John Ross Robertson was born December 28, 1841 and died at
Toronto on May 30, 1918. He was a newspaper publisher and a philanthropist. He was educated at Upper Canada College, a private school in Toronto. Interested in journalism since a young boy, he founded the Daily Telegraph in 1866 and operated the paper until 1871. In 1876, he founded the 'Evening Telegram'. As a young man, he started a newspaper at UCC called Young Canada. He wrote several books, including; "The History of Freemasonry in Canada" in 1900, and "The Diary of Mrs. John Graves Simcoe" in 1912. He bequeathed a considerable book collection to the Toronto Public Library, founded a children's home and left a large annuity to the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children.