James Robin (pronounced ROE-bin) (14 November 1817 – 23 July 1894) was a prominent businessman in the early days of colonial South Australia.
Around 1835 he left for Brazil, where he spent six years with the firm of Bramley Moore & Co,[1] returned to Liverpool, where he established a shipping agency, and married a daughter (1820 – c. 1 August 1907) of Thomas Rowland of Gravesend, in 1844.
He suffered from a speech defect which prevented him from public speaking, but was an ardent Methodist church-goer,[2] and was the prime mover behind the formation of Prince Alfred College at the Wesleyan Lecture Hall, Pirie Street.
In 1854, Charles, his brother James and Henry Ayers purchased part of the section from Dr. Benjamin Archer Kent without reference to his previous partners.
Properties in Adelaide and Melbourne (shops in Swanston, La Trobe and Elizabeth streets) which he owned, or had mortgages on, had been liquidated for a fraction of their purchase price without his knowledge.