{{Short description|Merchant and politician in Newfoundland}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Honourable | name = John Robert Bennett | image = John Robert Bennett.png | alt = | caption = | honorific_suffix = KBE MHA | constituency_AM1 = Harbour Grace | alongside1 = Albert Hickman and Charles Russell | assembly1 = Newfoundland House of | term_start1 = {{start date|1924|06|02}} | term_end1 = {{end date|1928|10|29}} | predecessor1 = Archibald Piccott<br>Ernest Simmons<br>Augustus Calpin | successor1 = Frank Archibald | constituency_AM2 = St. John's West | alongside2 = <br>Edward Morris (1904–19)<br>John Scott (1904–08)<br>Michael Kennedy (1908–17)<br>Richard Squires (1919–23)<br>Henry J. Brownrigg (1919–23) | assembly2 = Newfoundland House of | term_start2 = {{start date|1904|10|31}} | term_end2 = {{end date|1923|05|03}} | predecessor2 = John Anderson | successor2 = Charles Hunt<br>Michael Cashin | birth_name = John Robert Bennett | birth_date = {{Birth date|1866|08|08}} | birth_place = St. John's, Newfoundland Colony | death_date = {{Death date and age|1941|10|23|1866|08|08}} | death_place = St. John's, Newfoundland | resting_place = | occupation = Merchant | spouse = {{Plainlist| * {{Marriage|Laura Taylor|1891}} * {{Marriage|Beatrice Shannon Greaves|1936}} }} | children = | awards = | education = Church of England Academy | party = Liberal (1904–08)<br>People's (1908–19)<br>Liberal-Labour-Progressive (1919–23)<br>Liberal-Conservative Progressive (1924–28) }}

'''Sir John Robert Bennett''' KBE (August 8, 1866 &ndash; October 23, 1941) was a merchant and politician in Newfoundland. He represented St. John's West from 1904 to 1923, and Harbour Grace from 1924 to 1928 in the Newfoundland House of Assembly.<ref name=marionopolis>{{cite web|url=http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/nfldhistory/Newfoundland%20biographies%20A-D.htm |title= Newfoundland Biography (1497-2004) |work=Newfoundland History |publisher=Marionopolis College}}</ref>

== Biography == The son of Edward W. Bennett and Amelia Goff,<ref name=marionopolis/> he was born in St. John's and was educated at the Church of England Academy.<ref name=bio/>

Bennett began work with C. F. Bennett & Company in 1881 as a clerk. He later joined his brother's brewing business, later becoming president and managing director. From 1902 to 1906, he served on the St. John's municipal council. He served in the Newfoundland cabinet as Colonial Secretary from 1913 to 1917, and from 1924 to 1928. From 1917 until the end of World War I, Bennett served as Minister of Militia. He organized the Liberal-Progressive Party in 1923 but was defeated when he ran for reelection that year. Bennett was elected to the assembly again in 1924, this time for Harbour Grace.<ref name=bio/>

Bennett was named a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1926; also in 1926, he was named District Grand Master of English Freemasonry in Newfoundland.<ref name=bio>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/cns_enl/id/1576 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador |page=176 |title=Bennett, John Robert}}</ref>

He was married twice, first to Laura Taylor in 1891 and then to Beatrice Shannon Greaves in 1936.<ref name=marionopolis/>

He died in St. John's on October 23, 1941.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55540569/st-johns/ |title=St. John's |newspaper=The Scranton Times-Tribune |page=2 |date=1941-10-24 |access-date=2020-07-17 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == * {{cite web |url=http://www.heritage.nf.ca/greatwar/articles/enlarge/bennett.html |title=Sir John R. Bennett |work=Newfoundland and The Great War |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218071725/http://www.heritage.nf.ca/greatwar/articles/enlarge/bennett.html |archivedate=2015-02-18 }}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, John R}} Category:1866 births Category:1941 deaths Category:Businesspeople from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Category:Newfoundland People's Party MHAs Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:Government ministers of the Dominion of Newfoundland Category:Colonial secretaries of Newfoundland Category:Politicians from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Category:20th-century members of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly