Name William Robinson | ||
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Premier Succeeded by Algernon Keith-Falconer, 9th Earl of Kintore | ||
Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson GCMG (14 January 1834 – 2 May 1897) was a British colonial administrator and a musical composer, being the author of several well-known songs. He was variously Governor of the Falkland Islands, Lieutenant-Governor of Prince Edward Island, Governor of Western Australia, Governor of South Australia and Governor of the Straits Settlements.
Biography
Robinson was the fifth son of Admiral Hercules Robinson. In 1858 he entered the service of the Colonial Office as private secretary to his elder brother, Hercules Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead, who was then Lieutenant Governor of St. Kitts.
He married in 1862, and in 1866 was appointed Governor of the Falkland Islands. On 10 June 1873 he was appointed the first Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island, and created a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (CMG).
After leaving Prince Edward Island he was made Governor of Western Australia and served three terms – 1875 to 1877, 1880 to 1883 and 1890 to 1895 – which included the transition of the colony to self-governance in 1890. He was made a KCMG in 1877 and a GCMG in 1887.
Between the three terms of office in Western Australia, he took the offices of Governor of the Straits Settlements (1877–1879) and Governor of South Australia (1883–1889), during which time he acted as President of the Commission set up to organise the Adelaide Jubilee International Exhibition of 1887, and was largely responsible for instituting the Bachelor of Music course at the University of Adelaide.
Robinson retired from active service in 1895 aged 61, and died two years later in South Kensington, London, on 2 May 1897.