Sir George Robinson, 1st Baronet

Sir George Abercrombie Robinson, 1st Baronet (29 March 1758 – 13 February 1832) was a British MP and Chairman of the East India Company.

He was born the son of John Robinson of Calcutta, who died at the Cape of Good Hope in 1779, and Margaret, daughter of George Leslie of Kimrawgie, North Britain.[1] He joined the East India Company in 1779 as a cadet and was successively promoted to ensign, Commissary-General (1786), Aide-de-Camp to Lord Cornwallis (Governor-General of Bengal) (1788), Head Assistant in the Military Auditor-General's office (1788–92), Garrison Storekeeper at Fort William and Secretary to the Military Board, captain (1798) and Military Auditor-General (1798). He retired in 1802 and served as Private Secretary to Cornwallis from July to October, 1805.

He became a director of the East India Company from 1808 to 1829, acting as Chairman in 1820 and 1826 .[2] and was also a director of the Globe Insurance Company. He was elected as the MP for Honiton in 1812 (until 1818).

He was created the first Baronet of Batts House, Somerset on 11 November 1823.[3] The title would become extinct in 1944 on the death of Sir Douglas Robinson, 6th Baronet.[4]

On 27 March 1794 he married, in Calcutta, Margaret Southwell, the natural daughter of Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Suffolk, with whom he had seven sons and a daughter:[5]

• George-Best - died young
• Francis-Matilda - died young
• Sir George Best Robinson, 2nd Baronet - became the second chief superintendent of British trade in China in 1835.[6]
• Francis-Horsley
• The Revd William-Scott Robinson, Rector of Dyrham, Gloucestershire
• Charles-Cornwallis - died young
• Henry-Sterling
• Edward Innes

He died on 13 February 1832 at his son William-Scotts house in Dyrham after a long illness. Margaret predeceased him on 21 May 1824.

References

1. John Debrett (1840). The baronetage of England. revised, corrected and continued by G.W. Collen. p. 468.
2. The India List and India Office List for 1905. London: Harrison and Sons. 1905.
3. "No. 17962". The London Gazette. 30 September 1823. p. 1615.
4. http://www.leighrayment.com/baronetage/baronetsR2.htm,
5. "Obituary: Sir G.A. Robinson, Bart". The Gentleman's Magazine. 102 (1): 270. 1832.
6. Slade, John (1835). "Official Notification". The Canton Register. 8 (4).

• "ROBINSON, George Abercrombie (1758-1832), of Batts House, Trull, Som". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 2 April 2013.