THE ROBERTSON FAMILY OF MARSHFIELD James Robertson Sr. was, we believe, born in Blair Athol , Perthshire Scotland about 1770. Unfortunately we know nothing about his forbearers or about his boyhood in Blair Athol . Was his father a crofter or were they a family of more comfortable circumstances? Time has obliterated all this and we can only guess that they were a little better off than the crofters but not likely well to do. By 1789 James had removed the 35 miles from Blair Athol to Perth . He was by this time a lad of 19, almost a man. By the time he came to PEI he was a master shoemaker and we can surmise that he probably saw no future in tilling the soil of Scotland so moved to the bustling city of in an attempt to better his lot, choosing shoemaking as his trade or perhaps he learned this trade at his father's knee and moved to Perth to seek employment. We can also surmise that it was in Perth that James met and married Jean Miller of Methuen. One versing of the tradition states that she was a widow with a half grown family but it seems more likely she too was single. For 29 years James laboured on in Perth making a living and raising his family of seven children. As he had money to pay the passage over to the Island from Perth and that he had to forfeit his first down payment when his son John took so violently ill that they were forced to abandon their trip for the time being. James Sr . being a man of purpose again secured passage with his son Alexander on a vessel called "Saint Ann". In the summer of 1818, they landed at the harbour's mouth opposite the Stewart Farm , know as "Bellachan" (near Keppock). We can only assume that he had done fairly well for himself, for what then would induce a man approaching 50 to leave a secure and known life in Scotland and sail across an ocean to unknown hardships pioneering a new country. Was the opportunity the answer to a boyhood dream or was he seeking a better life, not so much for himself, but for his sons and daughters? Perhaps he had settled for city life in order to better himself but the pull of the land he had left behind in Blair Athol was strong and there being nothing there worth moving back to, he decided to move on so that his children could be property holders. In any event James was a little better prepared than many others of his day because no doubt his sister Jessie and her husband John Fergusson who had moved to Marshfield about 1807 had written home telling of the opportunities to be had and explaining just what hardships there would be.. Whatever his life was and whatever the reason, in 1818 James forged ahead and leaving Scotland behind him, became one of the pioneers of Prince Edward Island . James Robertson and his son Alexander landed on PEI on August 15th 1818. They were entertained by the Bellachan Stewarts , something which the elder Robertson never lost sight of and related to many times in years to come. The next day being Sabbath, Mr. Stewart and his daughter who later became Mrs. John Scott of Dunstaffnage , rowed them up the to John Fergusson 's, elder of " Craggan Farm", who had arrived in this Province some years previous as a widower with two sons and who had married Jessie Robertson , James' sister. Within a short time James completed the purchase of the farm known as "" at Marshfield , pursued his trade as a shoemaker at Craggan Farm and began clearing the land on the new farm. In the following year 1819 his wife Jean and the rest of the family arrived and set up housekeeping. James and Jean had eight children, only six came to the new land with them. A daughter Elizabeth "Betsy" died at age 12 in Scotland and a son John either died or joined the army. Their oldest child a daughter Janet "Jessie" married Conrad Vickerson , the first marriage outside the traditional Scottish line and also a family who had an entirely different reason for emigrating. The on the southeastern boundary of Marshfield was named for this family. (See The Vickersons of , Lot 34.) Jessie and Conrad had a family of eleven, they first settled in the Marshfield area, then they rented the home farm of the MacDonalds in Tracadie ( MacDonald). In 1842 they bought "Bronston Farm" in Hermitage ( Vernon River ), Lot 49. The oldest son James married his first cousin Elizabeth "Betsy" Fergusson, his father and Betsy's mother were bother and sister. James established what he called "Roslyn Cottage", it was actually a farm of some 121 acres and there he carried on -59-