Thomas Gordon William Ashbourne (December 4, 1894 – March 8, 1984) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician who was part of the

Newfoundland National Convention The Newfoundland National Convention of 1946 to 1948 was a forum established to decide the constitutional future of Newfoundland. Nominations On 11 December 1945 the British Government announced that there would be an election to a national c ...

which discussed the terms of union between Newfoundland and Canada.

Early life

Born in

Twillingate Twillingate is a town of 2,121 people located on the Twillingate Islands ("Toulinquet") in Notre Dame Bay, off the north eastern shore of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The town is about north of ...

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, he was classmates with

Lester Pearson Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian scholar, statesman, diplomat, and politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario (now part of ...

while attending Victoria College, University of Toronto. After graduating in 1917, he joined the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

but was later not allowed to fight due to an irregular heartbeat. He fought instead with the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

from 1917 to 1918.

Politics

In 1923, he was elected to the

Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly The Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly is the Unicameralism, unicameral deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It meets in the Confederation Build ...

for Twillingate and was re-elected 1924. In 1947, he was elected to the Newfoundland National Convention for Twillingate. He also visited

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (french: Colline du Parlement, colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its Gothic revival suite of buildings, and their architectu ...

with the Ottawa Delegation to negotiate the

Terms of Union Term may refer to: *Terminology, or term, a noun or compound word used in a specific context, in particular: **Technical term, part of the specialized vocabulary of a particular field, specifically: ***Scientific terminology, terms used by scienti ...

for Confederation with Canada. The delegation's members (With their districts) were: * T.G.W. Ashbourne (Twillingate) * F.G. Bradley (Bonavista South) *

Charles Ballam Charles H. Ballam (May 10, 1901 – December 12, 1981) was a Canadian union leader, officeholder and delegate at Newfoundland National Convention. Ballam was born in 1901 in Curling, Newfoundland Colony, son of Alice and Manoah Ballam. He ...

(Humber) * Lester Burry (Labrador) *

P.W. Crummey Pleaman Wellington Crummey Justice of the Peace, JP (1891–1960) was a public figure in the Dominion of Newfoundland and the Province of Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador). He was born at Subdivision 1G, Newfoundland and Labrador#Weste ...

(Bay de Verde) *

Joey Smallwood Joseph Roberts Smallwood (December 24, 1900 – December 17, 1991) was a Newfoundlander and Canadian politician. He was the main force who brought the Dominion of Newfoundland into Canadian Confederation in 1949, becoming the first premier of ...

(Bonavista Centre)

Post-Confederation

After Confederation, Ashbourne was elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

for the riding of

Grand Falls—White Bay Labrador (formerly known as Grand Falls—White Bay—Labrador and Grand Falls—White Bay) is a federal electoral district in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1949. The ri ...

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

. 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 ...

, he was re-elected in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

and

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashbourne, Thomas 1894 births 1984 deaths Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador MHAs Newfoundland National Convention members University of Toronto alumni Dominion of Newfoundland people Expatriates in Canada