Roland Fairbairn McWilliams (October 10, 1874 – December 10, 1957) was a Canadian politician and office-holder. He served as the 13th

Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba The lieutenant governor of Manitoba (, (if male) or (if female) ) is the representative in Manitoba of the monarch, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada. The lieuten ...

from 1940 to 1953.

Life

McWilliams was born in Peterborough, Ontario. He received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in 1896, and started his

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree at Osgoode Hall the following year. He subsequently worked as a barrister and solicitor. He campaigned for the Ontario Liberal Party in the 1905 provincial election, but was defeated. In 1906, McWilliams was elected

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Peterborough. He moved to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, Manitoba in 1910, and continued to practice law for several years. He was also a leading organizer within

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

, serving as its North American Vice President in 1923 and 1924, and as its Canadian leader from 1922 to 1929. He also served as the leader of Winnipeg's Town Planning Institute from 1925 to 1929. He visited Russia in 1926, and later wrote a book on the country's economic system under

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

. He does not appear to have sought political office in Manitoba, though his wife, Margaret, was a respected Winnipeg municipal councillor for several years. McWilliams was appointed as Manitoba's Lt. Governor on November 1, 1940, and held the position until August 1, 1953. The position was largely ceremonial. A strict temperance follower, McWilliams forbade the serving of alcohol at Government House for the entirely of his time in office. He died at Winnipeg, Manitoba, aged 83, in 1957. McWilliams was also a champion

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player in his youth, and won the Dominion title with the University of Toronto Juniors in 1893.

External links

Manitoba Historical Society Roland Fairbairn McWilliams
mhs.mb.ca

rulers.org
Margaret McWilliams biography
mhs.mb.ca {{DEFAULTSORT:McWilliams, Roland Fairbairn 1874 births 1957 deaths Lieutenant governors of Manitoba Mayors of Peterborough, Ontario University of Toronto alumni Canadian rugby union players YMCA leaders 20th-century mayors of places in Ontario