In 1874, he became the mayor of Stalybridge and served until 1876. He served on the Joint Waterworks Committee in the construction of the Yeoman Hey Reservoir which was intended to bring fresh water to the towns of Oldham, Ashton-under-Lyne and Stalybridge. he was one of the original Trustees of Stamford Park which was built in 1873, when money was raised by the people of Dukinfield, Stalybridge and Ashton during the municipal socialist reforms of the era. In 1876, Robert attracted controversy in Parliament when he refused to call a public meeting to discuss the 'Bulgarian Atrocities' which the Ottoman Empire had been accused of.