- James Kirkpatrick Kerr
James Kirkpatrick Kerr, QC , PC (
August 1 1841 –December 4 1916 ) was a Canadian lawyer and Senator. He served asSpeaker of the Canadian Senate during the 11th Parliament from 14 January 1909 to 22 October 1911.Kerr was born in Guelph in what was then
Canada West . He was called to the bar ofUpper Canada in 1862 and began a legal partnership withEdward Blake ,Samuel Blake andJames Bethune . He became head, in 1844, of the legal firm of Kerr, Davidson, Paterson and Grant.In his career, Kerr argued several cases before the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and was elected a Bencher of theLaw Society of Upper Canada in 1879.He was an active Liberal and stood unsuccessfully for election to the
Canadian House of Commons in 1891 fromToronto Centre .He became president of the Ontario Liberal Association in 1892 and was summoned to the
Canadian Senate onMarch 12 1903 and was appointed Speaker six years later.Kerr was also an active Mason and was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Canada from 1875 to 1877.
He was also active in commerce and sat on several boards of directors including the Canadian General Electric Company. He was also one of the founders of
Havergal College .As a former
Speaker of the Canadian Senate James Kerr was given membership in theQueen's Privy Council for Canada in 1911.References
* [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/Key/SP-BL/sen/index.asp?Language=E¶m=1&id=2129 Biography]
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