Robert William Botting (1818-1890)

He arrived in Australia in 1837 on The Coromandel.

In Australia, Robert continued work as a carpenter, a profession he had previously held in London. He eventually established a Carpentry and Joinery shop in Adelaide with the help of his brothers Fred and Frank. The business was involved in the construction of buildings such as the Bank of Australasia.

The business came under threat due to a depression in 1844, and thus Robert moved with his family to Morphett Vale. Later in 1848, he began work as a butcher, establishing another business. However, the family returned to Adelaide several years later and Robert set up another butchers' shop.

Throughout his life, Robert moved his family to several different locations within South Australia, including the 'Bendigo goldfield' in Victoria, Hindmarsh Island (where the family worked in farming), and back to Morphett Vale and Adelaide.

Finally, in 1863, Robert and his eldest son William departed to New Zealand, where they started the 'Mt. Ida Butchery' business in Hogburn (Hogburn was later renamed Naseby). This was the first of four Botting family butchers shops to be opened in Naseby over the following years.

In the 1870s, once Robert's wife and several of his children had joined him and William in New Zealand, the family began mining gold in Livingstone, where Robert had previously bought land and built a house using his carpentry and joinery skills. The family reputedly mined up to 1,300 ounces of gold. Robert was also chairman of the Livingstone Cemetary Trust between 1878 and 1888.

After returning to Naseby, Robert died in 1890.