Robert Henry was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

-born grocer and political figure in Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada. He represented Brant South

Brant South

Brant South was a federal and provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1904, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1867 to 1923....

 in 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...

 in 1896 as a Conservative

Conservative Party of Canada (historical)

The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...

. Henry was also mayor of Brantford in 1878, 1879 and 1887.

He was born in Perthshire

Perthshire

Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...

 and came to Brantford with his family in 1853. He first worked in a stationary and news store before being employed in the grocery trade. He became manager and then partner in the grocery firm of Alfred Watts. The company also operated the Brantford Soap Works. Henry was first elected to Brantford city council in 1876. He married Caroline Philip in 1879. His election to the House of Commons in 1896 was overturned and he was defeated by Charles Bernhard Heyd

Charles Bernhard Heyd

Charles Bernhard Heyd was a Canadian parliamentarian, grocer and fiddler. The eldest son of Swiss immigrant Bernhard Heyd, Charles was born in Rochester, New York where his father worked as a carpenter before settling in Brantford, Ontario in 1854...

 in the 1897 by-election which followed and in the 1900 general election

Canadian federal election, 1900

The Canadian federal election of 1900 was held on November 7 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Canada. As a result of the election, the Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, was re-elected to a second majority government, defeating the...

. Henry moved to Detroit in 1902 and then later moved to Windsor

Windsor, Ontario

Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...

. He returned to Brantford shortly before his death there at the age of 72.