John Alexander Robinson (June 29, 1867 – April 1929) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

-born educator, journalist and political figure in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

. He represented Trinity Bay in the

Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly The Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly () is the Unicameralism, unicameral deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It meets in the Confederation Bu ...

from 1898 to 1900. He was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and came to Newfoundland in 1882. For a time, Robinson was a grammar school principal in

Carbonear Carbonear is a town on the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It overlooks the west side of Conception Bay and had a history long tied to fishing and shipbuilding. Since the late 20th century, its economy has changed to empha ...

. He founded the Newfoundland Teachers' Association and served as its president. Robinson was founder and editor of the St. John's ''Daily News''. He served in the

Legislative Council of Newfoundland The Legislative Council of Newfoundland was the upper house of the General Assembly of Newfoundland from 1833 to 1934. The Legislative Council was appointed by the governor of Newfoundland, not elected. Bills were submitted by the House of Asse ...

from 1897 to 1898, from 1909 to 1919 and from 1926 to 1929. He was a member of the Executive Council serving as colonial secretary from 1898 to 1900, as Minister of Posts and Telegraphs from 1916 to 1919 and as a

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

in 1924 and 1928. Robinson was defeated when he ran for election to the Newfoundland assembly in 1900, 1904 and 1908 running as a Conservative and then as a member of the

Newfoundland People's Party The Newfoundland People's Party was a political party in the Dominion of Newfoundland before it joined Canada. The party was created by Attorney-General Edward Patrick Morris in 1907, when he split from the ruling Liberal Party to found his ow ...

. In 1883, Robinson married Flora Taylor.

References

* Members of the Legislative Council of Newfoundland 19th-century members of the Newfoundland House of Assembly 1867 births 1929 deaths Journalists from Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland Colony people Government ministers of the Dominion of Newfoundland Colonial secretaries of Newfoundland Newfoundland People's Party politicians {{Newfoundland-politician-stub