Robert Irwin (Canadian politician)

Robert Irwin (January 17, 1865 – May 16, 1941) was a merchant and political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada, and father of Robert Grandy and Prescott St. Clair. He represented Shelburne County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1906 to 1925 as a Liberal member. Irwin was the 17th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia from 1937 to 1940.

Robert Irwin
MLA for Shelburne County
In office
June 20, 1906 – June 25, 1925
Preceded byThomas Johnston
George A. Cox
Thomas Robertson
Moses H. Nickerson
Succeeded byErnest Reginald Nickerson
Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly
In office
January 31, 1917 – June 25, 1925
Preceded byJames F. Ellis
Succeeded byAlbert Parsons
17th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia
In office
April 7, 1937 – May 31, 1940
MonarchGeorge VI
Governors GeneralThe Lord Tweedsmuir
The Earl of Athlone
PremierAngus Lewis Macdonald
Preceded byWalter Harold Covert
Succeeded byFrederick Francis Mathers
Personal details
BornJanuary 17, 1865
Shelburne, Nova Scotia
DiedMay 16, 1941(1941-05-16) (aged 75)
Shelburne, Nova Scotia
Political partyLiberal
ResidenceShelburne, Nova Scotia
Occupationsalesman

Life and career edit

He was born in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, the son of Robert Gore Irwin and Isabel Archer, and was educated there. Irwin worked for fifteen years as a travelling salesman before establishing a lumber and dry goods business at Shelburne. In 1894, he married Mary Prescott McGill. Irwin was speaker for the provincial assembly from 1917 to 1925. He died in Shelburne. His brother Harry Irwin was Hawaii Attorney General and a judge in Hawaii. His brother Fred was a physician and surgeon in Hawaii. They also had a brother named Archer.

References edit

  • Allison, David; Tuck, C.E. (1916). History of Nova Scotia. Vol. III. Halifax: A.W. Bowen & Co. pp. 577–578.
  • Marble, Allan E. (1977). Nova Scotians at Home and Abroad: including biographical sketches of over six hundred native born Nova Scotians. Windsor, NS: Lancelot. p. 217. ISBN 978-0-8899-9074-6.