- DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Patrick Brode, “ROBINSON, JOHN BEVERLEY,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 12, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/robinson_john_beverley_12E.html
- DCB profile notes:
- Sportsman, army officer, lawyer, businessman, politician, and office holder; b. 20 Feb. 1820 in York (Toronto), Upper Canada, second son of John Beverley Robinson* and Emma Walker; m. there 30 June 1847 Mary Jane Hagerman, and they had three sons and two daughters; d. 19 June 1896 in Toronto.
- Like his father, a dominant figure in Upper Canada’s history, John Beverley Robinson showed an inclination towards public life. However, unlike his father, he relished the rough-and-tumble of politics. Between 1830 and 1836 he had attended Upper Canada College, where he was more renowned for his skill on the cricket field than with the classics. An avid sportsman throughout his life, he was a member of the first Canadian cricket team to face an American side. Reputedly Toronto’s best boxer in his day, Robinson inaugurated the Toronto Athletic Club in 1891 and served as its president until 1895.
- Robinson’s involvement in business eventually led him into civic politics: in 1851, 1853–54, and 1856–57 he was an alderman for St Patrick’s Ward. It was axiomatic among politicians such as Robinson that railways meant prosperity. In 1851 he proposed a municipal grant for the Toronto and Guelph Railway, which was taken over by the Grand Trunk two years later. It was the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron, however, that became his principal interest: it could be the key to connecting Toronto to Georgian Bay and the trade from the American west. In 1854 he saw that council voted a bonus for the railway, and he was appointed the city’s director on its board. For the next 25 years he would be an enthusiastic promoter of the Northern and, from 1862 to 1875, its president.
- In 1856 Robinson was narrowly elected mayor by his fellow members of council. Consistently on the side of development, he backed the construction of a public waterworks and the purchase of land for a jail and an industrial farm. When he attempted to retain the mayoralty in 1857, he faced accusations that the old “family compact” was trying to hold onto power. After a flurry of manœuvring, he lost re-election by one vote, but he remained on council, where he continued his pro-development stance.
- Robinson’s influence had always been in business and politics related to Toronto. His death was a dramatic punctuation to a life spent in the tory cause. In 1896 Prime Minister Sir Charles Tupper was desperately trying to hold off the resurgent Liberals. He called a meeting at Massey Music Hall for 19 June and Robinson, now the old war-horse of the Toronto tories, was invited to speak. A large, hostile crowd gathered around the hall and hooted at the arriving dignitaries. Robinson, who retired to an ante-room before giving his speech, suffered a sudden stroke and died just as the meeting began.
- Grandson of Proven Loyalist in Loyalist Directory –https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=7058
- Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/162127155/john_beverley-robinson
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