Is there any justification for this linkage to James IV of Scotland?

Question

Irish Quaker Robert Johnson is linked to undocumented parents Thomas Johnston and Agnes Maxwell and through Thomas mother who is yet another Agnes Maxwell to James (Stewart) IV of Scotland. [Edited for clarity]

Neither parental profile attached to Robert is sourced in any way (other than "Ancestry.com").

Is there anything to suggest Robert is the son of the attached parents and thus related to James IV?

Comments

What was his surname or names? did they ever change?

Answer 1

did anyone notice Thomas Johnson married his mother?

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Johnston-11487

Comments

Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950

Name:	Agnes Maxwell
Gender:	Female
Baptism Date:	02 Jul 1637
Baptism Place:	High Church,Glasgow,Lanark,Scotland
Father:	Archbald Maxwell
Mother:	Agnes Sempill
FHL Film Number:	0102907, 0990749
Household Members:	Name Age Agnes Maxwell Agnes Sempill Archbald Maxwell

Source Information:

Ancestry.com. Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Original Data: Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.

Answer 2

Let's see if I can help.  If I find anything I'll make note in Research Notes.  Good Luck on your quest.

Answer 3

Usually there was a legal settlement between the king and mistress, or family. . Look up these. It may provide a primary source. He did a prolific job in the palace serving the needs of his subjects so as to speak.

Comments

The question here is the undocumented parentage of Irish Quaker Robert Johnson, many generations removed from James IV. That undocumented parentage has been used to provide a link to royalty where, I suspect, no link exists.

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The "natural" children of James was well documented. Connections beyond that looka bit flakey. I would agree with you. There needs to be more evidence. William born Dumfries 1590's , but has documentation as being born in England is odd.  England and Scotland were separate countries, not sure how that would work. Wife born in Westmoreland even odder.

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On the surface this thomas Johnston should be mentioned in the Montgomery papers. They document all scots - Irish of that era. Beyond 1600 there is no birth or marriage records to speak of. I would be very cautious of a Scottish born connection in Elizabethan England. I would be inclined to wipe all unrelated evidence and put a research note on the first connection in the chain.

Answer 4

I'm not familiar with this family.  But a quick look at the family tree raises red flags.  Going up two generations, the parents were in their 50s when the purported son was born -- doubtful.  With no sources, I would detach the parents with a note (and link to the detached parents) in the biography.

Answer 5

If you look at the ancestors of Robert the problem lies with Agnes Maxwell, wife of William Johnston.

There is an Agnes Maxwell who is the youngest daughter of John, 8th Lord Maxwell.  She married a William Douglas in Scotland in 1603.  See https://archive.org/stream/scotspeeragefoun06pauluoft#page/483/mode/1up for details.  We can assume she was born earlier than 1585.  She wasn't in Ireland and did not marry a William Johnston.  She died in Edinburgh on 3 September 1656.  

I think the Irish wife can safely be detached from Lord Maxwell's profile. (Lord Maxwell's profile is also a dog's dinner, giving him titles he never had...)

Comments

Thanks, Stephen.

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In reality, I think the right thing to do is to remove Robert's parents, full stop.  Looking through there is no evidence to suggest we know his parents names. So many Irish Quakers were there for just one generation before moving on to the Americas.  I have a bunch of brick walls in Ireland at that exact time.

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Yes, removal with a note and link was my plan once the PM has had time to respond. I've researched this extensively on and off over several years and haven't found a shred of anything that would help identify where the family was before Ireland. I, too, have multiple dead ends in Ireland at this time. In only one or two cases has anyone pieced together from whence they came to Ireland.

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I agree with Stephen. scrap everything above robert. 1610-1660 in Ireland was the period of the James I ( James VI if you are Scottish ) plantation.  . Many Scottish families came as foot soldiers of the protestant plantation. To make things worse some family members were born in Scotland others in  Ireland depending on what was going on.

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I went ahead and fixed Agnes Maxwell; the PM has not been active since 2018.

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Erroneous parents now detached. I dropped a note to Quakers Project to consider PPP for the profile to prevent reattachment since the erroneous lineage can be seen a number of places.