Major A P A Robertson O.B.E.

[Guest]

I started out doing research on a totally different topic - with no connection to either WW1 or WW2, it started out with the ownership papers of Triumph Vitesse I had bought

 

The first owner was a Anna Margaret Loveday Robertson who bought the car new in New Zealand in 1968 - however when I went looking I found evidence to suggest that Anna was married to Major A P A Robertson O.B.E (Alexander or Alick Page Anderson) who would have been born I think in 1899 and was I think a 2nd lieutenant when joining WW1 in 1917/18 and at the end of the war ranked as Lieutenant in the WW2 he rose to the rank of Major (48402)  at some point in time he was awarded an OBE and eventually came out to NZ sometime after 1949. In 1982 A P A Robertson passed away and is buried in the Marsden cemetery in Nelson NZ

 

What I would like to  confirm is Alick's marriage to Anna Margaret Loveday Roberts

And Is there any history on Alick both during the war and after? such as what the OBE was awarded for

 

And I think most of all - Have Alick remembered he is buried so far from home 

 

My family had one family member serve in the 2nd Boer war,  at least 2 family members killed in WW1,  three members that served in the airforce during WW2, and another who has since served in the airforce after WW2 - they are all remembered 

 

If anyone could shed any light on Alick I would be most interested

 

Kind regards Glen Jenkins

 

 

 

A P A Robertson.pdf

[Peter Wright]

This is most interesting and helpful. Alec Anderson Robertson was my great uncle, and i am currently doing a lot of research on his parents, siblings and their spouses. I also have his ancestry going back a further 3 generations. I was aware of some of what you have provided, but not all. As to the OBE, i will endeavour to find out, not least as i am MBE myself. The quest goes on....

Peter Wright 

Wright.pete@hotmail.co.uk

[MaxD]

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35396/page/7327 is the London Gazette dated 30 Dec 1941 publishing of his OBE, (Bottom right of the page.  Previous page has the heading of the list he is in)

 

Max

Edited 7 January , 2019 by MaxD
add info

[Peter Wright]

Many thanks for this. My reading of it is that he received the OBE for military service. That's is what follows his name on the list, that defines the reason. my MBE was for `services to the Duke of Edinburgh`s Award and young people`.

 

[George Rayner]

Do you know if Alick was a doctor? No this is not the correct person!

 

Found a MIC for him(?) as 2nd Lt in Royal Highlanders. Is that possible?

 

George

May 1922 visited elder brother Erie(?). A Robertson in Canada

 

UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960 92 Hyndland Road Glasgow. Listed as Engineer both Alick and Anna travelling from Lagos in 1934

Edited 8 January , 2019 by George Rayner

[MaxD]

LG July 1916 Alexander Page Robertson MB -  Lt to Capt in the RAMC  (poss dentist in Glasgow 1897??)

 

LG Sep 1918 Alexander Page Anderson Robertson cadet to be 2 Lt in Royal Highlanders  then 1941 OBE for Major .APA...  same man (Medal card for Great War service in Black Watch as George notes)

 

Are these the same man?  Related?

 

Max

[Peter Wright]

Yes, I think we are talking about the same man. Alexander/Alick/Alec Page Anderson Robertson. The surname is double barrelled (and very unusual thereby), but not hyphenated. Born Aug 25th 1899 at 6 St James Terrace, Glasgow. Parents: Rev Dr James Anderson Robertson, and Mary (Weir). He married Anna Alcock in 1928. He had two full sisters, Dorothy b 1895, and Kathleen b 1903. Other half siblings: Muriel b 1880, Eric b 1887 9emigrated to BC Canada), Mary b 1886, James b 1883 (became school teacher), Mildred b 1882, and Minnie b 1881. I think it was his uncle Alexander Page A Robertson b 1847 who was the dentist in Gourock, but trained in Glasgow. I will need to do another little bit of cross referencing for you.

 

Peter

[Peter Wright]

p.s: the only male Anderson Robertson who became a Doctor/Physician/Surgeon/Dentist  was James (1853 - 1922). it was he, I think, who visited Eric in Canada in or just before 1922. Alick`s sister Dorothy, m Edward Primrose 1919, was also a `Physician Surgeon`.

 

Peter

[MaxD]

Now you give the date of birth, the Black Watch man (OBE etc) is clearly not the RAMC man who was already MB (5 years training) in 1916 and a lieutenant just about to be captain.  Despite the similarity in the names they can't be the same man (the MB has no "Anderson" in the London Gazette at any rate).

 

Max

[George Rayner]

There are a lot of sea journeys listed. On 28-4-1950 both Alick and Anna listed as departing Liverpool arriving Vancouver en route to New Zealand to live. Alick listed as Government Official.

George

...but can find no confirmation of wedding at all!

Edited 8 January , 2019 by George Rayner

[Peter Wright]

Like yourself, I can find no record of the wedding, but since it was in 1928, it post-dates the info available on www.scotlandspeople.org. Somewhere in my reams of papers, I do have a note that Anna Alcock did come from Glasgow, though her family did not originate there. By the time that they would appear to have married, his parents were dead. I do have a quote form a letter that his father James Anderson Robertson wrote in 1921 to his daughter Kathleen AR (then aged 18)  in Canada, where she was staying with her brother Eric (Alic`s brother): "if Alec gets his degree next year (1922) he will be free to travel to Canada to bring you back". I find there is a bit of confusion between various records, as he is sometimes referred to as Alexander A (Robertson) in Census returns. But his Birth Certificate is clear "Alexander Page Anderson Robertson" at 6 St James Terrace, Glasgow on 9th Aug 1899. Our Alec/Alic/Alexander was initially a mining Engineer in Nigeria.

The quest goes on.

[Peter Wright]

This is almost certainly Alic`s father: Rev Dr James Anderson Robertson - photo taken not long after he took holy orders in 1907, aged about 52.