Robert McKeen

The Honourable
Robert McKeen
CMG

Robert McKeen in 1935
12th Speaker of the House of Representatives
In office
24 June 1947  3 November 1949
Prime Minister Peter Fraser
Preceded by Frederick Schramm
Succeeded by Matthew Oram
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Wellington South
In office
7 December 1922  4 November 1946
Preceded by George Mitchell
Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Island Bay
In office
27 November 1946  5 October 1954
Preceded by New constituency
Succeeded by Arnold Nordmeyer
Personal details
Born 12 July 1884
Edinburgh, Scotland
Died 5 August 1974(1974-08-05) (aged 90)
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
19221925 21st Wellington South Labour
19251928 22nd Wellington South Labour
19281931 23rd Wellington South Labour
19311935 24th Wellington South Labour
19351938 25th Wellington South Labour
19381943 26th Wellington South Labour
19431946 27th Wellington South Labour
19461949 28th Island Bay Labour
19491951 29th Island Bay Labour
19511954 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. 1 2 3 "New Members". The Press. LVIII (17633). 9 December 1922. p. 15. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Verran, David. "Robert McKeen (1884–1974)". Trade Union. Archived from the original on 25 October 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Biographies of Former and Current Speakers of the New Zealand House of Representative". New Zealand Parliament. pp. 5f. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  4. "New Parliamentarians". Auckland Star LIII (291). 8 December 1922. p. 4. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  5. Wilson 1985, p. 215.
  6. Wilson 1985, p. 280.
  7. Wilson 1985, p. 252.
  8. Wilson 1985, p. 250.
  9. Hickey 2010, pp. 196, 238.
  10. Yska 2006, p. 160.
  11. "Official jubilee medals". The Evening Post CXIX (105). 6 May 1935. p. 4. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  12. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 42053. p. 4015. 11 June 1960. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  13. "Cemetery and cremation detail – McKeen, Robert". Palmerston North City Council. Retrieved 17 March 2015.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robert McKeen.
Political offices
Preceded by
Ted Howard
Chairman of Committees of the House of Representatives
19391946
Succeeded by
Clyde Carr
Preceded by
Frederick Schramm
Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives
19471950
Succeeded by
Matthew Oram
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by
George Mitchell
Member of Parliament for Wellington South
19221946
Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Island Bay
19461954
Succeeded by
Arnold Nordmeyer
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