Thomas Robertson (II) was the youngest of five children of Thomas Robertson (1785-1872) and his wife Anne (née Lachlan).  The other children were Jane (Jean) (1816-1895); James (1818-1893); Margaret (1820-1909); and John (1822-1905). Each of them married and had 7, 10, 9, and 7 children respectively. Eight of these thirty-eight died before they reached the age of 20.
 
In 1839 the Robertsons emigrated to Australia and arrived at Port Phillip, the large bay on which Melbourne and Geelong are situated, on board the

John Bull

 on January 21st 1840. The elder Thomas took with him his children (his son Thomas was then fifteen) and the six children of his sister Mary Gordon and her husband, both dead by that time; the youngest of their children was 11 years old. The Robertson family had been Presbyterians in Scotland, and when they got to Australia they seem to have married other Scots, probably also Presbyterians.

baptised on 5th April 1824 in Glenmuick, Aberdeenshire, Scotland,
died on 10th March 1904 at Merioola, Sydney, Australia

Above: Thomas Robertson jr.

Thomas Robertson (II) was a son of

(I) and Anne Lachlan. He married

 on 5th August 1871; they had 5

f

children, among them

,  Robin and Katya Müllers great -grandmother.

Thomas junior received the right to

Yarram Yarram

and

Wannon

runs and all lands owned by the brothers in the parishes of Walgania, Parrie Yalloak and Bunnugal; also the right to

Victoria Valley

,

Moora Moora

and

Mount Burchett

runs.
 
Thomas senior died at Mount Mitchell on 5th June 1872, aged 86, after living 32 years in Australia. His home was a large house built of local stone in 1861.

However he did not stay with this new profession. After Thomas' father, together with his son-in-law William Skene (the partnership was to be dissolved, though, in 1851), had bought stock and started two farming stations,

and Maiden Hills (finally gazetted in October 1848), he also acquired the Moora Moora run in 1848, and sent his sons John and Thomas to superintend it.
 
There followed a period of massive development. Gold was discovered in New South Wales and Victoria; fortune-seekers flooded in. The Robertson stuck with their sheep, and prospered enormously. They were part of the "squattocracy", squatter aristocracy who had parcelled up great tracts of Australia.

"....The demolition of grand houses and their grounds often took place in stages. The Gardens of Merioola, a vast mansion built in 1859 in Edgecliff Road, were taken up with residential subdivision in the early 1920s. The house itself was demolished for a block of flats in 1952. ...."
  - Sydney's Century: A History, by Peter Spearritt, UNSW Press, 1999.
 
Edgecliff Road runs North-South for most of its length. Rosemont Ave makes a T junction on its western side (left on the map), so Merioola stood on the corner to the south of the Avenue.

Most of the following information is taken from reports by John Humphreys

The younger members of the family were found jobs - Thomas junior was apprenticed to a printer, believed to be the publisher of the

Port Philip Gazette

(one of three newspapers produced in Melbourne at the time). His father wrote in a letter*: "... Thomas is Bound to a printer for 5 years, he gets Board and Lodging & 5/- per Week for the first, 10/- per Week the second 15/- per Week the third & 20/- per Week the fourth & 30/- per Week the fifth year so the average he has upwards of 40 [pounds] a year ...."

Thomas Robertson junior married in 1871 at the age of 47. His bride was

, daughter of a Scottish father

and an English mother

.
 
Diana Halmarick tells the story that Grace was working as a Governess for Thomas' brother John Robertson when John and his family were living at Victoria Valley. Thomas and Grace were married at Menzies Hotel, Melbourne on 15th August 1871, in a Presbyterian service conducted by Rev. John Clark.

Left:
Taken about 1885, this photograph of "Mrs. Tom Robertson of Toggan- ma..."  (Toganmain) and one of her children (probably John Sey- mour, possibly Grace) comes from Mrs. Lyell Horwood's family album. We are very grateful for her contributions.

In 1872 Thomas senior did not have long to live, and a Deed of Dissolution was signed on 9th February. The firm's holdings were then valued at £291,150. A Deed of Arrangement made the same day divided the property between the three brothers James, John and Thomas. (The holdings would now {2016} be worth between £23 million and £429 million, depending how the value is calculated.).

Above: Thomas Robertson. The photograph comes from Mrs. Lyell Horwood's family album. We are very grateful for her contributions.