The birth and baptism of Robert Chapman, son of John Chapman and Elizabeth Anderson, were recorded in the Bathgate Parish Register in 1828:

Feby 7th. John Chapman and his spouse Elisabeth Anderson had a child Born Bapt. 23 Currt named Robert Chapman

At the time of the 1871 census, Robert Chapman was living in Parish Road, in the Civil Parish of St Cuthbert, in the Village or Hamlet of Dalry Mills, Edinburgh, in premises having eight rooms with one or more windows. The full entry reads:

Robert Chapman, 41, Dalry Mills Mill Master employing 8 men, born Linlithgow Bathgate Sarah, wife, 42, mill master’s wife, born Linlithgow, Whitburn Margaret, daur, unmarried, 18, miller’s daughter, born Linlithgow, Bathgate John, son, 16, commercial clerk, born Linlithgow, Bathgate Robert, son, 14, miller’s clerk, born Linlithgow, Bathgate Henry, son, 12, scholar, born Linlithgow, Bathgate Elizabeth, daur, 10, scholar, born Linlithgow, Bathgate James, son, 6, scholar, born Edinburgh St Cuthberts Margaret Middleton, serv, 19, general servant, born Linlithgow, Bathgate