Sir Alexander MacRobert, 1st Baronet

He came from a working-class background and left school when he was twelve to start his working life sweeping floors in Stoneywood Paper Mill; his education was continued by attending evening classes and he gained several qualifications as his early career progressed.

[2] He left school when he was twelve and, like many other Aberdeen youngsters of the same age at that time, was employed at Stoneywood Paper Mill, initially sweeping floors.

[4] He went on to gain qualifications at the Aberdeen Mechanics' Institute in seventeen disciplines including music theory, biology, history and psychology.

[7] During 1880 MacRobert undertook a trip to New Brunswick, Canada, to visit his parents and siblings – he had six sisters and a younger brother – who had emigrated and successfully become established as "pioneer farmers of the west.

[14] Three years after he had taken up his position, the mill had been transformed from an unprofitable enterprise with a small staff to a lucrative manufacturing company with diverse interests and over 2,000 employees.

[4] Her death led to MacRobert, who by then was wealthy with a high status and influence,[19] making a donation of £25,000 in 1906 to initiate research into the cause, prevention and cure for the disease to be undertaken in the Faculty of Medicine at Aberdeen University.

[4] James Meston, a fellow Aberdonian who at the time was serving as the Lieutenant-Governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, laid the foundation stone in 1916; the hospital opened in 1920[21] by Sir Spencer Harcourt Butler, who referred to MacRobert as "The King of Cawnpore".

[27] Rachel did not like India and refused to live in the country although MacRobert devoted most of his time to continuing to build his conglomerate there; she referred to it as "that nasty land".

[41] The British India Corporation was nationalised in 1981 but two of MacRobert's original woollen mills, those at Kanpur and Dhariwal, remained operational during the 21st century.