Robert Campbell (1769–1846)
| Robert Campbell | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Robert Campbell by unknown artist
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| Born | 28 April 1769 Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland |
| Died |
15 April 1846 (aged 77) Duntroon, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia) |
| Spouse(s) | Sophia Palmer (1777–1833) |
| Children |
John Campbell (1802–1886) Robert Campbell (1804–1859) Sophia Ives Campbell (1807–1809) Charles Campbell (1810–1888) Sarah Jeffreys nee Campbell (1815–?) George P. Campbell (1818–1881) Frederick Marsden Campbell (1821–1885) |
| Parent(s) |
John Campbell (1728-?) (9th Laird of Ashfield) & Agnes Paterson (1729-?) |
15 April 1846 (aged 77)
Duntroon, near Queanbeyan,
New South Wales, Australia
Robert Campbell (1769–1846) was a merchant and politician in Sydney. He was a member of the first New South Wales Legislative Council.Campbell, a suburb of Canberra was named in his honour.
Campbell was born in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland and at the age of 27 moved to India to join his older brother John. In India he and his brother were partners in Campbell Clark & Co., merchants of Calcutta, which in July 1799 became Campbell & Co. when the Clarkes gave up their interest in the firm. In 1798 Robert Campbell with a cargo from Calcutta visited Sydney to develop a trading connexion there, and he also purchased some land at Dawes Point near the western entrance of Sydney Cove. In February 1800 he returned to Sydney with another cargo to both settle in Sydney, and to establish a branch of Campbell & Co. In 1801 he married Commissary John Palmer's sister Sophia Palmer (1777–1833). After settling in Sydney he built the private Campbell's wharf and warehouses on his land at Dawes Point, and developed a large business as a general merchant.
In the early years Campbell & Co.'s business dealings involved importing goods and spirits from Calcutta for sale in Sydney, but not all voyages were successful. For example, in 1802 the Campbell & Co. brig the Fly, captained by John Black, and "laden with piece and other valuable goods" was lost at sea on its return voyage from Kolkata to Sydney. Despite losses such as this Campbell & Co. was heavily involved in the Australian trade, having £50,000 worth of goods in its Sydney warehouses in 1804. As part of its import business the firm also fulfilled government contracts for supplies from India, mainly livestock for the Sydney and Derwent settlements, which Governor Philip Gidley King calculated had brought Campbell's firm £16,000 from the government alone between 1800 and 1804.
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