View source for John Robson (politician)

{{Short description|Premier of British Columbia from 1889 to 1892}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name          = John Robson
| image         = John_Robson.jpg
| caption       = Hon. John Robson
| order         = 9th [[Premier of British Columbia]]
| term_start    = 2 August 1889
| term_end      = 29 June 1892
| predecessor   = [[Alexander Edmund Batson Davie]]
| successor     = [[Theodore Davie]]
| monarch       = [[Queen Victoria|Victoria]]
| lieutenant_governor = [[Hugh Nelson (Canadian politician)|Hugh Nelson]]
| cabinet = [[Robson ministry]]
| office1       = Member of the [[Legislative Assembly of British Columbia]]
| constituency1 = [[Cariboo (provincial electoral district)|Cariboo]]
| term_start1   = 13 June 1890
| term_end1     = 29 June 1892
| predecessor1  = [[Robert McLeese]]
| successor1    = [[Hugh Watt (Canadian politician)|Hugh Watt]]	
| alongside1    = [[Joseph Mason (Canadian politician)|Joseph Mason]], [[Samuel Augustus Rogers]], [[Ithiel Nason]]
| constituency2 = [[Westminster (electoral district)|Westminster]]
| term_start2   = 13 June 1890
| term_end2     = 20 November 1890
| predecessor2  = first member
| successor2    = [[Colin Buchanan Sword]]	
| alongside2    = [[Thomas Edwin Kitchen]], [[James Punch]]
| constituency3 = [[New Westminster (provincial electoral district)|New Westminster]]
| term_start3   = 24 July 1882
| term_end3     = 13 June 1890
| predecessor3  = [[Wellington John Harris]]<br />[[Donald McGillivray (politician)|Donald McGillivray]]
| successor3    = district abolished	
| alongside3    = [[James Orr (Canadian politician)|James Orr]], [[William Henry Ladner]]
| constituency4 = [[Nanaimo (provincial electoral district)|Nanaimo]]
| term_start4   = 15 October 1871
| term_end4     = 11 September 1875
| predecessor4  = first member
| successor4    = [[John Bryden (MLA)|John Bryden]]
| office5       = 7th [[List of mayors of New Westminster|President of New Westminster City Council]]
| term_start5   = 1866
| term_end5     = 1867
| predecessor5  = [[William James Armstrong|William J. Armstrong]]
| successor5    = [[Henry Holbrook]]
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|df=y|1824|3|14}}
| birth_place   = [[Perth, Ontario]], [[Upper Canada]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|df=y|1892|6|29|1824|3|14}}
| death_place   = London, England
| party         = None
}}
'''John Robson''' (14 March 1824 – 29 June 1892) was a Canadian journalist and politician, who served as the ninth [[premier of British Columbia]].

==Journalist and activist==
Robson spent his early life as a merchant in Canada West and [[Montreal]] in Canada East. In 1859, upon news of the [[Fraser Canyon Gold Rush]], Robson moved west to the then [[Colony of British Columbia (1858-1866)|Colony of British Columbia]] from [[Upper Canada]]. Unsuccessful at [[prospecting]], Robson helped his brother, a [[Methodism|Methodist]] minister, complete construction of a church in [[New Westminster]], the capital of the new colony. He settled there and evidently became known in reformist circles as an articulate advocate of [[responsible government]], for he was shortly hired as editor of a new newspaper, ''The British Columbian''. His advocacy of devolution of power from the colonial governor, [[James Douglas (governor)|Sir James Douglas]], to a democratically elected assembly brought him into conflict with the august and autocratic Douglas. Douglas governed both British Columbia and the [[Colony of Vancouver Island]] from [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]], and this absence incurred further complaint from Robson and his paper.

Robson joined forces with other colonial-era editors such as [[Amor De Cosmos]] in railing against the Governor and his officials, including Chief Justice Sir [[Matthew Baillie Begbie]]. In 1862, Begbie cited contempt of court charges against Robson during the [[Cottonwood Scandal]] for publishing an unproven allegation that the Chief Justice had accepted a bribe from land speculators. Robson served on the New Westminster town council in the 1860s before being appointed to the British Columbia legislative council.

By 1864, Douglas had retired and the colony finally had its own resident governor, [[Frederick Seymour]]. By now, Robson had toned down his rhetoric about responsible government as the colonial assembly began to accrue more power. He was a reluctant supporter of the colony's [[Colony of British Columbia (1866–1871)|union with Vancouver Island]] in 1866, but by 1869, Robson had moved his newspaper's operations across the [[Strait of Georgia|Strait]] to Victoria. It was soon bought out by the rival ''Daily British Colonist'' (today the ''[[Victoria Times-Colonist]]''), which had been founded by De Cosmos. There Robson served as political editor for six years, and became a passionate advocate for the colony's union with Canada, formed as a [[Canadian Confederation|confederation]] of four colonies of [[British North America]] on 1 July 1867.  Together with De Cosmos and [[Robert Beaven]] (also future premiers), Robson founded the Confederation League which lobbied Seymour, as well as London and [[Ottawa]], for British Columbia's entry into Confederation.

Robson's advocacy eventually paid off when British Columbia was admitted as the sixth province on 20 July 1871.

