Michael Massey Robinson (1744Also reported as 1747 and 1754. Se
Robinson at austlit
for details – 22 December 1826) was a poet and author of the first published verse in Australia.

Biography

Legal troubles

Robinson was an educated man and appears to have practised as a lawyer. In February 1796 he was charged at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

, London, for attempting to extort money from James Oldham, a

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its roots ...

ironmonger. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. The death sentence was changed to

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

, and he arrived at Sydney on the ship ''Barwell'' on 18 May 1798. Richard Dore, the judge-advocate, who had come out on the same vessel, stated that Robinson could be very useful to him and applied for his conditional emancipation. This was granted by Governor Hunter, and nearly two years later Dore made an application on Robinson's behalf for an absolute pardon. Robinson had been his clerk and had conducted himself properly in the meantime, but the second application was refused. In August 1803 Governor King mentioned in a dispatch that Robinson had committed perjury and had been ordered to be transported to Norfolk Island. This sentence, however, was not carried out at the time on account of the difficulty of finding another assistant for the judge-advocate. Governor King sent Robinson to Norfolk Island in 1805, but in December 1806 he was back in Sydney.

Career

In April 1810 he was made first clerk of the government secretary's office, and in this year published the first of his patriotic odes, "Ode on His Majesty's Birthday", 1810. This and the 19 other odes published on the King's and Queen's birthdays between 1810 and 1820 were first printed in the ''

Sydney Gazette ''The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser'' was the first newspaper printed in Australia, running from 5 March 1803 until 20 October 1842. It was a semi-official publication of the government of New South Wales, authorised by Governo ...

'', and were then published separately, printed on three sides of a large folder. Another ode for the First of January 1811 was published as a broadside. "An Ode for His Majesty's Birthday", which was printed in the ''Sydney Gazette'' for 18 August 1821, does not appear to have been printed separately.

Governor Macquarie Major General Lachlan Macquarie, CB (; gd, Lachann MacGuaire; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie served as the fifth Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821, an ...

took Robinson up and encouraged him, and he appears to have held to a straight course for the rest of his life. In July 1819 he was appointed provost-marshal but resigned this position in May 1821. In December of this year he advertised in the ''Sydney Gazette'' that he proposed to issue a volume of his poems at £1 1s. per copy. Similar advertisements appeared in 1822, 1824 and 1825, but the volume was never published. He continued to be in the employ of the government for the remainder of his life, and at the time of his death on 22 December 1826 he was principal clerk in the police office. He was married and was survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. A list of his odes will be found in Serle's ''A Bibliography of Australasian Poetry and Verse''.

References

*
Clarke, Donovan, “Michael Massey Robinson, (1744-1826),” Australian Dictionary of Biography, accessed 13 June 2019
* Mackaness, George, ed. (1946). ''Odes of Michael Massey Robinson: First Poet Laureate of Australia (1754-1826).'' Dubbo, N.S.W. : Review Publications.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Michael Massey 1744 births 1826 deaths Convicts transported to Australia English emigrants to colonial Australia English male poets 19th-century Australian public servants 19th-century Australian lawyers 19th-century Australian poets

Biography

Legal troubles

Career

See also

References

Notes