Rufus Curry (31 August 1859 – 18 August 1934) was a manufacturer and painter in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. He was appointed to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

in 1903, but declined the appointment and never actually took his seat. Notwithstanding this, he is officially listed by the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...

as having been a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

Senator from 1903 to 1905. Curry was born in Avondale, Nova Scotia, the son of Frederick Curry, and joined his father's ship-owning and shipbuilding firm on reaching adulthood. He later inherited half of his father's estate, including all business and shipping interests. He moved to

Windsor, Nova Scotia Windsor is a community located in Hants County, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a service centre for the western part of the county and is situated on Highway 101. The community has a history dating back to its use by the Mi'kmaq Nation for sev ...

in the late 1890s, where he became a director of St. Croix Marine Insurance Company and a founder of the Electric Light Company of Windsor. He eventually served as Mayor of Windsor for one year. He was appointed to the Senate on 12 March 1903, following nomination by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, ( ; ; November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minis ...

to replace the recently deceased

Clarence Primrose Clarence Primrose (October 5, 1830 – December 2, 1902) was a Canadian politician. Born in Pictou, Nova Scotia, the son of the James Primrose of Scottish descent, Primsrose was educated at the Pictou Academy and University of Edinburgh, Sco ...

. A report in the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' newspaper indicates that he did not want the appointment, and declined to serve. However, no letter of resignation was received by the Governor General at that time. He attempted to leave the Senate in March 1904 by submitting a letter of resignation to William S. Fielding, then the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

in the House of Commons, although for some reason this was not accepted at the time. His resignation finally took effect on 30 March 1905, after the Committee on Orders and Customs of the Senate and Privileges of Parliament recommended that the Senate declare his seat vacant under the provisions of the

British North America Act, 1867 The ''Constitution Act, 1867'' (french: Loi constitutionnelle de 1867),''The Constitution Act, 1867'', 30 & 31 Victoria (U.K.), c. 3, http://canlii.ca/t/ldsw retrieved on 2019-03-14. originally enacted as the ''British North America Act, 186 ...

, which allows such an action after a Senator has missed two consecutive sessions.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Curry, Rufus 1859 births 1934 deaths Canadian senators from Nova Scotia Liberal Party of Canada senators Mayors of places in Nova Scotia