Eben William Robertson

Eben William Robertson by Sir William Charles Ross.

Eben William Robertson (17 September 1815 – 3 June 1874) was a British historian.

Life

Robertson was born near the Leicestershire- Derbyshire border at Netherseale,[1] into a wealthy landowning family. He was a distant relative of 18th century Scots historian and academic William Robertson. He attended Worcester College, Oxford, and received legal training at Lincoln's Inn.[2]

His father died in 1852 and Robertson succeeded to the family's estates. As a legally trained landowner and gentleman, he was active in local administration, first as a justice of the peace. In 1862, he was appointed Deputy Lord Lieutenant[3] of Leicestershire, and in 1870, he became High Sheriff of Derbyshire.[4] Robertson was married to Isabella Colgrave in 1838. They had one son and two daughters.

He is best remembered as a historian of medieval Scotland. His 1862 work Scotland under her early Kings (2 volumes) was well regarded. He published a collection of essays, Historical Essays in connexion with the Land, the Church, etc. in 1874.

In 1874 Robertson was injured attempting, unsuccessfully, to save his two nieces from a fire. Soon after he caught cold and died after a painful illness.

References

  1. National Galleries of Scotland
  2.  Lee, Sidney, ed. (1896). "Robertson, Eben William". Dictionary of National Biography 48. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 404.
  3. The London Gazette: no. 22593. p. 451. 28 January 1862. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  4. The London Gazette: no. 23584. p. 721. 7 February 1870. Retrieved 2009-11-10.

External links

Honorary titles
Preceded by
George Henry Strutt
High Sheriff of Derbyshire
1870
Succeeded by
Charles Rowland Palmer Morewood
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 02, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.