Malcolm Robertson explores the background and achievements of five siblings from Scotland, the first of whom arrived into Hobart in 1822.
They weren’t convicts, but they were definitely refugees escaping a country reduced in opportunity due to war and famine, victims of hardship difficult to imagine now when you visit their soft and attractive native Scotland.
In the early 19th century, the Scottish Highlands around the now bustling centre of Kingussie, not far south of Inverness, was seriously poor. The new breed of English lords who had taken possession of many of the traditional Scottish properties after the defeat in 1746 of the fiercely patriotic Scots clans at Culloden had changed the face of farming in the Highlands, and with it the chance of a future for the next generation of young men and women.
Overlay that background with the “year with no summer” in 1816 caused by the massive eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia the previous year – whose volcanic ash cloud blanketed the globe for more than a year, a year where the sun never shone, crops failed, livestock died and winter temperatures continued throughout the year – and you can see why the future was beyond grim for many young highlanders.
Not far from the tiny village of Alvie, in a region known as Dunachton, Donald Robertson was a tenant farmer, struggling to make ends meet and to provide for his seven surviving children, the youngest born in 1811 just a year before her mother, Christian, died in 1812. By 1820, prospects for the children were dire. The oldest daughter, Margaret, was soon to leave home to marry, but for the five boys, the future looked bleak. One might take over the tenancy, but the landowner, Mackintosh, was increasing rents to force more tenants off the land and the future of the Robertson tenancy was in doubt. The others could either take their chances in the factories of Edinburgh or Glasgow, or further south, or seek their fortunes in Canada or the new colonies in far off Terra Australis, both of which had strong Gaelic-speaking communities.
Many a discussion in the crowded kitchen of the Robertson croft must have been animated and emotional as options were explored, the younger children comforted, neighbours and elders consulted. By 1822, decisions had been made. Duncan, the eldest, decided to stay in Scotland but moved to the Isle of Skye to take up farming there. John and William, the next two sons, decided to try their luck in Van Diemen’s Land, and if things worked out, the younger ones might follow them out.
John was 26 and William 24 when they took their final farewells and, with their meagre possessions packed, headed for London to take passage on Captain Collins’ ship Regalia, scheduled to depart for Hobart Town on July 25. Neither were to see their father again and William was not to return to his country of birth until more than 30 years later when, as a successful businessman and pastoralist, he and his wife Margaret made the long journey to visit home, catch up with friends and to endow the little Alvie school to which he owed his early education with a perpetual prize in his name.
It is still not known where John and William each got the £500 capital that they were supposed to stump up as free settlers. But where there was a will, there was a way, and emigration agents were on hand to ensure the papers were in order, wheels greased and perhaps loans organised. Certainly the rapid success of the farms of both these young men point to them arriving in Van Diemen’s Land with cash to invest as well as a sound Protestant work ethic and a solid farming upbringing thanks to their father.
The Regalia was not a large vessel and the journey would have been long, arduous and uncomfortable. Many hours would have been spent by the passengers gazing at far horizons and trying to imagine what their new lives were going to be like. And Hobart Town in December 1822 would have been a far cry from the oasis it is today, with the brothers finding a tiny colonial town still struggling to house and feed its population, poor sanitation and an underclass of ticket of leave men and women all vying for survival.
The boys were granted 700 acres each at Campbell Town and were soon setting up their new properties with energy and knowhow, and probably convict manpower. First nations tribes were still fighting a rear-guard action, or trying to live their traditional lifestyles, and some skirmishes would have been inevitable, although none are recorded in the family files.
By 1825, the Robertsons were well-established and their younger brother James arrived and was granted 800 acres near Richmond. He was followed in 1829 by the two youngest of the siblings, Daniel who was 24, and his 19-year-old sister Christina, both accompanied by their older brother John who had returned home to bring them out and to buy stock for a new venture that the boys were planning.
