John Parish Robertson (1792–1843) was a Scottish merchant and author.

Life

Robertson was born at Kelso or

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. His father, at one time assistant-secretary of the

Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial bank, commercial and clearing (finance), clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group. The bank was established by the Par ...

, was engaged in business at Glasgow; his mother, Juliet Parish, was the daughter of a Hamburg merchant of Scottish extraction. He was educated at

Dalkeith grammar school Dalkeith High School is a secondary school, secondary state school located in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland. History Dalkeith High School was previously the historic Dalkeith Grammar School. A list of masters of the Grammar School at Dalkeith ( ...

. Robertson accompanied his father to South America in 1806. He landed at

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

on the day after its occupation by the British forces under Sir Samuel Auchmuty. On the cession of the city to the

Banda Oriental Banda Oriental (Eastern Bank), or more fully Banda Oriental del Río Uruguay, was the name of the South American territories east of the Uruguay River and north of Río de la Plata that comprise the modern nation of Uruguay, the modern state of Ri ...

, he was sent home by his father, but in 1808 sailed on his own account for

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, where he was employed as a clerk for three years. Robertson now tried to open up trade with

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. At the end of 1811 he went as a mercantile agent to

Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...

, but in 1815 was compelled by the dictator

José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia y Velasco () (6 January 1766 – 20 September 1840), also known as Doctor Francia or to Paraguayans of his time as Karai Guasu (in Guaraní, means "Great Lord"), was a Paraguayan lawyer, politician, stat ...

to leave the country, along with his younger brother, William Parish Robertson, who had joined him. He sailed for

Buenos Ayres Buenos Ayres is a village in Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in southwestern Trinidad, north of Erin and southeast of Point Fortin. Buenos Ayres is the hometown of the calypsonian Cro Cro. The Erin Savannas, one of the last remaining natu ...

with goods, but was stopped by an accident at

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní: Taragui, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12. It has ...

, on the banks of the

Paraná River The Paraná River ( ; ; ) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. ...

. During the next year he and his brother, with Peter Campbell, achieved trading success in hides with Paraguay. Robertson returned to England in 1817, and established connections with London, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Paisley. Sailing for Buenos Ayres in 1820, he commenced trading with Chile and Peru, and landed at

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

in 1824 or 1825, with a fortune of £100,000, as the representative of some of the South American republics. Ruined in 1826, he went to South America with the object of recovering part of his fortune, but failing to do so. He returned to England in 1829. Intending to devote himself to study, Robertson entered

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

; but in 1833 he moved to the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

for his health. He was in London in 1834 for business reasons. He died at

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

on 1 November 1843. His great-nephew was the singer and actor John Graham Robertson (1859-1940).

Works

Robertson published: *''Solomon Seesaw … with Illustrations by Phiz'', 3 vols. London, 1839; 3 vols. Philadelphia, 1839. *With his brother, William Parish Robertson, ''Letters on Paraguay; comprising an Account of a Four Years' Residence in that Republic, under the Government of the Dictator Francia'', 2 vols. London, 1838; Philadelphia, 2 vols. 1838. A sequel ''Francia's Reign of Terror'' appeared in one volume, London, 1839; 2 vols. Philadelphia, 1839; 2nd edit. 3 vols. London, 1839. *''Letters on South America, comprising Travels on the Banks of the Paraná and Rio de la Plata'', 3 vols. London, 1843.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, John Parish 1792 births 1843 deaths Scottish merchants Scottish writers 19th-century Scottish businesspeople