Thomas Patrick Murray

Thomas Patrick Murray (June 10, 1880 – October 1, 1981) was an Ontario lumber merchant and political figure.

Born in Barry's Bay, he held a number of jobs prior to founding a lumber firm in 1902. A local politician for nearly a decade before being elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as the member from Renfrew South, he served in the Assembly for 16 years, before being defeated in the 1945 provincial election.

Early life

Murray was of Scottish descent, although his father had emigrated from Ireland and settled in Sherwood Township in 1865. Thomas was born June 10, 1880, in Barry's Bay, Ontario. He worked as "a wood chopper, lumberjack, railway laborer, farmer, log maker and manufacturing lumberman" prior to establishing his own lumber firm, M & T. Murray, with a mill in Martin's Siding in 1902. By 1952 the company operated three mills in Barry's Bay, Combermere, and Madawaska. Founded with his brother Michael, the duo partnered with John Omanique in 1912 to form the Murray and Omanique Lumber Co. The company was dissolved in 1929 and Murray's interest was renamed Murray Brothers, as his brothers Charles and Dan joined the business. He was active as an athlete and was involved in local baseball for over three decades. He married Hannah Kiely in 1910 and had nine children.

Political career

Despite growing up in a Conservative family, Murray was a member of the Ontario Liberal Party. He served on the municipal council for three years, beginning in 1921, before being elected reeve in 1924 of the Sherwood, Jones, and Burns townships that made up the then-unincorporated village of Barry's Bay. In the 1929 Ontario provincial election, he ran for a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the Renfrew South riding against incumbent Thomas Moore Costello of the Conservative Party, who had held the seat since 1926. Murray won by a narrow margin. Amid the Great Depression, and serving under a Conservative majority, Murray supported a provincial Depression-relief initiative to improve Renfrew County roads that improved the local infrastructure significantly. He was reelected three times, in 1934, 1937, and 1943, before being defeated by Conservative James Shannon Dempsey in the 1945 election.

Later life

Murray returned to his lumber business following his defeat, but also remained active athletically, playing curling at a regional senior's level. Murray turned 100 in June 1980 and received a personalized birthday card from Wayne Gretzky. He died October 1, 1981, in Barry's Bay, at the age of 101. His grandson, Sean Conway, served as an MPP for Renfrew North from 1975 to 1999, and for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke from 1999 until his 2003 retirement. The Thomas P. Murray Recreational Trails in Barry's Bay are named in his honor.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Thomas Patrick
1880 births
1981 deaths
20th-century Canadian businesspeople
Canadian men centenarians
Canadian people of Irish descent
Canadian people of Scottish descent
Ontario Liberal Party MPPs
People from Renfrew County
20th-century mayors of places in Ontario
20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario