William C. F. Robinson

Sir William Robinson GCMG FRGS
11th Governor of South Australia
In office 19 February 1883 – 5 March 1889
Monarch	Victoria
Premier	John Cox Bray (1883-84) John Colton (1884-85) Sir John Downer (1885-87) Thomas Playford II (1887-89)
Preceded by	Sir William Jervois
Succeeded by	The Rt Hon. Earl of Kintore
11th Governor of the Straits Settlements
In office August 1877 – 10 February 1879
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	Sir William Jervois
Succeeded by	Sir Frederick Weld
9th Governor of Western Australia
In office 11 January 1875 – 11 November 1877
Preceded by	Frederick Weld
Succeeded by	Harry Ord
In office 10 April 1880 – 1 June 1883
Preceded by	Harry Ord
Succeeded by	Frederick Broome
In office 20 October 1890 – 22 December 1895
Premier	Sir John Forrest
Preceded by	Frederick Broome
Succeeded by	Gerard Smith
Governor of the Leedward Islands
In office 1874–1874
Preceded by	Henry Turner Irving
Succeeded by	George Berkeley
19th Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island
In office 6 October 1870 – November 1873
Monarch	Victoria
Governors General	The Lord Lisgar The Earl of Dufferin
Premier	James Colledge Pope Robert Haythorne Lemuel Owen
Preceded by	Robert Hodgson
Succeeded by	Robert Hodgson
Governor of the Falkland Islands
In office 23 May 1866 – 1870
Preceded by	James George Mackenzie
Succeeded by	George Abbas Kooli D'Arcy
Personal details
Born	(1834-01-14)14 January 1834 County Westmeath, Ireland
Died	2 May 1897(1897-05-02) (aged 63) South Kensington, London
Nationality	British
Spouse	Olivia Edith Dean ​ (m. 1862)​
Children	three sons and two daughters
Parents	Hercules Robinson (father) Frances Elizabeth Wood (mother)
Residence(s)	South Kensington, London
Occupation	musical composer, colonial administrator
Profession	Politician

Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson GCMG FRGS (14 January 1834 – 2 May 1897) was an Irish colonial administrator and musical composer, who wrote several well-known songs. He was born in County Westmeath, Ireland, and was educated at home and at the Royal Naval School. He joined the Colonial Office service in 1858 and became the president of Montserrat in 1862.

He married Olivia Edith Deane in 1862. He began serving as governor of the Falkland Islands in May 1866 and governed Prince Edward Island from 1870–1873, helping the island join a union with Canada. He became the governor of the Leeward Islands in 1874 and served his first term as the Western Australia governor from 1875–1877.

He was appointed governor of the Straits Settlements in 1877 and served as governor of Western Australia a second term from April 1880 to February 1883. Robinson became the governor of South Australia in 1883 until 1889. He was a temporary governor of Victoria, Australia in 1889, but was unable to be appointed permanently. He served his third term as governor of Western Australia from 1890–1895. He retired from his career in March 1895, at age 61. He then travelled to England and died on 2 May 1897, in South Kensington, London.