R. Jay Walsh

{{short description|American politician}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name=Robert Jay Walsh

|image=Robert Jay Walsh.jpg

|office=Secretary of the State of Connecticut

|order=39th

|term_start=1889

|term_end=1893

|governor=Morgan Bulkeley

|predecessor=Leverett M. Hubbard

|successor=John J. Phelan

|office2=Member of the Connecticut Senate
from the 12th District

|term_start2=1885

|term_end2=1888

|predecessor2=Edwin L. Scofield

|successor2=Benjamin P. Mead

|birth_date={{birth date|1854|08|01}}

|birth_place=Lewisboro, New York

|death_date={{death date and age|1916|12|07|1854|08|01}}

|death_place=Greenwich, Connecticut

|restingplace=Putnam Cemetery, Greenwich, Connecticut

|residence=Deerfield Drive, Greenwich, Connecticut

|alma_mater=High Ridge Institute

|occupation=blacksmith, lawyer

|party=Republican

|spouse=Annie A. Merritt (daughter of Matthew F. Merritt, m. October 7, 1879)

|children=Lucy, Edith, Roberta

}}

Robert Jay Walsh (August 1, 1854 – December 7, 1916) was Secretary of the State of Connecticut from 1889 to 1893, and a member of the Connecticut Senate representing the 12th District from 1885 to 1888. He also served as President pro tempore of the Connecticut Senate.

He was born August 1, 1854, in Lewisboro, New York, the son of James F. and Annie E. Walsh. At the age of ten, he moved to Ridgefield, Connecticut where he attended High Ridge Institute. At the age of fourteen he became an apprentice in a blacksmith shop. After his apprenticeship, he became a teacher. He enrolled in the Normal School at New Britain.

In 1877, he began studying law in the office of Huested W. R. Hoyt, in Greenwich. In 1880, Walsh was admitted to the Fairfield County bar. In 1882, he opened his own law office in Greenwich.

He campaigned for Garfield in 1880. In the same year, he began his service on the Connecticut Republican Central Committee.

In 1882, he was appointed corporation counsel of the town and borough of Greenwich.

In 1884, he was elected to the Connecticut Senate. In 1886, he was re-elected by a wider margin. In 1886 and 1887 he was President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

He was appointed judge of the Criminal Branch of the Court of Common Pleas, but resigned in 1900 to continue his law practice, business and political pursuits.

He was an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention from Connecticut in 1900.

He died at his home in Greenwich in December 7, 1916.