Charles Robus SV/PROG - a few events need confirmation

Private User

6/28/2019 at 8:22 AM

Below is my understanding of the basic information on Charles ROBUS.

Some remaining issues to determine are:
1. Is Charles ROBUS related to the Robus family from the Faversham (Kent) area?
2. What was the maiden name of his wife (Elizabeth Susannah)?
3. What was the name of b1 William ROBUS' second wife because there are two versions?
4. Forenames of several spouses of some of the children of b3 Julia ROBUS and b5 James ROBUS are not known.
5. Did b4 Agnes ROBUS die in infancy before her parents immigrated the family to South Africa?
6. Was b5 James ROBUS really born in England as per his DN or was that a clerical error in case he was also born in Australia as were his older siblings? It seems strange that the family with 4-5 children under 8 years of age would first travel to England from Australia and then to the Cape after birth of their fifth child.
7. Was b3 Julia ROBUS born in Sydney (as per DN) instead of Adelaide where 3 other siblings were born or is it a clerical error?
8. Can the name of the ship that carried the ROBUS family to the Cape ca. 1849 be found?
9. Have not yet been able to find details on b6 Isabella ROBUS' husband NN RYAN. She died at 30 in the Kimberley diamond fields in 1881.
10. Finally, and most intriguing, did b2 George Clark ROBUS travel from the Cape to Amsterdam on a Dutch brig that carried timber from the Far East to Amsterdam before his 20 year birthday to return to the Cape in 1862?

ROBUS, Charles
CHARLES ROBUS, married to Elizabeth Susannah, had four children born in Australia: William (1840), George (1842), Julia (1844) and Agnes (1846), with a fifth child James born in England (1848) and their sixth child (Isabella) was born in Cape Town (1850). Therefore, the ROBUS family must have immigrated to the Cape of Good Hope around the year 1849. There are records in South Africa for all the children, except for Agnes, which may suggest she passed away before they arrived in South Africa.

We do not know Charles Robus’ parents or when Charles and Elizabeth Susannah Robus arrived in Australia but Charles Robus may be a sibling or a cousin of John Robus (born ca. 1826 in Canterbury, Kent, England) since Charles was probably born just a few years before that date. Charles Robus was a cordwainer so that it is of interest to note that John Robus’ marriage certificate (25 December 1849 in Faversham, Kent) shows his occupation as bootmaker, which is similar to cordwainer, as was Charles’ eldest son William James Robus. Also of interest is that John Robus’ grandson (son of Edward Robus and Catherine Henman) was named Charles. In Perth (Australia) there is a marriage certificate on 3 March 1832 between Charlotte Augusta Robus and Harrison Blechynden with no ages or other information. She may have been related to Charles Robus.

Descendents of CHARLES AND ELIZABETH SUSANNAH ROBUS
b1 WILLIAM JAMES ROBUS (shoemaker) *Adelaide (Australia) 09 Feb 1840 †Cape Town 10 Jun 1903 x Antonetta Elizabeth †<1869 xx Caroline Mack/Catharina MAKREEL † <1903
b1c1 Joanna ROBUS *Paarl 29 May 1867
b1c2 William Charles ROBUS *Paarl 20 Apr 1870

