Robert Halliday

Robert Halliday ( – April 8, 1840) was a Scottish-American businessman.

Early life Halliday was born in Ayrshire, Scotland around 1770. The Scottish poet, James Montgomery, was a boyhood and lifelong friend of Halliday. At age fourteen, his father died and, as eldest son, he was left in charge of his small estate which Halliday managed for many years with the help of his younger brothers and sisters. Halliday was very successful in the U.S. and became partner in one of the firms, which was renamed Cairns, Freres, Halliday & Carmichael.

He served as a director of the Greenwich Insurance Company, president of the Northern Dispensary (a hospital on Waverly Place and Christopher Street), chairman of the board of trustees of the Eighth Presbyterian Church in Greenwich Village. While Halliday was president, he led the effort to incorporate the Society in New York to better "enable them to obtain the objects of their association."

Personal life In 1805, Halliday was married to Mary Cairns at Torr Estate in Castle Douglas. Mary was the daughter of Ann (née Humphreys) Cairns and Edward Cairns of Torr and Shirland Hall (in Birmingham), the senior partner in one of the Birmingham steel firms Halliday was associated with and son of William Cairns. Together, Mary and Robert were the parents of six children, all born in New York City, namely: Mary Ann Halliday (b. 1806), Josephine Halliday (b. 1809), Agnes Halliday (b. 1811), Edward Cairns Halliday (1817–1905), heir to the Halliday estate., Isabella Halliday (b. 1818), and Robert Halliday Jr. (b. 1823). died on April 8, 1840, at his residence in New York City.