Hugh Edwin Munroe Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable
Hugh Edwin Munroe
Order:5th
Office:Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan
Term Start:March 31, 1931
Term End:September 10, 1936
Predecessor:Henry William Newlands
Successor:Archibald Peter McNab
Governor General:The Earl of Willingdon
The Earl of Bessborough
The Lord Tweedsmuir
Premier:J.T.M. Anderson
James G. Gardiner
William John Patterson
Birth Date:31 May 1878
Birth Place:Glengarry County, Ontario
Death Place:Florida, U.S.
Nationality:Canadian
Party:Conservative
Otherparty:Provincial Rights Party
Alma Mater:McGill University, University of Edinburgh
Occupation:Physician
Profession:Politician

Hugh Edwin Munroe (May 31, 1878 – March 12, 1947) was the fifth Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan during the Great Depression.

He was born in Glengarry County, Ontario and educated at McGill University where he earned his medical degree before undertaking post-graduate studies at the University of Edinburgh.

Munroe subsequently settled in Saskatchewan where he established his medical practice. He was involved in local and provincial politics - he was defeated as a candidate for the Provincial Rights Party in the 1905 provincial election when he was a candidate in Saskatoon County. In the 1912 provincial election he ran as the Conservative candidate in Saskatoon City but was again defeated.

He served in World War I as a lieutenant colonel and was appointed Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire[1] for his military service.

He returned to Saskatchewan after the war and resumed his medical practice and political activity. He was appointed lieutenant governor of the province by Conservative federal Prime Minister R.B. Bennett in 1931.

In the midst of the economic crisis, Munroe used his office to raise money for relief projects and charity. Nevertheless, many Canadians viewed the ceremonial office as a frivolity and excess during times of hardship and there was a movement to abolish the position. However, the provincial Legislature overwhelmingly defeated a motion to suspend the Office of the Lieutenant-Governor in 1934.

Munroe retired from office in 1936.

References

  1. Book: MacGillivray, Royce. Dictionary of Glengarry Biography. Glengarry Historical Society. 2010. Alexandria, Ontario. 632, 633.