==Provincial political career==
During British Columbia's colonial days, Robson had briefly served in the colonial assembly, but otherwise his political activity was limited to editorializing and lobbying. Once the colony joined confederation in 1871, however, he ran and was elected to the new province's first legislative assembly as a representative for [[Nanaimo (provincial electoral district)|Nanaimo]]. There he became an opponent of his former ally De Cosmos as well as Premier [[George Anthony Walkem]], and advocated reforms, including [[female suffrage]]. His support for [[Alexander Mackenzie (politician)|Alexander Mackenzie]]'s [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberals]] in the [[1874 Canadian federal election|1874 federal election]], won him a patronage appointment with the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]], a position he held for five years. Following this, Robson purchased a newspaper in New Westminster, which he published and edited for two years.

In 1882, after a seven-year absence, Robson returned to the [[Legislative Assembly of British Columbia|provincial legislature]] as one of the members for [[New Westminster (provincial electoral district)|New Westminster]]. He served in various high-profile cabinet portfolios under Premiers [[William Smithe]] and [[A.E.B. Davie]], where he earned a reputation as an advocate for [[public education]], accelerated [[settler|settlement]], improved exploration and [[surveying|surveys]], and subsidies to transportation providers, such as railways. He was also a vigorous opponent of land speculation, seeing it as a hindrance to settlement and transforming land into economically viable resources. Perhaps his greatest success came as the leading advocate for constructing the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] [[Terminal station|terminus]] at Granville, and his encouragement of the citizens there to incorporate their locality. It was Robson who was responsible for having the legislature name the new municipality [[Vancouver]] upon its [[Incorporation (municipal government)|incorporation]] in 1886. During Davie's illness, Robson served as acting premier.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Roy |first1=Patricia E. |title=ROBSON, JOHN |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/robson_john_12E.html |website=Dictionary of Canadian Biography |access-date=1 September 2020 |date=1990}}</ref>

Upon Davie's death 1889, Robson was appointed premier. In 1890, to ease his workload, he moved from representing the busy, growing riding of New Westminster to becoming one of the members for the vast, frontier electoral district of [[Cariboo (provincial electoral district)|Cariboo]] in the province's Central Interior. His brief tenure is chiefly remembered for his continued actions to enable ''[[Dominion Lands Act]]'' homesteading, as well as his lobbying of the federal government to construct a [[dry dock]] at [[Esquimalt]], just west of Victoria. Robson remained premier until his death in 1892, which occurred after he hurt his finger in the door of a carriage during a visit to London, and got [[blood poisoning]].

John Robson is interred in the [[Ross Bay Cemetery]] in [[Victoria, British Columbia]].

==Places named for Robson==
* Robson Cove is located near the entrance to [[Burrard Inlet]].
* [[Robson Street]], a major east-west thoroughfare in downtown [[Vancouver]], British Columbia.
* [[Robson Square]], along the street of the same name. 
* [[Robson, British Columbia|Robson]] town near Castlegar.
* John Robson Building on [[Robson Street]].
* John Robson Elementary School in New Westminster.

'''''Not'' named for Robson'''
* [[Robson Bight]], on [[Vancouver Island]], off [[Johnstone Strait]] is not named for him, but for [[Royal Navy]] officer Charles Rufus Robson.	
* [[Mount Robson]], on the border between [[British Columbia]] and [[Alberta]], is not named for him, but likely for [[North West Company]] guide [[Colin Robertson (fur trader)|Colin Robertson]].

==Electoral record==
{{1871 British Columbia general election/Nanaimo}}
{{CANelec/top|BC|1882|New Westminster (provincial electoral district)|New Westminster|percent=yes|elected=yes}}
{{CANelec|BC|Opposition|John Robson |262 |37.01 |elected=yes}}
{{CANelec|BC|Opposition|[[James Orr (Canadian politician)|James Orr]] |168 |23.73 |elected=yes}}
{{CANelec|BC|Opposition|Herbert John Kirkland |127 |17.94}}
{{CANelec|BC|Government|[[William Henry Ladner]] |76 |10.73}}
{{CANelec|BC|Opposition|Henry Dawson |60 |8.47}}
{{CANelec|BC|Government|William Isaac |15 |2.12}}
{{CANelec/total|Total valid votes |708 |100.00}}
{{Canadian election result/source|Source: [[Elections BC]]<ref name="BCElectionHistory">{{cite web|url=https://elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/1871-1986_ElectoralHistoryofBC.pdf|title=Electoral History of British Columbia 1871-1986|publisher=[[Elections BC]]|date=1988|access-date=January 9, 2025}}</ref>}}
{{end}}
{{1883 British Columbia provincial by-elections/New Westminster}}
{{1886 British Columbia general election/New Westminster}}
{{1890 British Columbia general election/Cariboo}}
{{1890 British Columbia general election/Westminster}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=6404 Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online'']
*[http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=5958 Biography at CDBO of Sir Matthew Ballie Begbie – source of information on Cottonwood Scandal]

{{BCPremiers}}
{{Mayors of New Westminster}}
{{Robson ministry}}
{{A. E. B. Davie ministry}}
{{Smithe ministry}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robson, John}}
[[Category:1824 births]]
[[Category:1892 deaths]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:Canadian Presbyterians]]
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[[Category:Mayors of New Westminster]]
[[Category:Politicians from New Westminster]]
[[Category:People from Perth, Ontario]]
[[Category:Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)]]
[[Category:Pre-Confederation British Columbia people]]
[[Category:Premiers of British Columbia]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia]]
[[Category:19th-century mayors of places in British Columbia]]