Harry Robertson

Who was Harry Robertson?

Harry Robertson was a Scottish-born, Australian folk-singer/songwriter, poet and activist, who became a key figure in the development of the Australian folk music tradition.

Robertson emigrated from Scotland in 1952 where he worked in the whaling industry and wrote a number of songs and poems about the lives of the whalers without glorifying the industry. Among them were "Queensland Whalers", "Ballina Whalers" and "Wee Dark Engine Room". He also worked with the Welsh-born, Australian folk-singer, Declan Affley.

Robertson and others established the Moreton Bay Folk Festival, also regarded as the 3rd National Folk Festival, in 1969, and the Maleny/Woodford Folk Festival in 1987, both in Queensland.