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Thomas Robertson (Nova Scotia politician)

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Thomas Robertson
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Shelburne
In office
1878–1887
Preceded byThomas Coffin
Succeeded byJohn Wimburne Laurie
Member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly for Shelburne
In office
1894–1902
Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly
In office
February 13, 1902 – April 19, 1902
Preceded byFrederick Andrew Laurence
Succeeded byFrederick Andrew Laurence
Personal details
Born(1852-09-13)September 13, 1852
Barrington Passage, Nova Scotia
DiedApril 19, 1902(1902-04-19) (aged 49)
Dell Rapids, South Dakota
Political partyLiberal
Other political
affiliations
Nova Scotia Liberal Party
ChildrenWishart McLea Robertson
Robert Burnley Hume Robertson
James Robertson

Thomas Robertson (September 13, 1852 – April 19, 1902) was a Canadian civil servant, entrepreneur and politician. Robertson was a Liberal member of Parliament for the electoral district of Shelburne in the House of Commons of Canada from 1878 to 1887, a Nova Scotia Liberal member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1894 to 1902, and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in 1902.

Born in Barrington, Nova Scotia, the son of Robert Robertson and Sarah Richan, he worked in the provincial Department of Public Works and Mines and in the office of the provincial secretary as well as in the immigration branch of the federal Department of Agriculture. In 1884, he married Josephine Hume Allan. Robertson was president of the Barrington and Cape Island Steam Ferry Company and of the Coast Railway Company, nicknamed "Tom Robertson's Wheelbarrow Railway" and later taken over by the Canadian Northern Railway. He established a newspaper, the Cape Sable Advertiser, which operated from 1886 to 1890.

Robertson died in Dell Rapids, South Dakota, at the age of 49 while attempting to recover from an illness.

His son, Wishart McLea Robertson was a senator, Speaker of the Senate, and a minister without portfolio.

Electoral record

[edit]
1878 Canadian federal election: Shelburne
Party Candidate Votes
Liberal Thomas Robertson 966
Unknown Robert W. Freeman 899
Liberal Thomas Coffin 198
1882 Canadian federal election: Shelburne
Party Candidate Votes
Liberal Thomas Robertson 912
Unknown N.W. White 775
1887 Canadian federal election: Shelburne
Party Candidate Votes
Liberal Thomas Robertson 1,194
Conservative John Wimburn Laurie 1,160

References

[edit]
  • Thomas Robertson (Nova Scotia politician) – Parliament of Canada biography
  • Robertson, Marion (1994). "Thomas Robertson". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. Retrieved 23 October 2008.