J. J. Kelso
was a newspaper reporter and social crusader who immigrated to Canada from Ireland with his family in 1874 when he was ten years old. They suffered hardships of hunger and cold in their early years in Toronto and, throughout his life, this motivated Kelso's compassion towards the poor and unfortunate.
While a reporter for the World and the Globe, Kelso founded the
Childhood and youth
Born in Dundalk, Ireland, midway between Belfast and Dublin. His father, George, made penniless through a fire in his starch manufacturing business, had decided to try his fortunes in Canada. His wife, Anna, and their six girls and three boys followed him to Toronto. The family immigrated to Canada when John was ten years old. In the fall of that year they suffered from hunger and cold resulting in J.J. helping his family's desperate situation by finding odd jobs and to pick up what bits of firewood he could find.
At age 11, he skipped school and got a job at James Bain's bookstore on King Street East. The ensuing years found him sometimes at John Street Public School or Ryerson Public School, sometimes a messenger for the Dominion Telegraph Company and sometimes a cash boy in Timothy Eaton's dry goods store.