[Index]
Robert CAMPBELL (1804 - 1859)
MLC 1851, MLA 1856-9, colonian treasurer
Children Self + Spouses Parents Grandparents Greatgrandparents
Anne Sophia CAMPBELL (1837 - )
William Robert CAMPBELL (1838 - 1906)
Fanny CAMPBELL (1840 - )
Lucy CAMPBELL (1845 - )
Florence CAMPBELL (1846 - )
Francis Selwyn CAMPBELL (1850 - )
Mary Louisa CAMPBELL (1854 - )
Robert CAMPBELL (1804 - 1859)

+

Anne Sophia RILEY (1817 - 1881)
Robert CAMPBELL (1769 - 1846) John CAMPBELL (1728 - )



Agnes PATERSON (1729 - )



Sophia PALMER (1777 - 1833) John PALMER (1727 - 1808)



Sarah TAYLOR (1735 - 1796)



Robert CAMPBELL

Robert CAMPBELL
Robert CAMPBELL Robert CAMPBELL
Pic P1. Robert Campbell (1804 - 1859), by Thomas Edmund, courtesy of National Library of Australia. nla.pic-an9900772

Pic 1. Robert Campbell (1804 - 1859), by Thomas Edmund, courtesy of National Library of Australia. nla.pic-an9900772

b. 05 Oct 1804 at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
m. 1835 Anne Sophia RILEY (1817 - 1881) at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
d. 1859 at Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia aged 55
Parents:
Robert CAMPBELL (1769 - 1846)
Sophia PALMER (1777 - 1833)
Siblings (7):
John CAMPBELL (1802 - 1886)
Sophia Palmer CAMPBELL (1807 - 1811)
Charles CAMPBELL (1810 - 1888)
Sophia Ives CAMPBELL (1812 - )
Sarah CAMPBELL (1815 - 1856)
George Palmer CAMPBELL (1818 - 1881)
Frederick Marsden CAMPBELL (1821 - 1844)
Children (7):
Anne Sophia CAMPBELL (1837 - )
William Robert CAMPBELL (1838 - 1906)
Fanny CAMPBELL (1840 - )
Lucy CAMPBELL (1845 - )
Florence CAMPBELL (1846 - )
Francis Selwyn CAMPBELL (1850 - )
Mary Louisa CAMPBELL (1854 - )
Events in Robert CAMPBELL (1804 - 1859)'s life
Date Age Event Place Notes Src
05 Oct 1804 Robert CAMPBELL was born Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 6
05 May 1833 28 Death of mother Sophia PALMER (aged 56) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 6
1835 31 Married Anne Sophia RILEY (aged 18) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Note 1 6
1837 33 Birth of daughter Anne Sophia CAMPBELL Sydney, New South Wales, Australia V183787 21/1837 6
1838 34 Birth of son William Robert CAMPBELL Sydney, New South Wales, Australia V1838221 22/1838 6
1840 36 Birth of daughter Fanny CAMPBELL Sydney, New South Wales, Australia V1840144 24A/1840 6
1845 41 Birth of daughter Lucy CAMPBELL Sydney, New South Wales, Australia V1845631 31A/1845 6
1846 42 Birth of daughter Florence CAMPBELL Sydney, New South Wales, Australia V1846658 31A/1846 6
15 Apr 1846 41 Death of father Robert CAMPBELL (aged 76) Duntroon, ACT, Australia V1846428 31B/1846, age 77 6
1850 46 Birth of son Francis Selwyn CAMPBELL Sydney, New South Wales, Australia V1850542 37A/1850 6
1854 50 Birth of daughter Mary Louisa CAMPBELL Sydney, New South Wales, Australia V18542028 40/1854 6
1859 55 Robert CAMPBELL died Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 4768/1859 6
Note 1: V18351186 19/1835, CA, St Phillips, CofE
Personal Notes:
CAMPBELL, ROBERT (1804-1859), merchant, was born on 5 October 1804 at Campbell's Wharf, Sydney, second son of Robert Campbell and his wife Sophia, née Palmer. He sailed to England in the Hindostan in 1810, was educated at Pimlico, and returned to New South Wales in 1819.

In 1827 he became a partner in Campbell & Co. In 1829 he signed a petition to the British government requesting that free emigration to New South Wales be fostered, and transportation stopped. Early in the 1830s, to draw attention to this cause, he refused to sit as juryman on a panel which included emancipists, declaring that emancipists themselves should support his fight to stop the dumping of convicts in New South Wales. He at once became the leader of this campaign. In 1846 a parliamentary committee recommended that transportation, which had ceased in 1840, be revived. Robert Campbell organized a meeting of protest. His brother, Charles, made the principal speech and, after expressing alarm at the recommendation, moved that the meeting 'cannot conceive any circumstances under which such a measure would be desirable or justified'. As a result, a petition of dissent signed by some 6800 persons was presented to the Legislative Council and the British government. In spite of this, convicts arrived in 1849 in the Hashemy. Two large open-air meetings were held with Robert Campbell in the chair. They showed a large majority against transportation and ensured that no more convicts were sent to Sydney. In 1851 Robert was elected to the Legislative Council. In 1856 he resigned and was elected to the new Legislative Assembly; he became colonial treasurer, an office he held almost continuously until he died. His honesty of purpose and untiring industry were so patent that his absence from sittings was never questioned during his illness.

Campbell had become a Freemason at the age of 18, senior warden of his lodge at 19, and worshipful master before he was 21. In 1856 the Freemasons installed him as the first provincial Scottish grand master of the province of Australia.

In 1837 Campbell had been appointed to supervise the building of St Andrew's Cathedral and, also with the rector and the engineer, formed the committee which built the Garrison Church. In 1852 he gave The King's School funds to establish the Broughton and Forrest exhibitions to help students to go to English universities.

In 1835 he had married Annie Sophia, daughter of Edward Riley. He died at Duntroon in 1859. Shops in Sydney and Parramatta closed for the funeral. Some 8000 mourners, including the governor and suite, the chief justice, the speaker and members of parliament, and representatives of the university, The King's School, Freemasons, and all denominations, formed a procession to the family vault. He was a generous, hard-working, self-effacing man who dedicated his life to the service of his country.

At Bligh House which he built in Lower Fort Street, there is a portrait in oils by an unknown artist, and at the Mitchell Library a copy of a drawing (1859) by E. Thomas showing Campbell in Masonic regalia.
Select Bibliography

Historical Records of New South Wales, vols 3-7; F. Clancy, They Built a Nation (Syd, 1939); (A. W. Morton), History of the Garrison Church (Syd, 1956); C. Smith, ‘The Honorable Robert Campbell’, Freemason of New South Wales, 1 Oct 1953; Australian, 30 Oct 1837; Sydney Morning Herald, 23 Oct 1846, 12, 19 June 1849, 9 Apr 1859. More on the resources

Author: C. E. T. Newman

Print Publication Details: C. E. T. Newman, 'Campbell, Robert (1804 - 1859)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 1, Melbourne University Press, 1966, p. 206.

http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010191b.htm
Source References:
6. Type: Book, Abbr: Queanbeyan Register, Title: Biographical register of Canberra and Queanbeyan: from the district to the Australian Capital Territory 1820-1930, Auth: Peter Proctor, Publ: The Heraldry & Genealogical Society of Canberra, Date: 2001
- Reference = 40 (Birth)
- Reference = 40 (Marriage)
- Reference = 40 (Death)
- Reference = 40 (Name, Notes)

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