Sir John Beverley Robinson (July 26, 1791 to January 31, 1863) was attorney general of Upper Canada from 1818 and chief justice of the province from 1829 until 1862. Raised at York after his father’s death in 1798, he became the leading legal figure of early Toronto and presided over the treason trials that followed the 1837 rebellion, according to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
Life in brief
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | July 26, 1791, Berthier, Lower Canada |
| Died | January 31, 1863, Toronto |
| Role | Lawyer, attorney general, chief justice, first chancellor of Trinity College |
| Toronto connection | Grew up at York; represented the town in the assembly; lived at Beverley House on Richmond Street West |
Family and schooling
Robinson was the second son of Christopher Robinson, a Virginia-born Loyalist who had served in the Queen’s Rangers, and Esther Sayre. The family moved to Quebec in 1788, to Kingston in 1792, and to York shortly before Christopher died on November 2, 1798. At seven the boy was sent to Kingston to study under the Reverend John Stuart. In 1799 he entered the school of John Strachan and lived in Strachan’s Cornwall household until 1807. At 16 he began articles of law with D’Arcy Boulton Sr. When Boulton was captured by a French privateer in 1811, Robinson finished his articles in the office of John Macdonell.
The War of 1812 and the Ancaster trials
In 1812 Robinson volunteered for a flank company and received an officer’s commission. He went with Isaac Brock to southwestern Upper Canada in August 1812 and helped take formal possession of Detroit. At Queenston Heights his company was ordered forward just after Brock’s death, and Macdonell, who commanded the flank companies, was mortally wounded.
At about 21 he became acting attorney general, serving from 1812 to 1814 although he was not yet a member of the bar. He prosecuted the Norfolk County treason cases at Ancaster, which began on June 7, 1813. Fourteen men were convicted and eight were hanged on July 20, 1813. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography notes that the later nickname “Bloody Assize” may not have been fully deserved. He became solicitor general on February 13, 1815.
Study in England and appointment as attorney general
He left York on September 1, 1815, entered Lincoln’s Inn, and was called to the English bar in February 1823. He was appointed attorney general of Upper Canada on February 11, 1818, while still abroad. The Colonial Office offered him the chief justiceship of Mauritius at 3,500 pounds a year, which he declined, and he returned to York in early July 1823. In 1822 he had worked in England to secure the Canada Trade Act, which passed in August of that year.
Member for the town of York
Robinson was elected for the town of York in 1820, returned in 1824 after a bitter campaign, and held the seat in 1828 by a narrow margin. Through the 1820s he led the government’s side in the assembly and stood at the center of the group later called the Family Compact. He prosecuted Robert Gourlay, handled the North West Company’s litigation arising from the Selkirk affair, and drove the alien question in the assembly, including the expulsion of Barnabas Bidwell. He resigned his seat in 1829 on becoming chief justice, after the Colonial Office had ruled in 1828 that judges could no longer sit in the executive or legislative councils.
Chief justice and the 1837 trials
As chief justice of the Court of King’s Bench, Robinson presided at the trials that followed the 1837 rebellion and the 1838 Patriot invasions. More than 900 people were arrested, and most were released. Thirty-seven were sentenced to transportation or had death sentences commuted. Samuel Lount and Peter Matthews, who had pleaded guilty to high treason, were hanged. The rebellion itself is described in the article on the 1837 Rebellion in Toronto, and its leader in the biography of William Lyon Mackenzie.
He declined a knighthood in 1838, recommended by Governor Head. He was made a Companion of the Bath in 1850 and a baronet of the United Kingdom in 1854. On March 15, 1862, he resigned from the Queen’s Bench and became presiding judge of the Court of Error and Appeal. He retired to his Toronto home in January 1863 and died on January 31, three days after receiving communion from Bishop Strachan.
Beverley House, land, and Trinity College
His Toronto home, Beverley House, stood on Richmond Street West at the northeast corner of John Street, built in the 1820s with income from his private practice. By 1852 he held about 300 acres (120 hectares) in Simcoe County, more than 1,000 acres (400 hectares) in York County, and land in Ontario and Peel counties.
He helped establish King’s College, the Anglican university at Toronto, and opposed its secularization in 1849. After the charter of Trinity College in 1852 he became its first chancellor and held the post until his death. He also served on the executive of the Church Society of the Toronto diocese.
Political views
Robinson was a Loyalist and Anglican who favored the British connection, British immigration, and an established church, and he defended the clergy reserves. He opposed the 1839 to 1840 proposals for union of the Canadas and argued against Lord Durham’s report in his 1840 pamphlet Canada, and the Canada Bill. He had supported a union of British North America from 1823 on and later accepted responsible government as a way to keep the British tie. The Upper Canada Law Journal described his judgments as marked by lucid argument and strict impartiality.
Family
He married Emma Walker on June 5, 1817. They had four sons and three daughters. His second son, also John Beverley Robinson, served briefly in the pre-Confederation cabinet and was lieutenant governor of Ontario in the 1880s.
Where sources differ
The Ancaster trials of 1813 are often called the “Bloody Assize.” The Dictionary of Canadian Biography treats the label as possibly overstated. It also records that in the 1860 extradition case of the fugitive John Anderson, a ruling in which Robinson took part was later overturned on a technicality by the Court of Common Pleas.
Who was John Beverley Robinson?
He was attorney general of Upper Canada from 1818 and its chief justice from 1829 to 1862.
Where did Robinson live in Toronto?
At Beverley House on Richmond Street West, at John Street, built in the 1820s.
What was his role in the 1837 rebellion?
As chief justice he presided over the treason trials. Lount and Matthews, who had pleaded guilty, were hanged.
What was his link to Trinity College?
He was its first chancellor after the 1852 charter and held the post until he died.
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography, “ROBINSON, Sir JOHN BEVERLEY”, vol. 9
Related reading
- Osgoode Hall and the legal profession
- John Strachan, Robinson’s teacher
- William Lyon Mackenzie
- The 1837 Rebellion in Toronto
- People of Toronto history
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 23). Sir John Beverley Robinson: Chief Justice of Upper Canada. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/john-beverley-robinson
MLA: “Sir John Beverley Robinson: Chief Justice of Upper Canada.” History of Toronto, 23 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/john-beverley-robinson. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “Sir John Beverley Robinson: Chief Justice of Upper Canada.” Last modified October 23, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/john-beverley-robinson.
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