Robin married Lady Caroline Keppel, daughter of Sir William Anne Van Keppel 2nd Earl Of Albemarle and Lady Anne Lennox Countess of Albermarle, in 1758. Lady Caroline Keppel is said to have written the words of the ballad while heart-broken on account of the opposition of her family to the match. Lady Caroline Keppel was born about 1734 and died in 1769 of consumption. Their son, Sir Robert Adair (1763-1855) became a notable member of the British diplomatic corps.
Robin Adair became the surgeon general in charge of the first fleet to Sydney, Australia 1788 transporting convicts to Botany bay. Governor Arthur Phillip sailed the Armed Tender "Supply" into the bay on 18 January 1788. Two days later the remaining ships of the First Fleet had arrived to found the planned penal colony. Finding that the sandy infertile soil of the site in fact rendered it most unsuitable for settlement, Phillip decided instead to move to the excellent natural harbor of Port Jackson to the north. On the morning of 24 January the French exploratory expedition of Jean-François de La Pérouse was seen outside Botany Bay. On 26 January, the "Supply" left the bay to move up to Port Jackson. It anchored in Sydney Cove and the British Flag "Queen Ann" was hoisted on shore. On the afternoon of 26 January, the remaining ships of First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove. The good supply of fresh water in the area led to the expansion of its population in the 19th century.
The tune may
have been
composed by
Charles
Coffey (died
1745); an
Irish
playwright
and
composer.
His best
music
includes The
Devil to
Pay, or The
Wives
Metapmorhos’d
(1731), from
a play by
Thomas Jevon,
and Ellen A
Roon (1729),
now sung to
new words
and known as
Robin
Adair.
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