Material Type

Manuscript

Date Range

[197-]

Creator

Robins Print and Litho

Physical Description

3 items

Physical Condition

Excellent

History Biographical

Frederick Thomas Robins was born in 1877 in Margate, Kent, England. He learned the printer's trade in England, and came to Canada in 1903 as a master printer. Mr. Robins assisted in printing the statutes that created the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1905. In 1907, at the invitation of newspaper owner William Asbury Buchanan, Mr. Robins settled in Lethbridge and helped print the first edition of the Lethbridge Daily Herald. In 1909 Mr. Robins founded Lethbridge Quick Print. In 1916 he joined the 113th Lethbridge Highlanders, and served overseas until the end of World War 1. Upon his return to Lethbridge, Mr. Robins discovered that much of his printing equipment had been destroyed in a fire while in storage. Mr. Robins returned to work for the Lethbridge Daily Herald, but with the presses he was able to salvage from the fire, he established the F.T. Robins Printing Company between 1921 and 1924. The company was located at 713 3 Avenue South, but in 1931 moved to 714 2 Avenue North. The firm moved again in 1937, this time to 812 4 Avenue South. In 1954 Fred Robins moved his business one last time, to 1269 3 Avenue South. In 1957 Fred Robins, 80 years of age, retired from the business and his son Chester took control. Chester had started as an apprentice in the printer's trade in 1938. In 1976 Fred Robins died in Lethbridge at the age of 98. The F.T. Robins Company was the first in the city to purchase a Litho press, an important change in the printing process. In 1970 the company purchased the first and only Webb Business Forms Press in the city. In October 1977 the firm merged with Southern Printing Limited. to become Robins Southern Printing Limited. Chester Robins remained with the company until 1980, when he retired. Chester Robins died in Lethbridge on 24 April 2004.

Language

English

Acquisition Source

Robins, Chester deceased

Custodial History

These items were transferred from the Collections Department.

Scope and Content

Business Cards of Chester Robins from Robins Print and Litho[graph] at 1269 3 Avenue South in Lethbridge.

Access Restrictions

Public Access

Accession No.

20011035000

Collection

Archive

Less detail