Douglas Robinson Sr.

Douglas Robinson Sr. (March 24, 1824 – November 30, 1893) was a Scottish-born businessman and banker who became a prominent figure in New York society during the Gilded Age. He was born in Scotland and belonged to Scottish landed gentry. His parents were William Rose Robinson of Clermiston (1781–1834) and Mary Douglas Robinson (1783–1864). Robinson's siblings included Sir William Rose Robinson, KCSI, who served as acting Governor of Madras, and Saida Douglas Robinson, who was married to Alexander Davidson. His paternal grandparents were George Robinson and Elizabeth Innes Robinson, while his maternal grandparents were James Douglas of Orchardton, a Glasgow merchant, and Elizabeth Douglas. His maternal uncle was William Douglas, a Member of Parliament, and his great-uncle was Sir William Douglas, 1st Baronet of Gelston Castle, Scotland.

Robinson emigrated to the United States in 1842 after studying at Edinburgh University. He initially engaged in business in Philadelphia and later moved to New York City, where he became a partner at the banking house of James K. Soutter's Sons. He also served as secretary of the Great Western Insurance Company, then known as the United States Lloyds.

In 1892, Robinson, along with his son Douglas Jr. and daughter-in-law Corinne Roosevelt, was included in Ward McAllister’s "Four Hundred," a list representing New York’s most socially prominent families, published in The New York Times.

Robinson and his family maintained a country estate in Jordanville, New York, called Henderson House, modeled after Sir William Douglas' Gelston Castle in Scotland. The property encompassed approximately 5,000 acres of a 15,000-acre land grant formerly granted by Queen Anne to James Henderson, Fanny Monroe Robinson's great-grandfather. Fanny inherited the estate from her aunt Harriet Douglas Cruger, who was known for her connections with prominent historical figures such as Sir Walter Scott, William Wordsworth, and Marquis de Lafayette.

Around 1872, the Robinson family relocated to West Orange, New Jersey, where they built a residence called Overlook on a 72-acre estate adjacent to General George McClellan’s property. The estate was inherited by their son upon Robinson's death.

Robinson married Frances "Fanny" Monroe on November 14, 1850. She was his second cousin and the daughter of Elizabeth Monroe and Colonel James Monroe, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York and nephew of President James Monroe. Their marriage took place at Fanwood in Fort Washington, a suburb of New York.

The couple had two children: Douglas Robinson Jr. (1855–1918), who married Corinne Roosevelt (1861–1933), the youngest child of Theodore Roosevelt Sr. and Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, and Harriet Douglas "Missy" Robinson (1856–1922), who married the Reverend Henry Bazeley Wolryche-Whitmore.

Douglas Robinson Sr. died aboard the SS Kaiser Wilhelm II passenger steamer on November 30, 1893, while traveling from New York. He was buried in Robinson Cemetery in Herkimer County, New York. His widow passed away in Warren, New York, in August 1906. In 1908, their children erected the Jordanville Public Library in their memory.

His descendants included several prominent individuals, such as Theodore Douglas Robinson, a member of the New York State Senate; Corinne Douglas Robinson, a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives; and Monroe Douglas Robinson, who married Dorothy Jordan. Through his daughter Harriet, he was grandfather to Frances Sylvia Wolryche-Whitmore and Ursula Margaret Wolryche-Whitmore.