William James Parkhill (December 27, 1840 – May 26, 1913) was an

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political figure. He represented Simcoe South in the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

from 1878 to 1883 as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

member. He was born in

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

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in 1839 and came to

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in 1856. He first settled in

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but later worked at lumber camps near

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. Around 1861, he was hired by William and Robert Henry who were timber merchants operating near

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. He was promoted to manager and later ran their

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

Randwick Randwick is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government ar ...

. In 1862, he married Anne Jane Crossley, who later ran the general store in Randwick. Parkhill was the first postmaster for the village and served as reeve for Mulmur Township in 1877. Parkhill was elected to the provincial assembly in 1878 after William McDougall resigned to take a seat in the federal parliament and was reelected in the general election that followed. He was Grand Master for the

Orange Lodge The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants. It also has lodges in England, Scotland, Wales and th ...

of Ontario West and Deputy Grand Master for the Grand Lodge of British America. In 1899, he was named customs collector at

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and served in that post until his death in 1913.

Electoral history

References

External links

* *
''Mulmur : the story of a township'' (1951)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parkhill, William J 1840 births 1913 deaths Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Politicians from County Tyrone Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs 19th-century mayors of places in Ontario 19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario