John Affleck Robertson ^{7,76,194,195,196,197,198,199,200}

  General Notes:

The great grandson of the Laird of Struan Castle, Inverness-shire, Scotland.

Travelled quite a bit in his lifetime - USA, Australia, Ceylon & South Africa

Whilst in South Africa he represented International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Penn.:

The following is a transcription of an article published in the "Table Talk" newspaper (Melbourne) on 27 September 1895:

A man who comes of the oldest family in Scotland (and a Royal one, too) ; who was born in the United States of America and is a naturalised British subject ; who went to school in the " Burns country", who married in England, in 1877, when he was worth £50,000, and his bond would be taken for any amount; who spent thirty years in Ceylon and lost all his earnings, about £70,000 (seventy thousand) sterling there and who is now settled in Melbourne as a Victorian colonist is, surely, an uncommon man and one who has seen much of the world and of mankind. Mr. John Affleck-Robertson, who is well known in connection with the creation of the co-operative village settlements in Australia, is such a man.

The Afflecks and the Robertsons are old and influential colonists of Victoria, who have helped to build up our reputation for wool in the markers of the world, but the gentleman now before the camera who combines the two names in his patronymic in as far as he knows, not immediately related to the old colonial families, and has been settled in Victoria only five years. Skene says that the "Robertsons of Struan," of which Mr. J. Affleck-Robertson is one, are unqestionably the oldest family in Scotland, being the sole remaining branch of that Royal house which occupied the throne of Scotland during the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and from which they can distinctly trace their descent in the male line. The founder of the family was Duncan the Fat, whose weight did not prevent him from fighting, and who lent powerful aid to King Robert the Bruce in his struggle for the independence of Scotland, particularly on the famous field of Bannockburn. Struan Robertson, the thirteenth chief, was "out" in the Rebellions of 1689,1715, and 1745, and yet, without giving up his allegiance to the side he had taken, managed to end his days in peace on his own estate, and die in his bed! The clan has come into some prominence of late owing to the formation of a " Clan Donnachaidh Society," inaugurated at Edinburgh in January of last year, and having for its object the fostering of clan sentiment.

Mr. Affleck-Robertson's parents were travelling in the United States and Canada in the year 1844 when their son John was born at Cleveland, Ohio, a State which was created in 1802. In later life, Mr. Robertson had some doubt about his precise nationality! It is sung of a man in H.M.S. Pinafore,
That He might have been a Rooshian,
A Frenchman or a Proosliinu,
Or perhaps I-tal-i-an!
But in spite of all temptations To belong to other nations,
He remaius an Englishman!

Well, Mr. Robeitson might have been a sharp witted and ingenious American, but he preferred, in spite of many temptations to belong to that clever and eloquent nation, to be a Scotchman! He chose to be Robertson of Struan rather than "Mr.Robert son of Ohio." And lest there might, at any time, be a doubt of his nationality, he took out letters of naturalisation as an American citizen adopting the British nationality.

Mr. Robertsen and his parants were in North America during the protracted and disastrous war between Mexico and the United States on account of the annexation of Texas by the latter, and left it in 1850, the same year in which California was admitted a member of the United States.

A Victorian native gentleman of the name of O'Brien or Murphy, or some equally Irish
name, once described himself in public as "Irishman who had been born out of his native country! Well, it may be said that, when he was six years of age, Mr. Affleck-Robertson first beheld his native country! His parents (the mother was a Affleck) settled down, after years of travel, in Ayrshire-"the Burns country" -- between the years 1850 and 1857 he went to School
at the West George-street Academy, Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Tha master at that time was a Mr. Gunyon (sub-editor of the Glasgow Evening News, and of The Life of Burns, and the History of Scottish and Poetry, and a great critic of literary works), made mental arithmetic a strong point with his boys, and this early and effective training in "ready reckoning" proved, in after, years of
immense value to Mr. Robertson in his business pursuits. Mr. Gunyon used to say that nearly every boy could tell him instantly how much was " twelve times twelve; he rarely or never met with a boy-or a man, for the matter of that who could promptly tell how much was " thirteen times thirteen!" and, singular to state, Mr. Robertson NEVER has.

