Michael Massey Robinson
Michael Massey Robinson (1744[1] – 22 December 1826) was a poet and author of the first published verse in Australia.
Biography
Legal troubles
Robinson was an educated man and appears to have practised as a lawyer. In February 1796 he was charged at the Old Bailey, London, for attempting to extort money from James Oldham, a Holborn ironmonger. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. The death sentence was changed to transportation, and he arrived at Sydney on the ship Barwell on 18 May 1798. Richard Dore, the judge-advocate, who had come out on the same vessel, stated that Robinson could be very useful to him and applied for his conditional emancipation. This was granted by Governor Hunter, and nearly two years later Dore made an application on Robinson's behalf for an absolute pardon. Robinson had been his clerk and had conducted himself properly in the meantime, but the second application was refused. In August 1803 Governor King mentioned in a dispatch that Robinson had committed perjury and had been ordered to be transported to Norfolk Island. This sentence, however, was not carried out at the time on account of the difficulty of finding another assistant for the judge-advocate. Governor King sent Robinson to Norfolk Island in 1805, but in December 1806 he was back in Sydney.
Career
In April 1810 he was made first clerk of the government secretary's office, and in this year published the first of his patriotic odes, "Ode on His Majesty's Birthday", 1810. This and the 19 other odes published on the King's and Queen's birthdays between 1810 and 1820 were first printed in the
See also
References
- Serle, Percival (1949). "Robinson, Michael Massey". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
- Clarke, Donovan, “Michael Massey Robinson, (1744-1826),” Australian Dictionary of Biography, accessed 13 June 2019
- Mackaness, George, ed. (1946). Odes of Michael Massey Robinson: First Poet Laureate of Australia (1754-1826). Dubbo, N.S.W. : Review Publications.
Notes
- ^ Also reported as 1747 and 1754. See Robinson at austlit for details