This tree was amazingly accurate in confirming details we already knew to be correct such as my great great grandmother being called Boyd.  And it also confirmed our speculation above.  It showed that the Robert Brewster buried in Camus did indeed die young (1818, changed to 1815) and his wife was a Sally Barr.  This must have been the Sarah Brewster living with her son, William in Philadelphia.
  The tree also showed that Robert Brewster had the following children: James (David's great grandfather) married twice the second time to a Rachel Kennedy, Robert (my great great grandfather) married to a ?? Boyd, William married to ?? Creelman and emigrated, John married to ?? Henry and emigrated, Rev Charles unmarried and emigrated,  Anne married James mcQuillan, Jenny married ?? Ramsey.
  On the basis of this tree confirming what we had already guessed, I have now made my great great grandfather, Robert Brewster of Dromore, the son of Robert Brewster of Camus.    
  

Details of Robert 's family with Mary Boyd