Adam Forster

[1] He was born the 5th son of Dorothee Caroline Metger and Christian Heinrich Wiarda, who was at that time President of the Supreme High Court of Aurich in Lower Saxony.

After two years of study he was drafted to serve in the Franco-Prussian War, became an officer in the Prussian Guard, and was awarded the Iron Cross, First Class.

In about 1890, after some failed business ventures, but also influenced by the unsettled political situation in the Cape, he left Mary and their 3 children in Port Elizabeth while he sailed for Australia to see whether it offered a more promising future.

His growing interest in the flora of Australia led to his setting himself the goal of illustrating a thousand Australian plants.

The project was at first abandoned, but was revived 10 years later by George Ferguson, Robertson's grandson, and eventually published in 1939 as "Wild Flowers of Australia" with text by Thistle Yolette Harris.