8 : Life for the new Mrs Robertson
On return from their honeymoon Barbara and Irving resided at 119 St George Street, Toronto, a house owned by Irving since at least 1920.
Barbara would soon find herself at the centre of various social events, and there is nothing to suggest that she did not acquit herself well. Just two months after their wedding the Robertson's were guests of honour at a reception held at the Hospital for Sick Children. Along with Miss Patton, the Lady Superintendent, Barbara received the guests including the hospital trustees, the doctors and their wives.1
A month later, the Toronto Daily Star reported:
"Mrs Irving E. Robertson, formerly Miss Barbara Mackenzie, received for the first time since her marriage at
her home, 119 St George Street, Thursday, many callers arriving during the afternoon. Mrs Robertson received
in a beautiful French gown of gold lame and carried orchids. Receiving with her was Mrs I H Cameron, while
Mrs Reginald Parmenter and Mrs Featherston Aylesworth presided over the tea and coffee urns ...
...The house was beautifully decorated with spring flowers, a mauve and gold color scheme being carried
out with gold roses and mauve sweet-peas." 2
(Mrs I H Cameron was Jessie, Irving's stepmother.)
At the time of their wedding, construction of the Robertson summer residence at Jackson's Point on the
edge of Lake Simcoe was well underway. Irving named the house 'Auldearn' after the birthplace of his
Robertson and McIntosh families. Auldearn is nearby Nairn in Scotland.
Etching of Auldearn by Owen Staples, courtesy Anne Russell
Lake Simcoe is approximately 90km from Toronto. The stone used to clad the house was the same as that
used to build St Andrew's Presbyterian church where Barbara and Irving were married.
For the most part Irving was busy on the staff of the Evening Telegram, the paper founded by his father, and
in November 1928 he was appointed its managing editor. As mentioned earlier he was also an active member of the
board of trustees, the Hospital for Sick Children (HSC).
In 1929 Barbara and Irving sailed from New York to England on the SS Mauretania, arriving in Southampton
on 10th August.3
Whilst in Britain it is likely that they visited Ullapool in the Scottish highlands, the ancestral home of
the Mackenzie family. Their contact address whilst in Britain was given as Mr A. McLean, Ullapool, a cousin
of Barbara.
They returned on the SS Duchess of Richmond, departing Liverpool on 1st November 1929 arriving in Montreal
a week later.4
Etching of 119 St George St, Toronto by Owen Staples courtesy Anne Russell. (Owen Staples was a lithographer at The Evening Telegram)
Barbara's New Zealand connection was put to good use in May 1930 when she was hostess at a luncheon for
the wives of New Zealand delegates en route to a press conference in London.5
But it would be wrong to think of Barbara as someone whose life was that of purely social activities. In
1931 she and Irving founded the Canadian Mothercraft Society, the details of which follow after relevant
background information.