Macpherson Robertson

Sir Macpherson Robertson KBE (6 September 1859 – 20 August 1945) was an Australian philanthropist, entrepreneur and founder of confectionery company MacRobertson's.

Macpherson Robertson was born in Ballarat, Victoria. He was a son of a Scottish carpenter, David Robertson and his Irish wife, Margaret (née Browne). The family came to Ballarat in search of gold, but fell on hard times, with the father abandoning them and moving to Fiji. In 1869 his mother returned to Leith, in Scotland with Macpherson, his three siblings and one other child on the way.

In Scotland at the age of nine, Macpherson started working to support that family, eventually taking an apprenticeship with the Victoria Confectionery Co. In 1874 the family returned to Australia at the request of his father, living in the Melbourne working class suburb of Fitzroy. Using skills he acquired in Scotland, in 1878 at the age of 19, Macpherson set up a confectionery manufacturing operation in his mother's home bathroom. He made confectionery on Mondays to Thursdays and sold them around Melbourne on Fridays and Saturdays.

His business quickly grew as Mac Robertson Steam Confectionery Works. By the late 1880s the business employed thirty people. The company introduced chewing-gum and fairy floss to Australia as well as well known confectionery names including Freddo Frog,Cherry Ripe, Old Gold Chocolates, Milk Kisses and Columbines. By 1900, it had become the largest confectionery works in Australia with agencies in every state. As part of his marketing strategy, Macpherson maintained a distinctive whiteness to everything he could - the buildings in the Fitzroy factory complex were all painted white and all of his several thousand employees wore white uniforms. Macpherson himself ensured he was always seen in public dressed immaculately in white and rode in a carriage behind two white ponies. The factory complex became known as White City.

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