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When you carry the name of a famous Scottish hero, and the Earl of Lauderdale is a distant cousin, chances are that interests in the military and in history come easily to you. Robert Maitland Roy was born in Hamilton, where his family had settled before the middle of the 19th century. After graduating from Hillfi eld College there and starting studies at McMaster, he interrupted his education in 1943 to go to England where he joined the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm. Returning home at the war’s end, he married four years later, moved to Toronto and began a career in the investment and insurance business. In Hamilton he had been a Lieutenant in the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders. In Toronto he joined the Toronto Scottish and rose to the rank of Major. But the Argyles claimed him as their own again in the early 1990s, making him their Honorary Lieut.-Colonel and later Honorary Colonel. Rob was active in the Royal Canadian Military
Institute and Warriors’ Day Council at the CNE. He was also a member of Toronto’s Royal Naval Association, Naval Club, and Fort York Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. At the Fort York National Historic Site, however, Rob Roy is remembered as a member of the Toronto Historical Board from 1978, and its chairman in 1986-87. At that time the fort was run by the Board, and he was very proud of this connection. During his term as chairman, the Board investigated the feasibility of a Museum of Toronto, an idea that has never quite been forgotten and may yet be realized. When the Friends of Fort York was formed in April, 1994, Rob was a founding member. He died in June, 2005, aged 79, having spent his last years in Sunnybrook Hospital following a stroke. He leaves his wife, Mary, four children and a host of friends who remember him warmly. Victoria Square?
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