William Penman Saunders

The son of William and Ursula Saunders, he was born in Carbonear and was educated there. He managed Saunders Cooperage and the Carbonear branch of Harvey and Company Ltd. Saunders married Victoria Piercey; the couple had four children.^[3] He served on the municipal council for Carbonear from 1950 to 1958 and was mayor from 1958 to 1962.^[2]

Saunders was elected to the Newfoundland assembly in 1962 and was reelected in 1966 and 1971. However, in 1971, he resigned before taking his seat in the assembly which led to a tie in terms of number of seats held between the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives. A new election was called^[2] which resulted in a solid Conservative majority.^[4]