He was the son of James Robertson, a merchant and Baillie in Aberdeen.
[1] In 1740 he was elected Provost of Aberdeen in place of William Chalmers.
[2] Around 1747 he purchased the estate of Glasgowego for £800 from William Mollyson, a merchant in Aberdeen and son of Alexander Mollyson (d.1736), magistrate in Old Aberdeen.
[3] He married Jean Strachan and they had nine children six of whom died in infancy.
[4] A second daughter Jean Robertson (d. 1773) married Alexander Lumsden, advocate in Aberdeen.