View source for Henry Emmerson

{{Short description|Canadian politician (1853–1914)}}
{{distinguish|Henry Read Emmerson}}
{{for|the English artist|Henry Hetherington Emmerson}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]
| name          = Henry Robert Emmerson
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|size=100%}}
| image         = HREmmersonWIK.jpg
| imagesize     = 180px
| caption       = H. R. Emerson, Premier of New Brunswick
| order         = 9th [[Premier of New Brunswick]]
| term_start    = October 29, 1897
| term_end      = August 31, 1900
| predecessor   = [[James Mitchell (Canadian politician)|James Mitchell]]
| successor     = [[Lemuel John Tweedie|Lemuel J. Tweedie]]
| monarch       = [[Queen Victoria|Victoria]]
| lieutenant_governor = [[Abner Reid McClelan]]
| office1       = [[Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick|MLA]] for [[Albert (1846-1973 electoral district)|Albert]]
| term_start1   = September 28, 1888
| term_end1     = January 20, 1890
| predecessor1  = [[William James Lewis|W.J. Lewis]]
| successor1    = W.J. Lewis
| alongside1    = [[Gaius S. Turner]]
| term_start2   = October 22, 1892
| term_end2     = August 31, 1900
| predecessor2  = [[Gaius S. Turner]]
| successor2    = [[Sanford S. Ryan]]
| alongside2    = [[William James Lewis|W.J. Lewis]], [[Charles J. Osman]]
| constituency_MP3= [[Westmorland (federal electoral district)|Westmorland]]
| parliament3   = Canadian
| term_start3   = November 7, 1900
| term_end3     = July 9, 1914
| predecessor3  = [[Henry Absalom Powell]]
| successor3    = [[Arthur Bliss Copp]]
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1853|9|25|mf=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Maugerville, New Brunswick]], Canada
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1914|7|9|1853|9|25|mf=y}}
| death_place   = [[Dorchester, New Brunswick]], Canada
| party         = [[New Brunswick Liberal Association|Liberal]]
| spouse        = {{marriage|Emily Charlotte Record|June 1878|1901|reason=her death}}
| children      = Ethel Record Deacon, [[Henry Read Emmerson]], Emily Keillor Cornell, Bernice Seaman McQueen, Marion Bennett Bowes
| alma_mater    = [[University of St. Joseph's College|St. Joseph's College]]<br />[[Acadia University|Acadia College]]<br />[[Boston University]]
| occupation    = [[Lawyer]], [[Businessperson|businessman]] and [[philanthropist]]
| profession    = [[Politician]]
}}
'''Henry Robert Emmerson''', {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|PC}} (September 25, 1853 – July 9, 1914) was a Canadian [[lawyer]], [[Businessperson|businessman]], [[politician]], and [[philanthropist]] who served as [[Premier of New Brunswick]] from 1897 to 1900.

Henry Emmerson was educated at [[Amherst Academy]], [[Mount Allison University|Mount Allison Academy]], [[University of St. Joseph's College|St. Joseph's College]], [[Acadia University|Acadia College]] and earned a [[law degree]] from [[Boston University]]. He went on to a lucrative law practice and was heavily involved in business. He was involved in  woollen manufacturing, was a director of the Maritime Baptist Publishing Company Limited, president of the New Brunswick Petroleum Company Limited, the Acadia Coal and Coke Company, and the Sterling Coal Company, as well as a director of the Record Foundry and Machine Company.

He attempted to win a [[Legislative seat|seat]] in the [[House of Commons of Canada]] in 1887 but was unsuccessful. The next year he was elected to the [[Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick|provincial legislature]] then after the win was contested by his opponent and a new election contest ordered in 1889, Emmerson won the seat. In 1891 he was appointed to the [[Legislative Council]] of the province and oversaw its abolition. He re-entered the House of Assembly and in October 1892 was appointed to the [[Executive Council of New Brunswick|Executive Council]], serving as [[Department of Public Works and Highways (New Brunswick)|Chief Commissioner of Public Works]] in the [[Liberal Party of New Brunswick|Liberal]] government of [[Premier of New Brunswick|Premier]] [[Andrew George Blair]].

As commissioner, Emmerson stopped the practice of building bridges out of wood and opted for more permanent, and more expensive, materials thus driving up the province's [[public debt]]. He also supported [[women's suffrage]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=EMMERSON |first1=HENRY ROBERT |title=EMMERSON, HENRY ROBERT |url=https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/emmerson_henry_robert_14E.html |website=Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 14 |publisher=University of Toronto/Université Laval |access-date=18 March 2025}}</ref>

Emmerson became Premier in 1897. During his tenure, he briefly held the position of [[Office of the Attorney General (New Brunswick)|Attorney-General]]. His government tried to promote tourism and wheat farming and the development of natural gas and petroleum in the province. In 1899, he introduced legislation to grant women the right to vote but in a free vote, the bill was defeated.

