Robert Potter was the husband of Nancy, father of Audrey and maternal grandfather of Stephen Reid and Gail McIntyre. Robert and his wife Nancy were strict with only child Audrey, thrusting responsibility upon her from a young age. When their daughter became pregnant at sixteen in 1956, the Potters were horrified, and Robert accepted an offer from close friends and neighbours Joyce and Malcolm Reid to adopt the child and raise him as their own. In 2000, while reeling about Sarah-Lou's pregnancy, Audrey remarked that Robert used to beat her.