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| James Robertson |
James Robertson arrived
in Australia in January 1822, with his wife, Anna Maria (nee Ripley) and their six
children. The family sailed from England
aboard the ‘Providence.’[1] He was a native of Renfrew
Scotland and trained as a clockmaker and silversmith before working for the
firm Grimaldi and Johnson located in The
Strand, London. Long-time friend, Sir Thomas Brisbane, who was later the
Colonial Governor, is said to have influenced the decision to emigrate.[2] Soon after the arrival of
the Robertson family to the colony, Brisbane appointed James keeper of Government
clocks and watches when James Oatley, his predecessor, was ousted from that
position.[3]
Success followed success,
and in 1822, James Robertson was granted 500 acres from a redistribution of
Crown land that had been the Seven Hills farm previously held by John and
Elizabeth Macarthur. However, the
transaction was not registered until 1837.[4] Others who benefited from the redistribution
were McDougall, Acres and Mrs. Ward. James
ran cattle on his Seven Hills property that became known as Robertson’s Farm,
however, in 1838, he sold the land to Isabella Maria Acres.[5]
In July 1822, James Robertson
hosted the inaugural meeting of the first Agricultural
Society of New South Wales at his residence located at 96 George Street
Sydney.[6] Tasmania formed the first society until landowners,
pastoralists and merchants, and the colonial elite of New South Wales, formed
the second.[7]
The Red Cow Inn hosted an official
function, shortly after the first meeting, whereby Governor Brisbane granted ten
acres of land at Westmead (current site of the railway station and hospital)
for a showground. The Sydney Gazette reported that the rules
and regulations of the society were drafted by the first rank over a splendid
dinner and evening that went on into the early hours of the next day.[8]
Prior to becoming part of
the landed gentry, James Robertson operated a jewellry and watchmaking business
in the ‘Underwood Building’ adjacent to Kings Wharf in Sydney. Several editions of the Sydney Gazette reported his retirement from that occupation in 1830. The tome related that stocks of precious
stones, items of jewellry, gold chains, and watches would be sold.[9]
The family resided
variously in Sydney, then Robertson’s Point, Port Jackson/Cremorne and then in
the homestead ‘Plashett’ (which still exists) built on 1000 acres of land granted
to him at Jerry’s Plains/Hunter Valley.[10] The Hunter Valley
property was sold around 1854 and James died at Aberglasslyn, near Maitland, in
1868.[11]
It is of interest to note
that the most famous of James Robertson’s children was politician and land reformer,
Sir John Robertson KCMG (1816-1891). Educated by Dr. J.D. Lang and W.T.Cape,
John Robertson rubbed shoulders with politicians like Sir Henry Parkes,
Geoffrey Eager and Sir James Martin.[12]
 |
| Sir John Robertson |
[1]
State Records of NSW, Colonial Secretary Index 1788-1825, James Robertson, http://colsec.records.nsw.gov.au,
accessed 27.3.2015.
[2]
Bede Nairn, Robertson, Sir John (1816-1891),
Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol.6, 1976.
[3]
Powerhouse Museum, www.powerhouse.com,
accessed 11.11.2015.
[4]
Jack Brook, The Seven Hills A Village
Divided, A Suburb United, self-published, 2004, p.31.
[5]
Baulkham Hills Council, Bella Vista Farm Park, Fact sheet, www.thehills,nsw.gov.au, accessed
11..11.2015.
[6]
Parramatta Research Services, Parramatta Agricultural Societies and Shows,
6.12.2013, https://sites.google.com/site/parracommunityheritage,
accessed 27.3.2015.
[7]
Ibid.
[8]
Ibid.
[9] Sydney Gazette, 11.9.1830, p. 4;
18.9.1830, p. 1; 4.11.1830, p.1s.
[10] James
Robertson family tree, http://belindacohen.tripod.com/robertsonfamilyjamesofrenfrew,
accessed 27.3.2015.
[11] Sydney Morning Herald, 11.1.1868, p. 8.
[12]
Bede Nairn.
