Atkin, Robert Travers
Personal
Birth Date:
29 November 1841 (Fernhill, Clonakilty, County Cork)
Death Date:
25 May 1872 (Sandgate, Queensland)
Parents:
William Francis Atkin and Alice Hungerford (nee Stewart)
Family:
Mary Elizabeth Ruck in London in 1863, 4 sons
Education:
Educated privately in France
Religion:
Church of England
Career
Held commission of lieutenant in the Shropshire Volunteer Corps; Arrived in Queensland in 1865 and took up a selection of land near Rockhampton; Became editor of the Guardian; Founded Queensland Express in partnership with WC Belbridge in August 1868; Established the Queensland Colonist in 1871
Parliamentary Representation
| House | Party | Electorate | From | To | Elected/Departure Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assembly | NONE | Clermont | 1 Oct 1868 | 29 Jan 1869 | |
| Assembly | NONE | East Moreton | 17 Feb 1870 | 7 Mar 1872 | By-election |
Additional Information
Notes:
The eldest son, James Richard (1867-1944), became Baron Atkin of Aberdovey and a judge on the King's Bench. Lord Atkin's leading judgement in one of the most important cases of the common law world, Donoghue v Stevenson in 1832, established the general duty of care in negligence
Sources:
Image courtesy of the Supreme Court Library of Queensland; Carney, Gerard, `Lord Atkin - his Queensland origins'; Morrison, AA, Atkin, Robert Travers (1841-1872), Australian Dictionary of Biography, V.3, Melbourne University Press, 1969, p. 58; Waterson, DB, Biographical Register of the Queensland Parliament: 1860-1929, 2nd revised edition (Sydney: Casket Publications, 2001)
[Last Modified: Monday, 12 December 2016]