Date of Birth: 28/04/1769
Place of Birth: Greenock, Scotland
Date of Death: 15/04/1846
Place of Death: 'Duntroon' near Queanbeyan, New South Wales now Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Parliamentary Service
| Member of the NSW Legislative Council |
17 Jul 1825 |
05 Jan 1843 |
17 years 5 months 20 days |
An Appointed Member of the first Legislative Council 1824 - 1843 |
Qualifications, occupations and interests
Merchant, pastoralist, and philanthropist. Went into business with his brother John as a partner in the Calcutta Agency House which became Campell & Company. In April 1798, Campbell left for New South Wales in an attempt to develop a trading connection. Took up residence on land purchased in 1798 at Dawes Point, where he had begun to build warehouses and a private wharf. Campbell with an intimate knowledge of the colonial economy, quickly became involved in public administration. In May 1807 he was appointed as a magistrate and Naval Officer and became colonial treasurer when management of the police and orphan funds devolved on him.
Military Service
Naval Officer
Membership of other Parliaments & Offices Held
Local Government Activity
Personal
Youngest surviving son of the ten children of John Campbell, laird of Ashfield and writer and town clerk of Greenock, Scotland, and his wife Agnes Paterson.
His second son Robert Campbell (1804 - 1859) was also a Member of the first Legislative Council and a Member of the Legislative Assembly. (Robert Campbell junior (1789 - 1851) who was not ever a Member of Parliament, was Robert senior's nephew, son of his brother William). His eldest son John Campbell (1802 - 1886) was also a Member of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. His son-in-law, Arthur Jeffreys, husband of his daughter Sarah Campbell, was also a Member of the first Legislative Council.
Married in November 1801 to Sophia Palmer, sister of the commissary John Palmer and had issue, 7 children. Campbell died at Duntroon and was buried at St John's, Parramatta.
Additional Information
Australian Dictionary ogf Biography, Volume 1
A biography is on the 'Electric Scotland' Website:
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/australia/campbell_robert.htm
