John Robertson (ca.1808–1880) was a Scottish-born pastoralist in Australia, remembered today for his mansion ''Struan House'', south of Naracoorte, South Australia.

History

Robertson was born in 1808 or 1809 in

Dunachton Dunachton ( gd, Dùn Neachdain) is an estate on the north-west shore of Loch Insh in Badenoch and Strathspey, in the Highlands of Scotland. It occupies land immediately to the north of the A9 road and General Wade's Military Road. Recent resear ...

Invernesshire Inverness-shire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Nis) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in populatio ...

, the son of John Robertson and Mary "May" Robertson (née McBain). He emigrated to Australia, arriving in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

in 1831 and moving to Sydney in 1838 on the ''Saint George'' with his brothers William and Duncan, Duncan's wife Ann and their three children. He and brother William settled on a property they called ''Struan Station'' in Victoria on the River Wannon in the vicinity of modern

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

and Merino. It was around then he acquired the nickname "Poorman Robertson", perhaps from his appearance which contrasted sharply with that of Henty, a rival landholder in Portland, Victoria. In 1852 their elder brother Angus joined them and took over management of ''Struan''. William settled on another of their properties ''Wando Vale'', and John moved to Mosquito Creek near Naracoorte, on an area variously known as ''Mosquito Plains'' and ''Robertsons Plains'', where he built a succession of three homes, culminating in the magnificent ''Struan House'' in 1875. He purchased further land at

Wrattonbully Wrattonbully is a wine region in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia's South East, between the Padthaway and Coonawarra regions, between the Riddoch Highway and the Victorian border.Longbottom et al., 2011, page 20 The Wrattonbul ...

and

Elderslie Elderslie may refer to one of the following locations: * Elderslie, Scotland, a village in Renfrewshire, west central Scotland * Elderslie, New South Wales Elderslie is a suburb of the Macarthur Region of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, ...

, totalling over 500,000 ha. Struan House and some 500ha of its original property is now owned by South Australian Department of Agriculture as its regional headquarters.

Family

John Robertson married Susan Ann Tait Cetwill Fraser or Frazer from

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

at Portland, Victoria in 1855. They had nine children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, John 1808 births 1880 deaths Australian pastoralists Settlers of Victoria (Australia) Settlers of South Australia 19th-century Australian businesspeople