He was brought up as the son of John Scott and Dorothy Whiteford however, the 1861 census has him as Dorothy'S grandson. This would certainly make sense given her age when he was born. It's possibly that he was born out of wedlock to one of Dorothys elder children.
Sources
"England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7WC-2RK : 25 May 2019), Robert Scott in household of John Scott, Newburn, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
"England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SG6S-XXL : 9 November 2019), Robert Scott in household of John Scott, Heddon On The Wall, Northumberland, England; citing Heddon On The Wall, Northumberland, England, p. 17, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
"England and Wales Census, 1861," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7J2-SKP : 13 August 2020), Robert Scott in household of Anthony Jons, Newburn, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom; from "1861 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 9, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Robert by comparing test results with other carriers of his ancestors' Y-chromosome or mitochondrial DNA.
However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line.
It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Robert: