Page prepared by Dr. Donald Richardson
"The right to search for truth implies also a duty; one must not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true" - Albert Einstein
Where did our Robert Richardson (d1682 ) who came from
within the British Isles
Over 60 of the family trees posted IGI which contain our Robert Richardson
(d1682), list a place where he was born as
Snow Hill had one of the earliest Colonial Presbyterian churches, which is in the area where Robert Richardson's Plantation was located. Dr. William Bishop found from those early church records that likely Robert Richardson but for sure his son Charles Richardson and all of his sons were Presbyterian, and therefore Scottish in origin. Also recall that Robert Richardson's Mount Ephraim Plantation was originally in Protestant Virginia in 1666 - it only became part of Catholic Maryland after the border was moved in 1668!
At present, this is my family tree, after putting all of my research together and using the rules of primogenitor for the titles & {date(s)} taken from Cokayne's "Complete Baronetage":
Denmark [*1] to the Danelaw before c1006 ...
[ ]
[ ]
Robert Richardson (d c1556)
[Burgess of Jedburgh] [*3]
Marion Richardson m
Andrew Moscrop
Margaret Richardson m
James Howburn
Robert Richardson (c1514/17
- 1578)
[MA St. Salvator’s College,
[Minister of Eckforde Parish
(1553-1571)]
[Lord Treasurer for Mary Queen of
Scots 1554-1571]
[Commendator of Priory of
St. Mary’s
Isle 1558 - designation
usufructuary 1572 *10]]
...
[Legitimated 4 children
1.
Sir James Richardson of Smeaton [knight] m (only male heirs shown)
Lady Elizabeth Douglas (d/o James Douglas Earl of Moray[*4], regent of
Scotland)
Sir James Richardson [1st Baronet of Smeaton] {1630}
Sir James Richardson [2nd Baronet of Smeaton] {1678}
Sir James Richardson [3rd Baronet of Smeaton] {1680}
...
{Smeaton "estate sold 1708"; "line extinct by 1783" *2}==>
Shield of the Baronet of Pencaitland Arms
[Detail taken form photo from Menstrie Castle provided by National Trust of Scotland (see Nova Scotia hotlink below)]
Sir Robert Richardson (c1578-April 1635) [1st Baronet of Pencaitland] {13 Nov 1630 -April 1635}[M.P. Co. Haddington]
{"grant ... 16,000 acres in Nova Scotia, entitled the Barony of Pencaitland of New Brunswick ... sold in 1634..."*5}
Euphen(sic) (?-before 1635) Skene (d/o Sir John Skene of Curriehill) m 4 Jan 1610 (only males shown)
James Richardson (twin) (1612 - 1634)
Sir James Richardson, Esq. of Perth [3rd Baronet of Pencaitland] {c1678} <--
...
{line domant 1752 - c1783}
Sir James Richardson [(8th)Baronet of Pencaitland and Smeaton*6] {c1783}<==
of
Bellmount in
Joseph Richardson (twin) (1612 - before 1635) dsp
Alexander Richardson (1617 - 1639) dsp (out of birth order, to group the 2 mothers who bore Sir Robert's (d1640) sons:)
Sir Robert Richardson (1613 - c1640) [2nd Baronet of Pencaitland] {April 1635-c1640} {"title dormant for ~40 years"} -->
Elspeth (sic) Burne [son acknowledged by father] (d/o William Burne [Burgess of Edinburgh])
Robert Richardson
( 1 Oct 1635, Edinburgh – 10 Sep 1682 Mt.
