William Robertson Warren (October 9, 1879 – December 31, 1927) was a

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

lawyer, politician and judge who served as the

dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...

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 ...

from July 1923 to April 1924.

Early life

His parents were William Matthew Henry Warren, a surveyor, and Jessie Sophia Warren. He had at least one sibling, a sister, Alice Mary Warren (died 1930), who was married to

Robert Brown Job Robert Brown Job Knt. (12 February 1873 – 6 September 1961) was an English-born businessman, politician, and economic unionist in Newfoundland. He was the oldest elected member of the Newfoundland National Convention. Early years Job was bo ...

, President of Job Brothers & Co., Limited. He received his education at

Bishop Feild College Bishop Feild College (originally Church of England Academy; formerly Church of England College and Bishop Feild Elementary; currently Bishop Feild School), founded in 1844, is a school in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, Newfou ...

, St. John's,

and

Framlingham College Framlingham College is a public school (independent day and boarding school) in the town of Framlingham, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Together with its preparatory school and nursery at Brandeston Hall, it serves pupils from 3 to 18 yea ...

, in England. After studying law, Warren was admitted as a solicitor in 1901

Career

Warren was first elected to the Newfoundland

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

in 1903 as a

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 ...

and served as

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

of the House from 1909-1913. In 1919 he became minister of justice in the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

of Sir

Richard Squires Sir Richard Anderson Squires KCMG (January 18, 1880 – March 26, 1940) was the Prime Minister of Newfoundland from 1919 to 1923 and from 1928 to 1932. As prime minister, Squires attempted to reform Newfoundland's fishing industry, but failed at ...

. The Squires government became embroiled in a scandal over allegations of corruption and misspending of government funds and Squires resigned in protest along with three other ministers in 1923. The next year Squires was forced to resign and Warren was chosen the party's new leader and Prime Minister. His government launched a formal inquiry into the corruption charges which resulted in the arrest and conviction of Squires and several others. Warren's supporters turned against him and moved a

Motion of No Confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

that defeated his government. Warren moved to the opposition benches and formed a coalition with

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

William J. Higgins William John Higgins (1880 – October 7, 1943) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Newfoundland and Labrador, Newfoundland. He represented St. John's East (federal electoral district), St. John's East in the Newfoundland and Labrador ...

to form the new ''Liberal-Conservative Progressive Party'' that won the election a few weeks later making the conservative

Walter Stanley Monroe Walter Stanley Monroe (May 14, 1871 – October 6, 1952) was a businessman and conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of Newfoundland from 1924 to 1928 as leader of the Liberal-Conservative Progressive Party. He was born in Irela ...

the new Prime Minister. In 1926, Warren resigned from the House of Assembly and was appointed to the colony's

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Personal life

He was married first to Ethel Alice Gordon, by whom he had one son, John Henry Warren, and two daughters. He was married secondly to Emilie Jackson (died 1934) by whom he had one daughter. Warren died in 1927.

References

External links

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Newfoundland in the 1920s
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, William 1879 births 1927 deaths Prime Ministers of the Dominion of Newfoundland Speakers of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly Judges in Newfoundland and Labrador Monumental masons Bishop Feild School alumni People educated at Framlingham College 20th-century sculptors Dominion of Newfoundland politicians