ROBLEY, HORATIO GORDON (1840-1930) was born at Madeira, the son of a captain in the Indian Army. His parents were both artistic and he early showed similar tastes. In 1858 he was appointed ensign in the 68th Regiment, with which he went to India and saw the final stages of the Mutiny. He was stationed for some time in Burma in charge of Bahadur Shah II, King of Delhi. There he travelled and sketched a good deal. On the king's death in 1862 Robley was appointed lieutenant-instructor in musketry. He came to New Zealand in the transport Australian, landing in Auckland with the headquarters staff on 8 Jan 1864. Without delay he purchased a Maori vocabulary and Maning's Old New Zealand to acquire a knowledge of the language and customs of the natives. The war having been brought to a stalemate, the 68th moved to Tauranga in Apr and was soon involved in the reverse at Gate Pa, followed by the victory at Te Ranga. Robley served throughout as a lieutenant and instructor in musketry, and made many sketches of New Zealand and Maori life for English illustrated papers. In 1865 the regiment returned to England. Promoted captain in 1870, Robley exchanged into the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. In 1870, as major, he went to Mauritius and in the next year he rejoined headquarters in Cape Colony. As a lieutenant-colonel he served in the Cape, Natal and Zululand and in 1883 he was promoted to command the regiment. In 1884 he organised its mounted infantry in Zululand. He retired in 1887 with the rank of major-general and resided in London until his death on 29 Oct 1930.

As an author, Robley wrote first the history of his regiment. Having taken a keen interest in the moko (tattooing) of the New Zealanders, which he studied scientifically, he published in 1896 his first book on that subject, Moko. In the pursuit of this study he gathered a fine collection of Maori dried heads, numbering 35, of which 30 were sold to the New York Museum of Natural History (1909). His notes for a new edition of Moko he was not able to finish, and they were acquired for the Hocken Library. In 1905 the New Zealand Government purchased for the Dominion Museum 70 of Robley's water-colour sketches, mainly scenes in the Tauranga campaign. His sketches for illustrations to Maning's Old New Zealand were presented to Sir Douglas Maclean (some of them being used in the 1922 edition). In 1915 he published Pounamu; Notes on New Zealand Greenstone. For many years Robley contributed sketches of Maori subjects to the Graphic and the Illustrated London News.

Polyn. Jour., vol. 40, p89 (p); Fildes collection, Victoria University College; War Office records; Hocken in Otago Daily Times, 24 Apr 1897; The Times, 30 Oct 1930.

Reference: Volume 2, page 127

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