| Robert Francis Withers Allston | |
| Order: | 67th |
| Office: | Governor of South Carolina |
| Term Start: | December 10, 1856 |
| Term End: | December 10, 1858 |
| Lieutenant: | Gabriel Cannon |
| Predecessor: | James Hopkins Adams |
| Successor: | William Henry Gist |
| Office1: | President of the South Carolina Senate |
| Term1: | November 25, 1850 - December 10, 1856 Pro tempore: December 14, 1847 - November 25, 1850 |
| Governor1: | David Johnson Whitemarsh B. Seabrook John Hugh Means John Lawrence Manning James Hopkins Adams |
| Predecessor1: | Angus Patterson |
| Successor1: | James Chesnut, Jr. |
| Office2: | Member of the South Carolina Senate from Georgetown District |
| Term2: | December 12, 1834 - December 10, 1856 |
| Predecessor2: | Himself |
| Successor2: | John I. Middleton |
| Term3: | November 25, 1833 - November 24, 1834 |
| Predecessor3: | John Harleston Read |
| Successor3: | Himself |
| Office4: | Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Georgetown District |
| Term4: | November 21, 1828 - November 26, 1832 |
| Birth Date: | 21 April 1801 |
| Birth Place: | Waccamaw, South Carolina, US |
| Death Place: | Georgetown County, South Carolina, US |
| Spouse: | Adele Petigru |
| Children: | 9, including Elizabeth Waties Allston Pringle |
| Profession: | Statesman |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Alma Mater: | United States Military Academy |
| Serviceyears: | 1821–1822 |
| Rank: | Second lieutenant |
| Branch: | United States Army |
Robert Francis Withers Allston (April 21, 1801April 7, 1864) was the 67th Governor of South Carolina. He was born in Waccamaw, South Carolina.
He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1821, and briefly served as second lieutenant of artillery before resigning in February 1822.
He was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1828, serving in that body through 1831. In 1834, he was elected to the South Carolina Senate, serving in that body until 1856, while there he was appointed Senate President in 1847 and was involved in several disputed elections involving the Prince George Winyah S.C. Senate seat, in large part because of his staunch support of nullification. From 1856 to 1858 he served as Governor of South Carolina. Following South Carolina's secession, he was a Confederate presidential elector.
His family was able to maintain two houses in Georgetown and several plantations, including the Allston ancestral home on the Pee Dee River, Chicora Wood—one of the five plantations Robert Allston owned, with over 9,500 acres and at least 690 enslaved Blacks, making him the eighth largest enslaver in United States history. On his farms he primarily grew rice and published several works on rice planting, including the well-regarded Memoir of the Introduction and Planting of Rice in South-Carolina (1843) and Essay on Sea Coast Crops (1854). Allston's daughter, Elizabeth Waties Allston Pringle, took over the management of Chicora Wood after his death.[1]
Born in 1801 as a younger son to a Georgetown rice plantation who died when Robert was a child. In 1832, he married Adeline (Adéle) Theresa Petigru (b. 1811 d. 1896.) She was the younger sister of James Louis Petigru, a well-known Charleston SC lawyer. They moved to Chicora Woods and had the following children:[2]
1. Benjamin b.1833 d.19002. Robert b. 1834 d.18393. Charlotte Frances b. 1837 d. 18434. Adele Petigru Vanderhorst b. 1840 d.19155. Louise Gibert b. 1842 d. 18436. Elizabeth Waties Pringle b. 1845 d.18767. Charles Petigru b. 1848 d.19228. Jane Louise Hill b. 1850 d. 19379. Unnamed infant son b. 1852