His father was offered a knighthood for his service in the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1781, and his mother was the daughter of Francis Lewis (1713–1802), one of the signers of the United States Declaration of Independence.
[2] In 1822, he became District Magistrate in Chittagong;[3] and from March 1825 to August 1825 he served as Agent to the Governor General in Arakan.
[5] In 1826 he was Civil Commissioner in Pegu and Ava when Treaty of Yandaboo was signed on 24 February 1826.
[7] From 11 November 1835 to 27 January 1840 Robertson was Member of the council of the Governor General;[8] he was also President of the council of India & Deputy Governor of Bengal[9] On 4 February 1840 he was posted as Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces where he served for eleven months till 31 December 1842.
[12] In his book Civility and Empire (2002), Professor Anindyo Roy of Colby College describes Robertson as an arch-colonialist and quotes him as saying, "the natives of India are better servants than subjects; and it is in former capacity alone that we can ever expect to command their co-operation in any emergency.