John Beverley Robinson: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

The Honourable John Beverley Robinson (February 21, 1821 - June 19, 1896) was a Canadian politician and Mayor of Toronto.

Born in 1821 in York (later Toronto), the second son of Sir John Beverley Robinson, Bart, the younger Robinson was educated at Upper Canada College. He served as Aide-de-Camp to Sir Francis Bond Head, Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, and assisted in suppressing the Rebellion of 1837. Robinson was called to the bar of Upper Canada in 1844, and served on Toronto City Council in the 1850s first as an alderman and then as Mayor of Toronto in 1857. He served as a member of the Province of Canada's legislature from 1858 to 1863 and supported the government of John A. Macdonald and George-Étienne Cartier that led to Canadian Confederation. He was defeated in the 1863 election due to opposition to Separate Schools for Roman Catholics. Following his defeat he was appointed to the position of City Solicitor.

Robinson was elected to the new federal House of Commons as a Conservative Member of Parliament in 1872. He was defeated in 1874 but returned to Parliament the next year by winning a by-election.

He was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Ontario in 1880 and served until 1887. During his mandate, he welcomed people from a variety of backgrounds to Government House, and his sympathetic nature earned him the respect of the public. He died in Toronto in 1896.