Robert Borden

> *"Our hearts are united in inflexible determination; that the cause for which we have drawn the sword shall be maintained to honour and triumph."*- Sir Robert Borden
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   **Sir Robert Borden GCMG PC KC (26, June, 1854 - 10, June, 1937)**was a British banker, businessman, diplomat, lawyer, politician and statesman. During his career Borden served as a Member of Parliament, third Minister of Foreign Affairs, twentieth President of His Majesty's Privy Council for Canada and eighth Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada.

Borden's administration deployed forces to Europe during the First World War and to Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution of 1918 in service of King George V, established the Canadian Expeditionary Force and Bureau of Statistics, funded the expansion of the Royal British Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy, implemented laws regulating the advertisement, export, import and sale of drugs and food, imposed a national private income tax, mandated military service for the adult male population and nationalised railway and transport services under the federally administered Canadian Railway Company, and preserved the Dominion's economic sovereignty and ethnic homogeneity.

Borden personally authored *Resolution IX*during the Imperial Conference of 1919, providing the Dominions of the British Empire with a role in dictating imperial foreign policy, introduced the *Military Service Act of 1917*, lead the delegation for Canada at the League of Nations Peace Conference of 1919 in Paris, served as a Member of the Imperial War Cabinet, signed the League of Nations' *Peace Treaty of 1919* in Versailles and the *Naval Treaty of 1922*at Washington on behalf of the Dominion of Canada.

## Biography

### Early Life

Robert Laird Borden was born to Andrew Borden, a farmer, and his wife Eunice (née Laird,) at Grand Pré, Nova Scotia on 26, June, 1854. He was the first of four children, including: Henry, John and Julia, in addition to two half-siblings, Thomas and Sophia.

#### Education

Borden began his education at the local Presbyterian Sunday School, where he developed his English literacy and was immersed in Biblical scripture. In 1863, Robert began attending the Acacia Villa Private Academy at the age of nine under President Arthur Patterson. James Hamilton instructed his studies in arithmetic, grammar, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and natural philosophy. During this time his interest in poetry was piqued, particularly in Augustan literary classics such as Horace and Virgil, and this interest developed into a lifelong passion.

Throughout his youth Robert toiled on the family farm, however, as he grew older his dissatisfaction with the profession and his preoccupation with academic pursuits prompted him to consider pursuing a career as an educator. His excellent performance in school incited his instructor to employ him as assistant instructor at the age of fifteen. He continued his tenure at the Academy for four years, until Hamilton invited him to join the faculty of the Glenwood Institute in New Jersey.

#### Professor at Glenwood Institute

At the Glenwood Institute Borden was employed as a professor of classic literature and mathematics for nine different classes, however, he quickly became exhausted with his work and disenchanted by his disinterested students. As the school year came to a close he started to reconsider his career and correspondence with friends and relatives in the profession encouraged him to pursue an education in law. He began to study punctiliously, reading Robert Kerr's edition of the *Student's Blackstone* regularly, and applied for apprenticeship at the Weatherbe & Graham Law Firm in Halifax.

#### Legal Career

As a clerk at the Weatherbe and Graham Firm, Borden spent his days managing the firm's office and preparing case briefs for his superiors. He continued his apprenticeship for four years, preoccupied with intent study and long work days, only diverting his energies to attend the Halifax Military Instruction School and make a living wage as a volunteer soldier in the 63rd Halifax Rifles Battalion. In September, 1877, Borden attended the provincial bar examinations along with twenty-three other law students, including alumni from Harvard University, amongst them, Borden's friend and future colleague Charles H. Tupper. Borden passed, ranking in the first percentile and outperforming all of his peers.

## Personal Life

In 1880, Borden was inducted to St. Andrew's Lodge #1 as a Freemason, and remained a member of the for the remainder of his life.

## Trivia

* Borden was multilingual and fluent in English, French, Greek, Hebrew and Latin.