Who along with John McQueen, were accused of co-owning a Slave Factory (trading post) on the Saint Paul River, nowadays in Liberia.
He was sentenced to 14 years transportation to Australia, though it later transpired that he was not in Sierra Leone at the time, and that the charge was not valid.
In 1816 he married Rachael Walker and they lived in some style, in Hunter Street in the centre of Sydney, where trade in all manner of goods was conducted.
Then, in 1817, with their firstborn child Elizabeth, they returned to Bootle, Lancashire, but in 1821 they were travelling again, this time to Hobart in Tasmania on the vessel 'Jessie', which arrived 26/2/1821'.
Robert also went into ship-building for a period, building a sloop/cutter called "Governor Arthur", which was launched from Newtown, Tasmania in November 1824.