AustLit

Robert Irvine migrated with his family to New Zealand from Scotland and in 1883 he graduated from Canterbury College at the University of New Zealand with a BA, followed one year later by an MA. After arriving in Australia in 1891 he worked for six years as a headmaster in the private school sector. In 1897 he was appointed to the Public Service Board in New South Wales as an examiner and inspecting officer. Irvine edited a number of primary school readers, such as Poems for Children (1898) in the New Australian School series (published by Brooks, Sydney), and, in 1898, Brooks's Australian Xmas Annual. He remained as a Public Service Board member from 1910 until he was appointed to the Chair of Economics at the University of Sydney, a position he held from 1912-1922. Prior to this appointment he had been lecturing part-time in economics at the University.