Robert Duff (British politician)
British politician (1835-1895)
Sir Robert William Duff (8 May 1835 – 15 March 1895), known as Robert William Duff Abercromby until 1862, was a Scottish Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1861 to 1893 and was Governor of New South Wales from 1893 to 1895.
Early life
Duff was born at Fetteresso Castle, Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, son of Arthur Duff (grandson of Robert Duff) and his wife Elizabeth Innes, daughter of John Innes of Kincardine. He was educated at Blackheath School, London. He entered the Royal Navy in 1848, and was made a commander in 1865.
Political career
Duff served as Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Banffshire from 1861 to 1893. He joined Robert Lowe as one of the Adullamites opposing the parliamentary Reform Bill of 1866, which led to the Reform Act 1867. He was a junior Lord of the Treasury and Liberal whip from 1882 to 1885, and Civil Lord of the Admiralty in 1886. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1892.
Governor of New South Wales
Duff was appointed Governor of New South Wales in March 1893 and was subsequently awarded the GCMG. He reached Sydney to take up his duties on 29 May 1893.
His term of office was chiefly marked by his permitting the premier, Sir George Dibbs, to obtain the prorogation of parliament on 8 December 1893, after that minister had incurred a vote of censure.
The public source identifies “Robert Duff (British politician)” as british politician (1835-1895). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Robert, Duff and British.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3435000. VIAF identifies the subject as 317278086. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1835, 1895, 1862 and 1861.
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This entry incorporates text from “Robert Duff (British politician)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.