Robert McKeen
| The Honourable Robert McKeen CMG |
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| File:Robert McKeen, 1935.jpg
Robert McKeen in 1935
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| 12th Speaker of the House of Representatives | |
| In office 24 June 1947 – 3 November 1949 |
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| Prime Minister | Peter Fraser |
| Preceded by | Frederick Schramm |
| Succeeded by | Matthew Oram |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Wellington South |
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| In office 7 December 1922 – 4 November 1946 |
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| Preceded by | George Mitchell |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Island Bay |
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| In office 27 November 1946 – 5 October 1954 |
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| Preceded by | New constituency |
| Succeeded by | Arnold Nordmeyer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 July 1884 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Otaki, New Zealand |
| Political party | Labour Party |
Robert McKeen CMG (12 July 1884 – 5 August 1974) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Early life
He was born in 1884 in Edinburgh and received his education in West Calder, West Lothian, Scotland.[1][2] In Scotland, he was active in the labour movement, and worked as a grocer's assistant in a co-operative store.[1] He emigrated to New Zealand in 1909, and worked in coal mines on the West Coast before moving to Wellington,[3] and a grocery store. He was a union official.[2]
Political career
| Parliament of New Zealand | ||||
| Years | Term | Electorate | Party | |
| 1922–1925 | 21st | Wellington South | Labour | |
| 1925–1928 | 22nd | Wellington South | Labour | |
| 1928–1931 | 23rd | Wellington South | Labour | |
| 1931–1935 | 24th | Wellington South | Labour | |
| 1935–1938 | 25th | Wellington South | Labour | |
| 1938–1943 | 26th | Wellington South | Labour | |
| 1943–1946 | 27th | Wellington South | Labour | |
| 1946–1949 | 28th | Island Bay | Labour | |
| 1949–1951 | 29th | Island Bay | Labour | |
| 1951–1954 | 30th | Island Bay | Labour | |
In the 1919 election, McKeen organised the campaign of the Labour Party in Wellington.[1] He first stood for the House of Representatives in the 1922 election and was successful.[4] He was the Member of Parliament for Wellington South from 1922 to 1946, then Island Bay from 1946 to 1954, when he retired.[5] McKeen was Labour's junior whip in 1935 and 1936, and its senior whip in 1937 and 1938.[6] He was Chairman of Committees from 1939 to 1946.[7] Subsequent to that, he was the twelfth Speaker of the House of Representatives, from 1947 to 1950.[8]
He was on the Wellington City Council for 18 years, and the Wellington Harbour Board for nine years.[2] Bob Semple and McKeen were the only Labour city councillors during 1927–1929, and they were also parliamentary colleagues. They were close friends, and retired from parliament at the same time.[9] McKeen stood for the Wellington mayoralty in 1941, but was defeated by the incumbent, Thomas Hislop.[10] He was Mayor of Otaki in the 1950s.[2]
In 1935, McKeen was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.[11] He was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1960 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services in public affairs as a trade unionist, Member of Parliament and Speaker of the House of Representatives.[12]
Family and death
He married Jessie Russell, the daughter of Robert Russell.[3] He died in Otaki on 5 August 1974 and is buried at the Kelvin Grove Cemetery in Palmerston North.[13]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 215.
- ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 280.
- ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 252.
- ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 250.
- ↑ Hickey 2010, pp. 196, 238.
- ↑ Yska 2006, p. 160.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 42053. p. 4015. 11 June 1960. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robert McKeen. |
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- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Who’s Who in New Zealand (7th Edition, 1961).
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| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chairman of Committees of the House of Representatives 1939–1946 |
Succeeded by Clyde Carr |
| Preceded by | Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives 1947–1950 |
Succeeded by Matthew Oram |
| New Zealand Parliament | ||
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Wellington South 1922–1946 |
Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament for Island Bay 1946–1954 |
Succeeded by Arnold Nordmeyer |
- Use dmy dates from August 2014
- Use New Zealand English from August 2014
- All Wikipedia articles written in New Zealand English
- Pages with broken file links
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- 1884 births
- 1974 deaths
- New Zealand Labour Party MPs
- New Zealand MPs for Wellington electorates
- Speakers of the New Zealand House of Representatives
- Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
- People from West Lothian
- Scottish emigrants to New Zealand
- Wellington City Councillors
- New Zealand trade unionists
- Mayors of places in New Zealand
- Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Burials at Kelvin Grove Cemetery
