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SHEFFIELD Chess History |
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John George Robson |
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Non-Chess Life
John George Robson was born in 1807 or 1808, in Sunderland, Co. Durham. Quite when he arrived in Sheffield in unclear, but he must have already been known in Sheffield in 1849.
He is elusive in the 1841 census though he was quite likely already resident in Sheffield at the time, as he married Betsey Crompton Carr (born 1811, Sheffield), in Sheffield, on 13/11/1841. The couple had two children, both born in Sheffield:
The 1851 census found 43-year-old John George Robson, his wife, the two sons, and two servants living at Springfield Place, Glossop Road, Sheffield. John was an iron-founder, with his Green Lane foundry employing 120 men.
Next door lived the family of foreign-merchant Hiram Cutler, which included 16-year-old future chess-player George Octavius Cutler.
The 1861 census found the Robson family of four, and one servant, still at the same address, though it was described as 341 Glossop Road. (The Cutlers, including George Octavius Cutler, still lived next door.) Besides being an iron-founder, John George Robson was now listed as an alderman.
The 1871 census found the Robson family of four, and one servant, still at 341 Glossop Road. John was now a stove and grate manager. (Quite what had happened to the iron foundry is unclear.)
Wife Betsey Crompton Robson died in 1874, in Sheffield.
The 1881 census found widower John George Robson living with just a servant at 385 Glossop Road. 73-year-old John still as a manager in the stove and great trade. (The census incorrectly gave his age as 75.)
Death
John George Robson seems to have died in London, in 1885.
Chess
John George Robson was the first president, in 1849-50, of the Sheffield Athenaeum and Mechanics Institution Chess Club.
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Created 23/07/2014 |
Copyright © 2014 Stephen John Mann |
Last Updated 23/07/2014 |