Ephraim, Somerset Co., MD) m
Susanna Smith (d/o Richard Smith)
(only males from my line shown)
Charles Richardson (c1672 - 1727)
Robert Richardson (1705/6 - 1788)
John Richardson (c1728 - c1781)
Robert Richardson (c1753 - c1803)
John Richardson (1791 - 1841)
Daniel Linder Richardson (1823 - 1904)
Jacob Franklin Richardson (1848 - 1930)
William Daniel Richardson (1882 - 1930)
George Robert Richardson (1911 - 1963)
Donald Charles Richardson (1937 - )
Agnes (maiden name unknown) Richartsone (sic) (? - before 1642[*7]) m 7 Mar 1638
Robert Richardson (1639 - before 1642[*7]) dsp
(More on the Richardsons of Pencaitland is found here)
2. Robert Richardson (?-1609)
3. Stephen Richardson (?-died before October 1556) [Burgess of
Jedburgh]
Robert Richardson dsp [Burgess
of Jedburgh]
Alison
Richardson m
James
Hamilton [Burgess of Jedburgh, after Robert died]
4. Janet [*8] Richardson
[Child
born out of wedlock. Forced to do penance at St. Giles
December 1563 *9]:
5. Katherine Richardson [acknowledged by father] (between 1552&1563 - ?) m 1571
[*10]
James Lidderdale of Erslington
(c1545-c1621)
Thomas Lidderdale
Alexander Lidderdale
John Lidderdale
An interesting historical note: During the American Revolution, the old location of the Priory on St. Mary’ Isle was then of the home of the Earl of Selkirk, John Paul Jones hoped to hold for ransom the Earl of Selkirk on St. Mary’s Isle, off his birthplace, Kirkcudbrightshire. The Earl, Jones reasoned, could be exchanged for American sailors impressed into the Royal Navy. When the Earl was discovered to be absent from his estate, Jones claims he intended to return directly to his ship and continue seeking prizes elsewhere. Jones also claims his crew, led by Lt. Simpson, intended to “pillage, burn and plunder all they could,” instead of leaving peacefully. Ultimately, Jones allowed the crew to seize a silver plate set adorned with the family’s emblem to placate their desires, but nothing else. The plate would be later returned to the Earl of Selkirk on August 4, 1785.. (click here to see photos of the area)
[*1] Heraldry notes (blazon) for Sir Robert Richardson (13 November 1630) [Baronet of Pencaitland] Arms state that the 'navire de Viking' (Viking ship) denotes their 'Danois' (Danish) roots and the 'taureau' (bull) denotes strength and leadership... They may have moved from the York area in 1424, previously known as the Danelaw. By 1783 [*6], the Viking ship is now called "Galley with oars erected" [This would be from the blazon created sometime between 1672 and 1783, by the Court of the Lord Lyon, by viewing the previous Richardson Arms. Sadly, this blazon changes the original meaning of the Arms!]
Detail taken from Burke's "Peerage and Baronetage" page 2253 (1980 edition)
Later, the Stewart-Richardson Baronets have the Richardson Arms twice within their Arms (Shields 1 and 6), but the bull is shown straight on rather in profile [compare to 1630 version] ( I have not compared the blazons to see if it was just different artist renditions, but from my American point of view, it now looks like it should be for a cattle baron!). The Stewart Arms are shield 5. In 1837, the Stewart-Richardson line began when the 13th Baronet took his mother's maiden name and added to the front and hyphenated to Richardson. His mother was a co-heir of the Scottish Royal line of HMR Mary Stewart AKA Mary Queen of Scots. Their current motto is due to the 12th Baronet: "Virtute acquiritur honos" means "Honour is acquired by virtue" and dates from 1808. (click here for all the Baronets of Pencaitland)
[*2]The genealogy contained in the information obtained from
The Court of the Lord Lyon on Sir
James Richardson [Baronet of
Pencaitland and Smeaton]
{c1783} of
Bellmount in
[*3] The Robert Richardson (d1578) article in the "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" (the most important parts to our genealogy are the first sentence and the last paragraph):
"Richardson, Robert (d. 1578), prior of St Mary's Isle and administrator, was the son of Robert Richardson, burgess of Jedburgh (d. c.1556) ...
Richardson was unmarried but his four children, James, Robert, Stephen, and Elizabeth [*8] were legitimated in 1552; another child may have been born in December 1563, when Randolph reported to Cecil that Richardson was to do public penance for getting a woman with child and Knox was to ‘mayke the sermonde’ (Works of John Knox, 6.527) [*9]. James Richardson of Smeaton, the eldest of Richardson's children, received most of his father's lands; he married Elizabeth Douglas, and their second son, Sir Robert Richardson of Pencaitland, was created a baronet in 1630."
[*4] This is the way it is written in Lee's Dictionary of National Biography, but when you look up the Earl of Moray you see that James Douglas was the Earl of Douglas! So take your pick, he must have been an Earl, but of where, unless they are the same place, is to be determined!
[*5] According to The Complete Baronetage The father was offended with his eldest son at the end of his life! That was the reason that he sold his property in Nova Scotia in 1624. After his father's death, the eldest son then, Sir Robert Richardson (d1640), challenged the sale of the property in court, but then resold it himself later!.
[*6] This is the listing in Cokayne's "Complete Baronetage", but there were no Smeaton Arms on file by The Court of the Lord Lyon. Hence, this line was known only as Baronet of Pencaitland from that time forward.
[*7] Settlement of Sir Robert Richardson's (d1640) estate in 1642 only mentions his two sisters: Dame Helen and Jeane Richardson.
[*8] An error was found in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
article! Based upon a review of
the original Latin document which states that the daughter who was
legitimized was Janet not
[*9] David Tweedie "David Rizzio & Mary Queen of Scots Murder at
Holyrood" (2006) Sutton Publishing Ltd.
[*10] References show this marriage to have been in 1571
and her dowry was most of St. Mary’s Priory.
© 2007 Donald Richardson