Andrew Robertson, 30 January 1883 - 22 October 1977

Abstract

Andrew Robertson was born in Fleetwood, Lancashire, on 30 January 1883. His father, James, was a marine engineer working in the small port there, and his mother Elizabeth had been born a Robertson, but was not a relative. They had six children, of whom Andrew was the youngest. There were four older brothers and one sister. George, the oldest, succeeded to the family business and later, becoming active in local government, was Fleetwood’s first mayor. James Alexander, the second son, developed a steam trawler fishing business and before his death was awarded the O.B.E. for services to local hospital and education affairs. John, a quiet bookish man, become secretary to the family business, and Harry, the youngest of Andrew’s four brothers, in due course succeeded George as head of the marine engineering firm. Their one sister, Margaret, born between Harry and Andrew, never married but worked for most of her life as a housekeeper and devoted her spare time to the local Congregational Church. Andrew’s home was run on strict Victorian lines with a strong non-conformist bias. Money was short and to be husbanded, not squandered, and anything approaching hire purchase was to be eschewed. But that did not result in any meanness in the family; all the children were later to show generosity in dealings with their churches, with each other, and with their friends. Andrew in later life, though amused to look back on the strictness of his upbringing, never regretted the simple honest routine of his family home.