Author: Robb, William
Biography:
ROBB, William (1763-1830?: ancestry.co.uk)
Episcopal clergyman. The eldest of nine children, he was born at Logie Newton, near Auchterless, Aberdeenshire, to Jean (Syme) and George Robb. Little is known about his education, but he became a schoolmaster at Culsalmond, Aberdeenshire, before being appointed a minister at Pittenweem in 1789. He became curate at St. Andrews in 1789 and was made the parish priest in 1791; he remained there for the rest of his working life. The title page of his Poems Illustrative of the Genius and Influence of Christianity identifies him as chaplain to Lord Elibank; this was Alexander Murray who became the 7th Lord Elibank in 1789. Robb never married and he died at Aberdeen. The preface and notes to his Monody in the Prospect of Death, written when he was ill in 1821, state his conviction that his symptoms resulted from overuse of a patent medicine, Gowland’s Lotion (popularly used to treat skin conditions but adulterated with mercury). (ancestry.co.uk 2 Sept. 2020) SR
Other Names:
- Mr. Robb
- W. Robb