b2 GEORGE CLARK ROBUS (mattress maker 1866 farmer 1876) *Adelaide (Australia) 25 May 1842 †Krugerspost 30 Sep 1876 x Graaff Reinet 21 Jan 1866 g1 Elizabeth Margaretha Johanna Sophia GOUWS *ca. 1845 †Philipstown 22 Nov 1880
b2c1 Karel Pretorius ROBUS *Graaff Reinet 08 Jan 1867 x Griquatown Martha Katharina ZWEIGERS 29 Apr 1889
b2c2 Elizabeth Margaretha ROBUS *South Africa
b2c3 Jan Andries Stephanus ROBUS *Graaff Reinet 1870 †Carnarvon 20 Jan 1911
b2c4 Geesje Maria Susanna ROBUS *South Africa 18 Aug 1870 x Griquatown 31 Oct 1887 Gottlieb Jan Hendrik ZWEIGERS
b2c5 George Andries ROBUS *South Africa
There is an unverified story that George Clark ROBUS arrived at the Cape on the Wildeman in 1862. The Dutch brig Wildeman, or De Wildeman, was built in 1853 and three paintings of the ship are in Dutch Maritime Museums, dated 1853, 1854 and 1863 (shown below). The vessel’s home port was Amsterdam. The ship was a cargo carrying timber (325 tonnes) from the Far East (Singapore and Java) back to Amsterdam. It was sold at auction in 1873 for fl13,400 by Captain Driest who appears to have been her captain for most if not all the voyages. Because it was a cargo ship and not a large one, it is unlikely that it would carry passengers and no crew names have been found other than Captain Driest. Maritime records show the Wildeman arriving at or leaving Cape of Good Hope (1859), Algoa Bay (1860), and on a voyage from the Cape to Mauritius (January 1866) when Captain Driest sailed safely by-passing a hurricane . Therefore, if George ROBUS landed at the Cape in 1862, he must have first travelled to Amsterdam (the ship’s home port) from the Cape since he had arrived there ca. 1849 with his parents and siblings. He would have joined the Wildeman as a crew member at 20 years of age. If he was a mattress-maker in 1866, he may have been hired as a sail-maker, since this was an essential occupation in sailing ships of those days. Both occupations are somewhat related to his father’s occupation of cordwainer.

b3 JULIA ROBUS *Sydney (Australia) ca. 1844 †Newcastle (Natal) 12 Dec 1910 x Cape Town John Gray BROWN 1861
b3c1 Agnes BROWN x NN HAYES
b3c2 John Gray BROWN *Cape Province 1864 †10 Jun 1935 Town Lands
b3c3 Catherine BROWN x NN LOXTON
b3c4 Walter BROWN
b3c5 Elizabeth BROWN *Newlands (Cape Town) ca. 1873 †25 May 1903 Newcastle (Natal)
b3c6(?) Margaret BROWN x NN VAN NIEKERK
b3c7(?) William BROWN
b3c8(?) George BROWN

b4 AGNES ROBUS *Adelaide (Australia) 24 May 1846. No other information found; she may have died in infancy in Australia or later in South Africa.

b5 JAMES ROBUS (police constable) *England ca. 1848 †Cape Town 19 Nov 1895 x Cape Town 27 Sep 1870 Janet CARRUTHERS
b5d1 Fergus Charles ROBUS *Cape Town 22 Feb 1873 † < 1895
b5d2 James William ROBUS *Kimberley 20Jan 1875 † < 1895
b5d3 Helen Eliza ROBUS † > 1895 x NN VAIL

b6 ISABELLA ROBUS *Cape Town 15 Jun 1850 †Kimberley 15 Jan 1881 x NN RYAN

Private User

6/28/2019 at 10:01 AM

Anyone interested can start here: Charles Robus

Private User

7/1/2019 at 11:26 AM

The last few days have confirmed that Charles Robus was the second of 14 children born to James Robus and Mary Hollett in Kent (England).

Also many other new details have been added thanks to help from Annelie Els and Brian Hill (see Hill-Perfect Tree on Ancestry).

Private User

7/5/2019 at 10:41 AM

William James ROBUS was born in Adelaide on 19 Jan 1840 (baptized 9 Feb 1840), immigrated to Cape of Good hope with his parents (Charles ROBUS and Susannah Elizabeth GREGORY) and siblings ca. 1849. He was a shoemaker when he married “Annetta” (Anetta) Elizabeth ADAMS (18) at Holy Trinity Church (Paarl) on 14 July 1862 (daughter of Carel Jacobus ADAMS). He died in Cape Town on 10 June 1903 (widower).

There is one child recorded from this marriage Johanna Isabella ROBUS (born 29 May 1867), baptized on 13 October 1867 at Holy Trinity Church (Paarl) and her mother recorded as “Antonetta” Elizabeth. The sponsors were Cornelius ADAMS and Candance MAKREEL.