When he left school, aged thirteen at the invitation of his uncle, young Robertson decided to go to Ceylon, where his uncle had a coffee plantation. So, in 1857, he sailed from Liverpool in the ship Black Prince tor the head-quarters of the Eastern island of coffee and Buddhists. The vessel went round by the Cape of Good Hope, and occupied 100 days in the voyage, Young Robertson and a cousin (Captain William Affleck) were the only passengers.

Master Robertson was "consigned" to his uncle and aunt (Mr. and Mrs. James Affleck) but when he arrived at his destination, he found that they had left on a visit to England, and that he was bequeathed to the care of their friends, Mr. Robert Mitchell and Mr. Andrew Guthrie. These gentlemen "tossed up for" little Robertson before his arrival. In point of fact they drew lots for him and Mitchell won.

Mr. Mitchell was manager of estates called Kent and Ambokka, in the district of Matale West, and thither young Robertson went and was installed as a coffee planter. He remained there a year, during which he showed himself to be well adapted to his new life, and at the end of twelve months he was placed in charge of one of Mr. Mitehel's own estates called Coladatchy, where he had a house free, native servants and a salary of £100 a year. This was a promising beginning for a youth of 14.

In the meantime, Mr. Guthrie, who had "lost the toss" for young Robertson when he first went to Ceylon, became the owner of an estate called Dea Ella, in the Kornegalle district; and, after some time, Mr. Robertson transferred his services to this gentleman. Honors were now even with Mitchell and Guthrie. Mr. Robertson had, by this time, learned to speak the native languages (Singalese and Tamil) and so became a valuable assistant-manager at Dea Ella, where he remained from 1859 till 1863. He then spent two years, 1863-5, managing a place called in Cingalese Gittokohello , which is frequently pronounced bv foul mouthed Europeans in a way that will readily suggest itself to some. After this Mr. Robertson was manager of the Stanmore Hill Estate, Dolosbagie, for a time; next, spent a year at Kandawatte, in Dumbara district; and then, in 1866, found himself at Allacolla , in a part of the island called The Knuckles, from fire hills resembling the knuckles of the closed hand. At this date he became a member of the craft of Freemasonry, joining the E.C. St. John's Lodge, No. 454, Kandy, Ceylon. He remained at Allacolla till 1870, at which period he was in receipt £500 a year salary, although his age was but 26. Mr. Robertson's great success was due to his rapidly-acquired intimacy with the native tongue, which gave him a great command over and the management of native labour. Allacolla had never "paid" its owners before this time. It had never produced a larger crop of coffee than 4000 bushels (800 cwts.) a year. Mr Robertson ran up the product to about 15,000 bushels (or 3000 cwts.), and had his own salary increased by £100 per annum. A rice famine occurred in 1866 and during that trying time Mr. Robertson's 500 labourers on Allacola had sore times of it. Rats and cats disappeared wholesale.

Between 1870 and 1875 he was at Dimbula. The "Victorian Dimboola is named after that Ceylon district; but, of late, the Ceylon " oo " has been converted in the nomenclature of the country into " u." The name of the estate was Mausa Ella, which means, in the native tongue, " the nettle stream." At this period, Mr. Robertson began to acquire estates of his own. In addition to managing the coffee plantations. of Thornfield, Wangie Oya, Derryclare, Harrington, Mayfield and Queensland, he acquired for himself the estates of Torrington, Wootton, Graeme and Gallamadena (the two latter in partnership with Sir Graeme Elphinston, Bart.), Cleveland (called after his birth place on the shores of Lake Erie) Argyle, and Charing-Cross (fancy a cottee plantation in Charing Cross!) During those thirty years, 1857-87, Mr. Robertson (like every other man in the places where he lived) had to be his own doctor; and that he successfully conserved his health and constitution is evident from the fact which he states to his friends, that, during the 18 years of his married life, neither he nor is wife have, at any time, save once, needed the services of a medical man! Long may it be so ! and when, this hardy American-Scottish-Tamil-Cingalese-Australian comes to die, may he die under good advice.

