Robert Read (December 11, 1814 – June 29, 1896) was an Ontario businessman and political figure.

He represented Hastings East in the 1st Canadian Parliament as a Conservative until February 24, 1871 when he was named to the Senate of Canada for Quinte division.

[1] He was born at Fressingfield in Suffolk, England in 1814,[1] the son of Robert Read,[2] and came to Upper Canada in 1836, settling at Belleville.

He also served as director of the Grand Trunk Railway.

[2] Read remarried in 1894 to Mary Jane Horsey, the eldest daughter of Kingston architect Edward Horsey.