predecessor parliament successor birth_place constituency_mp death_date death_place party birth_date term_start image article_title term_end name
district was created in 1872 canadian john macdonald tullaghan , county leitrim , ireland toronto centre 16 august 1880 sturgeon point , ontario liberal 24 june 1832 1872 wilkes.jpg robert wilkes
 1874 robert wilkes
robert wilkes

robert wilkes -lrb- june 24 , 1832 -- august 16 , 1880 -rrb- was an irish-canadian politician and businessman .
born in tullaghan , county leitrim , ireland , wilkes came to toronto from his native ireland at sixteen , working as a clerk before buying a jewelry firm , rossin brothers , which he expanded into a cross-country operation .
he later invested in railroads , and in 1871 he was appointed director of the canadian bank of commerce .
in 1872 he was elected member of parliament for toronto centre , as a liberal .
the election was regarded by observers on both sides as rife with enmity , bribery and corruption .
in 1874 he was re-elected , but the return was voided and he retired from politics .
