Thomas Murray (Canadian politician) explained

Thomas Murray
Riding1:Pontiac
Parliament1:Canadian
Term Start1:1900
Term End1:1904
Predecessor1:William Joseph Poupore
Successor1:Gerald Brabazon
Term Start2:1891
Term End2:1892
Predecessor2:John Bryson
Successor2:John Bryson
Office3:Ontario MPP
Term Start3:1883
Term End3:1890
Predecessor3:William Balmer McAllister
Successor3:Arunah Dunlop
Term Start4:1879
Term End4:1882
Predecessor4:Thomas Deacon
Successor4:William Balmer McAllister
Term Start5:1869
Term End5:1871
Predecessor5:John Supple
Successor5:Thomas Deacon
Constituency5:Renfrew North
Birth Date:18 January 1836
Birth Place:Goulbourn Township, Upper Canada
Death Place:Pembroke, Ontario, Canada
Party:Liberal
Spouse:Jane Copeland(m. 1855), Emma Alice Foran (m. 1901)
Occupation:Businessman

Thomas Murray (January 18, 1836 – July 29, 1915) was a businessman and political figure in the Ottawa Valley. He represented Renfrew North in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1870 to 1871, from 1879 to 1882 and from 1883 to 1890 and Pontiac in the House of Commons of Canada as a Liberal member in 1891 and 1892 and from 1900 to 1904.

He was born in Goulbourn Township in 1836, the son of James Murray, an Irish immigrant,[1] and Elizabeth Burrows.[2] He was a merchant in Ottawa and then Pembroke, trading in lumber and furs.[1] He served on the town council for Pembroke and also served as reeve. He was elected to the 1st Parliament of Ontario after the death of John Supple; he was defeated in the election that followed in 1871 but elected again in 1879.[3] He resigned his seat in the provincial parliament in 1882 to run unsuccessfully for a seat in the federal parliament; he was reelected in 1883. His younger brother William represented Renfrew North in the House of Commons. In 1884, Thomas and William registered a claim on a nickel deposit near Sudbury which became the Murray Mine, the first nickel mine established in the area.[4]

Murray was married twice: to Jane Copeland in 1855 and to Emma Alice Foran in 1901. He died in Pembroke at the age of 79.[2]

Electoral history

Provincial

Notes and References

  1. Book: Rose, George McLean . A Cyclopæedia of Canadian biography being chiefly men of the time ... . 761–2 . 1886.
  2. Book: Johnson, J.K. . The Canadian Directory of Parliament 1867-1967 . 1968 . Public Archives of Canada.
  3. http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/members/members_all_detail.do?locale=en&ID=767 Member's parliamentary history for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
  4. http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/301/ic/cdc/heirloom_series/volume4/268-271.htm Nickel:Canadian Tributes