Editing May Robson (section)

==Early life==
[[File:May Robson - DPLA - 4c35bb41416f5a1f7a58cab5c55bb0fb (page 1).jpg|thumb|May Robson carte de visite]]
Mary Jeanette Robison was born 19 April 1858 at [[Moama]],{{efn|The obituary for Robson in the ''Berkshire Evening Eagle'' and ''Billboard Magazine'',<ref name=Berkshire /><ref name="Inc.1942" /> as well as the summary of her life at the Library of Congress, stated that she was born in [[Melbourne, Victoria]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://rs5.loc.gov/service/mss/eadxmlmss/eadpdfmss/2013/ms013070.pdf |title=May Robson Papers: A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress|website=Library of Congress| access-date=11 November 2016 }}</ref> but the family was living in [[Moama]], New South Wales at the time of her birth.<ref name=Bendigo /><ref name="Henry's obit" />}} in the [[Colony of New South Wales]],<ref name="Town like Moama" />{{efn|At the time, [[New South Wales]] (NSW) was a [[self-governing colony]] of Britain; Australia did not officially exist until the [[Federation of Australia|federation]] of six separate British colonies, in 1901.}} in what she described as "the Australian bush".<ref name=Theatre>{{cite journal|last1=Robson|first1=May|title=My Beginnings|journal=The Theatre|date=November 1907|volume=7|issue=81|pages=305–310|url=https://archive.org/details/theatremagazine07newyuoft|access-date=1 June 2015}}</ref> She was the fourth child of Julia, née Schlesinger (or Schelesinger) and Henry Robison;<ref name=Berkshire>{{cite journal|title=May Robson, Stage, Screen Star, Is Dead: Character Actress Began Long Career in 1883|journal=Berkshire Evening Eagle|location=Pittsfield, Berkshire, Massachusetts|date=October 20, 1942|page=1}}</ref><ref name=Nissen185/> her siblings were Williams, James and Adelaide.<ref name="Town like Moama">{{cite news | url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/a-town-like-moama/news-story/da525f3d5e74360f75b7c3cce4cd385a | title=A Town like Moama | website=The Daily Telegraph | date=15 January 2016 | author=Marea Donnelly, History Writer| access-date=12 November 2016 }}</ref>

Henry Robison was born in [[Penrith, Cumbria|Penrith, Cumberland]], England<ref name="Master's certificate" /> and lived in [[Liverpool]].<ref name="Melbourne shop" /> He served 24 years in the foreign trade of the [[Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)|British Merchant Navy]] as a mate and a sea captain.<ref name=Theatre /><ref name="Master's certificate">{{citation | title=Henry Robison, Master's Certificate of Service, Number 52.653, Liverpool  | publisher=Registrar General of Seamen, London | date=21 February 1853 }}</ref> He retired at half-pay due to his poor health<ref name=Theatre /> and travelled with Julia Robison to [[Melbourne]], [[Victoria, Australia|Victoria]], Australia in 1853 on the [[SS Great Britain|SS ''Great Britain'']].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28644897 |title=Advertising |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |volume=XXXIV |issue=5128 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=27 October 1853 |access-date=28 October 2016 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> By April 1855, he was a watchmaker, jeweller, silversmith and ornamental hairworker in Melbourne.<ref name="Melbourne shop">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article154898394 |title=Advertising |newspaper=[[The Age]] |volume=I |issue=163 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=27 April 1855 |access-date=28 October 2016 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> According to Robson, her parents both suffered from ''[[phthisis pulmonalis]]'', and moved to "the bush" for their health.<ref name=Theatre />  Henry bought a large brick mansion in [[Moama]], [[New South Wales]] in August 1857 and opened the Prince of Wales Hotel. From there, he co-operated Robison & Stivens, coach proprietors for the [[Bendigo]]-Moama-[[Deniliquin]] service.<ref name=Bendigo>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87986545 |title=Advertising |newspaper=[[Bendigo Advertiser]] |volume=VI |issue=1145 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=25 January 1859 |access-date=28 October 2016 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The hotel was Robson's first home.<ref name="Town like Moama" /> Henry died in Moama Maiden's Punt on 27 January 1860.<ref name="Henry's obit">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87941411 |title=Family Notices - Henry Robison |newspaper=[[Bendigo Advertiser]] |volume=VII |issue=1463 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=1 February 1860 |access-date=28 October 2016 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia |quote= On the 27th ult., in his 49th year, at his residence, Prince of Wales Hotel, Maiden's Punt, Murray River, New South Wales, Henry Robison (of the firm of Robison and Stivens), late of Bourke-street, Melbourne, deeply regretted by a large circle of friends, leaving a wife and four children to lament their loss."}}</ref>{{efn|Nissen states that Robson was seven when her father died,<ref name=Nissen185/> but her father died in 1860<ref name="Henry's obit" /> and she was born in 1858.<ref name=Nissen185 /> Robson says in her biography for ''Theatre Magazine'' that she was three months old when her father died.<ref name=Theatre />}}

On 19 November 1862, Julia married Walter Moore Miller, solicitor and [[mayor of Albury]], New South Wales, at [[St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article6481376 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)]] |issue=5,139 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=24 November 1862 |access-date=28 October 2016 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Julia, Walter and the four children moved to Melbourne in 1866.<ref name="Town like Moama" /> Miller was a partner with De Courcy Ireland in the firm of Miller & Ireland in Melbourne in November 1867, and until 20 January 1870, when it was mutually dissolved.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5811121 |title=Advertising |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)]] |issue=7,377 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=31 January 1870 |access-date=28 October 2016 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

In 1870, the family moved to London.<ref name="Town like Moama" />{{efn|Nissen says that the family moved to London when Robson was seven.<ref name=Nissen185 />}} Robson attended [[Society of the Sacred Heart|Sacred Heart Convent School]] at [[Highgate]] in north London<ref name=Nissen185 /><ref name=Theatre /> and studied languages in Brussels. She went to Paris for her examinations in French.<ref name=Theatre /> According to her obituary, she was also educated in Australia.<ref name=Berkshire/>