- Thomas Parke
Thomas Parke (1793 –
January 29 1864 ) was anarchitect , builder, journalist and political figure inUpper Canada .He was born in
County Wicklow inIreland in 1793 and came to York (Toronto ) in 1820. He worked with John Ewart as a mastercarpenter on a number of construction projects, including the new parliament buildings at York. He moved to London, Ontario in 1832. He invested in property and built agristmill on the Thames River there in 1833. He was also involved in projects to establish a railway link to the city and improve navigation on the Thames below London. In 1834, he was elected to theLegislative Assembly of Upper Canada for Middlesex; he was reelected in 1836. In 1838, with other Reformers unhappy with the political environment of the time, he was involved in a project to plan the development of a settlement inIowa ; this project did not advance much further than initial planning. In 1839, he was a co-founder of the "Canada Inquirer", later the "London Inquirer", a reform-oriented newspaper. He was appointed justice of the peace in the London District in 1840. He supported the union of Upper andLower Canada and, in 1841, was elected to the1st Parliament of the Province of Canada . In the same year, he was appointed surveyor general, serving until 1845, when the office was abolished. He then was named customs collector at Port Colborne; he was named to the same post at Port Dalhousie (St Catharines) in 1860.He died in St. Catharines in 1864.
His son Ephraim Jones later became a lawyer and judge.
External links
* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=4644 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
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