The new venture was Robertson Brothers, financed by the sale of their two farms and a canny and an innovative move for two young men with farming in their blood. In premises in Hobart, on the corner of Elizabeth and Collins streets, William and John set up an early version of a department store, where they stocked just about everything a reasonably well-heeled colonial settler and his family might need to furnish their home. The business thrived as the Colony of Tasmania prospered and grew, and it soon expanded to Launceston where James and Daniel operated their own store. By 1835, the four Robertson brothers and Christina, now married, were established members of Tasmanian society, no longer tenants, but lairds in their own right.
The success of the business was beyond any of their wildest dreams. In less than 15 years, these young people from the Highlands of Scotland had gone from a bleak and uncertain future to build lives for themselves that were beyond the comprehension of their friends and family back home. Even today, William and Daniel remain on the list of Australia’s 200 wealthiest people, such was the extent of their business skill and investment choices.
Among their investment choices, William and John were members of the Port Phillip Association, and according to some reports provided more than half the funds involved to underwrite John Batman’s expedition to Port Phillip in 1835. Batman was under directions from the members of the association to strike an agreement with the First Nations tribes around the Port Phillip region to allow the establishment of a settlement and use of their lands for grazing. Association member and lawyer Joseph Gellibrand, a former attorney general of Van Diemen’s Land, had prepared a legal document that the tribal elders could sign and which he hoped would lead to the Port Phillip Association claiming sovereignty over the area, at that stage still effectively terra nullius in the eyes of the law.
As history relates, while the great city of Melbourne was established at Batman’s “spot for a village” on the Yarra River, and the convict Buckley was given a second chance at colonial life after being found by the expedition living with the local tribes, the proposed grazing land intended for each of the members of the Association, and a more enlightened colonisation, was not to be.
John and William Robertson had been allocated land stretching from modern-day Geelong to Point Lonsdale in return for their funding of the expedition. Sadly, Gellibrand’s sovereignty plan failed and the land was declared part of NSW and so under that colony’s governor’s overall control. For the investors, and for the local tribes, this was a disaster. An uncontrolled land rush followed as potential settlers swarmed over from Van Diemen’s Land to stake their claims ahead of land auctions, and the local tribes were significantly badly treated and displaced.
Nevertheless, the Robertsons had laid the groundwork for continued contribution to the development of Australia, especially the colony of Victoria over the next 50 years, but that is another story…
Footnote: A family bicentenary in Australia is a rare occurrence and is something to be celebrated. Malcolm Robertson is in touch with descendants of William Robertson (his great-great-great grandfather) and Daniel Robertson. Their older brother John never married and had no descendants. Malcolm would like to contact descendants of James Robertson, who married Mary and then her younger sister Margaret Macdonald in Launceston where he and Daniel ran the northern arm of Robertson Brothers for many years. James had four daughters and five sons from his two marriages. And also their younger sister, Christina, so brave to emigrate to Van Diemen’s Land at only 19 years old. Christina married Archibald Smith in Launceston in 1833 and, after his death, John Mackinnon in 1849. She had children from both marriages. After the death of her husband in Scotland, the Robertsons’ older sister Margaret (Mrs Cameron) emigrated to Tasmania in 1853 and brought her children with her. Interested descendants can contact Malcolm Robertson at musgrovemedia@netspeed.com.au
Acknowledgement of Country: The Robertson family would like to acknowledge elders past and present of lutruwita, traditional owners of the land on which our original farms were established. Displaced as we were from our traditional lands in Scotland, we recognise the pain and tragedies born by Australia’s First Nations people as a result of the arrival and establishment of our settlement.
Malcolm Robertson is a freelance writer in Canberra specialising in obituaries and articles about old MG cars. After a career in Australian science agencies, including a 15-month deployment in Antarctica, he now focusses on his writing and on documenting his family history. Malcolm’s strong connection to Tasmania has been built through his family’s early involvement in Van Diemen’s Land and he has visited many times.
