Knight was born in Vauxhall Walk,
Lambeth, London. He came to Bombay in
British India in 1847 as a 22-year-old and later took up journalism and writing articles in newspapers. Robert Knight became the Editor of the
Bombay Times in 1857 replacing
George Buist. In December 1859 the
Bombay Standard and Chronicle of Western India was absorbed into it and later in and in 1861 it absorbed its rivals
Courier and
Telegraph, both Bombay newspapers, and the name was changed to
The Times of India. It grew into national prominence under him. He forged an arrangement with
Reuters which made them the sole agent for India. Later he left
The Times of India and started
The Statesman in Calcutta in 1875. In 1854, he married Catherine Hannah (1837–1918), with whom he had 12 children. He died in Calcutta in 1890, apparently of malaria. His sons Paul and Robert were also journalists and newspapers proprietors. ==References==