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 (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
1922–1925	21st	Wellington South		Labour
1925–1928	22nd	Wellington South		Labour
1928–1931	23rd	Wellington South		Labour
1931–1935	24th	Wellington South		Labour
1935–1938	25th	Wellington South		Labour
1938–1943	26th	Wellington South		Labour
1943–1946	27th	Wellington South		Labour
1946–1949	28th	Island Bay		Labour
1949–1951	29th	Island Bay		Labour
1951–1954	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. "New Members". The Press. LVIII (17633). 9 December 1922. p. 15. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
2. Verran, David. "Robert McKeen (1884–1974)". Trade Union. Archived from the original on 25 October 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
3. "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

• Hickey, Carina (2010). From Coal Pit to Leather Pit: Life Stories of Robert Semple (PDF) (Ph.D.). Massey University. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
• Who’s Who in New Zealand (7th Edition, 1961).
• Yska, Redmer (2006). Wellington: Biography of a city. Auckland: Reed. ISBN 0-7900-1117-4.