Robinson, William
b. 1836
d. 1912-12-01
The eldest son of a cleric, William Robinson entered the Colonial Office in 1854 and was promoted to first junior clerk, third class, in 1856.1 During the following decade he served as private secretary from 1858 to 1869 to Herman Merivale, and from 1860 to 1862 for Sir Frederic Rogers, successive permanent undersecretaries of state, after which Robinson was promoted to assistant senior clerk, second class.2 After serving briefly as private secretary to Edward Cardwell, secretary of state, and Charles Fortescue, parliamentary secretary, he was promoted to senior clerk, first class in 1870 and principal clerk in 1872.3 From 1873 to 1891 he served as governor of several Caribbean colonies before ending his career as governor of Hong Kong.4 He was made KCMG in 1883 and CGMG in 1897.5
  • 1. Sir William Robinson , Times, December 03, 1912.; William C. Sargeaunt and Arthur N. Birch, The Colonial Office List for 1862, (London: Harrison, 1862), 2.
  • 2. Edward Fairfield, The Colonial Office List for 1881, (London: Harrison, 1881), 400-401.
  • 3. Ibid.
  • 4. Sir William Robinson , Times, December 03, 1912.
  • 5. Ibid.
Mentions of this person in the documents
People in this document

Cardwell, Edward

Merivale, Herman

Rogers, Baron Blachford Frederic

Places in this document

Hong Kong

The Colonial Despatches Team. Robinson, William. The Colonial Despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871, Edition 2.0, ed. The Colonial Despatches Team. Victoria, B.C.: University of Victoria. https://bcgenesis.uvic.ca/robinson_w.html.

Last modified: 2020-03-30 13:22:16 -0700 (Mon, 30 Mar 2020) (SVN revision: 4193)