SIR ROBERT ANDERSON, K.C.B., L.L. D.
Though of Scottish descent, Sir Robert Anderson was born in Dublin on May 29, 1841 His father, Matthew Anderson, was Crown Solicitor in the Irish capital, a distinguished elder in the Irish Presbyterian Church, and was descended from one of the "No Surrender" group of Derry defenders.
He had been brought up in a devout Christian home, and had led what is known as a religious life, with occasional transient fits of penitence and anxiety, but, in his late teens he had doubts about his own conversion. The Irish Revival (1859-60) touched Robert's sister, who persuaded her brother to attend one of the services, held in Dublin by J. Denham Smith, but the popular hymns disturbed him and he got very little out of the message.
The light came the following Sunday evening when he attended a service in his own church and heard the Rev. John Hall (afterwards of New York), who "boldly proclaimed forgiveness of sins, and eternal life as God's gift in grace, unreserved and unconditional, to be received by us as we sat in the pews. His sermon thrilled me," Sir Robert said when describing the event, "and yet I deemed his doctrine to be unscriptural. So I waylaid him as he left the vestry, and on our homeward walk I tackled him about his heresies... At last he let go my arm, and, facing me as we stood upon the pavement, he repeated with great solemnity his gospel message and appeal. 'I tell you,' he said, 'as a minister of Christ, and in His name, that there is life for you here and now if you will accept Him. Will you accept Christ, or will you reject Him?' After a pause—how prolonged I know not—I exclaimed, 'In God's name I will accept Christ.' Not another word passed between us; but after another pause he wrung my hand and left me. And I turned homewards with the peace of God filling my heart."
On leaving school, Robert was given a good opening for a business career in a large brewery; but after eighteen months he turned away from this, and entered Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated B.A. in 1862 with Moderatorship and medal, receiving the L.L. D. of his Alma Mater in 1875.
After studying at Boulogne and Paris he entered Trinity College, Dublin, and in 1863 was called to the Irish Bar. In 1865 the Fenians were at work (a secret society attempting to overthrow British rule in Ireland), and he assisted the Irish government in interrogating prisoners and preparing legal briefs. In 1873 he married Lady Agnes Alexandrina Moore, sister of the Earl of Drogheda, a true help in every good work, and a leader in many branches of women's work in London.
Author's Books In 1877 his special knowledge of the ways of conspirators led to his appointment as Irish Agent at the Home Office, and, in 1888, when London was in the midst of the "Jack the Ripper" scare, he moved into Scotland Yard as Assistant Commissioner of Metropolitan Police and Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department. Arthur Conan Doyle was entertaining London at that time with his Sherlock Holmes stories, but it was Anderson and his staff who were ridding the city of crime and criminals. The records show that crime decreased in London during that period. He directed this work until 1901, when he retired and was made K.C.B. [knighthood with special distinction].
