Alan Robertson, 21 February 1920 - 25 April 1989

Abstract

Alan Robertson was born on 21 February 1920 at a nursing home in Preston, although his parents lived in Liverpool. His father, John Mouat Robertson, was in the Signals Branch of the Post Office. He was a self-taught linguist of exceptional ability and subsequently served as an interpreter in the War Office. He was also good in a wide range of sports. Alan’s mother, Annie Grace, came from a farming family and was one of six children, but the only one who married. Her eldest brother, John Hilton Grace, was a mathematician; he was second wrangler at Cambridge in 1895, where he spent most of the rest of his life, and was elected to the Royal Society in 1908. He was, however, of intemperate habits (Todd 1958) and was apparently cut off from the family, so Alan did not know him during his own time in Cambridge. It is of note that Alan had mathematical, linguistic and sporting talents. Alan was the second child, but his elder sister had died of tuberculosis before he was born. His mother died a few days after his birth, so he was brought up by his aunt, Bessie Grace, on the family farm at Halewood, near Liverpool. The farm was run by his uncle, Willie Grace, who was considered a very enterprising individual and a pioneer in stock husbandry.