Robert Blackburn (December 17, 1828 – August 12, 1894) was a Scottish-Canadian businessman and politician. Blackburn served as a village reeve and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

. Blackburn was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in 1828, the son of Robert Blackburn, and came to Canada in 1842. He became a lumber merchant and partner in woollen mills. He was reeve of

Gloucester Township, Ontario Gloucester ( ) is a former municipality and now geographic area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Located east of Ottawa's inner core, it was an independent city until amalgamated with the Regional Municipality of Ottawa–Carleton in 2001 to becom ...

in 1864. He was also reeve of New Edinburgh, Ontario from 1868 to 1870 and from 1871 to 1873. In 1864, Blackburn married Mary Ann French. He was

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Member of Parliament for Russell from 1874 to 1878. Blackburn also served as a director of the Bank of Ottawa and the Ottawa Agricultural Insurance Company. Along with

William Goodhue Perley William Goodhue Perley (June 4, 1820 – April 1, 1890) was a Canadian businessman and member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1887 to 1890. He was born in Enfield, New Hampshire in 1820. His emigrant ancestor was Allan Perley. During t ...

and others, he helped establish the Ottawa City Passenger Railway Company, a horse-drawn tram service, in 1866.''The Canadian parliamentary companion and annual register, 1877''
CH Mackintosh He died in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at the age of 64. Blackburn Hamlet, Ontario was named after him. His uncle, James Blackburn, represented the County of Ottawa in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada.

References

1828 births 1894 deaths Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Liberal Party of Canada MPs Mayors and reeves of Gloucester Township, Ontario Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Canadian people of Scottish descent Immigrants to the Province of Canada {{Ontario-mayor-stub