David Robbie (Fijian politician)
David Robbie | |
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| Member of the Legislative Council for Levuka | |
| In office 1905–1908 | |
| Succeeded by | John Maynard Hedstrom |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 4 March 1849 Forfar, United Kingdom |
| Died | 1940 (age 91) Levuka, Fiji |
| Profession | Sailor, Trader, Planter |
Captain David Robbie (4 March 1849 – 1940) was a Scottish-born businessman, planter and politician in Fiji. He served as a member of the Legislative Council between 1905 and 1908.
Biography
[edit]Robbie was born in the Scottish town of Forfar in 1849.[1] After being educated in the town, his first job was as a telegraph clerk in the Scottish Railway Company.[1] He then became a sailor, joining a ship trading between Australia and eastern India. In 1872 he moved to the Thames goldfield in New Zealand, before becoming a coastal trader. He then moved to Fiji in 1876, where he bought his own boat, a schooner named Midge,[2] and traded across the Pacific islands.[1] A sunken lagoon that he discovered to the north-east of Wallis was named Robbie Shoal.[2]
He became a manager in the Kopsen & Co company in Suva in 1882. After the company's premises burnt down in 1889, he moved to Levuka, where he married and started running the Royal Hotel.[2] He subsequently established his own merchants firm, Robbie and Evans,[1] which was later bought by Burns Philp.[3] He then established a cocoa, coffee, rubber, tea and vanilla plantation on Vanua Levu.[1] Due to his influence in business, he became President of the Levuka Chamber of Commerce.[1] He also acted as Harbourmaster at Levuka on several occasions.[4]
Robbie entered local politics in Levuka, serving as a member of Levuka Town Council for over two decades.[4] He was also warden and mayor of the town, and chaired the town's school board.[1] In 1905 he contested the Levuka seat in the first elections to the Fijian Legislative Council, and was elected unopposed.[5] However, in the 1908 elections he lost by four votes to John Maynard Hedstrom.[5] He challenged Hedstrom again in the 1911 elections, but lost by six votes.[5]
After retiring he lived on his Wainunu estate on Vanua Levu. His wife died in 1924,[6] and Robbie died in Levuka in 1940.[3] He was described as "tall, and very erect... even to his nineties".[7]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g Grand old man of Levuka Pacific Islands Monthly, April 1939, p56
- ^ a b c When Captain David Robbie fooled the police Pacific Islands Monthly, September 1940, pp35–37
- ^ a b Death of Captain D. Robbie Pacific Islands Monthly, August 1940, p19
- ^ a b Obituary Daily Commercial News and Shipping List, 13 September 1940, p2
- ^ a b c Ahmed Ali Fiji and the Franchise: A History of Political Representation, 1900–1937
- ^ Obituary The Brisbane Courier, 8 April 1924, p13
- ^ Whonsbon-Aston, Charles William (8 August 1970). "1". Pacific Irishman: William Floyd inaugural memorial lecture. Retrieved 3 April 2020.