Thomas Parke (1793 – January 29, 1864) was an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, builder, journalist and political figure in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

. He was born in

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

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 ...

in 1793 and came to York, Upper Canada (now

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario) in 1820. He worked with

John Ewart John Reford Ewart (26 February 1928 – 8 March 1994) was an Australian actor of radio, stage, television and film. Ewart was a double nominee (and one/time winner) of the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Early life Ewart was ...

as a master

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

on a number of construction projects, including the new parliament buildings at York, to replace the first parliament buildings, burnt by American invaders in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

.Daniel J. Brock, "Parke, Thomas", ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', Vol. IX (1861–1870).
/ref> In 1832, he moved to London, Upper Canada. He invested in property there and built a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

on the

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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 and

Elias Moore Elias Moore (March 1, 1776 – October 13, 1847) was a Loyalist politician in Upper Canada. Born into a Quaker family in New Jersey just after the American Revolution began, he and his family eventually emigrated to Upper Canada. He later bec ...

from Yarmouth were elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada was the elected part of the legislature for the province of Upper Canada, functioning as the lower house in the Parliament of Upper Canada. Its legislative power was subject to veto by the appointed Li ...

, for the two-member constituency, Middlesex County. They supported the

Reform movement Reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social system, social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more Radicalism (politics), radical social movements such as re ...

, which sought to increase popular control of the provincial government and reduce the influence of the oligarchic

Family Compact The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today's Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in L ...

. The pair was re-elected in 1836, in a very volatile election, a year before the

Rebellion of 1837 Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

broke out. In 1838, he was involved with a group of Reformers, including

Francis Hincks Sir Francis Hincks, (December 14, 1807 – August 18, 1885) was a Canadian businessman, politician, and British colonial administrator. An immigrant from Ireland, he was the Co-Premier of the Province of Canada (1851–1854), Governor of Ba ...

, who were unhappy with the political environment of the time. They were considering the development of a settlement in

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

for discontented Canadians. This project did not advance much further than initial planning, although Parke did make one scouting trip to Iowa to evaluate land options. 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 London District (LONDIST) is the name given by the British Army to the area of operations encompassing the Greater London area. It was established in 1870 as ''Home District''. History In January 1876 a ‘Mobilization Scheme for the forces i ...

in 1840. Parke supported the union of Upper Canada and

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

. His support was credited for the passage of resolutions in support of the Union in the last sessions of the Upper Canada Legislative Assembly in 1840. In 1841, Parke was elected to the first

Parliament of the Province of Canada The Parliament of the Province of Canada was the legislature for the Province of Canada, made up of the two regions of Canada West (formerly Upper Canada, later Ontario) and Canada East (formerly Lower Canada, later Quebec). Creation of the Parl ...

, as a moderate Reformer. He supported the union of the Canadas and consistently supported the government of the Governor General, Lord Sydenham, in the first session of the Parliament, while supporting

Robert Baldwin Robert Baldwin (May 12, 1804 – December 9, 1858) was an Upper Canadian lawyer and politician who with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine of Lower Canada, led the first responsible government ministry in the Province of Canada. ...

in subsequent sessions. On June 7, 1841, Parke was also appointed Surveyor-General for the Province of Canada. Since that was an office of profit under the Crown, he was required to resign his seat in the Assembly. He was returned to the Assembly in subsequent by-election on July 10, 1841. Parke stood for re-election in the general election of 1844, but came in third, splitting the Reform vote. Edward Ermatinger, the

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

candidate, won the seat.Cornell, ''Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841–67'', p. 16. In 1845, when the position of surveyor general was abolished, he was named customs collector at

Port Colborne Port Colborne is a city in Ontario, Canada that is located on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The original settlement, known as Gravelly Bay, dates from 1832 and was renamed after ...

. He was named to the same post at Port Dalhousie (

St Catharines St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

) in 1860. Parke was married twice, and it is not certain exactly how many children he had with his two wives. It is known that he had at least four sons, all of whom became lawyers. One son, Ephraim Jones Parke, later became a judge. He died in St. Catharines in 1864.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parke, Thomas 1793 births 1864 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada West Canadian Methodists Canadian justices of the peace