Robert Baldwin Ross

Robert Baldwin Ross
Robert Ross at twenty-four
Born	(1869-05-25)25 May 1869 Tours, France
Died	5 October 1918(1918-10-05) (aged 49) London, England
Nationality	Canadian-British
Other names	Robbie Ross
Occupation	Journalist
Known for	Executor of the estate of Oscar Wilde

Robert Baldwin "Robbie" Ross (25 May 1869 – 5 October 1918) was a Canadian journalist, art critic and art dealer, best known for his relationship with Oscar Wilde, to whom he was a devoted friend, lover and literary executor. A grandson of the Canadian reform leader Robert Baldwin, and son of John Ross and Augusta Elizabeth Baldwin, Ross was a pivotal figure on the London literary and artistic scene from the mid-1890s to his early death, and mentored several literary figures, including Siegfried Sassoon. His open homosexuality, in a period when male homosexual acts were illegal, brought him many hardships.

Ross was born in Tours, France. His mother, Elizabeth Baldwin, was the eldest daughter of Robert Baldwin, a Toronto lawyer and politician who in the 1840s, together with his political partner Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine, led Canada to autonomy from Britain. Ross's father, John Ross, was a Baldwinite and a Toronto lawyer who had a very successful political career, serving as Solicitor General for Upper Canada, Attorney General, Speaker of the Legislative Council, President of the Legislative Council, director, and, for a time, President, of the Grand Trunk Railway, and Canadian Senator. He became Speaker of the Senate in 1869.

Ross was the youngest of five children, with two sisters, Mary and Maria, and two brothers, John and Alexander. The family moved to Tours, France, in 1866 while Elizabeth was pregnant with Maria, who was born in 1867, the year of Canadian Confederation. John fulfilled his duties as Senator largely in absentia until he was chosen as Speaker of the Senate in 1869, the year of Robbie's birth, making his return to Canada unavoidable. The rest of the family followed in 1870. John died in January 1871 and Elizabeth moved the family to London, England, the following April.

In 1888 Ross was accepted at King's College, Cambridge, where he became a victim of bullying, probably because of his sexuality, which he made no secret of, and perhaps also his outspoken journalism in the university paper. Ross caught pneumonia after a dunking in a fountain by a number of students who had, according to Ross, the full support of a professor, Arthur Augustus Tilley. After recovering, he fought for an apology from his fellow students, which he received, but he also sought the dismissal of Tilley. The college refused to punish Tilley (though he resigned as Junior Tutor) and Ross dropped out. Soon after that, he chose to "come out" to his family.