Skip to main content

Thomas R. Robertson (1795 - 1878)

Thomas R. Robertson was the first Treasurer for the Society of Saint Andrew. He served from 1825 to 1828, and was also President in 1846 and 1847. Born in Scotland, Thomas arrived to Fredericton in 1818 – along with his friends Robert Gowan, and John Gregory – all with the 74th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot. 

When his regiment departed Fredericton in 1823, he stayed behind, joining the merchant firm of Thomas L. Langen as a clerk. Thomas soon became a full partner, and their business operated under the name of Langen & Robertson. This continued until 1831, when Mr. Langen retired and the business was then taken over by Thomas. 

T. R. Robertson’s store was located on the west end of Queen Street, and continued to operated in the same location. On August 2, 1839 his store was destroyed by a fire – described by the Fredericton Sentinel as the most disastrous of the decade. Nevertheless, T. R. Robertson’s store was rebuilt and continued for another 17 years.

Thomas was a highly respected money-manager. In 1855, he was appointed by the Province as Deputy Treasurer of Fredericton, remaining in that position until Confederation in 1867; he was then appointed Canada’s First Collector of Customs for the Port of Fredericton. He was also one of the tax assessors for the City of Fredericton, and a Director of the Central Bank of New Brunswick. 

Thomas participated actively in the religious life of Fredericton, and is credited – along with his close friends and fellow Society members Francis Beverly, Robert Fulton, John Gregory, and Robert Gowan – with founding St Paul's Church. He was also one of the church’s original trustees and was their first Treasurer. 

Thomas R. Robertson and his wife Fanny are buried in section 8 of the Old Burying Ground. Thir gravestone reads:

Sacred
to the memory of
Fanny,
wife of
Thomas R. Robertson,
who closed her mortal life in prospect
of a blessed immortality on the
29th day of May, A.D. 1838
in the 38th year of her age. 

Also of
 Catherine,
their infant daughter, who
Died on the 20th day of August
aged 4 months and 4 days. 

Also
William Reid,
Born 1831
Died at New York, 1866
Frances,
Born 1835
Died 1869

Isobel
Born July 1833
Died Jan 1877

Thomas R. Robertson,
Born July 25, 1795, Died October 16, 1878
also his daughter
Mary Ann
Born August 24, 1836, Died May 16, 1898.
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Piper Robert Gowan (1800 - 1879)

Prior to 1927 there had always been a Society Piper. The first was Robert Gowan, who joined the Society in 1826.  He arrived in New Brunswick from Ireland in 1818 as a piper in the 74th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot, and was garrisoned here from 1819 to 1823. Robert assisted John Baird as a teacher in the Barrack School for children of the regiment, and when his unit departed, stayed in Fredericton and opened a "Painting, Engraving and Writing" shop on the corner of Regent Street. This is where he was hired to engrave the Society's mull horn in 1826. He later became a bookkeeper in the lumbering firm of Robert Rankin & Co. Later, when the Central Bank of New Brunswick was established in 1834, he was appointed bank cashier, and then in 1839 he entered the Crown Land Office. There he kept meticulous accounts of all lands granted in the province (his six-volume leather bound ledgers are preserved in the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick).  Robert Gowan was also a res...
Read more

Introduction

Fredericton's Old Burial Ground is located between Brunswick and George streets, on the traditional territory of Wolastoqey People. This Local Historic Place has been recognised as one of the most important cemeteries in New Brunswick. It serves as the final resting place for many individuals who founded New Brunswick, amongst whom are many individuals of Scottish birth. Since 2025 marks the 200 th anniversary of the founding of our Society, we are pleased to share with you the stories behind the memorials you will discover within these serene grounds.
Read more

Scots in the Old Burial Ground

SCOTS AND THE OLD PUBLIC BURIAL GROUND, FREDERICTON  by Dr. Ellen MacGillivray, c. 1991 When John Ross and I were co-historians of the Fredericton Society of Saint Andrew from 1985-1987 we had not yet started to sort the Society's documents left in John's care by late Dr. D. J. MacLeod. We became interested in finding the burial plots in the Old Public Burial Ground of the Chartered Members of the Society as well as those of others who came later. But first some notes on the place itself.  THE OLD PUBLIC BURIAL GROUND  According to Dr. Lillian Maxwell (1937) on August 2nd, 1785 the Governor-in- Council appointed Trustees to lay out Fredericton. One of these Trustees was Lieutenant Dugald Campbell who made the survey in 1785-1786: "The Town Plat as first laid out extended from Smythe street to Sunbury street and from the river to Charlotte street. The blocks were laid out to cover four and a half acres, the streets one chain wide. A square was laid out in the middle of th...
Read more