Merchant, farmer.
Born in the province of Quebec on 5 May 1844, cousin of Thomas D. Robinson and William Robinson, he entered the dry goods business at London, Ontario, then he went to Mitchell, Ontario, and started business for himself. He came to Manitoba in 1878 and opened a store at Emerson which burned in 1881.
He then opened a general department store in Winnipeg, in the Dundee Block near the corner of Main Street and Portage Avenue, which grew into one of the largest retail establishments in Manitoba. In 1890, he added groceries, china, and home furnishings to his product line. By the time he retired from business in 1929, the J. Robinson Department Store comprised some 90,000 square feet of floor space. He also served as a director of the Northern Trust Company.
In 1872, he married Jane Walkinshaw (1848-1941) at Brantford, Ontario and they had two daughters: Georgina Robinson (1872-1966, wife of John Young Reid) and Lottie May Robinson (1879-1950, wife of Walter Philip Moss). Around 1920, he purchased a farm at Warren and raised horses. He died at his Winnipeg home, 211 Academy Road, on 1 December 1930 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Robinson House (703 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg)
Ontario marriage registration, Ancestry.
1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Marriage registration [Lottie May Robinson, Walter Philip Moss], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Who’s Who in Western Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of Western Canada, Volume 1, edited by C. W. Parker, Vancouver: Canadian Press Association, 1911.
A History of Manitoba: Its Resources and People by Prof. George Bryce, Toronto: The Canadian History Company, 1906.
Pioneers and Prominent People of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Canadian Publicity Company, 1925.
Death registrations [Jeremiah Robinson, Jane Robinson], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Jerry Robinson, city “merchant prince,” is dead,” Winnipeg Tribune, 1 December 1930, page 1.
“Funeral of Jerry Robinson is to take place today,” Manitoba Free Press, 3 December 1930.
“Mrs. Jerry Robinson, widow of pioneer city merchant, dies,” Winnipeg Tribune, 6 November 1941, page 14.
Death registration [Lottie May Moss], British Columbia Vital Statistics.
Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 27 May 2024
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