Robert Randolph Bruce (July 16, 1861 – February 21, 1942) was an engineer, mining proprietor and the 13th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia from 1926 to 1931.

Robert Randolph Bruce
Robert Randolph Bruce
13th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia
In office
January 21, 1926 – July 18, 1931
MonarchGeorge V
Governors GeneralThe Viscount Byng of Vimy
The Viscount Willingdon
The Earl of Bessborough
PremierJohn Oliver
John Duncan MacLean
Simon Fraser Tolmie
Preceded byWalter Cameron Nichol
Succeeded byJohn William Fordham Johnson
Personal details
Born(1861-07-16)July 16, 1861
Lhanbryde, Scotland
DiedFebruary 21, 1942(1942-02-21) (aged 80)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
NationalityCanadian
Political partyLiberal
Alma materUniversity of Glasgow
Occupationengineer, mining proprietor
ProfessionPolitician, Diplomat

Bruce was born in Scotland and educated at the University of Glasgow where he studied engineering. He emigrated to the United States in 1887 before arriving in Canada to work for the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1897 he settled in British Columbia to become a prospector. Bruce and his partner established a lead and silver mine near Windermere Lake in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia. He purchased land from the railway and promoted it in England for settlement.

Bruce became the province's lieutenant-governor in 1926. Unusually for former viceroys, he attempted to enter politics following his tenure as the Queen's representative and stood for the Liberal Party of Canada in the 1935 federal election but was narrowly defeated by Henry Herbert Stevens in the riding of Kootenay East.[1] The government of William Lyon Mackenzie King appointed Bruce as Canada's second envoy to Japan with the title of Minister Plenipotentiary in 1936. He served for two years before retiring to Montreal.

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