Born:
October 30, 1840 – March 26, 1918

Call Year:
?

Distinguished as:
Sold to the City of Hamilton 64-acres of land to become Gage Park

Biography:

Robert Russell Gage, born in October 1840 at Bartonville, Upper Canada, he married Hannah Jane nee Gage and had one daughter Eugenie Helen. Descended from a pioneer Loyalist family, Robert was the son of John Gage and Hannah Cline. Educated locally, he practiced law in Hamilton and became one of its best-known citizens. Gage’s wife, Hannah was the granddaughter of James Gage and Mary Davis, and they lived at “The Retreat,” a comfortable Victorian-styled bring home, still standing at 1072 Main Street East. Associated with the house was the Gage farm, of approximately 100 acres. Famous for its large orchards, it offered a full range of fruits and vegetables.

Gage was associated with several different partners: J.D. Edgar, John F. Monck and F.A. Read. Following dissolution of the Monck partnership in 1884, Gage joined with George Frederick Jelfs, who in 1893 was appointed police magistrate. His final partnership was with Charles Eldred Burkholder but Gage soon afterward retired from active practice.

Gage was a leader in the erection of the Trolley Street School in Barton Township. (Trolley Street later became Gage Avenue.) He served in 1879 as alderman, for St. Patrick’s ward 1. A freemason and a Liberal, he was secretary of the Reform Association for a number of years. In 1909 he deeded the house and thirty-three acres of the farm to his only daughter. In 1917, he sold to Hamilton the remaining sixty-four acres for $320,000; this was to become Gage Park.

Source: "Gage, Robert Russel," Dictionary of Hamilton Biography, Volume II (1876-1924) pg 54