Thomas Oliver (March 1821 – November 8, 1880) was a businessman and political figure in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. He represented Oxford North in 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 ...

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 from 1867 to 1880. He was born in Kildonan,

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later ...

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 ...

. He taught school there for two years and came to Zorra Township in Oxford County,

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

, where he taught school for several years. Oliver then moved to

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

, where he became a dry goods merchant. He served on the town council, becoming reeve for Woodstock and was county warden in 1866. He was elected in the North riding of Oxford in an 1866 by-election held following the death of

Hope Fleming Mackenzie Hope Fleming Mackenzie (May 24, 1821 – June 4, 1866) was a Canadian cabinet-maker, shipbuilder and political figure in Canada West. He represented Lambton from 1860 to 1861 and North Oxford from 1863 to 1866 in the Legislative Assembly of the ...

and served until

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

; in 1867, he was elected to the House of Commons and served until his death in Woodstock in 1880.

References

1821 births 1880 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada West Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario People from Sutherland Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Immigrants to Upper Canada {{Liberal-Ontario-MP-stub