John Robertson was an early settler of Bell's Corners, Nepean Township, Carleton County, Ontario. While much has been written about him, particularly during the renaming controversy regarding Robertson Road, little of it has been documented. He has been described as a pioneer, weaver, foreman for the Rideau Canal, stone mason, mechanical engineer, storekeeper, farmer, major landowner, lumberman, pathmaster, surveyor of roads, Highway Commissioner, magistrate, councillor, warden of Nepean Township, agriculturalist, benefactor to his community, and an entrepreneur in his lifetime. He was born in Perthshire, Scotland in 1797 and became a silk weaver by trade before emigrating to Canada in 1827. That same year he purchased a partially cleared homestead in what would later become Bell's Corners. The Rev. J. L. Gourlay in his 1896 History of the Ottawa Valley described Robertson thusly: Robertson continued to work on the canal system until 1834 as well as farming. After the canal was finished, he began storekeeping and branched out into lumbering in the Township of Nepean and on the Bonnechere River. The first fair in the County of Carleton was held in Bell’s Corners in 1836 on land donated by John Robertson. He took a prominent and leading role for many years in the affairs of Nepean Township. He was pathmaster in 1837 collecting money for roads and supervising construction. On December 17, 1838, Robertson purchased 100 acres of lot 9, concession II, Ottawa front from John D. McKay. Then in September 1839, he received the first crown patent for all 200 acres of the adjacent lot 8. By 1855, he owned at least 1,100 acres in the Bell’s Corners area. The 1879 Belden map of the area also shows that he owned all of lot 35, concession V, Rideau front on the other side of what would later become Robertson Road where Westcliffe Estates is now located. Robertson and his wife had a number of children, among them sons Thomas and Ebenezer. Although Robertson sold various parcels of land over the years to others, what remained in the family was passed on or sold to Thomas. Thomas McKay Robertson is considered the first male white child born in Bytown. He established a store in 1841, which did the largest business in the area. While Robertson was well known for his farming, the Canada Directory of 1857-58 listed him as a Lt. Col. in the Carleton Battalion as well as a "dealer in dry goods, hardware, groceries, produce, &c." In 1842, Robertson was surveyor of roads in Nepean, then Highway Commissioner. He was a magistrate for nine years in the Township. In 1848 when Nepean commenced to run its own affairs alone there were 169 ratepayers in the Township entitled to vote, and John Robertson was elected Town Warden. In 1850, when Nepean Township was formally incorporated John Robertson was elected Councillor, a position he held for some years. John Robertson was one of the founders of the Bell’s Corners Union Cemetery in 1853. He was a very religious man and one who believed in education. Gourlay wrote: On March 18, 1868, John Robertson wrote an article published in The Canadian Farmer detailing his farming methods and their effect on crop yields and livestock production. Gourlay: His first wife died in 1869. He later remarried. However, the great fire of August 1870 destroyed his entire property. Gourlay wrote: In September 1880, John Robertson, then aged 83, wrote for his grandson, Ebenezer Robertson, a practical guide for all farming activities, with particular emphasis placed on the economics of farming. There were 280 pages of advice, wrapped in old Montreal newspapers. It was purchased in 1959 by the Manuscript Collection, Canadian History Department, Metropolitan Toronto. John Robertson died on 3 January 1884 at the age of 87. He is buried in the Bells Corners Union Cemetery.
