sentences:  They had six children, only three of whom survived into adulthood.When Robert Roberts was 17 he became shorthand writer for a modest paper, the "Aberdeen Daily Telegraph", after which he worked as a casual reporter, once being called on to assist in reporting the speeches delivered at an investigation into the merits of the Suez Canal scheme, conducted by Aberdeen Town Council on the occasion of a visit by Ferdinand de Lesseps.He left Aberdeen for Edinburgh to work as a reporter on "The Caledonian Mercury".