Robert Strawbridge

Robert Strawbridge (died 1781) was a Methodist preacher born in Drumsna, County Leitrim, Ireland.

Information detailing the early life of Robert Strawbridge is somewhat limited. One article, Robert Strawbridge, offers some light unto the subject. Another source, Robert Strawbridge: Some Additional Irish Perspectives offers additional details.

In the year 1732, Robert Strawbridge was born in a small farming town in the county of Leitrim, Ireland. The town of Gortconnellan, Drumsna situates on a ridge. The town’s name literally means “the ridge over the swimming place.” It is here along the south-eastern flow of the majestic River Shannon, makes a series of turns which create a perfect loop before regaining its original course. The result of the back-tracking waterway is a protected area blessed with the country’s most fertile and wooded lands. It is these abundant lands which Robert grows up. The farm with a privileged view of the river will house Robert until his 24th birthday. Crimmins (1905) calls him a native of the nearby Carrick on Shannon, County Leitrim.

The land which the Strawbridge family lives on is a gift to an ancestor one-hundred and fifty years before, when the English King James transplanted English families in the hopes of gaining strategic lands along the bountiful River Shannon. To the Catholic citizens of Ireland, this transplanting of Englishmen by the Anglican King was tantamount to military and religious conquest. Despite the native opposition, the transplanting occurs, creating a line of natural-resource- abundant towns along the Shannon. The town of Drumsna is one of these new settlements.

Robert’s Anglican household, in a gesture to disgruntled Irish neighbors, names him after his maternal grandfather. According to JR Wesley Weir in his article, Robert Strawbridge: Some Additional Irish Perspectives, “the long-held Irish tradition is to name the oldest son after the paternal grandfather and the next son after the maternal grandfather.” From this, it is easy to surmise that Robert is the second son born to his parents.

Gaining the benefits of a proper education, Robert easily improves to a bright young man, eloquent in speech, intelligent and from a somewhat affluent family. Robert is also a physically strong fellow, his trade as a carpenter embellishing his sturdy frame which tops out at just less than 6’ tall. The man with shoulder length hair that frames brilliant eyes and a handsome face has a winsome and gentle smile that warms the hearts of many, notwithstanding one particular young lady he eventually marries.

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Wikipedia