Driver Charles John ROBSON
(1854-1933)

Charles John Robson was born in 1854 in the parish of St George, Whitechapel. There was some confusion about his christian name, which was given as Edward. This error stems from a mistake in the official roll of the defenders at Rorke's Drift (1879).

His father, George Robson, was a coachman and his mother, Ann, a domestic servant.

He was a man of light build, weighing only nine and a half stones.

At almost nineteen years of age, Robson enlisted into the Royal Engineers as a driver, having previously worked with his father as a groom. He served at Aldershot, and at Chatham in 1876 and 1881. On 2nd December 1878, aged 24, he embarked for South Africa.

He was with the 5th Field Company RE and served with Lieutenant Chard, acting as his batman during the defence of Rorke's Drift (Wednesday 22nd - Thursday 23rd January 1879). He was Chard's batman throughout the campaign and was present at the Battle of Ulundi (Friday 4th July 1879).

During the defence of Rorke's Drift he assisted B Company, 2nd Battalion of the 24th Regiment of Foot, commanded by Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead, with the constructing of the defences made up of mealie bags, and took his place in front of the storehouse where the perimeter met a stronger built kraal. As the battle developed Chard noted where Robson was placed. His observations are contained in his account of the defence, written for Queen Victoria:

'As darkness came on we were completely surrounded. The Zulus wrecking the camp of the Company 24th and my wagon which had been left outside, in spite of the efforts of my batman, Driver Robson (the only man of the Royal Engineers with us), who had directed his particular attention to keeping the Zulus off this wagon in which we were, as he described it, "Our things".'

Robson remained at Rorke's Drift for several weeks after the battle. In all his service abroad was 305 days, he returned to England on 4th October 1879 and was awarded the South Africa medal with 1879 clasp.

On his return to England he appears to have spent most of his service acting as driver-batman to various officers. Testimonials from the officers he worked for contain words of praise and describe him as a man of good character and "strictly honest".

In 1883, at the age of 29, he married Jane Elizabeth Farrand at Hale Church, Hale, Surrey. They had one child, a daughter Annie Lilian born in 1891.

Robson was discharged from the army on 30th April 1894 when almost forty years old, having been on the Army Reserve throughout most of the 1880s.

He died in 1933, his occupation listed as Army Pensioner and General Labourer. The cause of death was recorded as cerebral embolism (blood clot on the brain). He was buried in a large common grave at Woolwich Cemetery.

In 1993 a memorial service was held at Woolwich which included the laying of a small wooden tablet on his grave commemorating his presence at Rorke's Drift.

Links to further reading:

Corps History Part 7 - Engineers and the Early Victorian Wars

Campaign History - Royal Engineers and the Zulu War

Biography - Lieutenant John Rouse Merriott Chard VC - defender of Rorkes Drift

Biography - Lieutenant Colonel Anthony William Durnford RE - commander Natal Native Contingent at Isandlwana

Online exhibition - Zulu War Pictures

Download a facsimile of Chard's Rorkes' Drift muster roll (658kb), which lists Robson