John Robinson was speaker of House of Burgesses and an treasurer of the colony born on 03. 02. 1704 in Virginia, United States. He was, after the governor, the most powerful man in the province
Background
John Robinson was the grandson of Christopher Robinson who emigrated from England to Virginia in the seventeenth century, the son of John and Catherine (Beverley) Robinson, and the brother of Beverley Robinson. His father was a man of considerable consequence in the colony, having inherited the estate of an uncle, John Robinson, the Bishop of London, and having held, for a short time, the office of president of the Council.
Education
John Robinson was educated at the College of William and Mary and in 1736 became a member of the House of Burgesses from the county of King and Queen.
Career
He became speaker of the House and treasurer of the colony, both of which offices he held until his death. His administration, however, ended in disaster to himself. In 1765 panic bore down upon Virginia, and the treasury found it difficult to redeem certain notes which it had previously issued and which now fell due. An investigation into the financial situation was ordered by the House of Burgesses under the leadership of Richard Henry Lee. The following year Robinson died, and a report showed that his accounts were short by more than one hundred thousand pounds. It appeared that he had been induced not to destroy notes the treasury had redeemed, as required by law, but to reissue them. For these treasury notes he had received the personal notes of the borrowers. The executors of his estate proposed that they make good the deficit out of his property, but the Revolution came on before the transaction was completed. In 1765 and 1767 efforts were made to establish a public loan office on the basis of capital to be borrowed in England, but both attempts were defeated by the Council (Eckenrode, post, pp. 15-17). It has been charged that the first of these attempts was an effort on the part of Robinson to transfer his loans to the public account, but there is no direct evidence to substantiate the accusation. While the treasurer was guilty of a breach of trust, it is not clear that he was guilty of a design to defraud the public. Proceedings were never instituted against the borrowers, whose notes Robinson had taken, nor were their names ever published. Some reform was accomplished, however, in that Robert Carter Nicholas, who had had a part in the exposure of the scandal, was now made treasurer, and Peyton Randolph became speaker of the House (Charles Campbell, History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia, 1860, pp. 544-48). John Robinson was typical of the colonial aristocracy of Virginia. He belonged to a distinguished family, was wealthy, suave, and popular. His home was at "Mount Pleasant" on the Mattapony in King and Queen County.
Achievements
Personality
John Robinson was typical of the colonial aristocracy of Virginia. He belonged to a distinguished family, was wealthy, suave, and popular. His home was at "Mount Pleasant" on the Mattapony in King and Queen County. He was married three times. For more than a quarter of a century he was, after the governor, the most powerful man in the province, but his fall ruined his house, and Virginia has made every effort to forget him.
Connections
He was married three times, first to Mary Storey, then to Lucy Moore, and last to Susanna Chiswell, the daughter of Col. John Chiswell of Williamsburg.