Aylmer Francis Robinson (1888–1967) was an owner of a large ranch that encompassed the island of Niihau in the
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...
.
Life
Aylmer Francis Robinson was born May 6, 1888, at the Robinson family estate in
Makaweli on the island of
Kauai
Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands.
It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 m ...
during the
Kingdom of Hawaii
The Hawaiian Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ɛ ɐwˈpuni həˈvɐjʔi, was an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country from 1795 to 1893, which eventually encompassed all of the inhabited Hawaii ...
. His father was
Aubrey Robinson (1853–1936) and mother was Alice Gay Robinson who was his father's cousin. This made him double great-grandson of family matriarch Elizabeth McHutchison Sinclair (1800–1892).
Besides various properties on Kauai, the family owned the entire island of
Niihau
Niihau (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ), anglicized as Niihau ( ), is the seventh largest island in Hawaii and the westernmost of the main islands. It is southwest of Kauai, Kauai across the Channels of the Hawaiian Islands#Kaulakahi Channel, Ka ...
since 1864.
He was sent to the
St. Mathew's Military School in
Burlingame, California
Burlingame () is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco Bay. The city is named after diplomat Anson Burlingame and is known for its ...
, and then graduated from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
in 1910. He returned and worked at a
sugarcane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...
plantation
Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...
in
Waipahu, Hawaii
Waipahu () is a former sugarcane Sugar plantations in Hawaii, plantation town and now census-designated place (CDP) located in the Ewa District on the island of Oahu, Oahu in the Honolulu County, Hawaii, City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawai ...
, in 1911.
He became manager of the Makaweli ranch in 1912, and then a partner in the Gay and Robinson business, formed by his father and uncle Francis Gay.
In 1922 he took over from his father who retired from managing the ranch on Niihau. He was scheduled for one of his weekly visits when a Japanese warplane crashed on the island after the
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...
in 1941. In what became known as the
Niihau Incident
The Niʻihau incident occurred on December 7–13, 1941, when the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service pilot crash-landed on the Territory of Hawaii, Hawaiian island of Niihau, Niʻihau after participating in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Impe ...
, the pilot was captured, then freed by one of Robinson's Japanese employees. Robinson led American soldiers to the island, where the remains of both the pilot and aircraft were recovered.
A species of
palm tree
The Arecaceae () is a family of perennial, flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are colloquially c ...
, ''
Pritchardia aylmer-robinsonii
''Pritchardia aylmer-robinsonii'' is a species of palm tree that is endemic to the island of Niihau, Hawaii, United States. It inhabits coastal dry forests at an elevation of . ''P. aylmer-robinsonii'' reaches a height of and a trunk diameter of ...
'' was named for him by botanist
Harold St. John in 1947.
Although never active himself in politics, he identified himself with the
Hawaii Republican Party
The Hawaii Republican Party (HRP; ) is the affiliate of the Republican Party (GOP) in Hawaii, headquartered in Honolulu. The party was strong during Hawaii's territorial days, but following the Hawaii Democratic Revolution of 1954 the Democrat ...
, and residents of the family island voted solidly Republican even after the rest of the territory and later the state of
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
, turned Democratic.
He never married, so when he died on April 3, 1967, the family estates went to his youngest brother Lester.
The Gay & Robinson sugar business shut down in 2009 after 120 years.
Family tree
See also
*
Sugar plantations in Hawaii
References
External links
* Photo of Sinclair-Robinson family from 1893
* Family photo of Aylmer Robinson
* Photos of Niihau incident
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Aylmer Francis
1888 births
1967 deaths
People from Kauai County, Hawaii
American planters
Harvard University alumni
Hawaii Republicans