Charles Simonds (August 22, 1783 – April 12, 1859) was a merchant and political figure in the pre-

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

Province of New Brunswick, Canada. He represented

Saint John County Saint John County (2021 population: 76,558) is located in southern New Brunswick, Canada. The city of Saint John dominates the county. Elsewhere in the county, tourism is focused around the Bay of Fundy. Census subdivisions Communities Th ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick () is the deliberative assembly of the New Brunswick Legislature, in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. The assembly's seat is located in Fredericton. It was established in Saint John ''de jure'' ...

from 1821 to 1846, from 1850 to 1851 and from 1856 to 1857. He was born in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

(later

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John () is a port#seaport, seaport city located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It is Canada's oldest Municipal corporation, incorporated city, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign ...

), the son of

James Simonds James Simonds (December 10, 1735 – February 20, 1831) was a merchant, judge and political figure in New Brunswick. He represented Sunbury County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1773 to 1782 Note that Sunbury County was in the part ...

and Hannah Peabody, and educated there. Simonds joined his father's business, later taking over the management of its activities at Portland. In 1817, he married Catharine Mary Longmuir. In 1820, he became one of the first directors of the

Bank of New Brunswick The Bank of New Brunswick, established in 1820, was the first Canadian bank to operate under a charter. The bank operated independently in New Brunswick and later in Prince Edward Island until it merged with the Bank of Nova Scotia (now Scotiabank ...

and, in 1824, he became its president. He married Lucy Anne Clopper, the sister of Henry George Clopper, in 1824 after the death of his first wife. Simonds also became involved with the Commercial Bank of New Brunswick and the Saint John Fire Insurance Company. He served as a member of the first council for King's College (later the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English language, English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universiti ...

). However, later Simonds became critical of the college. He was speaker for the legislative assembly from 1829 to 1831, succeeding his brother

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

. Simonds later served again as speaker from 1835 to 1841, in 1851 and from 1856 to 1857. He also was a member of the Executive Council and of the

Legislative Council of New Brunswick The Legislative Council of New Brunswick was the upper house of the government of the British colony and later Canadian province of New Brunswick between 1785 and 1891. Members were appointed by the New Brunswick governor. Council chambers ...

. Simonds also served as a justice of the peace. He died in Saint John at the age of 75.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
1783 births 1859 deaths Businesspeople from Saint John, New Brunswick Canadian Anglicans Canadian bank presidents 19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Members of the Legislative Council of New Brunswick Colony of New Brunswick people {{NewBrunswick-MLA-stub