Daniel Robertson (1813 – 1892) was a British colonial administrator who served as
Colonial Secretary of the Gambia from 1849 to circa 1865. He was Acting
Governor of the Gambia
This is a list of colonial governors and administrators in the Gambia from the establishment of a British settlement on St Mary's Island, now known as Banjul Island, in 1816, through to the Gambia Colony and Protectorate's independence from the ...
from April 1859 to September 1859, and in 1851.
Biography
Early life
Robertson was born in Scotland.
Colonial service
Robertson arrived in the Gambia in 1832 as a surgeon for the
Liberated Africans Department of the Gambian colonial government. On the advice of Anthony Clogstoun, he was promoted to Colonial Surgeon in 1838.
Robertson was appointed as Colonial Secretary of the Gambia in June 1849. He served under
Richard Graves MacDonnell
Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell (; 3 September 1814 – 5 February 1881) was an Anglo-Irish lawyer, judge and colonial governor. His posts as governor included Governor of the British Settlements in West Africa, Governor of Saint Vincent, Gov ...
,
Arthur Kennedy
John Arthur Kennedy (February 17, 1914January 5, 1990) was an American stage and film actor known for his versatility in supporting film roles and his ability to create "an exceptional honesty and naturalness on stage", especially in the origi ...
,
Luke Smythe O'Connor, and
George Abbas Kooli D'Arcy
George Abbas Kooli D'Arcy (30 July 1818 – 22 October 1885) was a British soldier and colonial administrator. He was governor of the Gambia from 1859 to 1866, and governor of the Falkland Islands from 1870 to 1876.
Early life
D'Arcy was born i ...
. During the
Soninke-Marabout War, when O'Connor's force was defeated at Bakkow Wood by a force of
Marabouts
In the Muslim world, the marabout () is a descendant of Muhammad (Arabic: سـيّد, romanized: ''sayyid'' and ''sidi'' in the Maghreb) and a Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the function of a chaplain serving as a par ...
, Robertson hastily armed a number of Government servants, merchants, and other loyalists, while sending messages of distress to
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...
and
Gorée
(; "Gorée Island"; ) is one of the 19 (i.e. districts) of the city of Dakar, Senegal. It is an island located at sea from the main harbour of Dakar (), famous as a destination for people interested in the Atlantic slave trade.
Its populatio ...
.
Robertson briefly served as Acting Governor after O'Connor left the Gambia in 1856 for Edinburgh. He again served as Acting Governor from April 1859 to September 1859 in between O'Connor leaving and D'Arcy arriving.
Robertson was summoned to speak before a
Select Committee at the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
in 1865 that examined the report on the governance of West Africa by
Harry Ord
Sir Harry St. George Ord (17 June 1819 – 20 August 1885) was a British colonial administrator who served as Governor of Bermuda between 1861 and 1864, Governor of the Straits Settlements between 1867 and 1873, and Governor of Western Austral ...
. Gray notes that Robertson had come "quite unprepared for a summons of this nature" and he suffered from not being able to "consult the necessary documents." He was the only witness called upon that had experience of governing in the Gambia.
Personal life
Robertson died on 24 November 1892 in
Gateshead
Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...
.
Robertson's son,
James Robertson, married Emily Maud in 1880. He trained as a doctor, and died in 1900, aged 46.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Daniel (colonial administrator)
1813 births
1892 deaths
Governors of the Gambia
Colonial Surgeons