Sir Robert Anderson was a businessman and one of the founders of the Belfast department store, Anderson & McAuley.

Born in County Monaghan in December 1837, Robert was the son James Anderson, a linen merchant, and Elizabeth née Ker.

Anderson moved to Belfast as a teenager and entered the firm of John Arnott & Co, Bridge Street. In 1861, along with John McAuley, he established Anderson & McAuley, one of Belfast’s most successful department stores. The store became so successful that it moved to Donegall Place to a grand building facing the current City Hall. Anderson also had business interests in linen companies and brick works.

Anderson entered the Belfast Corporation in 1893 as a councillor for Cromac ward. He was subsequently elected as alderman for St Anne’s ward and held the seat until his retirement in 1918.

He acted as chairman of the Corporation’s Tramways and Electricity Committee and was involved in the municipalisation of the city’s tramway system. Anderson was also closely associated with the establishment of a technical education system and in the building of the City Hall, on its current site.

In 1903, Anderson was appointed High Sheriff of Belfast and was knighted the same year by King Edward VII. He received a baronetcy in 1911.

Anderson was one of the oldest members of the Belfast YMCA. He acted as President or the organisation and assisted in the creation of a YMCA hall at Wellington Place.