Another daughter may have been born to this couple: Theresa Carolina ROBUS who according to her age (22) on her marriage to William Henry STOKES in St. George (Cape Town) on 20 Jul 1891 would have been born ca. 1869.
The baptism record for John William ROBUS (dated 4 April 1888) is about 21 years after his birth on 21 January 1867 and gives his parents as WILLIAM ROBUS and JACOBA and his occupation as labourer. The only male ROBUS in the Cape at that time old enough to have been the father was William James ROBUS (1840-1903) who also was the father of Johanna Isabella ROBUS (born 29 May 1867), just 4 months later.

John William ROBUS (1867-1918) married Eveline Maria WALTERS in St. Paul’s Church, Rondebosch on 6 January 1890 and signed the certificate with a mark (cross), as he had later signed the certificate of the female baby who was born and died in 1901. They had seven children, all baptized in Newlands except for two, the eldest in Rondebosch and one who died a few minutes after birth in Newlands (1901). His occupation is given as labourer (1888), coachman (1890), porter (1907) and at death in 1918 as storeman. John William ROBUS’ (1867-1918) death certificate shows him to be of mixed ethnicity as does the death certificate of his one daughter (Baby ROBUS) in 1901 and also his wife’s death certificate in 1039 (Eveline Maria WALTERS).
Because John William ROBUS (1867-1918) and Johanna Isabella ROBUS (1867-?) were both fathered by William James ROBUS (1840-1903) but born to different mothers, just four months apart, suggests that John William ROBUS was born out of wedlock to Jacoba (unknown surname) and that she was not of European ethnicity, which is the reason why he and one of his daughters was recorded being of “mixed” ethnicity.

It also appears that William James ROBUS had two sons by another woman (Caroline MAKRIEL/MAKREEL/MAAKREL), born MACK), possibly his second wife. It should be noted that one of the baptism sponsors of Johanna Isabella ROBUS (born 29 May 1867) was Candance MAKREEL, and another coincidence that Caroline MACK’s first marriage to Edward MAKRIEL in 1958 (Paarl) shows his occupation as shoemaker, same as William James ROBUS. The death certificate of “Caroline MAAKRIEL, late ROBUS, formerly MACK” on 25May1901 gives her age as 56 years 8 months, which would make her too young at her first marriage in 1858 to be of “full age”. Another conflict is that she is shown as a widow, whereas William James ROBUS died in 1903, a widower. She is also recorded as a cook and of mixed ethnicity.

Baptism of William Charles ROBUS (19Jun1870), born on 20Apr1870 gives his parents as William ROBUS and Catharina MAKREEL, but also gives both parents occupations as “servant”. That seems odd since William James ROBUS is recorded as a shoemaker on his marriage in 1862 and his death certificate in 1903. It suggests that his wife “Annetta” (Anetta) Elizabeth ADAMS had died around 1869, around the date assumed to be the birth of Theresa Carolina ROBUS. A further conflict is that the baptism of Johanna Isabella ROBUS (born 29 May 1867) shows her father William ROBUS’ occupation as “lately a constable”.

The death certificate of Charles James ROBUS on 20Jul1927 (Observatory) gives his parents as William ROBUS and Caroline MACK indicating that this couple had at least a second child on about 1873.

In summary, there remain the following data uncertainties:
1. Caroline MAKRIEL/MAKREEL/MAAKREL), born MACK suggested date of birth from her 1858 first marriage does not correspond to age on her death certificate in 1901.
2. Her status as widow at her death in 1901 conflicts with her presumed husband William James ROBUS who died in 1903 (widower). Could it be that the status of “widow” was a reference to her first husband Edward MAKRIEL?
3. There are some uncertainties about the occupation of William James ROBUS: shoemaker (1862), lately a constable (1867), a servant (1870), and shoemaker at death (1903). The quite different occupations listed in 1867 and 1870 compared to his occupation when first married and at death that fit with his family’s history of generations of shoemakers is concerning.

Answers/suggestions/comments?

Charles Robus SV/PROG - a few events need confirmation

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