William Goodhue Perley (June 4, 1820 – April 1, 1890) was a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

businessman and member of the

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from 1887 to 1890. He was born in Enfield, New Hampshire in 1820. His emigrant ancestor was Allan Perley. During the 1840s, he established a lumber business based on timber from northern

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. As high quality wood became harder to find, Perley and his partner, Gordon B. Pattee, decided to relocate to the Ottawa Valley and established

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

s near

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

supplying wood to the

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. With other timber interests, in 1866, he helped establish the Ottawa City Passenger Railway Company, a system of horse-drawn trams, which provided transportation for people but also moved lumber from the sawmills to ships and trains. Perley, with J.R. Booth and others, helped develop railways in the region, including the

Canada Atlantic Railway The Canada Atlantic Railway (CAR) was a North American railway located in Ontario, southwestern Quebec and northern Vermont. It connected Georgian Bay on Lake Huron with the northern end of Lake Champlain via Ottawa. It was formed in 1879 through ...

and the Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound Railway. He failed in an attempt to become the

Liberal-Conservative Party The Liberal-Conservative Party () was the formal name of the Conservative Party of Canada until 1917, and again from 1922 to 1938. Prior to 1970, candidates could run under any label they chose, and in many of Canada's early elections, there wer ...

candidate for Ottawa City in 1882, but was later elected as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

in the same riding in 1887. Although his business had originally benefited from reciprocal trade agreements between Canada and the United States, later in life, he supported protective tariffs to help develop the economy of Canada. Perley died in Ottawa in 1890 while still in office.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perley, William Goodhue 1820 births 1890 deaths Canadian Anglicans Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs 19th-century Canadian businesspeople People from Enfield, New Hampshire American emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario 19th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada