Harold Aberdeen Watson Timmins (April 14, 1895 – July 29, 1966) was a Canadian politician and jurist. Timmins was born in

Alliston, Ontario Alliston is a settlement in Simcoe County in the Canadian province of Ontario. It has been part of the Town of New Tecumseth since the 1991 amalgamation of Alliston and nearby villages of Beeton, Tottenham, and the Township of Tecumseth. The p ...

, the son of James S. Timmins and Charlotte Amelia Watson, and raised in the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

neighbourhood of Parkdale where he attended Parkdale Collegiate Institute before studying at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

and

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The law school is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the '' Osgoode Hall L ...

."H.W. Timmins: Toronto judge was alderman, Parkdale MP", ''Globe and Mail'', July 30, 1966 He was called to the Ontario bar in 1920. Timmins was named a King's Counsel in 1942. He served with the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also res ...

as a gunner during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and was wounded at the Battle of Arras. A lawyer by profession who also lectured at Osgoode Hall Law School on contract law and liens, Timmins was a popular

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

Toronto City Council Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The current term began on November 15, 2022. Structure The c ...

representing Parkdale's Ward Six from 1944 until 1946 when he ran in a federal

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in Parkdale. He was elected as a Progressive Conservative MP and sat in the House of Commons of Canada until his defeat in the 1949 federal election by John Hunter of the Liberals in what was considered an upset victory as Parkdale had been a safe Tory seat since its creation in the 1917 federal election. During his time in the House of Commons, Timmins was an advocate for building housing for

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that h ...

's and for the creation of a national health plan. In 1958, Timmins was appointed as a judge on the County Court of York. Prior to that he'd been a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

-at-large in Ontario and an official arbitrator for Toronto for three years.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Timmins, Harold 1890s births 1966 deaths Judges in Ontario Lawyers in Ontario Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Osgoode Hall Law School alumni Academic staff of the Osgoode Hall Law School Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs Toronto city councillors University of Toronto alumni Canadian King's Counsel Canadian magistrates People from New Tecumseth