[2] Having obtained his diploma as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, England, he emigrated to Tasmania, where he married Scotland-born Jemima Patterson in 1823 and was appointed Government medical officer for New Norfolk in 1824.
Sir Robert paid a brief visit to Victoria whilst the gold fever was at its height; but ultimately returned to Tasmania, where, after filling the post of Assistant Colonial Surgeon, he retired from the medical profession, resigning his practice to Dr.
In the following year the new Constitution Act was passed, and when the first election under the bi-cameral system took place, in September 1856, Sir Robert Officer was returned to the House of Assembly for the district of Glenorchy.
[3] This position he held uninterrupted until April 1877, having been four times re-elected in the interval, and having throughout the whole term of his Speakership been returned unopposed for Glenorchy.
[2] Sir Robert was knighted in 1869; and after his resignation of the Speakership he retired to live at Hall Green, his residence near New Norfolk.