Herbert Alexander Bruce
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Herbert Alexander Bruce (September 28, 1868 – June 23, 1963), served as the 15th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Canada, from 1932 to 1937.
Born in Blackstock, Ontario near Port Perry, Bruce was educated as a surgeon at the University of Toronto and in Paris and Vienna. He owned Wellesley Hospital in Toronto which he founded in 1911, and was a professor of surgery at the University of Toronto.
In 1916, during World War I, he was appointed inspector-general of the Canadian Army Medical Corps by Sir Sam Hughes, and attained the rank of colonel.
Bruce investigated medical practices in the army and issued a Report on the Canadian Army Medical Service which urged a complete reogranization of the medical corps. His report was disowned by the government at the time and he was dismissed from his duties, though many of his recommendations were ultimately implemented. In 1919, he published Politics and the Canadian Army Medical Corps, criticizing the government for its actions.
In 1920, Bruce purchased a farm on Bayview Avenue overlooking the Don Valley and built a Tudor-style mansion which he named Annandale.
He was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Ontario by R.B. Bennett and often verbally clashed with new Ontario Premier Mitch Hepburn who attempted to curtail the extravegance of the vice-regal office in the face of the Great Depression. The lieutenant-governor's official residence, Chorley Park, was closed by the Hepburn government at the end of Bruce's term on the pretext of cutting costs.
While most lieutenant-governors are former politicians, Bruce took the unusual step of entering politics following his term as the King's representative, by contesting and winning a seat in the Canadian House of Commons in the 1940 federal election. Sitting as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Parkdale, Bruce was an outspoken advocate of conscription. He was re-elected to a second term in the 1945 federal election, but retired from office in 1946.
His autobiography, Varied Operations, was published in 1958. He died in Toronto in 1963 and was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto.
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| Parliament of Canada | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by David Spence |
Member of Parliament for Parkdale 1940–1946 |
Succeeded by Harold Timmins |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by Sir William Mulock |
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario 1932–1937 |
Succeeded by Albert Edward Matthews |
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Lieutenant-Governors of Ontario |  |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Post-Confederation (1867-present)
Stisted | Howland | Crawford | D.A. Macdonald | J.B. Robinson | Campbell | Kirkpatrick | Gzowski | Mowat | Clark | Gibson | Hendrie | Clarke | Cockshutt | Ross | Mulock | H.A. Bruce | Matthews | Lawson | Breithaupt | MacKay | Rowe | W.R. Macdonald | McGibbon | Aird | Alexander | Jackman | Weston | Bartleman Canada West (1841-1866) Clitherow | Jackson | Bagot | Metcalfe | Cathcart | J. Bruce | E.W. Head | Monck Upper Canada (1791-1841) Simcoe | Russell | Hunter | Grant | Gore | Brock | Sheaffe | de Rottenburg | Drummond | Murray | F.P. Robinson | Smith | Maitland | Colborne | F.B. Head | Arthur | Thomson |
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Categories: 1868 births | 1963 deaths | Canadian Anglicans | Lieutenant Governors of Ontario | Members of the Canadian House of Commons from Ontario | Historical Conservative Party of Canada MPs | Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs | People from Durham Region, Ontario | Canadian people of World War I | University of Toronto alumni
