William Robertson Warren | The Canadian Encyclopedia

Article

William Robertson Warren

Article by Robert D. Pitt

Published Online January 16, 2008

Last Edited December 16, 2015

William Robertson Warren, lawyer, politician, judge (b at St John's 9 Oct 1879; d there 31 Dec 1927). He became the sixteenth prime minister of Newfoundland, July 1923-Apr 1924, upon the resignation of Richard SQUIRES.

William Robertson Warren, lawyer, politician, judge (b at St John's 9 Oct 1879; d there 31 Dec 1927). He became the sixteenth prime minister of Newfoundland, July 1923-Apr 1924, upon the resignation of Richard SQUIRES. A barrister in St John's at age 21, he was a Liberal member of the Assembly by 1903, Speaker 1909-13 and Squires's minister of justice from 1919. Warren and 3 other ministers quit the Cabinet following the 1923 elections amid accusations of misspending of government funds before the elections. Squires resigned and the party chose Warren as leader and prime minister. Warren immediately determined to investigate the charges and instituted a public inquiry, led by Thomas Hollis Walker. The report, presented Mar 1924, found misconduct in public spending, and several arrests followed. In spite of these actions, Warren's former supporters moved a motion of no confidence and the government fell. Warren continued in the Assembly until 1926 when he was appointed to the Supreme Court.