David Thompson (Canada West politician)

David Thompson (1793 – 1851) was an entrepreneur and a political figure in Canada West. He represented Haldimand in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from 1841 to 1851 as a Reformer.

For other people named David Thompson, see David Thompson (disambiguation).
David Thompson
Member of the Legislative Assembly, Province of Canada, for Haldimand
In office
1841–1851
Preceded byNew position
Personal details
Born1793
Died1851
Political partyReformer
RelativesDavid Thompson (son)
Andrew Thorburn Thompson (grandson)
OccupationEntrepreneur; shipping; landowner
Military service
AllegianceUpper Canada
Branch/serviceUpper Canada milita
RankLieutenant Colonel

Thompson served as an officer in the militia during the War of 1812 and was a contractor during the construction of the first Welland Canal. Originally from Wainfleet, Thompson moved to Haldimand County in the 1830's, attracted by the commercial opportunities of the Grand River. With William Hamilton Merritt, Thompson was a promoter of the Grand River Navigation Company, an enterprise which transformed the Grand River into a navigable waterway for commercial activity between Brantford and Lake Erie.[1][2]

Thompson was involved in laying out the 1,200 acre town of Indiana. He eventually owned two sawmills, a gristmill and a carding mill, a cooperage, and a number of stores. By the mid-19th century, Indiana was the largest industrial town in Haldimand County.[2]

In the late 1840s, Thompson cleared land and built his home on what would later be known as the Ruthven Park. The 10,000 square foot house, built in the Greek revival style,[1][3] was to stay in the possession of the Thompson family until the 1990s.[2] In 1995 it was designated a National Historic Site of Canada.[3] In 1996, the Ontario Heritage Trust obtained a heritage easement to protect the building.[1]

The Province of Canada was created in 1841 from the union of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Thompson was elected to the new Legislative Assembly as a Reformer in the general election of 1841, for the Haldimand riding. He was re-elected to the second Parliament in 1844 (by acclamation), and also to the third Parliament, in 1848.[4] In the first Parliament, he was a supporter of the new united province, and voted in support of the government of the Governor General, Lord Sydenham.[5] After Sydenham's death in late 1841, Thompson regularly voted with the Reformers led by Robert Baldwin.[6] Generally a moderate and supporter of responsible government, towards the end of his third term he gave indications of more liberal tendencies than other Reformers,[7] and criticised the financial policies of the Lafontaine–Baldwin government.[8]

Thompson died in office in 1851. His son David represented Haldimand in the assembly for the Province of Canada and the House of Commons of Canada.

References
  1. Ontario Heritage Trust: Ruthven Estate.
  2. Ruthven Park National Historic Site: Ruthven Park’s History.
  3. Canada's Historic Places: Ruthven Park National Historic Site of Canada.
  4. Paul G. Cornell, Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841-67 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1962; reprinted in paperback 2015), pp. 7, 16, 23.
  5. Cornell, Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, pp. 93–94.
  6. Cornell, Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, pp. 95–102.
  7. Cornell, Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, p. 102, note 7.
  8. Cornell, Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, p. 29.
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