Page:Men of the Time, eleventh edition.djvu/954

 ROBINSON— EOBY.

m

in March, 1872. In Aug., 1874, he proceeded to the Fiji Islands for the purpose of settling matters between the British Government and the native power. On Oct. 15, he accepted the unconditional ces- sion of the islands, annexed them to the British Empire, and hoisted the British flag. For some time he retained in his own hands the general supervision of the Provi- sional Government which he estab- lished. In Jan., 1875, he was created a Grand Cross of the Order of SS. Michael and George, in re- cognition of his services in connec- tion with the cession of ihe Fiji Islands. He was, in Dec, 1878, appointed Governor of New Zea- land, in succession to the Marquis of Normanby. He was appointed Governor of the Cape of Good Hope in the place of Sir Bartle Frere, in Aug., 1880, but he came home before assuming the Government, which was administered in the meantime by Sir George Strahan, the Governor of Tasmania. On May 22, 1883, he was sworn of the Privy Council.

ROBINSON, John Richabd, bom at Witham, Essex, Nov. 2, 1828, became connected at an early age with provincial journalism. On coming to London in 1846 he joined the paper which had been known as Douglas Jerrold's News- paper, and soon afterwards under- took the editorship of The Evening Express. This was the property of the Daily News, and Mr. Robinson soon took an active part in the conduct of the morning paper. On the change of proprietorship in 1868, when the Daily News joined the ranks of the penny papers, he •was appointed sole manager. On the outbreak of the Franco-Gtorman War in 1870 he developed an effective system of special corre- spondence, and in his selection of writers, as well as in his method of oi^anisation, was very successful. His management during the cam- paign in Ashanti, the Zulu war, and |

the Russo-Turkish war, was distin- guished by equal initiative faculty and fertility of resource. During the Franco-German war Mr. Robin- son suggested that a fund should be raised for the relief of the French peasants in the occupied districts of the North-West, and upwards of ^20,000 was subscribed under his auspices, the whole of which was distributed without one shilling being taken from the fund for ex- penses. For many years Mr. Robinson was a copious contributor to the columns of the American press, including the Boston Adver- tiser and the Chicago Tribvaie. He has also edited a work on short- hand.

ROBY, Henby John, M.A., son of Henry Wood Roby, solicitor; was born at Tamworth, Aug. 12, 1830. From the Grammar School at Bridgnorth he proceeded to St. John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1853, being first in the first class of the Classical Tri- pos. He has been Fellow and As- sistant Tutor of his College, and Examiner in the University in Law, Classics, and Moral Sciences. Mr. Roby took an active part in pro- moting reform in his college, and in the university under the Cam- bridge University Act, and pub- lished a pamphlet on the subject — " Remarks on College Reform," 1868. He left Cambridge in 1861, in which year he married Matilda, elder daughter of P. A. Ermen, Esq., of Dawlish. He was Under Master of Dulwich College Upper School, 1861-65, and Professor of Jurisprudence at University Col- lege, London, 1866-68, lecturing on Roman Law. He was appointed by the Crown Secretary to the Schools Inquiry Commission, Dec. 28, 1864, and Secretary to the En- dowed Schools Commission, Aug. 3, 1869; and one of the Endowed School Commissioners, March 25, 1872. The latter Commission ex- pired Dec. 31, 1874. He has since been engaged in business in Man-