Researching James Kerr

Kerr lived in Paisley until 1915, joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve by claiming to be 18, then served on merchant ships until 1929. After spending some time in Australia and America he settled in Pimlico in 1930, marrying Elizabeth "Mornie" Birch of Penwith, Cornwall in 1932. She was the daughter of Samuel John "Lamorna" Birch the RA painter.

His first book, for adults, Back Door Guest, described life as a hobo in USA and Canada, and is full of social comment which was then controversial. He wrote 32 books for children, most with a nautical theme and 23 books for adults, many commenting on working class life in Scotland, America and Australia. As an author he used, in addition to his own name, the pseudonyms "Douglas Gavin" for adult books and "Peter Dawlish" for children's books after 1938.

Kerr served in World War I, on minesweepers in World War II, assisted at Omaha beach, and was mentioned in despatches.

Kerr was a self-proclaimed socialist, but he was never a member of the Communist Party. He joined and then left the Labour Party. W. H. Marwick, in his bibliography on Scottish economic history, comments on the role of Kerr in representing proletariat labourers in his novels. Kerr was survived by a son, Adam Kerr, whose reminiscences of his father were used in works by authors Austin Wormleighton and Stephen Bigger.

Kerr was born in Guelph in what was then Canada West. He was called to the bar of Upper Canada in 1862 and began a legal partnership with Edward Blake, Samuel Blake and James Bethune. He became head, in 1884, of the legal firm of Kerr, Davidson, Paterson and Grant.

In his career, Kerr argued several cases before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and was elected a Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1879.

He was an active Liberal and stood unsuccessfully for election to the House of Commons of Canada in 1891 from Toronto Centre.

He became president of the Ontario Liberal Association in 1892 and was appointed to the Senate of Canada on 12 March 1903. He was appointed Speaker of that body six years later.

Kerr was also an active Mason and was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Canada from 1875 to 1877.

He was also active in commerce and sat on several boards of directors including the Canadian General Electric Company. He was one of the founders of Havergal College.

As a former Speaker of the Senate of Canada James Kerr was given membership in the Queen's Privy Council for Canada in 1911.

Kerr was born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland in 1834. He was an editor and worked for the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Herald, and then the Dumfries Courier. He emigrated to Melbourne in 1858 and after some time on gold fields, he worked for The Age alongside George Fisher. In 1861, he emigrated to Otago and joined the Otago Daily Times.

In 1865, he moved to Greymouth and set up the Grey River Argus. The newspaper was a rarity in that it openly declared its political affiliation; it was a supporter of the labour movement. Kerr was involved with many organisations, and sat on the borough council, was a member of the harbour board, and the education board. He was a director of the gas company, a trustee of the racecourse, and was active as a freemason.

Kerr was a close friend of Richard Seddon. He was appointed to the Legislative Council on 15 October 1892 by John Ballance during the Liberal Government. His term expired on 14 October 1899, and he was reappointed the following day. He served until his death on 25 August 1901. Kerr was on a journey home from New Zealand Parliament in Wellington when he became severely ill with asthma. The ship called at Westport to get medical support for Kerr. His wife and eldest son reached him at Westport before he died. Kerr was replaced by James Marshall on the Legislative Council.

His eldest son, also James Kerr (1875–1938), became proprietor of the Grey River Argus. Kerr Jr. became proprietor of the Hutt and Petone Chronicle in 1912, and the Kerrs moved to Petone. Kerr Jr. was an unsuccessful candidate for the United Party when he stood in the electorate in the and .

Kerr Avenue in Greymouth is named for the Hon. James Kerr.