Harold Timmins

Who was Harold Timmins?

Harold Aberdeen Watson Timmins was a Canadian politician and jurist.

Timmins was born in Alliston, Ontario, the son of James S. Timmins and Charlotte Amelia Watson, and raised in the Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale where he attended Parkdale Collegiate Institute before studying at the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School. He was called to the Ontario bar in 1920. Timmins was named a King's Counsel in 1942.

He served with the Canadian Army as a gunner during World War I and was wounded at the Battle of Arras.

A lawyer by profession who also lectured at Osgoode Hall Law School on contract law and liens, Timmins was a popular alderman on Toronto City Council representing Parkdale's Ward Six from 1944 until 1946 when he ran in a federal by-election in Parkdale. He was elected as a Progressive Conservative MP and sat in the Canadian House of Commons until his defeat in the 1949 federal election by John Hunter of the Liberals in what was considered an upset victory as Parkdale had been a safe Tory seat since its creation in the 1917 federal election.