Robert Cummings (politician)

Robert Cummings (June 16, 1833 – January 16, 1910)[1] was a Canadian manufacturer and community leader.

He was born in Gloucester Township, Ontario to a family of Irish immigrants in 1833. He learned the trade of carriage making and became a leading Canadian manufacturer. He opened a general store and operated a flour mill on Cummings Island in the Rideau River which became the nucleus of a new community, Janeville, which eventually became part of Vanier. He served ten years as reeve in the township, was also a Justice of the Peace and was elected warden for Carleton County in 1876. Cummings was also a captain in the local militia. He married Agnes Borthwick (1840–1921).

The Cummings Bridge across the Rideau River was named after him.

References

1. Gravestone at the Beechwood Cemetery, Carleton County, Ontario.

• Carleton Saga, Harry & Olive Walker (1968)
• Historical Sketch of the County of Carleton (1971) - originally published in 1879, reprinted by Mika Press, Belleville, Ontario