Henry O'Leary (May 13, 1832 – November 7, 1897) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

-born businessman and political figure in

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, Canada. He represented Kent County in the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick A legislature is an deliberative assembly, assembly with the authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country or city. They are often contrasted with the Executive (government), executive and Judiciary, ...

from 1873 to 1878. He was born in Castledown in

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, the son of Theophilus O'Leary and Ellen Power. O'Leary came to North America in 1852, settling in

Richibucto Richibucto is a town in Kent County, New Brunswick, Canada. Geography The town is situated on the Richibucto River where it discharges into the Northumberland Strait. History Richibucto had been the location of an annual Mi'kmaq summer coas ...

three years later. He married Mary Ann Brittain. In 1859, he bought a store and a wharf there. In 1864, he purchased land nearby where he built a canning plant for

lobster Lobsters are a family (biology), family (Nephropidae, Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs ...

and

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

. O'Leary acquired additional canneries until he had at least 30 in New Brunswick and several in

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

. He exported his products to

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and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He also owned

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where 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 (dimensi ...

s and was involved in shipbuilding. He was first elected to the provincial assembly in an 1873 by-election held after the death of William Shand Caie. As a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, he opposed the 1871 Common Schools Act and lobbied to have the act repealed. In 1875, he married Mary O'Leary after the death of his first wife. O'Leary ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Canadian House of Commons in 1878. He died in Dorchester at the age of 65. After his death, control of the business passed to his sons Richard and Frederick. His son

Henry Joseph Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

became an archbishop and his son

Louis James Louis N. James (September 1882 – June 7, 1935) was an American amateur golfer. 1902 U.S. Amateur James won the 1902 U.S. Amateur at Glen View Club, defeating Eben Byers Ebenezer McBurney Byers (April 12, 1880 – March 31, 1932) was a wealt ...

became a bishop in the Catholic Church. His daughter Christina married

George Valentine McInerney George Valentine McInerney, (February 14, 1857 – January 12, 1908) was a lawyer and politician in New Brunswick. He represented Kent in the House of Commons of Canada from 1892 to 1900 as a Liberal-Conservative member. He was born on Val ...

References

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oleary, Henry 1832 births 1897 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Canadian Roman Catholics Politicians from County Cork Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation New Brunswick Colony of New Brunswick people