Walter Fairbairn

(cir. 1784 - Jan 1859)
FatherArchibald Fairbairn * (say 1760 - bet. 1800 - 1841)
MotherAlison Crosser (say 1760 - bet. 1800 - 1841)
Recruit(Wanted)The project would like to recruit a representative of this line.
Although we do have a representative from a John now assumed to be Walter's son, it is always good to have a confirmed paper trail linking two members to ensure we have a good dna signature for the family.
 
WebIntroFor many years Ed and I have been trying to prove that John Fairbairn of Delaware Co, New York, known to be the son of a "Walter of Roxburghshire", was a previously unknown son of Walter and Agnes (Robertson/Robison) of Morebattle.
There were plenty of gaps between their known children where John in New York would fit by date, and naming patterns indicated that Walter and Agnes "should" have a second son named John.
DNA results just in (May 2009) have shown that this theory may well be fact, with a 12/12 match so far between Martin (F-1) and Michael (F-16).
These were subsequently further strengthened with the 65/67 match between Michael (F-16) and a documented descendant of Walter's brother David (F-29).
And now, Apr 2011, documentary evidence has been found clearly stating John's parents to be Walter FAIRBAIRN and Agnes ROBINSON.
      
BirthWalter Fairbairn was born cir. 1784 Swinton, Berwickshire, Scotland
MarriageHe married Agnes Robertson, daughter of John Robertson and Ann UnknownSurname, 22 Nov 1806 Morebattle, Roxburghshire, Scotland
DeathWalter Fairbairn died 19 Jan 1859 Morebattle, Roxburghshire
BurialHe was buried Morebattle, Roxburghshire
WebSummaryThese results finally prove what the FAIRBAIRN DNA project was initially set up to do, back in Oct 2007, ie that John in New York was a son of Walter and Agnes (ROBINSON) FAIRBAIRN of Morebattle.
We had already been trying to prove this for many years, combining efforts since Jan 1999.
Known information was that John was a son of a Walter of Roxburghshire, and the most likely candidate was the Walter married to Agnes, but we had no proof.
Many years later, and much searching for appropriate people to test if adding science to the search for "proof" would help, we've finally cracked it.
Firstly came a match between our first FAIRBAIRN candidate Martin (F-1), a son of Archibald, believed to be a brother of Walter's, with Earl in the Family Tree DNA Database, who quickly became (F-2) in the project, but with no known connection to Archibald and Walter. His ancestry led back to a likely common progenitor in John & Bessie (FLINT) FAIRBAIRN, and added impetus to the search for suitable candidates.
The next candidate tracked down, Doug(F-14), also belonged to Martin's line of Archibald and Janet (SCOTT), so still only a "likely" relation of Walters but yes, a match, which at least helped confirm we were on the right track for a dna signature for Archibald & Janet's line.
Eventually a candidate tracing his ancestry from the John in New York was also found, Michael (F-16), along with a candidate with documented descent from Walter's brother David, GD(F-29), all matching.
So by now we were all convinced both that Archibald married to Janet (SCOTT) was a brother of documented sons, Walter and David, of Archibald married to Alison (CROSSER) FAIRBAIRN, and that yes, John in New York was a son of Walters.
Good things come to those who wait - in Apr 2011, a paper trail was also finally found, buried in a New York Town Clerk's military record from the Civil War.
Subsequent to the above, FamilyFinder testing is also confirming the connections, with confirmed matches between at least 4 different family lines.
      
ChartsLineage 1e DNA "Signature" John & Bessie (fflint) FAIRBAIRN
Fairbairn/Flint lines represented by autosomal DNA tests
Last Edited24 Oct 2016

Family

Agnes Robertson (cir. 1786 - Apr 1863)
Children
  • Archibald Fairbairn (Mar 1808 - Nov 1867)
  • John Fairbairn+ (1812 - Apr 1895)
  • Agnes Fairbairn (cir. 1818 - May 1884)
  • Margaret Fairbairn (cir. 1821 - )
  • Walter Fairbairn (cir. 1823 - Nov 1903)