Robert Blackburn was a member of the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

.

Blackburn was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1828, the son of Robert Blackburn, and came to Canada in 1842. He became a lumber merchant and partner in woollen mills. He was reeve of Gloucester Township, Ontario

Gloucester Township, Ontario

Gloucester Township is a historical township in Eastern Ontario, Canada.Originally known as Township B, it was established in 1792. In 1800, it was part of Russell County, but became part of Carleton County in 1838 and was incorporated as a township in 1850. The first settler in the township was...

 in 1864. He was also reeve of New Edinburgh, Ontario

New Edinburgh

New Edinburgh is a small neighbourhood in Ottawa, Canada. It is located to the east of the downtown core. It is bordered on the west by the Rideau River, to the north by the Ottawa River, to the south by Beechwood Avenue, to the east the border is less regular but is marked in part by Springfield...

 from 1868 to 1870 and from 1871 to 1873. In 1864, Blackburn married Mary Ann French. He was Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 Member of Parliament for Russell

Russell (Ontario electoral district)

Russell was a federal and provincial electoral district in eastern Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1968, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1867 to 1967....

 from 1874 to 1878. Blackburn also served as a director of the Bank of Ottawa and the Ottawa Agricultural Insurance Company. Along with William Goodhue Perley

William Goodhue Perley

William Goodhue Perley was a businessman and member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1887 to 1890.He was born in Enfield, New Hampshire in 1820. His emigrant ancestor was Allan Perley. During the 1840s, he established a lumber business based on timber from northern New York...

 and others, he helped establish the Ottawa City Passenger Railway Company, a horse-drawn tram service, in 1866. He died in Liverpool, England at the age of 64.

Blackburn Hamlet, Ontario

Blackburn Hamlet, Ontario

Blackburn Hamlet is a community in eastern Ontario, Canada in the city of Ottawa. It is considered an outer-suburb of Ottawa, and before the 2001 amalgamation of the city of Ottawa, it was in the city of Gloucester. It is still a partially rural area, but with several older and newer areas of...

 was named after him.

His uncle, James Blackburn, represented the County of Ottawa in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada.