ROBERTSON 



advocate, 1888-91. From 1891-99 

 he was president of the court of 

 session, and in 1899 he was made 

 a law lord and a life peer, as Baron 

 Robertson of Forteviot. He died 

 Feb. 2, 1909. 



Robertson ,FREDERI CK WILLIAM 

 (1816-53). British divine. Born in 

 London, Feb. 3, 1816, his father was 

 an artillery 

 officer. After 

 a somewhat 

 desultory edu- 

 cation at Edin- 

 burgh and else- 

 where, includ- 

 ing a year in 

 France, he was 

 articled in 

 1834toasolici- 

 torat Bury St. 

 Edmunds. Disliking this, he stud- 

 ied for the army, and then, having 

 given up the idea of a commission, 

 entered Brasenose College, Oxford. 

 In 1840 he was ordained in the 

 Church of England, and became 

 a curate at Winchester and then 

 at Cheltenham. In 1847 he was 

 appointed incumbent of a pro- 

 prietary chapel at Brighton, and 

 there he remained until his death, 

 Aug. 15, 1853, the result of disease 

 of the brain. 



In a few years Robertson, al- 

 though not popular in the usual 

 sense of that word, made himself 

 one of the most influential preach- 

 ers of the 19th century, and his 

 sermons are among the few that 

 rank as literature. His views are 

 generally described as broad 

 church, but his sympathies were 

 too wide for any such classifica- 

 tion. <See Preaching ; consult also 

 Sermons, 1855 ; Addresses, 1858 ; 

 Life and Letters, Stopford A. 

 Brooke, 1865. 



Robertson, SIR GEORGE SCOTT 

 (1852-1916). British soldier. 

 Born Oct. 22, 1852, he entered the 

 Indian Medi- 

 cal Service in 

 1878, served in 

 the Afghan 

 War, 1879-80, 

 and in 1888 be- 

 came agency 

 surgeon of Gil- 

 g i t, Kashmir. 

 After various 



Sir 6. S. Robertson, 

 British soldier 



journeys among 

 the hill tribes 

 he was sent on 



a political mission to Chitral in 

 1895, and was besieged there for 

 two months, during which time he 

 was badly wounded. In recognition 

 of his gallantry he was knighted, 

 retiring from public service in 1899. 

 He died Jan. 1, 1916. 



Robertson, JOHN MACKINNON 

 (b. 1856). British man of letters 

 and politician. Born at Brodiok, 



Arran, Nov. 14, 1856, he was 

 educated at Stirling, but left 

 school at the age of 13. Associated 

 with Charles Bradlaugh on The 

 National Reformer, which he 

 edited, 1891-93, he became a re- 

 cognized authority on freethought. 

 Entering Parliament as Liberal 

 member for Tyneside, 1906, ho 

 became parliamentary secretary 

 to the board of trade, 1911-15, and 

 privy councillor, 1915. He was 

 chairman of the Committee on 

 Food Supply, in 1916. His publica- 

 tions include Modern Humanists, 

 1895 ; Montaigne and Shake- 

 speare, 1897 ; A Short History of 

 Freethought, 1899; Trade and 

 Tariffs, 1908 ; The Baconian 

 Heresy, 1913 ; War and Civiliza- 

 tion, 1916 ; and The Germans, 

 1916. He contributed to this work 

 the articles on Criticism and Free- 

 thought. 



Robertson, THOMAS WILLIAM 

 (1829-71). British dramatist. 

 Born at Newark-upon-Trent, Jan. 

 9, 1829, of a 

 stage family of 

 Sco 1 1 i s h de- 

 scent, he began 

 life as an actor, 

 tried journal- 

 ism, was re- 

 jected for the 

 army, and had 

 written several 

 unsu c c e s s f u 1 

 dramas before 

 he achieved success with David 

 Garrick, 1864. His other plays in- 

 clude Society, 1865 ; Ours, 1866 ; 

 Caste, 1867; and School, 1869. 

 Caste, his best piece, originally pro- 

 duced by the Bancrofts at The 

 Prince of Wales's, still holds the 

 stage. Robertson had the faculty 

 of creating life-like characters, and 

 his plays reflect accurately the 

 manners of his time. He died in 

 London, Feb. 3, 1871. See Life and 

 Writings, T. E. Pemberton, 1893. 



Robertson, WILLIAM (1721- 

 93). Scottish historian. Born in 

 Midlothian, Sept. 19, 1721, and 

 educated at 

 Edinburgh 

 University, he 

 entered the 

 ministry of the 

 Church of Scot- 

 land, holding 

 charges first in 

 E. Lothian, 

 and afterwards 

 in Edinburgh. William Robertson, 

 In 1759 ap- Scottish historian 

 peared his His- A f' er *<"">'< 

 tory of Scotland, which was an 

 immediate success, and led to his 

 being appointed principal of Edin- 

 burgh University and Historio- 

 grapher Royal for Scotland. Other 

 books, A History of Charles V, 



ROBERTSON 



1769, A History of America, 1777, 

 brought great financial reward ; 

 for the former he received no 

 less than 4,500. 



? Modern historical research has 

 impaired the value of much of 

 Robertson's work, notably in the 

 case of the History of Scotland, yet 

 he will always be read for his won- 

 derful narrative powers and his 

 eloquent treatment of great events. 

 He is at his best in the History of 

 America ; his description of Co- 

 lumbus approaching the New 

 World is one of the most im- 

 pressive passages in all literature. 

 It was the reading of Robertson's 

 works that first awakened Car- 

 lyle's interest in history. He 

 died June 11, 1793. See Life, D. 

 Stewart, 1801. 



Robertson, SIR WILLIAM ROB- 

 ERT (b. 1860). British soldier, 

 Born at Welbourn, Lincolnshire, 



T. W. Robertson, 

 British dramatist 



Vandyk 



he enlisted as a private in the 

 16th Lancers in 1877, becoming 

 corporal in 1879 and Serjeant in 

 1882. While in the ranks he 

 showed exceptional promise and 

 determination to make a career in 

 the army, and as troop-serjeant- 

 major, to which he was promoted 

 in 1885, decided to qualify for a 

 commission. He passed the neces- 

 sary examinations and tests, and 

 was gazetted second lieutenant in 

 1888, proceeding to India that 

 year to join the 3rd Dragoon 

 Guards. He remained there until 

 1896, during which period he rose 

 to rank of staff-captain, served as 

 intelligence officer with the Chitral 

 relief expedition, worked in the 

 intelligence branch at Simla, and 

 received the D.S.O. 



In 1896 he entered the staff 

 college at Camberley, the first 

 ranker to do so, and on passing out 

 in 1898 joined the intelligence 