In 1875 after having spent 18 years in Ceylon, Mr. Robertson paid a visit to Europe. He landed at Naples, travelled through the continent; visited Great Britain and Ireland; dropped in at his old school place, Kilmarnock; crossed the Atlantic to visit his uncle, Captain John Robertson and sought the house in which he was born at Cleveland, but found that it had been pulled down and a church erected upon the site ; went to the Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876; and forged his way to Ottawa in Canada, where his uncle, Mr. Alexander Fleck (Affleck), the founder and proprietor
of the Vulcan iron works there resided.

In 1877, Mr. Robertson was back in England, and in the February of that year, he married Miss Harriett Marriott' eldest daughter of Mr. J. T. Marriott, Mayor of Batley, in Yorkshire. Three followed. The bride and bridegroom crossed over to France, and visited the gay capital; passed into Switzerland and stayed at Geneva; pursued their way to Turin, Genoa, Venice, Milan, Florence, Rome, Pisa, Naples, and other places. They sojourned a month at the Lakes of Como, Maggiore and Lugano. Returning through the Brennar Pass to Innsbruck, and then pushed their way to Munich, Heidelberg and Frankfurt. On to Brussels and the field of Waterloo; thence to Paris, and from Dieppe to Newhaven and English soil again! and visited the Highlands of Scotland and all its Lochs. The triple honeymoon was now exhausted , and in October, 1877, Mr. and Mrs. Affleck Robertson left London in the s.s. Tartar, for Ceylon. The Suez Canal caught the Tartar, the latter coming to grief, owing to the bungling of a pilot; he shouted go astern instead ot go ahead. The consequence was the vessel lost all the blades of her screw, and was detained at Suez for a fortnight while repairs were effected. She than pursued her journey to the land of the Cingalese, where Mr. Robertson installed his English bride in her new Oriental home on his estate, Wootton.

Mr. Robertson lived at Wootton from 1870 till about 1887, when he left Ceylon. Within six years after his second arrival in Ceylon in 1877, he had lost everything, so that he had to commence life again. Owing to a disease of the coffee leaf called Hemileia Vastatrix, all the Ceylon coffee planters were ruined, and lostj in all about 16 millions sterling! Although in 1881 all the tea grown in Ceylon could be carried by a Coolie, nothing but tea is now grown in the island andabout one hundred million pounds are now exported yearly.

Mr. Robertson has done also something as a railway and road contractor. He helped to build a ten-mile section of the railway between Nawalapitiya and Nanu Oya (forty miles), which cost one million sterling. By this contract and other enterprizes outside of his coffee estates he made, between the years 1870 and 1883, £20,000. When the crisis came in Ceylon, his estates were worth between £30,000 to £40,000, against liabilities of only £14.000. Between '78 and '83 he was drawing from £2000 to £3000 a year in salary alone, for the management of his own and the supervision of othor estates. Before he left the island his estates had fallen into the hands of English mortgagees, and are all now in tea and of great value!

When the Oriental Bank Corporation closed its doors in Columbo on May 3, 1884, there was a run on the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China, then under Mr. "Webster's management. Mr. Robertson stopped the run by addressing the depositors, principally Cingalese and Tamils, and assuring them that the Government per Sir Arthur Gordon the Governor would guarantee the Oriental Bank Corporation Notes, and to show his (Mr. Robertson's) confidence, although at that time comparatively poor, he parted with his gold and Mercantile Bank Notes in exchange for Oriental Bank Corporation Notes at face value, which prevented many a poor native from parting with his Oriental Bank Corporation Notes at one tenth of their face value, and ruining themselves.

Mr. and Mrs. Robertson resided in London between 1887 and 1890. During that period Mr. Robertson was engaged in mercantile pursuits there. He was about to go to Mexico to enter the employment of Messrs. Reid and Campbell, railway contractors, as their head office and outdoor manager, but the war broke out in that country, and Mr. Robertson turned his eyes southward to Australia.

