Descendants of Robert Burgar (1754-1820)
Robert Burgar (1754-1820) was of Shetland descent. It is unclear whether he was born in Shetland or was an English descendant of a Shetland immigrant.
See Tree showing children of Robert Burgar and Susannah Davis
Robert Burgar was born in 1754.4,69
He died in 1820 at Workhouse Shoreditch London.69 He was buried on 23 Dec 1820 in St Leonards, Shoreditch, London.69
The Shoreditch Workhouse register records:
On the 23rd December 1820, Robert Burgar, aged 66, died at the St Leonards
Shoreditch Workhouse.
This suggests that Robert would have been born in 1754.
Robert Burgar married Susanna Davis in 1774 (see the Marriage Register entry
below). In the Marriage Register he wrote his name as 'Burgear'.
He was living close to John Burgar at this time and it is thought that they might
be brothers or cousins. It is likely that the above Robert Burgar and John Burgar
(1741-1795) were shoemakers, since six of the younger generation of Burgars
were also shoemakers.
We are not sure where Robert Burgar was living after his marriage, but he does
appear in the Poor Rate Summoning Books for St Leonards Shoreditch
1, which are used for persons who have
not paid their rates:
12th December 1793 Holywell St Liberty Robert Burgar excused.
11th March 1794 Holywell St Liberty Robert Burger Excused
That he was excused paying the taxes suggests that he was too poor to pay the rates at that time. (Also
in these Assessment Rates are persons by the surname of Boddy and Maxted who
crop up as witnesses at Burgar marriages).
He next appears in 1795 but this time he is paying his Rates:
1,
1795 £7.0.0 Rent value proprietor Royston, Occupier Robert Burgar £0.8.2
This means that Robert is renting property at the relatively low rent of £7.0.0
per year and is paying Poor Rates of £0.8.2d (8 shillings and 2 pence per
year).
A similar entry continues from 1796 to 1802 the only variation being the Poor
rates varied from £0.5.6½ (5 shillings and six and a half pence) up
to £0.7.2 (7 shillings 2 pence).
In the first two entries his name is spelt Burgar, in the last
four it is Burger. Since the name was written by the collector
of taxes, then he would spell the name of the rate payer as he thought fit, not
necessarily as the person paying the tax thought it should be spelt.
Robert Burgar is recorded as dying in the Shoreditch Workhouse in 1820 (see above).
Robert
Burgar and Susannah Davis were married on 5 Apr 1774 in St Leonards, Shoreditch,
London.69
The Marriage Register has the following entry:
Robert Burgar bachelor of the Parish and Susanna Davis Spinster of this Parish
were married by Banns at St Leonards, Shoreditch on 5th April 1774. The witnesses
were Mary Maxted and Thomas Wright.
Robert signed as "Robert Burgear" and Susanna made her mark.
Susannah Davis was born in 1749.60
She died at Walburg St. in 1804 and was buried on 28 Oct 1804 in St George in the East, Stepney, London.60
The St George in the East Register of Burials has:
Susannah Burgar, of Walburg Street, Stepney, age 55, died on 28th October 1804
(A John Davis was the owner of property in Walburg Street at this time. Whether
he is related to Susannah (Davis) Burgar is unknown).
Susanna Burgar was 55 years when she died in 1804. She would thus have been
born in about 1749. We think that this Susanna is the wife of Robert Burgar since
Robert stops paying Poor Rates in Shoreditch after 1802. This may have been
because he moved to Stepney, where Susannah died a few years later.
We can not prove that Robert Burgar and Susannah Davis had any children because
we have not been able to find any baptism records in the London Area. However,
from other sources we know that at least 6 children with the Burgar surname were
born in the period 1775 to 1790. These were:
Robert, 1775-1849.
Susannah, dates unknown
John, 1780-1836
Benjamin, 1783-1835
Elizabeth, abt 1785-?
Walter, dates unknown.
(For the purpose of this account we have assumed Susannah to be born in 1777 and Walter to be born in 1790. These will need correcting should more positive information come to light).
We have assumed that these were the children of Robert and Susanna for the reasons
outlined below; however further research may prove this to be incorrect.
1. Robert Burgar and John Burgar (brothers or cousins?) were known to be living
in London at this time. John's children are well documented.
2. The two eldest of the above children are called Robert and Susannah.
3. Three of the sons, Robert, Benjamin and Walter were shoemakers. (The children
of John Burgar (1742-1797) i.e. John, Walter and Joseph, were also shoemakers).
4. Benjamin, John and Elizabeth are related according to Benjamin's Will.
5. Robert Jr has two sons. The first is called Robert (after his father and/or himself) and the the second son is called Benjamin John. Since two other Burgars are Benjamin and John it is likely that the young Benjamin John was named after these two older Burgars, i.e. his Uncles.
Oral history has it that later generations of the two Burgar families (i.e. the
descendants of John Burgar, 1742-1797, and the descendants of Robert Burgar,
1754-1820), were cousins.
On this basis we have assigned these children to be the children of Robert
Burgar and Sussanah Davis. Again this assumption may have to be change if
further evidence becomes available.
Robert Burgar and Susannah Davis are thought to have had the following children:
See Tree showing children of Robert Burgar and Susannah Davis
| i. | Robert Burgar. |
| ii. | John Burgar. |
| iii. | Susanna Burgar. |
| iv. | Benjamin Burgar. |
| v. | Elizabeth Burgar. |
| vi. | Walter Burgar. |