LIFE OF SIR JOHN BEVERLEY ROBINSON, Bart, C.B., D.C.L., Chief-Justice of Upper Canada. With a Preface by George G. Parkin, C.M.G., LL.D.

Octavo, original maroon buckram lettered in gold on spine, front panel with the Robinson family crest in gold, top edges gilt. 490 pp., Index; two fine photogravure portraits with tissue guards, coloured folding map at rear. INSCRIBED PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper: "To Sir Campbell Stuart, with the kindest regards of the Author In remembrance too of the association of our forefathers in long ago days. Also of what my family owes to yours (See especially Pages 5 & 6, and 15 to 18, 23-4, + 25-6 where scored by me in pencil). C.W. Robinson Kn. 1923 / 5 Stanford Road Kensington W.8." The coloured & gilt Heraldic bookplate of Sir Campbell Stuart, G.C.M.G. - K.B.E is affixed to the front paste-down. A few small scuffs to the cloth, a very, very good copy, bright, clean and sound. A remarkable association copy. Sir John Beverley Robinson (1791-1863), born in at Berthier, Lower Canada, the son of Christopher Robinson, a United Empire Loyalist of one of the First Families of Virginia, whose ancestor, also named Christopher Robinson, came there about 1666 as secretary to Sir William Berkeley, Governor of Virginia. In 1792, the family moved to Kingston in Upper Canada and then York (later renamed Toronto). After his father's death in 1798, he was sent to live and study in Kingston with his father's close friend, the Rev. Dr. John Stuart. Dr. Stuart raised and mentored the young Robinson and treated him as his own child - this is the family connection between the Robinsons and the Stuarts mentioned in the authorial inscription and highlighted by the author in pencil within the text. During the War of 1812, Robinson served with Isaac Brock and fought at the Battle of Queenston Heights. On the death of John Macdonell, he became acting attorney general for Upper Canada. He prosecuted the case of 18 settlers from Norfolk County who had committed treason by taking up arms against their neighbours on behalf of the Americans in a series of trials later referred to as the "Bloody Assize". When D'Arcy Boulton returned to Canada in 1814, Robinson was given the post of attorney general. Although the abolition of slavery did not legally come into effect in the British colonies-including Upper and Lower Canada, until 1833-in 1819, then Attorney General, John Beverley Robinson, declared that in Upper Canada all black residents were protected by British law and were free. In 1820, Robinson was elected to the 8th Parliament of Upper Canada representing the town of York. In 1829, Robinson became chief justice of the Court of King's Bench and held this post for 34 years. In 1830, he was appointed to the Legislative Council for the province. In the aftermath of Upper Canada Rebellion (1837), he pressed for executions of the rebel leaders, including Peter Matthews and Samuel Lount (to quote: "in his Opinion it was necessary for the ends of Justice, and due to the Loyal Inhabitants of the Province, that some examples should be made in the way of Capital punishments"). Although he opposed the uniting of Upper and Lower Canada, several of his recommendations found their way into the Union Act of 1840. ------------ The author, Major-General Sir Charles Walker Robinson, KCB (1836-1924) , was Sir John Beverley Robinson's youngest son. Born in Toronto, he attended Trinity College, before joining the British Army as a second lieutenant in the Prince Consort's Own (Rifle Brigade). He fought in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, then the Third Anglo-Ashanti War, then the Anglo-Zulu War. He became a Major-General in 1892. He was Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, and a Lieutenant-Governor of Royal Hospital Chelsea. He died in London, England. ----------- Sir Campbell Stuart, G.C.M.G., K.BE, KStJ (1885-1972) was a Canadian newspaper magnate. He was appointed the British Director of Propaganda in Enemy Countries in 1938, which became one of the original founding groups of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). His ancestor ment.…