Son of Sir George Robinson, 1st Baronet and Margaret Southwell, the natural daughter of Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Suffolk,[1] he succeeded to the baronetcy on 13 February 1832.
[3] He was appointed third Superintendent of British Trade in China alongside Lord Napier and John Francis Davis in December 1833.
[7] British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerton effectively dismissed Robinson in line with "the intention of His Majesty’s Government to reduce the establishment in China" through a dispatch dated 7 June 1836, in which he wrote: "It, therefore, now becomes my duty to acquaint you, that His Majesty’s Government have decided to abolish at once the office and salary of Chief Superintendent.
to Captain Elliot all the archives of the Commission; which will, of course, include copies of every despatch, and its inclosures (sic), which you have addressed to this department during the period you have acted as Chief Superintendent.
[8]The Spectator later commented: "The conclusion can hardly be resisted, that to get rid of Sir GEORGE ROBINSON, Lord PALMERSTON abolished the office, with the intention of restoring it for Captain ELLIOT'S benefit with the purpose of enabling British subjects to violate the laws of the country to which they trade.