At the instance of Mr. David Beath, ef the firm of Beath. Schiess and Company , of Melbourne, Mr. Robertson came to Melbourne. He arrived in September, 1890, by the P. and O. R.M. steamer Victoria. After his arrival Mr. Robertson was engaged till February,1891, in the investigating into the position of a certain business, with the view of returning to London and floating into a company with a capital of from £150,000 to £200,000, but the investigation proved very unsatisfactory, and amongst other things disclosed to Mr. Robertson the terrible financial and critical position
Victoria was then in, after which he went into accountancy business on his own account which he still continues. He has patented and registered the copyright of a system of book-keeping by double entry, which is highly spoken of by experts such as A. Lyell, A. Burns, W. H. Thodey, E. J. Stock, C. H. Davis and many others, who testify to his abilities as an accountant and auditor. Mrs. Robertson followed her husband to Australia in February, 1891, and arrived in Melbourne by the R.M.S. Occana m the following month.

In September, 1892, at the request of the Rev. Dr. Charles Strong, Mr.Robertson became a member of the Board of Advice of the Tucker Village Settlements, and for six months he rendered valuable gratuitous services to that benevolent enterprize, which has been gratefully acknowledged by Dr. Strong. In April, 1893, the perennial "unemployed" question made itself very urgent of settlement-at all events for the time being-and, under the auspices of the Patterson Government and of the public, the Kardella Settlement, at Korumburra, and then in September, 1893, the Struan-Robertson Homestead Association at North Blackwood were established. Mr. Robertson
was manager and managing director of the former and became secretary and manager of the latter, and Mrs. Robertson also rendered active and efficient service to the project, which was desierned to absorb a number of the unemployed, whose presence in Melbourne had become a source of anxiety and menace to each successive Ministry. In July September, 1894, to use the picturesque expression of a member of the Patterson Government, Mr. Robertson was " obliterated," and since then he has resolutely devoted himself to his private business as accountant and auditor.

As may be supposed, a man who has spent three decades of years in the East, as coffee and tea planter, engineer, superintendent of labour, manager of estates, doctor, lawyer, controller and adviser of all under him, could tell queer stories of life among the Tamils and Cingalese. The great grand son of the last Laird of Struan Castle, Invernesshire, would be likely to possess the governing faculty, and a native born American ought to have a sense of the humorous side of life. As a young man in Ceylon, Mr. Robertson has been the principle in many and some queer escapades. On one occasion, a guest at his house "astonished the natives" one morning by riding forth on a green horse, which had been dapple grey the night before ! Young Robert son was the artist! He was considered a good horseman and whip in Ceylon, and was gentleman rider in several races. In one of which he rode a horse named " Ten Thousand Devils," who, after some bucking and jumping off the course, came in second. On another occasion, a new arrival was induced to have his head shaved on the representation that it was the universal custom of the country!

In politics. Mr. Robertson is an advanced and progressive Liberal, a Protectionist to prohibition where necessary, and in the interests of local industries and productions, and an absolutely Freetrader in respect to everything that cannot be manufactured or produced; a taxer on unimproved land values; one man one vote: the referendum; advocate for Women's Franchise; for producer's selling at living prices ; employers giving a living wage, and after providing for a fair per centage on their capital, and for depreciation on plant, sharing the profits with their employes at so much on the £1 salary for the year ; for intercolonial Freetrade ; Protection against the world, and a Federationist. In religion, he believes in Pope's views, viz., that "We are but part of one stupendous whole, whose body nature is and God the soul." He is a member of the Australian Church and a great supporter of Dr. Charles Strongs. In per son, he is of medium height and strong build, fresh complexion, and wears a small moustache, which, as well as his hair, is now showing a few silver threads. In manner he is genial and affable, apparently fond of a bit of fun, and, beyond doubt, a lively factor in a large social party. We shall probably hear a good deal about Mr. Affleck Robertson when his petition to Parliament for a board to investigate his claim for £1323, in connection with the Struan-Robert son Homestead Association, North Blackwood, comes to be discussed.

