ROBINSON, William. Bencoolen (?) 4.9.1819? — Assam 27.8.1863. British Baptist Missionary in India. Son of Rev. William R. (Olney, Buckinghamshire 18.1.1784 — Dacca 2.9.1853), a shoemaker turned into missionary working in Indonesia and Bengal, and Margaret Gordon (1798–1822). Their son was Inspector of Government schools in Assam. He claimed that Assamese is just a form of Bengali. Married Emma Luoisa Reily, two daughters and one son. The birth year 1819 given with “?” by wikitree and findagrave seems too late, he was hardly so young when the books appeared in 1839 and 1841. His parents were married in 1806, which gives the upper time limit. Now geni.com has also 4.9.1819, but gives the birth of his brother John. R. on 11.12.1819 – thus 1819 for W.R. must be wrong.
Publications: Grammar of the Assamese Language. 2+78 p. Serampore 1839.
– A Descriptive Account of Assam: With a Sketch of the Local Geography, and a History of the Tea-plant of Assam. 15+421 p. 1841.
– “Languages spoken by the various tribes inhabiting the Valley of Assam and its mountain confines”, JASB 18:1, 1849, 183-310; “Dophlás and the peculiarities of their Language”, JASB 20, 1852, 126-137 (Dafla); “Notes on the Languages spoken by the Mi-Shmis”, JASB 24, 1856, 307-324.
– Memoirs of the Rev. W. Robinson, Baptist Missionary. Ed. by John Robinson. 3+250 p. Benares 1858 (this is clearly by father, the editor is his other son).
Sources: https://www.anglofamilytrees.com/robinson_family_tree.htm; https://jbrannan.pagesperso-orange.fr/robinson.htm contains an account of the father.
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