The two roles—the innovator and the
industrialist—are well covered in the Milton Historical Society's book, P. L.
Inventor of the Robertson Screw. So are many other adventures
during a 40-year career that transformed a Haldimand County farm
boy into a millionaire-philanthropist.
Follow the career of the Canadian
inventor Peter Lymburner Robertson (1879-1951) and his Milton,
Ontario manufacturing operation. Together they changed the history
of screw manufacturing.
P.L. Robertson is known throughout Canada as the inventor of
the Robertson screw. But to the people of Milton "P.L."
was much more than an inventor. As provider of most of the local
jobs he was for decades the most important factor in their lives.
Read about his campaign to become a world industrialist; his
founding of Recess Screws Limited in England; his highly charged
battles with Steel Company of Canada and Saturday Night;
his 1932 book The Remedy, a personal strategy to end
world depression; his bequests to employees and organizations and
an intimate family relationship that remained a secret for 80
years. And more.
