Thomas Bunn (Manitoba politician)
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Thomas Bunn | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 16, 1830 Red River Colony, Canada |
| Died | April 11, 1875 (aged 44) |
| Occupation | Politician |
The Hon. Thomas Bunn (16 May 1830 – 11 April 1875) was a Métis legislator, lawyer, negotiator, landowner, farmer, clerk of the court, and politician in Manitoba. He represented St. Clements from 1870 to 1874 in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. He helped usher in the Manitoba Act. He was Secretary of State in the Legislative Assembly of Assiniboia until it was overthrown by the John A. Macdonald government and dissolved eight months after it began. Thomas Bunn was English-Metis to Louis Riel's French, and the two men didn't always agree but were staunch in their resolve to protect the rights of the Metis people. Thomas Bunn made the first motion in the Assembly of Assiniboia.
Thomas Bunn was born on 16 May 1830 in the Red River Colony. He was the oldest son of Catherine Thomas,[1] the daughter of an HBC governor who went to Hudson Bay as a surgeon in 1789; and John Bunn, a judge, surgeon, coroner, and politician who started his career as an Edinburgh trained surgeon and "filled numerous public offices with distinction and proved that fine judges need not be lawyers." (“Law, Life, and Government at Red River, Vol. 2, General Quarterly.) The British Medical Association paid homage to John Bunn 70 years after his death.
In 1854, Bunn moved to the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews and married Isabella Clouston, who died in 1857; the pair had two children. Bunn married again, in 1859, to Rachel Harriot and they had eight children. Two years later, he resettled in Mapleton. He was a farmer throughout his time in the Red River Colony.[2][3] He was a member of the Church of England and a Freemason.[1] Bunn died on 11 April 1875. A road in St. Andrew's was named after Bunn[3] and his former residence has been declared a provincial heritage site.[4]