William Robinson

Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson (14 January 1834 – 2 May 1897) was an Irish colonial administrator and musical composer, who wrote several well-known songs. He was born in County Westmeath, Ireland, and was educated at home and at the Royal Naval School. He joined the Colonial Office service in 1858 and became the president of Montserrat in 1862.

He married Olivia Edith Deane in 1862. He began serving as governor of the Falkland Islands in May 1866 and governed Prince Edward Island from 1870–1873, helping the island join a union with Canada. He became the governor of the Leeward Islands in 1874 and served his first term as the Western Australia governor from 1875–1877.

He was appointed governor of the Straits Settlements in 1877 and served as governor of Western Australia a second term from April 1880 to February 1883. Robinson became the governor of South Australia in 1883 until 1889. He was a temporary governor of Victoria, Australia in 1889, but was unable to be appointed permanently. He served his third term as governor of Western Australia from 1890–1895. He retired from his career in March 1895, at age 61. He then travelled to England and died on 2 May 1897, in South Kensington, London.

Read more about this composer on Wikipedia.