Author: Robertson, Alexander
Biography:
ROBERTSON, Alexander (d c. 1814)
pseudonym Alexis
The author of Poems, on Various Occasions, printed in Calcutta in 1818, succeeded John Howard in 1808 as third officer of the “Baring,” a privately owned ship commissioned to the East India Company (EIC) to convey passengers and goods between Portsmouth, Madras, and Bengal. The poet therefore was a merchant marine officer, not an officer of the EIC. His origins, life dates, parentage, and marital status are unknown. He states in his volume that his only sister was resident for six years at Prince of Wales’s Island, Eastern Straights, and that he had made five voyages aboard the “Baring.” His poem “On Seeing Miss Julia Eliza Twisleton” first appeared in the 17 July 1807 Madras Government Gazette; “The Vision of the Bishop of St. Andero. An Ode” in the Aug. 1808 European Magazine under the pseudonym “Alexis.” His death took place between 1812 and 1814: the terminus a quo is 1812, a year referred to in his “Amatory Poems, From Alexis to Fannia”; the terminus ad quem is 1814, when the British government purchased the “Baring” for use as a convict ship. (threedecks.org 5 Mar. 2024) JC