Roland Robinson, 1st Baron Martonmere


John Roland Robinson, 1st Baron Martonmere, was a British Conservative Party politician who later served as Governor of Bermuda from 1964 to 1972.

Life and career

The son of Roland Walkden Robinson of Blackpool, Robinson was educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1929. He was elected at the 1931 general election as Member of Parliament for Widnes, a seat he held until 1935, when he was elected for Blackpool. He held that seat until the constituency was divided at the 1945 election, when he was elected for Blackpool South, holding that seat until he retired from the House of Commons at the 1964 general election.
Robinson never held ministerial office but was Chairman of the Conservative Commonwealth Affairs Committee in the House of Commons from 1954 to 1964. He was knighted in 1954, admitted in 1962 to the Privy Council, and in 1964 was raised to the peerage as Baron Martonmere, of Blackpool in the County Palatine of Lancaster. During the latter year, he was also appointed Governor of Bermuda, a post he held until 1972. He was further honoured when he was made a in 1966 and a GBE in 1973.
Robinson married Maysie Gasque, daughter of Clarence Warren Gasque, in 1930. They had two children: one son, Richard Robinson, and one daughter, Loretta Robinson. Robinson died in May 1989, at the age of 82. He was succeeded in the Barony of Martonmere by his grandson, John Stephen Robinson.