Obituary: Sheila Elizabeth Robertson, Physiotherapist and generous Patron of the Arts and Education

After a distinctive international career as a physiotherapist, Sheila Robertson returned to her native Scotland to care for her ageing aunt and mother. Following their deaths Miss Robertson’s life centred around her great love of music, Murrayfield Church and her special friends. Her generosity held no bounds and she became a wonderfully supportive Patron of the Arts & Education giving many city organisations, both professional and amateur, financial help and all done anonymously, save her substantial gift to the Queen’s Hall when the hall’s Steinway Concert Grand was renovated.

She also gave incredible financial assistance to a number of singing students at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music in London as well as the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and she followed their careers with great interest. Today many of the Robertson Scholars appear in the major opera houses globally. She gave freely whenever there was an international crisis, donating substantially to the subsequent appeals.

Miss Robertson was deeply loyal and generous to her family and friends. She was wise, fiercely independent, at times opinionated and loved a good blether, often throwing in words from the Scots dictionary which she knew intimately.

One of her daily pleasures was The Scotsman crossword which she completed without hesitation. The genuine love and companionship of her close friends sustained her in the latter years of her life, especially her Edinburgh friends who reciprocated their love and care for Sheila. She was always grateful for their deep friendship and in turn shared their worries and concerns in their lives.

Professor Neil Mackie Royal Academy of Music