Frederick P. Robjent
| Frederick P. Robjent | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1860 Bristol |
| Died |
1938 Newport |
| Official positions held: | |
| FR Co. Director | 06.1908 - 1921?? |
| FR People | WHR People | |
Frederick P. Robjent (1860 - 1938) was a British director of the Festiniog Railway Company from 1908. He was born in Bristol in 1860.
Frederick Pring Robjent was born at Montpelier, Bristol in 1860 and was the son of the Chief Clerk of Bristol Probate Registry.[1]
He trained as an accountant but by the 1890s he was a stockbroker with offices in Newport. In the late 1890s he began to buy shares and debentures in the West Somerset Mineral Railway (WSMR) with a view to selling them later for a profit. By 1916 he was managing director of the WSMR and when the railway was formally abandoned in 1922 and the land and buildings sold in 1924 he made a great deal of money.
Robjent joined FR Company board in June 1908 at which time he lived in Newport, Mon. It became apparent quickly that he was only interested in the share price.
In 1908 he arranged to employ C. D. Phillips, also from Newport, to assess the situation at Boston Lodge. The report, which has not survived, was simply recorded as "noted" in the board minutes in May 1909. He then suggested William Williams (1835) services at Boston Lodge be dispensed with which was carried out. [2]
He sold a large block of FR shares to the group headed by Henry Joseph Jack, Evan R. Davies, and Sir John H Stewart - i.e. what became the WHR group.
He may have had a connection with John Graves Livingston as in 1881 they both lived in Westbury on Trym, Bristol. At that time Robjent was an accountant. He was mayor of Newport from November 1914. [3] He had a heart attack and died at the opening ceremony of the new RTB works at Ebbw Vale in July 1938, an event at which he is said to have prevented Aneurin Bevan from speaking.
There was a connection between the Ebbw Vale company and the WSMR in that the investors in the former also invested in the latter in the 1850s.[4]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ From Archive of the West Somerset Mineral Railway Archive (2025) accessed on 2/2/25 https://westsomersetmineralrailway.org.uk/archive_detail/585/frederick-pring-robjent
- ^ Johnson, Peter (2017). Festiniog Railway: The Spooner Era and After 1830 - 1920. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-1-47382-728-8. OCLC 1003267038. p157
- ^ Johnson, Peter (2017). Festiniog Railway: The Spooner Era and After 1830 - 1920. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-1-47382-728-8. OCLC 1003267038. p156
- ^ West Somerset Mineral Railway wikipedia page (2025) accessed on 25/2/25 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Somerset_Mineral_Railway