Born: 5 May 1902, United Kingdom
Died: 4 December 1985
Country most active: United Kingdom
Also known as: Babs Robertson
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women founder Allison Tyra’s book The View from the Hill: Women Who Made Their Mark After 40.
While Bessie Williamson came to the scotch trade by chance, Ethel Greig “Babs” Robertson and her sisters inherited the family businesses. While Elspeth and Agnes interested themselves in other concerns, their younger sister took over the company their grandfather had started. Robertson would go on to build it into Edrington, one of the largest producers of scotch whisky and the owner of Macallan, Highland Park, and The Famous Grouse.
Robertson was 41 when her father died and everything he owned passed to his three spinster daughters. Although Agnes and Elspeth delegated management of the company to Babs, the sisters shared controlling interest and presented a united front in decision-making. In 1947, an American offered to buy the company, but Robertson refused at any price. The aggressive businessman attempted a hostile takeover in 1955; he was thwarted, but the experience shook the sisters. To protect the company, they created a holding company (Edrington) and charitable trust (The Robertson Trust) in 1961. Decades later, the Trust grew into Scotland’s largest charitable trust, distributing around £20m to more than 500 organizations a year. As for Robertson, she was known for, among other things, her love of fast driving and died following a car accident when she was 82.