Emmerson left provincial politics in 1900 to become a [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|MP]] in the [[House of Commons of Canada]]. From 1904 to 1907 he was [[Minister of Railways and Canals (Canada)|Minister of Railways and Canals]] in the federal [[Canadian cabinet|cabinet]] of Sir [[Wilfrid Laurier]].
{{stack|[[File:Henry Robert Emmerson Portrait.jpg|thumb|283x283px|Portrait from March 1912]]}}
Although he was regarded as brilliant, capable, and personable, his [[alcoholism]] and reputation as a [[womanizing|womanizer]] hampered his career. In 1906, an exasperated Laurier had Emmerson sign a pledge that he  would "never . . . again taste wine, beer or any other mixed or intoxicating liquor" and that he would provide the prime minister with an undated and signed letter of resignation to be used should he fail in his promise. The letter of resignation was invoked in 1907 after [[The Daily Gleaner]] newspaper reported that Emmerson was thrown out of a [[Montreal]] hotel with "two women of ill repute". He denied the allegations but on April 1 submitted his resignation from Cabinet, which Laurier accepted. Emmerson filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against the ''Daily Gleaner'' for defamation and libel.

Henry Emerson remained a member of parliament for another seven years until his death in 1914.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7987208/h_r_emmerson_once_minister_of/|title=H. R. Emmerson, Once Minister of Railways, Is Dead At Home|work=The Ottawa Journal|date=9 Jul 1914|page=1|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=24 December 2016}}</ref>
In his later years, Emmerson donated the money to build a new [[library]], named [[Emmerson Hall]], at Acadia University in honour of his father, the Robert Henry Emmerson.<ref>Douglas How, "One Village, One War, 1914-45", Lancelot Press, 1995: Emerson, "...the son of a Baptist divine . . . eventually ran into trouble as a Laurier cabinet minister . . . because he wasn't as divine as he should be." (p. 95)</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ees.acadiau.ca/ft11.html|title=Rocks and Building Stones of Acadia University - Earth and Environmental Science|website=ees.acadiau.ca|language=en|access-date=2018-08-15}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Emmerson was interred at Moncton's [[Elmwood Cemetery (Moncton)|Elmwood Cemetery]]. His son, [[Henry Read Emmerson]], was also elected to the Canadian House of Commons and was appointed to the [[Senate of Canada]]. His great great grandson was [[Chris Cornell]], lead singer of [[Soundgarden]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVBF-Z1J1|title=FamilySearch.org|website=[[FamilySearch]] |accessdate=25 June 2023}}</ref> His great great great grandson is professional ice hockey player [[Noah Dobson]].

== Electoral record ==
{{1891 Canadian federal election/Westmoreland}}
{{1891 Canadian federal election/Albert}}
{{1900 Canadian federal election/Westmoreland}}

By-election: on Mr. Emmerson being appointed Minister of Railways and Canals:
{{CanElec1-by|30 January 1904}}
|-
{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal|row}}
|[[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]]
|Henry Emmerson
|align="right"|acclaimed
{{end}}
{{1904 Canadian federal election/Westmoreland}}
{{1908 Canadian federal election/Westmoreland}}
{{1911 Canadian federal election/Westmoreland}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{DictCanbio|ID=7358}}
* {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=349}}
* [http://www.gnb.ca/legis/publications/tradition/premiers/bio-e/HREmmerson.pdf Biography, Government of New Brunswick] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808043314/http://www.gnb.ca/legis/publications/tradition/premiers/bio-e/HREmmerson.pdf |date=2018-08-08 }}

{{NBPremiers}}
{{CA-Ministers of Transport}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emmerson, Henry Robert}}
[[Category:1853 births]]
[[Category:1914 deaths]]
[[Category:Acadia University alumni]]
[[Category:Boston University School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:Canadian Baptists]]
[[Category:Canadian suffragists]]
[[Category:Canadian women's rights activists]]
[[Category:Ministers of railways and canals of Canada]]
[[Category:Liberal Party of Canada MPs]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from New Brunswick]]
[[Category:Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada]]
[[Category:Mount Allison University alumni]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from New Brunswick]]
[[Category:Lawyers in New Brunswick]]
[[Category:People from Sunbury County, New Brunswick]]
[[Category:Premiers of New Brunswick]]
[[Category:St. Joseph's College alumni]]
[[Category:19th-century Baptists]]
[[Category:19th-century Canadian philanthropists]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada]]
[[Category:Burials at Elmwood Cemetery (Moncton)]]