Michael Massey Robinson (1744—22 December 1826) was a poet and author of the first published verse in Australia.
Robinson was an educated man and appears to have practised as a lawyer. In February 1796 he was charged at the Old Bailey, London, for attempting to extort money from James Oldham, a Holborn ironmonger. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. The death sentence was changed to transportation, and he arrived at Sydney on the ship Bar...
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Michael Massey Robinson (1744—22 December 1826) was a poet and author of the first published verse in Australia.
Robinson was an educated man and appears to have practised as a lawyer. In February 1796 he was charged at the Old Bailey, London, for attempting to extort money from James Oldham, a Holborn ironmonger. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. The death sentence was changed to transportation, and he arrived at Sydney on the ship Barwell on 18 May 1798. Richard Dore, the judge-advocate, who had come out on the same vessel, stated that Robinson could be very useful to him and applied for his conditional emancipation. This was granted by Governor Hunter and nearly two years later Dore made an application on Robinson's behalf for an absolute pardon. Robinson had been his clerk and had conducted himself properly in the meantime, but the second application was refused. In August 1803 Governor King mentioned in a dispatch that Robinson had committed perjury and had been ordered...
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