[1] He was born on 23 November 1881, the son of James Hinton Robertson a notary public.
The family lived at South Edgehill House in Langside[2] in southern Glasgow.
He then studied law at Glasgow University graduating MA LLB.
At this stage, he was living in a flat at 8 Dundas Street in Edinburgh's Second New Town.
In 1937, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.