Robert Smeaton White

Robert Smeaton White (15 March 1856 – 5 December 1944) was a Canadian journalist and political figure, and civil servant. In the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canadahe represented Cardwell from 1888 to 1895, Mount Royal from 1925 to 1935 and Saint-Antoine—Westmount from 1935 to 1940 as a Conservative member. He was a civil servant for almost 22 years, serving as Montreal's Collector of Customs from 1896 to 1917. He was a journalist, and became the editor of The Gazette in 1917, and remained in that position until he ran for political office again in 1925. He died at his home in Westmont, Quebec in late 1944.

Personal life He was born in Peterborough, Canada West in 1856, His post-secondary education was at McGill University. In 1882, he married Ruth McDougall. In 1888, he married Annie Barclay after the death of his first wife. His second wife pre-deceased him on 20 October 1944.

Journalism career He worked for a wholesale merchant in Montreal and then the Bank of Montreal, before joining The Gazette in 1884 as a "cub" or inexperienced journalist.

Political career He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 3 October 1888 by-election held in the southern Ontario Cardwell electoral district. The by-election occurred because the electoral district's member of parliament, his father, died in office.

He resigned his seat in October 1895, because the Conservative government was about to table legislation related to the Manitoba Schools Question, which he objected to (funding for minority separate schools).

In the mid-1920s, he again entered federal politics and won election to the House of Commons from the Montreal electoral district of Mount Royal. White was the Doyen, or Dean, of the House of Commons when he ran unsuccessfully as a member of the National Government Party in Saint-Antoine—Westmount in 1940. Civil service career Soon after his October 1895 resignation from parliament, newspapers speculated that he would be appointed by the federal government to the position of Collector of Customs at Montreal. The federal cabinet, by an Order in Council, appointed him Collector of Customs at Montreal on 31 December 1895. He was sworn in on 4 January 1896.