Ernest Newburn McGirr, (March 7, 1887 – May 23, 1982) was a politician in
Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
, Canada. He served in the
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (french: Assemblée législative du Manitoba) is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at provincial gener ...
as a
Progressive Conservative from 1949 to 1953.
Born in
Emerson, Manitoba, McGirr was educated in
Morden
Morden is a district and town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Merton, in the ceremonial county of Greater London. It adjoins Merton Park and Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Sutton to the south and Worcester Pa ...
and Winnipeg. He joined a law firm in
Dauphin in 1914 and was made a partner in 1916. McGirr married Elizabeth Stewart, of Griswold, near
Oak Lake, in 1916. They had two daughters, Nora Elizabeth McGirr Roots Clawson (1917-1989), an editor who was married and later divorced from Peter Charles Roots, the father of her three children (Stephanie Roots Karsten
947–present Judith Roots Carver
950–present 95 or 95th may refer to:
* 95 (number)
* one of the years 95 BC, AD 95, 1995, 2095, etc.
* 95th Division (disambiguation)
* 95th Regiment
** 95th Regiment of Foot (disambiguation)
* 95th Squadron (disambiguation)
* Atomic number 95: americium
*Mi ...
and David Henry Roots
951–presentand then to
Robert Marion Clawson; and Kathleen (who married first the Canadian historian
Roger Graham and later the distinguished military man
Leonard Birchall
Air Commodore Leonard Joseph Birchall, (6 July 1915 – 10 September 2004), "The Saviour of Ceylon", was a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) officer who warned of a Japanese attack on the island of Ceylon during the Second World War.
Early life
Bi ...
). McGirr was named a
King's Counsel
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...
in 1933.
McGirr first ran for the Manitoba legislature as a Conservative in the
1932 provincial election, but lost to
Liberal-Progressive
Liberal-Progressive was a label used by a number of candidates in Canadian elections between 1925 and 1953. In federal and Ontario politics, there was no Liberal-Progressive party: it was an alliance between two parties. In Manitoba, a party existe ...
candidate
Robert Hawkins by 265 votes in the
Dauphin constituency. He lost to Hawkins again, by a greater margin, in the
1936 election.
He was elected to the legislature on his third attempt, in the
provincial election of 1949.
The Liberal-Progressives and Progressive Conservatives had previously formed a
coalition government
A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
in Manitoba, and with support from the Liberal-Progressives, McGirr easily defeated an opponent from
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation to take the Dauphin constituency.
The Progressive Conservatives left the coalition government in 1950, and McGirr moved to the opposition benches with his party. He was defeated in the
1953 provincial election,
placing third against
William Bullmore
William Lewis Bullmore (October 10, 1912 in Minnedosa, Manitoba – August 23, 1972) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1953 to 1958, initially as a Social Credit representative and late ...
of the
Social Credit League. He acted as the Dauphin town solicitor for 50 years prior to his retirement, served on the board of
United College in Winnipeg,
and was a Bencher (1952–1968) and Life Bencher (1968–1982) of the Law Society of Manitoba.
McGirr died in Dauphin at the age of 95.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGirr, Ernest
1887 births
1982 deaths
Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba MLAs
Canadian King's Counsel
People from Emerson, Manitoba
People from Dauphin, Manitoba