Margot Robbie Family History

Margot Elise Robbie was born on July 2nd, 1990 to Doug and Sarie Robbie in Australia on Queensland’s Gold Coast.  She was the second of their four children.

Her parents’ marriage broke up when she was five.  She spent most of her childhood at her grandparents’ Currumbin Valley farm in Dalby on the Gold Coast hinterland.  Her father provided some money for the children’s schooling, but was generally distant.  She and her three siblings were basically raised by their single mom Sarie.

Acting and America.  Margot left her home at Dalby in 2007 when she was seventeen to try her luck as an actress in Melbourne.  A year later she succeeded in landing a three-year part in the soap opera Neighbours portraying a bisexual teen.

In 2011 she left Neighbours to test the waters in America.  Her first stop was Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  She later married and settled in California.

Her big break in America was in 2014 winning the part of Naomi, “the hottest blonde ever” trophy wife of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in the film The Wolf of Wall Street.  Critics praised her on-screen Brooklyn accent.  While her part was small, it made a huge impact.  She was now box-office material and she never looked back.

Margot earned an Oscar Best Actress nomination in 2017 for her portrayal of the  figure skater Tonya Harding in the biopic I, Tonya.  And she received critical acclaim for her performances as Queen Elizabeth in Mary Queen of Scots and Sharon Tate in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. 

Then in 2023 she played the titular fashion doll in the fantasy comedy Barbie, her highest-grossing release.  That year she was the world’s highest paid actress.

Mysterious Father

Margot’s last name is Robbie.  This name, a pet form of Robert, is Scottish in origin.  And Margot’s father Douglas Gordon Robbie was indeed of Scottish origin.  But little more is known about his origins from the public record.

It is said that Doug’s forebears could have been descendants of the Donnachaidh or Robertson clan in Scotland.  Yet there is no record of that or indeed of when these Robbies left Scotland for Australia.

Robbies in Queensland.  Doug himself was born in Queensland in 1956, his brother Wayne two years later.  He started out running a farm and later got involved in sugarcane production.  There he prospered and was being described as “a rich and powerful businessman” and “a sugarcane tycoon.”

He married Sarie Kessler in 1988 and all went well for a while.  They had four children, their sons bearing such Scottish-style names as Lachlan and Cameron.  However, the marriage disintegrated in 1995 and Doug left the home.

What happened is not known.  It is clear that the relationship became very cold and distant.  He put the children through private school.  But he would not give them any time or attention as he was never at home.  Margot herself has spoken very little about her father.  In one interview she said that she had nothing in common with him and that she was not like him at all.

Doug appeared more interested in his business prospects.  He became a partner in the sugarcane enterprise Davco Farming.  And he pursued real estate prospects in the Brisbane area, at times in conjunction with his brother Wayne.  He later retired to his home at Airlie Beach on the Gold Coast.  His views about his famous daughter are not known.

Her Maternal Kessler Line

Margot’s maternal line in Australia is wholly German, although it has come from different parts of Germany.

Her two times great grandparents were from Hesse in present-day SW Germany.  But their son and grandson both married Germans from the eastern part of the country.

• Justus and Christina Kessler came to Queensland from Hesse on the Quetta  in 1889
• their son Johannes (or Jack) Kessler married in 1916 Erna Kowald, descended from Silesian forebears who had come to South Australia around 1850.
• and their grandson Herb Kessler married in 1953 Verna Mibus, descended from Prussian forebears who had come to Victoria in 1860.

Herb’s daughter Sarie might have regretted not marrying a German line.  Her marriage to Doug Robbie of Scottish descent lasted less than the proverbial seven years.

Kesslers in Queensland.  Justus and his son Johannes (Jack) settled in Clifton, Queensland and were farmers on the Darling Downs.  Jack’s son Herb (Margot’s grandfather) was born there in 1923 and was the third of his four children.

Herb served with the RAAF in World War Two, a Flight Lieutenant with the No. 92 Squadron.  After his discharge in 1946 he moved to Toowoomba to studiy dentistry.  He married his wife Verna in 1953 and they settled in Dalby, Queensland.  There he practiced dentistry and they raised their family.  Their home was home to Sarie and her children in the 1990’s after the breakdown of her marriage.

Herb and Verna were members of the Dalby Bridge Club until well into their nineties.  They moved in 2017 to Ashmore on the Gold Coast where Verna died in 2019 and Herb in 2020.

Margot Robbie’s Family Tree

• Johannes Justus (Jack) Kessler from Hesse came to Brisbane, Queensland in 1889.  He m. Erna Kowald of German descent (1893-1981) in Brisbane in 1916
• – Silvia Kessler (1917-1993) m. Walter Westermann in 1944 and moved to America
• – Freda Kessler (1919-2015) m. Norman Uerbergang in 1941
• – Herbert Kessler (1923-2020)

• Sarie Kessler, physiotherapist m. Douglas (Doug) Robbie (b. 1956) around 1988, separated in 1995
• – Anya Robbie (b. 1989), accountant
• – Margot Robbie (b. 1990), film star
• – Lachlan Robbie (b. 1991). stuntman
• – Cameron Robbie (b. 1995), actor

• Margot Robbie m. Tom Ackerley, British film producer (b. 1990) in NSW, Australia in 2016
• -a  son (b. 2024 in California)