[1] He and brother William settled on a property they called Struan Station in Victoria on the River Wannon in the vicinity of modern Coleraine and Merino.
It was around then he acquired the nickname "Poorman Robertson", perhaps from his appearance which contrasted sharply with that of Henty, a rival landholder in Portland, Victoria.
William settled on another of their properties Wando Vale, and John moved to Mosquito Creek near Naracoorte, on an area variously known as Mosquito Plains and Robertsons Plains, where he built a succession of three homes, culminating in the magnificent Struan House in 1875.
[2] Struan House and some 500ha of its original property is now owned by South Australian Department of Agriculture as its regional headquarters.
John Robertson married Susan Ann Tait Cetwill Fraser [1] or Frazer[2] from Inverness at Portland, Victoria in 1855.