Charles Robertson (1875–1958) was the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

Minister of Trade 1926–1928 and part of

Lykke's Cabinet Lykke's Cabinet was the government of Norway from 5 March 1926 to 28 January 1928. The cabinet was led by Ivar Lykke (politician), Ivar Lykke and was a coalition between the Conservative and Free-minded Liberal Party. It had the following composi ...

. He was the son of merchant Nicolai George Robertson and his wife Anna Albrethson. His father's family came from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Hammerfest Hammerfest (; sme, Hámmerfeasta ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. Hammerfest is the northernmost town in the world with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hammerfe ...

with his grandfather Charles Robertson the Elder in 1827. The family business G. Robertson traded in

salted fish Salted fish, such as kippered herring or dried and salted cod, is fish cured with dry salt and thus preserved for later eating. Drying or salting, either with dry salt or with brine, was the only widely available method of preserving fish unt ...

stockfish Stockfish is unsalted fish, especially cod, dried by cold air and wind on wooden racks (which are called "hjell" in Norway) on the foreshore. The drying of food is the world's oldest known preservation method, and dried fish has a storage lif ...

, shark fishing and

seal hunting Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. Seal hunting is currently practiced in ten countries: United States (above the Arctic Circle in Alaska), Canada, Namibia, Denmark (in self-governing Greenland only), Ice ...

. They had a number of branches and

fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 m ...

s along the

Finnmark Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024. On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbouri ...

coast. On 24 May 1899 he married his cousin Gudrun Brandt-Rantzau, daughter of district physician Johannes Brandt-Rantzau and Nicoline Cecilie Mathea Robertson. His sister Anna Robertson married Attorney General and later Minister of State Andreas Urbye. His niece Gudrun Martius, married the diplomat Johan Georg Alexius Ræder. Charles Robertson had four children: George Robertson (born 1900), Dorohea Robertson (born 1904), Ole Robertson (born 1905) and Charles Robertson (born 1911).

Charlesbreen Charlesbreen is a glacier in Oscar II Land at Spitsbergen, Svalbard. It is located between Gunnar Knudsenfjella and Vegardfjella, and debouches into St. Jonsfjorden from the south side. The length of the glacier is ten kilometers. The glacier ...

, a glacier in

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...

is named after him.

Ancestors

On his father's side Charles is a descendant of many

Scottish clan chief The Scottish Gaelic word means children. In early times, and possibly even today, Scottish clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the clan, after whom the clan is named. The clan chief (''ceannard c ...

laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

s, (and other

Scottish nobility The concept of the Scottish Noblesse, a class of nobles of either peerage or non-peerage rank, was prominently advocated for by Sir Thomas Innes of Learney during his tenure as an officer of arms. Innes of Learney believed that Scottish armigers ...

) such as Sir John Maclean, 4th Baronet of Duart and Morvern,

Colin Cam Mackenzie Colin Mackenzie of Kintail (died 14 June 1594), nicknamed "Cam" ("crooked", because one-eyed), was a Highland chief of the Scottish clan Mackenzie who greatly increased his ancestral estates through royal favour and a career of vigorous self-aggra ...

, 11th Laird of Kintail and William Graham, 3rd Earl of Menteith.

James II of Scotland James II (16 October 1430 – 3 August 1460) was King of Scots from 1437 until his death in 1460. The eldest surviving son of James I of Scotland, he succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of six, following the assassination of his father. ...

is Charles' 13×-great-grandfather. On his mother's side he is a descendant of Jens Holmboe and a part of the

Holmboe family Holmboe is a Norwegian family which originated at Hirsholmene in Jutland, Denmark. It was introduced into Norway with the arrival of brothers Jens Olsøn Holmboe (1671–1743) and Hans Olsøn Holmboe (1685–1762). Jens Olsen Holmboe was a seni ...

References

1875 births 1958 deaths 20th-century Norwegian politicians Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Government ministers of Norway Holmboe family Ministers of Trade and Shipping of Norway Norwegian people of Scottish descent Royal Norwegian Navy personnel of World War II People from Hammerfest {{Norway-politician-1870s-stub