Robert Stewart was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 politician.

He was born in Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, the son of William Stewart and Sarah Jane Donaldson, migrants from Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. Stewart was educated in Ottawa's public school system along with his brothers, J.K., William and Samuel, and continued to take an active interest in the school system's development throughout his life. An insurance and general agent with his firm R. Stewart & Son, he was an alderman on the Ottawa City Council

Ottawa City Council

The Ottawa City Council is the governing body of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is composed of 23 city councillors and the mayor. The mayor is elected at large, while each of the councillors represent wards throughout the city. Council members are elected to four year terms with the...

, where he was said to have "represented the city's monied classes," and was president and treasurer of the YMCA

YMCA

The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...

. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 as the Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 member for Ottawa

Ottawa (City of)

Ottawa was a federal electoral district in the province of Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1935.It was created by the British North America Act of 1867. It consisted of the city of Ottawa...

 in the 1904 federal election that returned a third straight majority for Liberal Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier. He resigned the riding in 1908 shortly before that year's general election.

In 1877, Stewart married Mary Louisa Howard Sharp. He died in Ottawa at the age of 75.

He is unrelated to the formerly prominent Ottawa family of William Stewart, who owned a large portion of The Glebe

The Glebe

The Glebe is a neighbourhood in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located just south of Ottawa's downtown area, with its northern border being demarcated by the Queensway highway. It is bounded by the Rideau Canal to the south and east. Many maps show the western edge as Bronson Avenue, but some also...

 and who was father of Ottawa mayor McLeod Stewart

McLeod Stewart

McLeod Stewart was an Ottawa lawyer and mayor of Ottawa from 1887 to 1888. He was born in Ottawa in 1847, the son of William Stewart, who represented Bytown in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from 1844 to 1847....

, a contemporary of Robert on the Ottawa City Council.

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