John Ross Robertson (December 28, 1841, to May 31, 1918) was a Toronto-born newspaper publisher who founded the Evening Telegram on April 18, 1876, wrote the six-volume Robertson’s Landmarks of Toronto, and gave much of his fortune and his collection of Canadiana to the city’s hospital and public library. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography calls him a journalist, publisher, philanthropist, historian, and sportsman.
Few people of his generation shaped so many parts of Toronto life at once: the daily press, children’s health care, amateur hockey, and the written record of the city’s own past.
Life in brief
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | December 28, 1841, Toronto, son of John Robertson, a dry goods merchant, and Margaret Sinclair |
| Died | May 31, 1918, Toronto |
| Role | Newspaper publisher, historian, philanthropist, sports administrator, member of Parliament |
| Toronto connection | Founder of the Evening Telegram, chairman of the Hospital for Sick Children, author of Landmarks of Toronto, donor to the Toronto Public Library |
| Married | Maria Louisa Gillbee, June 20, 1871; Jessie Elizabeth Holland, April 30, 1888 |
A printer’s boy at Upper Canada College
Robertson attended Upper Canada College in 1850 and 1851 and again after 1854. In 1857 he began a monthly, the College Times, which he set in type and printed at home. After a spell at the Model Grammar School he started a second paper, Young Canada. In 1861 he went to work for the Leader under Charles Lindsey, and he also published Young Canada Sporting Life, later renamed Sporting Life, which the Dictionary of Canadian Biography describes as probably the first sports periodical in Canada. From 1863 to 1865 he issued a satirical weekly, the Grumbler.
In 1865 George Brown hired him as city editor of the Globe. Robertson had a gift for local news and short paragraphs, but according to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography he disliked the paper’s political emphasis and Brown himself.
The Daily Telegraph, 1866 to 1872
In 1866 Robertson and James Beaty Cook became co-proprietors of the Daily Telegraph, whose first issue appeared on May 21, 1866. The paper was early in reporting the Fenian raid at Ridgeway that year. In January 1870, during the Red River uprising, Louis Riel had Robertson arrested and then expelled him. Robertson was himself an Orangeman, yet in 1870 he condemned violence by the Young Britons at an Orange parade. After Cook left in May 1871, Sir John A. Macdonald withdrew Conservative support, and the paper stopped publishing in May 1872. Robertson then spent three years as London correspondent and business representative of the Globe before returning to Toronto as business manager of the Nation.
The Evening Telegram
The Evening Telegram first appeared on April 18, 1876. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography says Goldwin Smith provided $10,000 to start it. Robertson cut the price to one cent about 14 months after launch and charged one cent a word for want ads, half the usual rate. By the early 1880s it had the largest circulation in the city. The paper stressed municipal news: city council, the water commission, the police courts, and the hospitals. Its editors included John Charles Dent, Alexander Fraser Pirie, and, from 1888, John Robinson Robinson. In the early 1900s it supported public ownership of hydroelectric power, working with Adam Beck.
The same biography records a harder side. Robertson opposed unions and paid below union wages. A boycott by the International Typographical Union began in 1882 and failed in 1884, and the Telegram remained non-union until 1891.
Cheap reprints and copyright
From 1877 Robertson issued inexpensive editions of foreign books without permission or royalties, known as the Robertson Cheap Editions. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography estimates that up to two million copies of about 350 titles were sold. He later campaigned for a Canadian copyright act, served as president of the Canadian Copyright Association, and led a delegation to the minister of justice in 1889. Canada gained copyright autonomy in 1911 and passed its own act in 1921.
The Hospital for Sick Children
After his daughter died, in 1882 according to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Robertson began giving money to the Hospital for Sick Children, about $500,000 in all from 1883. He joined the board in 1885 and became chairman in 1891, a post SickKids’ own history also dates to 1891. He established the Lakeside Home for Little Children on Toronto Island in 1883, paid for a College Street building in 1889, a five-storey nurses’ residence in 1905, and a milk pasteurization plant in 1909. His will set up an endowment from Telegram profits.
A memorial site (Find a Grave) gives 1881 for the daughter’s death, so the year is listed here as disputed. The hospital’s current programmes and addresses are on the SickKids website.
Landmarks of Toronto and the library collection
Robertson collected pictures from the age of 12. His Landmarks of Toronto, built from articles that first ran in the Telegram, appeared in six volumes between 1894 and 1914. In 1911 he edited The Diary of Mrs. John Graves Simcoe. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography says that between 1912 and 1917 he gave the Toronto Public Library thousands of paintings, reproductions, maps, and documents, together with William Pope’s ornithological illustrations. A Toronto Public Library blog dates the original gift of the historical collection to 1910, with the formal opening in January 1912, so the sources differ on the start date. The collection is now part of the library’s Canadian Documentary Art Collection.
Hockey, Freemasonry, and politics
Robertson was president of the Ontario Hockey Association from 1899 to 1905, was made a life member, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1945. He joined the Masons in 1867, became Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Canada in 1890, and published a two-volume History of Freemasonry in Canada in 1899. He won Toronto East in 1896 as an independent Conservative and did not run in 1900. With Hugh Graham he helped found the Canadian Associated Press in 1902, and in 1910 he took part in forming Canadian Press Limited. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1914. On December 31, 1916, he declined both a Senate seat and a knighthood offered by Prime Minister Borden.
Timeline
- 1841: born in Toronto.
- 1866: Daily Telegraph begins, May 21.
- 1876: Evening Telegram begins, April 18.
- 1891: becomes chairman of the Hospital for Sick Children.
- 1894 to 1914: Landmarks of Toronto published in six volumes.
- 1896: elected for Toronto East.
- 1918: dies in Toronto, May 31.
Frequently asked questions
When did the Toronto Evening Telegram start?
The first issue appeared on April 18, 1876, according to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
What did John Ross Robertson do for the Hospital for Sick Children?
He gave about $500,000 from 1883, served as a trustee from 1885 and chairman from 1891, and founded the Lakeside Home for Little Children on Toronto Island.
What is Landmarks of Toronto?
A six-volume history of the city, published between 1894 and 1914, based on Telegram articles.
Did Robertson accept a knighthood?
No. He declined a knighthood and a Senate seat on December 31, 1916.
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography, “Robertson, John Ross,” volume 14
- Toronto Public Library, local history and genealogy blog, “Remembering John Ross Robertson and the Telegram”
- Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), history pages
Related reading
- George Brown, who hired him as city editor of the Globe
- Elizabeth Simcoe, whose diary he edited in 1911
- History of Toronto Hydro and public power
- The Toronto Sun and the city’s newspaper history
- People of Toronto history
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 23). John Ross Robertson: Publisher, Historian, Hospital Patron. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/john-ross-robertson
MLA: “John Ross Robertson: Publisher, Historian, Hospital Patron.” History of Toronto, 23 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/john-ross-robertson. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “John Ross Robertson: Publisher, Historian, Hospital Patron.” Last modified October 23, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/john-ross-robertson.
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