William Robertson died at his home in Adelaide on December 24th, 1937, at the age of 70.
He received, his technical education at the Allan Glen Institute at Glasgow, and began his professional work with the Glasgow Smelting Co. Two years later he went to New Caledonia, where for 3½ years he was metallurgist to a French silver-lead and copper mining company. He then returned to Scotland to take the position of metallurgist to the Pollok Gold Extracting Co., of Glasgow, which he left to become manager of the gold and silver smelting and refining works of Quirk, Barton & Co., London, a position which he held for five years.
In 1897 he went to Australia as assistant metallurgist to the Broken Hill Proprietary Co., and in the following year was appointed manager of the company’s smelters at Port Pirie. Later he was promoted to general manager of the company. He retired from active work about 15 years before his death but he retained his association with the Port Pirie smelters in a consultative capacity, and frequently visited the works from his home in Adelaide.
Mr. Robertson was elected an Associate of the Institution in 1892 and was transferred to Membership in 1897.
Vol. 48, Trans I.M.M., 1938-39, pp.841-2
