Robert Baldwin Sullivan

Who was Robert Baldwin Sullivan?

Robert Baldwin Sullivan, QC, was a Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician who became the 2nd Mayor of Toronto.

He was born in Bandon, County Cork in the Ireland in 1802 and came to York with his family in 1819. He studied law and was called to the bar in 1828. He moved to Vittoria, then the district town of the London District, and married in 1829, but returned to York after his wife's death in 1830. He remarried in 1833.

In 1835, he was elected to town council and was chosen to be mayor. He added a business like atmosphere to council with the official 'robes of office'. The council worked on matters like tax rates, grants and the removal of 'filth and nuisances from the city streets'.

On May 6, 1835, council's committee on draining and paving approved construction of the city's first main sewer on King Street into which all drains and sewers were to be connected.

In 1836, actions by new Lieutenant Governor Francis Bond Head triggered the resignation of the members of the Executive Council for the province. Sullivan accepted an appointment to the council. In the same year, he became the commissioner of crown lands. In 1839, he was appointed surveyor general for the province and became a member of the Legislative Council. Although criticized by many as a turncoat, he was an able administrator.