James Murchie (August 16, 1813 – May 27, 1900) was a farmer, 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 ...

. He represented Charlotte 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 1875 to 1878 as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member.

Biography

He was born in

St. Stephen, New Brunswick St. Stephen (2016 population: 4,415) is a Canadian town in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, situated on the east bank of the St. Croix River around the intersection of New Brunswick Route 170 and the southern terminus of New Brunswick Route ...

, the son of Daniel Murchie and Janet Campbell, both natives of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. In 1836, he married Mary Ann Grimmer. Murchie farmed and was also involved in the lumber trade. In 1853, he acquired a

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 ...

at Milltown. He went on to acquire more mills, wharves and a fleet of ships. He married Margaret Jane Thorpe in 1860 after the death of his first wife. Murchie was a director for the St Stephen’s Bank, a vice-president of the New Brunswick and Canada Railroad and president of the St. Croix Lloyds Insurance Company. After serving one term in the provincial assembly, he did not run for reelection. Murchie helped establish the St. Croix Cotton Manufacturing Company and later served as its president. He died in Milltown at the age of 86.

References

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murchie, James 1813 births 1900 deaths New Brunswick Liberal Association MLAs