John Robertson (premier)

Sir John Robertson
Portrait of Sir John Robertson, c. 1890
5th Premier of New South Wales
In office
9 March 1860 – 9 January 1861
Preceded byWilliam Forster
Succeeded byCharles Cowper
In office
27 October 1868 – 12 January 1870
Preceded byJames Martin
Succeeded byCharles Cowper
In office
9 February 1875 – 21 March 1877
Preceded byHenry Parkes
Succeeded byHenry Parkes
In office
17 August – 17 December 1877
Preceded byHenry Parkes
Succeeded byJames Farnell
In office
22 December 1885 – 22 February 1886
Preceded byGeorge Dibbs
Succeeded bySir Patrick Jennings
Personal details
Born(1816-10-15)15 October 1816
Bow, Middlesex, England
Died8 May 1891(1891-05-08) (aged 74)
Watsons Bay, Sydney, Australia
SpouseMargaret Emma "Madge" Davies
Children9

Sir John Robertson KCMG (15 October 1816 – 8 May 1891) was a London-born Australian politician and Premier of New South Wales on five occasions. Robertson is best remembered for land reform and in particular the Robertson Land Acts of 1861, which sought to open up the selection of Crown land and break the monopoly of the squatters.

Robertson was elected to Parliament in 1856 supporting manhood suffrage, secret ballot, electorates based on equal populations, abolition of state aid to religion, government non-denominational schools, free trade, and land reform. He saw free selection of crown land before survey as the key to social reform with poor settlers being able to occupy agricultural and pastoral land, even that occupied by lease-holding squatters. This insight enabled him to dominate the politics of 1856–61.[1]

  1. ^ Nairn, Bede. "Robertson, Sir John (1816–1891)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 10 October 2019.