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Black and white photo of Alexander George Morison Robertson

Alexander George Morison Robertson

Alexander George Morison Robertson championed the law for Hawaiʻi’s early government systems. He was a trustee of Liliʻuokalani Trust from 1918 to 1947.

Alexander George Morison Robertson was born on his family’s homestead on Sept. 3, 1867, on a property that now holds St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Honolulu. His father, Judge Morison Robertson of the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court, and mother, Sarah Simons Humphreys, had six children. They were James William, George Humphreys, Elizabeth Florence, Grace and Alexander. 

He graduated cum laude from Yale University in 1893, leading to lifelong service in the government judiciary. Throughout his career, he was known by his initials, “A.G.M.”

In 1894, he was a delegate to the Hawaiian Constitutional Convention and was one of three dozen men who signed the constitution for the Republic of Hawaiʻi. He also served on the staff of President Sanford B. Dole.

Over the next three decades, Robertson held positions in both the Republic and Territory of Hawaiʻi: House of Representatives in 1896 and from 1898 to 1901; Deputy Attorney General in 1898; and a member of the Republican National Committee and Republican National Convention in 1908.

An early supporter of Hawaiʻi statehood, he urged an “equal rights, home rule and eventual statehood” provision for Hawaiʻi in the national Republican party platform, according to newspapers at the time.

Robertson was the U.S. District Court Judge for the Territory in 1910, and the following year was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for the Territory of Hawaiʻi. He remained Chief Justice until he resigned in 1918 to pursue private law practice with the firm Robertson, Castle & Anthony. He also served on the Hawaiʻi Equal Rights Commission in his later years.

An avid sportsman, Robertson founded the Hawaiian rowing regatta. In 1912, he advocated for Regatta Day to become a public holiday in Hawaiʻi.

His wife was opera singer Ululani McQuaid, also known as “Hawaiʻi’s Songbird.” They married on May 29, 1907, and did not have children.

He passed away at Queen’s Hospital on Aug. 20, 1947.