Thomas Atholl Robertson
Encyclopedia
Thomas Atholl Robertson was a Scottish fine arts printer and publisher and Liberal
politician.
in rural Perthshire
. He was educated locally, at Clunie
School, Blairgowrie
. He married twice; first in 1906 to Flora Campbell, eldest daughter of James Cummings, a dental surgeon. There were two sons and four daughters from the marriage. Flora Robertson died in 1943 and five years later Robertson married Agnes Christie, the daughter of James Paterson of Redgorton
in Perthshire. In religion Robertson was a staunch Presbyterian and was an office bearer of the Presbyterian Church in Palmers Green
near his London home. One of his relatives, Dr James Robertson of Whittinghame, East Lothian
was Moderator of the Church of Scotland in 1909. Although he lived in London for much of his life, Robertson also had a home in Scotland, Dunvorlich, Ewanfield, Crieff
in Perthshire.
publishers in Glasgow
. He began his career in the city and then undertook formal training in this field in Germany, extending his knowledge of the trade by travelling throughout Europe, Canada, the United States and the near east
. Robertson also served for ten years in the Territorial Army in the Highland Light Infantry
, City of Glasgow Regiment.
and Vice Chairman of the London Liberal Federation. He took a particular interest in a number of traditional Liberal issues, including land reform and was in 1923 the President of the English League for Taxation of Land Values.
at the 1918 general election
as an Asquithian Liberal. However the sitting Unionist
MP Sir William Bull had the benefit of the Coalition coupon
and Robertson came second in a three-cornered contest with Labour
in third.
of Middlesex
for the 1922 general election
. In a straight fight with the sitting Conservative
MP John Newman he trailed by 1,443 votes. However at the 1923 general election
Robertson defeated Newman, winning by a majority of 2,276 votes in another straight fight.
Robertson faced a new Conservative opponent in 1924
and was unable to hold his seat, losing to the Hon. Edward Cadogan
by 4,335 votes. He tried to regain the seat at the 1929 general election
but the Labour Party now also stood a candidate and although he again came second to Cadogan, Robertson was still 4,855 votes in arrears, with Labour in third place. After a period of reflection, Robertson decided to resign as prospective Parliamentary candidate for Finchley and was replaced by Lady Crosfield who had fought Islington North
in 1929 and was the wife of Sir Arthur Crosfield
the former Liberal MP for Warrington
.
Robertson was asked to fight the Scottish seat of Kinross and West Perthshire
. The seat was held by the Unionist Duchess of Atholl, the first woman ever to serve in a Conservative government. In a straight fight Robertson was defeated by a majority of 5,695 votes.
again contesting Finchley, after Lady Crosfield resigned. He again obtained second place, with Labour in third, but the new Conservative candidate succeeding Cadogan, John Crowder
, held the seat easily with a majority of 18,040 votes. Crowder continued to represent Finchley until 1959
when he was replaced as Conservative candidate by Margaret Thatcher
.
came in 1938. The Conservative MP for the Aylesbury Division
of Buckinghamshire
, Michael Beaumont
, resigned and Robertson was selected as Liberal candidate in the resulting by-election
which took place on 19 May 1938. In a three-cornered contest the seat was comfortably retained for the Conservatives by Sir Stanley Reed
with a majority of 10,944 votes over Robertson with Labour’s Reginald Groves, a journalist, in third place.
s Association of London. He served as a Governor of the Royal Caledonian School, at Bushey
, in Hertfordshire
and he was sometime President of the London Perthshire Association. He was also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
the senior antiquarian body in Scotland and wrote articles on Scottish and Highland
Customs, Folklore
and Legends of Perthshire. He was for a while the editor of The Scots Year Book. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
politician.
