Matthew Robinson was the eldest and only surviving son of Thomas Robinson (1667-1700) and Elizabeth Clarke (1660-1700). His mother was a widow with a daughter, Lydia Light (1685-1725), and his grandfather, Leonard Robinson, strongly disapproved of the match and cut his son out of his will. However, the family properties at West Layton and Edgley in North Yorkshire were entailed, and descended to Matthew on the early death of his parents when he was only seven years old. He went to Cambridge University and at the age of eighteen married Elizabeth Drake (c.1693-1746). They had twelve children of whom nine survived into adulthood; Elizabeth Montagu was his fourth surviving child and eldest daughter. Matthew disliked living in the country, and on his wife’s death he moved to London and lived with his housekeeper, Elizabeth Hawkins; he was an accomplished artist and enjoyed the life of the coffee houses. He lived to the age of eighty-four, and the title of 2nd Baron Rokeby of Armagh descended from his cousin Richard Robinson to his eldest son Matthew Robinson Morris, who also inherited his estates.