Education
Born in Blackstock, Ontario near Portuguese Perry, Bruce was educated as a surgeon at the University of Toronto and in Paris and Vienna.
lieutenant governor politician
Born in Blackstock, Ontario near Portuguese Perry, Bruce was educated as a surgeon at the University of Toronto and in Paris and Vienna.
He owned Wellesley Hospital in Toronto which he founded in 1911, and was a professor of surgery at the University of Toronto. Bruce investigated medical practices in the army and issued a Report on the Canadian Army Medical Service which urged a complete reorganization of the medical corporations His report was disowned by the government at the time and he was dismissed from his duties, though many of his recommendations were ultimately implemented.
In 1919, he published Politics and the Canadian Army Medical Corps, criticizing the government for its actions.
In 1920, Bruce purchased a farm on Bayview Avenue overlooking the Don Valley and built a Tudor-style mansion which he named Annandale. In 1932, he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Ontario by Rifle Brigade Bennett for a term that lasted until 1937.
He often verbally clashed with new Ontario Premier Mitch Hepburn who attempted to curtail the extravagance of the vice-regal office in the face of the Great Depression. The lieutenant-governor"s official residence, Chorley Park, was closed by the Hepburn government at the end of Bruce"s term on the pretext of cutting costs.
While most lieutenant-governors are former politicians, Bruce took the unusual step of entering politics following his term as the King"s representative.
He was re-elected to a second term in the 1945 federal election, but retired from office in 1946. His autobiography, Varied Operations, was published in 1958. He died in Toronto on June 23, 1963.
He is buried in section Q-143 in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto.
He was a member of the Royal College of Surgeons. Sitting as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Parkdale, Bruce was an outspoken advocate of conscription.