Family and education
Thomas Atholl Robertson was the eldest son of John Robertson of Snaigow, DunkeldDunkeld
Dunkeld is a small town in Strathtay, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is about 15 miles north of Perth on the eastern side of the A9 road into the Scottish Highlands and on the opposite side of the Tay from the Victorian village of Birnam. Dunkeld and Birnam share a railway station, on the...
in rural Perthshire
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
. He was educated locally, at Clunie
Clunie
Clunie is a small settlement in Perthshire, Scotland, 7 km west of Blairgowrie. It lies on the western shore of the Loch of Clunie. Near the village are the foundations of what is believed to have been be a castle used by Kenneth MacAlpin, the first king of Scotland, as a base for hunting in the...
School, Blairgowrie
Blairgowrie
Blairgowrie is the name of several places in the world:* Blairgowrie and Rattray, United Kingdom* Blairgowrie, Victoria, Australia* Blairgowrie, Gauteng, South Africa...
. He married twice; first in 1906 to Flora Campbell, eldest daughter of James Cummings, a dental surgeon. There were two sons and four daughters from the marriage. Flora Robertson died in 1943 and five years later Robertson married Agnes Christie, the daughter of James Paterson of Redgorton
Redgorton
Redgorton is a settlement in Gowrie, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies a few miles from the River Tay and the A9 road, across the latter from Luncarty. It lies close to the Inveralmond Industrial Estate.-Etymology:...
in Perthshire. In religion Robertson was a staunch Presbyterian and was an office bearer of the Presbyterian Church in Palmers Green
Palmers Green
Palmers Green is a place in the London Borough of Enfield. It is a suburban area situated 7.6 miles north of Charing Cross. Postally, it is in London N13...
near his London home. One of his relatives, Dr James Robertson of Whittinghame, East Lothian
East Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
was Moderator of the Church of Scotland in 1909. Although he lived in London for much of his life, Robertson also had a home in Scotland, Dunvorlich, Ewanfield, Crieff
Crieff
Crieff is a market town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies on the A85 road between Perth and Crianlarich and also lies on the A822 between Greenloaning and Aberfeldy. The A822 joins onto the A823 which leads to Dunfermline....
in Perthshire.
Career
Robertson was a member of a firm of fine artFine art
Fine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....
publishers in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. He began his career in the city and then undertook formal training in this field in Germany, extending his knowledge of the trade by travelling throughout Europe, Canada, the United States and the near east
Near East
The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
. Robertson also served for ten years in the Territorial Army in the Highland Light Infantry
Highland Light Infantry
The Highland Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1959. In 1923 the regimental title was expanded to the Highland Light Infantry ...
, City of Glasgow Regiment.
Politics
Robertson was always a committed Liberal even as a young man. He held a number of positions in the party over the years including being Chairman of the Political Committee of the National Liberal ClubNational Liberal Club
The National Liberal Club, known to its members as the NLC, is a London gentlemen's club, now also open to women, which was established by William Ewart Gladstone in 1882 for the purpose of providing club facilities for Liberal Party campaigners among the newly-enlarged electorate after the Third...
and Vice Chairman of the London Liberal Federation. He took a particular interest in a number of traditional Liberal issues, including land reform and was in 1923 the President of the English League for Taxation of Land Values.
Hammersmith
Robertson first stood for Parliament at South HammersmithHammersmith South (UK Parliament constituency)
Hammersmith South was a borough constituency in the Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith in west London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post system....
at the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
as an Asquithian Liberal. However the sitting Unionist
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP Sir William Bull had the benefit of the Coalition coupon
Coalition Coupon
The ‘Coalition Coupon’, often referred to as ‘the coupon’, refers to the letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the United Kingdom general election, 1918 endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victory in...
and Robertson came second in a three-cornered contest with Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
in third.
Finchley
He then switched his attention to the Finchley DivisionFinchley (UK Parliament constituency)
Finchley was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election; its best-known MP was Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990...
of Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
for the 1922 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
. In a straight fight with the sitting Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP John Newman he trailed by 1,443 votes. However at the 1923 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1923
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
Robertson defeated Newman, winning by a majority of 2,276 votes in another straight fight.