****

The following is an extract of an entry from the "Cyclpoedia of Victoria (Illustrated) in Three Volumes - An Historical and Commercial Review".

"JOHN AFFLECK ROBERTSON,
Licensed Valuator, Public Accountant, Manager for Companies, Trustee, etc., Prell's Buildings, Queen Street, Melbourne, is the eldest son of the late Robert Robertson, Esq., and great-grandson of the last Laird of Struan Castle, Inverness-shire, Scotland. He was born at Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A., in the year 1844, and educated at Kilmarnock, Scotland. On the completion of his school days he went to Ceylon to join his uncle, a coffee planter, and in the year following, being then fourteen years of age, was given the management of an estate.

He remained in the East for a period of eighteen years, and in 1875 returned to Europe ; visited Great Britain and Ireland, called at his old school place, Kilmarnock, and then crossed to America.

In 1877 Mr. Robertson returned to England, and in February of that year married Harriet, daughter of Mr. J. T. Marriott, Mayor of Batley, Yorkshire. After visiting France, Switzerland, and all the principal cities of Italy, Mr. and Mrs.Robertson returned to England, and in 1877 left for Ceylon, where they resided until 1887. From 1887 to 1890 Mr. Robertson was engaged in mercantile pursuits in London, and in the latter year, at the instance of Mr. David Beath, of the firm of Beath, Schiess, and Co., of Melbourne, came to Victoria. Until 1891 he was engaged in investigating into the position of a business, with a view of returning to London and floating it into a company with a capital of from £150,000 to £200,000 ; but the investigation proving unsatisfactory, Mr. Robertson went into accountancy business on his own account, which he still continues. He has patented and registered the copyright of a system of book-keeping by double entry which is highly spoken of by such experts as Messrs. A. Lyell, A. Burns, W. H. Thodey, E. J. Stock, C. H. Davis, and others, who testify to his abilities as an accountant and auditor.

In September, 1892, at the request of the Rev. Charles Strong, D.D., Mr. Robertson became a member of the board of advice of the Tucker village settlements, and for six months he rendered valuable gratuitous services to that benevolent enterprise. In April, 1893, under the auspices of the Patterson Government and of the public, the Kairdella settlement at Korumburra, and in September, 1893, the Struan-Robertson Homestead Association at North Blackwood were established. Mr. Robertson was manager and managing director of the former, and secretary and manager of the latter, continuing until 1894, since when he has confined himself entirely to his private business as accountant and auditor.

As may be supposed, a man who has spent three decades of years in the East, as coffee and tea planter, engineer, superintendent of labour, manager of estates, doctor, lawyer, controller and adviser of all under him, could tell queer stories of life among the Tamils and Cingalese. The great grandson of the last Laird of Struan Castle, Inverness, would be likely to possess the governing faculty, and a native born American ought to have a sense of the humorous side of life. As a young man in Ceylon, Mr. Roberttson has been the principle in many and some queer escapades. On one occasion, a guest at his house "astonished the natives" one morning by riding forth on a green horse, which had been dapple grey the night before! Young Robertson was the artist! He was condidered a good horseman and whip in Ceylon, and was gentleman rider in several races. In one of which he rode a horse named "Ten Thousand Devils," mwho,m after some bucking and jumping off the course came second. On another occasion, a new arrival was induced to have his head shaved on the representation that it was the universal custom of the country!
In politics, Mr. Robertson is an advanced and progressive Liberal, a Protectionist to prohibition where necessary, and in the interests of local industries and productions, and an absolutely Freetrader in respect to everything that connot be manufactured or produced; a taxer on unimproved land values; one man one vote; the referendum; advocate for Women's franchise; for producer's selling at living prices; employers giving a living wage, and after providing for a fair per centage on their capital, and for depreciation on plant, sharing the profits with their employes at so much on the £1 salary for the year; for intercolonial Freetrade; Protection against the world, and a Federationist. In religion, he believes in Pope's views, viz., that "we are but part of one stupendous whole, whose body nature is and God the soul." He is a member of the Australian Church and a great supporter of Dr. Charles Strongs. In person, he is of medium height and strong build, fresh complexion, and wears a small moustache, which as well his hair, is now showing a few silver threads. In manner he is genial and affable, apparently fond of a bit of fun, and, beyond doubt, a lively factor in a large social party. We shall probably hear a good deal about Mr Affleck Robertson when his petition to Parliament for board to investigate his claim for £1323, in connection with the Struan-Robertson Homestead Association, North Blackwood, comes to be discussed.


Mr. Robertson is a member of the Masonic fraternity, his mother lodge being the St. John, No. 454, Ceylon, and at present is a member of the Manchester Lodge, V.C."


John was no stranger to the Court system as his/or his wife is mentioned in the following books:

1. Reports of cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court of Ceylon ...
By Henry Lorenz Wendt (1884),
2. Cape times law reports, Volume 16; By Cape of Good Hope (South Africa). Supreme Court,
3. The Supreme court circular: containing reports of cases decided ..., Volume 5 By Ra-mana-
than Ponnambalam, Ceylon, John Harvey Templer, Ceylon. Supreme Court, Edgar Clemets
(1884)
4. Debates (Ceylon) By Legislative Council (1918) (refers to a 1885 case).

The Victoria police Gazette (1900) also has the following entry:

"JOHN AFFLECK ROBERTSON, accountant, 2 Berkley-street, Hawthorn, reports stolen from his dwelling, on the 13th inst., 5 silver' buttons, slightly larger than a shilling, flat, with shanks; 3 gold breast-studs, horseshoe pattern, with " Good Luck " in blue enamel ; a gold earring, iamond shape, pearl in centre ; a pair of gold earrings, vine-leaf and grape pattern ; an old gold keeper ring, chased, "J. A. R. to H.M., 13.2.76" engraved on inside ; and-a gold watch-key, with stone at end, used as 4 chainbar.Value £7 10s.-0.462. 16th January, 1900."

Probate:
ROBERTSON John Affleck of Violet Bank Bishopbriggs Glasgow and of Inverness died 30 July 1934 Confirmation of Margaret Cuthbertson Wylie spinster. Sealed London 18 October.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Occupation: Coffee proprietor. ¹⁹⁴

• Registered Christening: Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland. ¹⁹⁵

• Scotland Census, 30 Mar 1851, Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland. ¹⁸⁹

• Naturalisation, 19 Mar 1894, Melbourne, Vic., Australia. ¹⁹⁸

• Gazette: Victoria Police Gazette, 17 Jan 1900, Melbourne, Vic. Australia. ⁷⁶

• Occupation: Representative : International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, 1902, Capetown, Western Cape, South Africa. ¹⁹⁷

• Travel, 19 Nov 1902, Capetown, Western Cape, South Africa. ¹⁹⁷

• Passport Application, 22 Mar 1906, Cape Town, South Africa. ²⁰¹

• Passport Application, 4 May 1911, Capetown, Western Cape, South Africa. ¹⁹⁷

• Passenger List: SS Caronia, 18 Jun 1912, Liverpool, England to New York, USA. ¹⁹⁹

• USA Census, 1920, Scranton, Lackawanna, Pennsylvania, USA. ²⁰²

• Probate, 30 Apr 1934, London, England. ²⁰⁰

John married Harriet Marriott on 22 Feb 1877 in All Saints, Batley, West Yorkshire, England.¹⁹⁴ (Harriet Marriott was born on 14 Aug 1848 in Batley, West Yorkshire, England,^194,197,199 died on 22 Jun 1922 in Scranton, Lackawanna, Pennsylvania, USA ¹⁹⁶ and was buried in Jun 1922 in Dunmore Cemetery, Dunmore, Lackawanna, Pennsylvania, USA ¹⁹⁶.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Registered Marriage, Q1, 1877, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England.

• Registered Marriage, 22 Feb 1877, All Saints, Batley, West Yorkshire, England. ¹⁹⁴

  Marriage Notes:

Marriage register signed by John's relatives:
Robert Affleck - cousin?
Jane Bryce Robetson - sister
Robert Affleck Robertson - brother