George Burchill (May 8, 1820 – June 18, 1907) was a

shipbuilder Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

lumberman Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks

and

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

. He was born in

Bandon, County Cork Bandon (; ) is a town in County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It lies on the River Bandon between two hills. The name in Irish means 'Bridge of the Bandon', a reference to the origin of the town as a crossing point on the river. In 2004 Ba ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, the son of Thomas Burchill and Catherine Murphy, and came to New Brunswick with his parents in 1826. He found work as a clerk in a store in Chatham. Burchill was hired as a clerk by Joseph Russell and went on to become business manager for Russell's shipyard. In 1849, he married Bridget Percival. In 1850, with John Harley and aided by financial assistance from Rankin, Gilmour and Company, he purchased the shipyard from Russell. The partners also traded in lumber and owned a general store. In 1857, the partnership was dissolved and Burchill set up a lumber and retail business in

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

. His logs were processed at a sawmill owned by Charles Sargeant from 1868 to 1875, when Burchill purchased the operation. In 1881, he established the company George Burchill and Sons, with his sons

John Percival John Percival (3 April 1779 – 7 September 1862), known as Mad Jack Percival, was a celebrated officer in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France, the War of 1812, the campaign against West Indies pirates, and the Mexican–Ame ...

and George Jr. He retired in 1904, and died 3 years later.

References

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burchill, George 1820 births 1907 deaths Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation New Brunswick 19th-century Canadian merchants Colony of New Brunswick people Businesspeople from New Brunswick People from Bandon, County Cork Businesspeople from County Cork