Robertson faced a new Conservative opponent in 1924
United Kingdom general election, 1924
- Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...
and was unable to hold his seat, losing to the Hon. Edward Cadogan
Edward Cadogan
Sir Edward Cecil George Cadogan, KBE, CB was a British, Conservative politician.Cadogan was a younger son of the 5th Earl Cadogan and his wife, Beatrix, a daughter of the 2nd Earl Craven...
by 4,335 votes. He tried to regain the seat at the 1929 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1929
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
but the Labour Party now also stood a candidate and although he again came second to Cadogan, Robertson was still 4,855 votes in arrears, with Labour in third place. After a period of reflection, Robertson decided to resign as prospective Parliamentary candidate for Finchley and was replaced by Lady Crosfield who had fought Islington North
Islington North (UK Parliament constituency)
Islington North is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election...
in 1929 and was the wife of Sir Arthur Crosfield
Arthur Henry Crosfield
Sir Arthur Henry Crosfield, 1st Baronet , was a Liberal Member of Parliament for Warrington from 1906 to December 1910.From his parent, he inherited the business of Joseph Crosfield and Sons, soap and candle manufacturers...
the former Liberal MP for Warrington
Warrington (UK Parliament constituency)
Warrington was a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom. From 1832 to 1983 it returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-History:...
.
Kinross and West Perthshire
For the 1931 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1931
The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the...
Robertson was asked to fight the Scottish seat of Kinross and West Perthshire
Kinross and Western Perthshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Kinross and Western Perthshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 1983, representing, at any one time, a seat for one Member of Parliament , elected by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:The constituency was...
. The seat was held by the Unionist Duchess of Atholl, the first woman ever to serve in a Conservative government. In a straight fight Robertson was defeated by a majority of 5,695 votes.
Return to Finchley
Robertson returned to his adopted home of London for the 1935 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1935
The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady...
again contesting Finchley, after Lady Crosfield resigned. He again obtained second place, with Labour in third, but the new Conservative candidate succeeding Cadogan, John Crowder
John Crowder
Sir John Frederick Ellenborough Crowder was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was the Member of Parliament for Finchley from the 1935 general election until the 1959 general election, when he was succeeded by Margaret Thatcher .Crowder was educated at Eton...
, held the seat easily with a majority of 18,040 votes. Crowder continued to represent Finchley until 1959
United Kingdom general election, 1959
This United Kingdom general election was held on 8 October 1959. It marked a third successive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, led by Harold Macmillan...
when he was replaced as Conservative candidate by Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
.
Aylesbury
Robertson’s last attempt to get back in the House of CommonsBritish House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
came in 1938. The Conservative MP for the Aylesbury Division
Aylesbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Aylesbury is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The Conservative Party has held the seat since 1924, and held it at the 2010 general election with a 52.2% share of the vote.-Boundaries:...
of Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, Michael Beaumont
Michael Beaumont
Michael Wentworth Beaumont TD, DL, JP was a British soldier and Conservative Party politician.-Biography:...
, resigned and Robertson was selected as Liberal candidate in the resulting by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
which took place on 19 May 1938. In a three-cornered contest the seat was comfortably retained for the Conservatives by Sir Stanley Reed
Stanley Reed (UK politician)
Sir Stanley Reed, KBE was a British Conservative Party politician and an important figure in the media of India in the early 20th century....
with a majority of 10,944 votes over Robertson with Labour’s Reginald Groves, a journalist, in third place.
London Scot
Robertson was proud of his Scottish heritage and held a number of posts which allowed him to keep in touch with his home country and its culture while living in England. He was sometime Chief of the Scottish ClanScottish clan
Scottish clans , give a sense of identity and shared descent to people in Scotland and to their relations throughout the world, with a formal structure of Clan Chiefs recognised by the court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms which acts as an authority concerning matters of heraldry and Coat of Arms...
s Association of London. He served as a Governor of the Royal Caledonian School, at Bushey
Bushey
Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. Bushey Heath is situated to the south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow.-History:...
, in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
and he was sometime President of the London Perthshire Association. He was also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body in Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum, Chambers Street, Edinburgh...
the senior antiquarian body in Scotland and wrote articles on Scottish and Highland
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
Customs, Folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
and Legends of Perthshire. He was for a while the editor of The Scots Year Book. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.