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

Life

Robertson was born at Kelso or

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. 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 and clearing bank based in Scotland and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the Bank of Scotland's implosion in 2008. The bank was established by th ...

, 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. Robertson accompanied his father to South America in 1806. He landed at Montevideo 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, or more fully Banda Oriental del Uruguay (Eastern Bank), 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 Rio Gra ...

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

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, 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 ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

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

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) 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 o ...

, 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) was a Paraguayan lawyer and politician, and the first dictator (1814–1840) of Paraguay following its 1811 independence from the Spanish Viceroyalty of ...

to leave the country, along with his younger brother, William Parish Robertson, who had joined him. He sailed for Buenos Ayres with goods, but was stopped by an accident at

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní: Taragüí, 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 ha ...

, on the banks of the Paraná River. 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 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; but in 1833 he moved to the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

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