- Joseph Whitehead
Joseph Whitehead (1814 –
March 12 1894 ) was a Canadian railway pioneer and political figure. He representedHuron North in the1st Canadian Parliament as a Liberal member.He was born in
Guisborough ,Yorkshire ,England in 1814. Whitehead was a fireman and engineer on railways in Britain, serving as fireman forGeorge Stephenson 's "Locomotion" in 1825. He later became involved in railway construction, helping to build theCaledonian Railway inScotland . He came toCanada West in 1850 and help build sections of the Great Western Railway and a section of theGrand Trunk Railway between Buffalo and Goderich. He also served as mayor for the town ofClinton, Ontario . Whitehead won contracts to build two sections of the transcontinental railway, the section between Cross Lake and Kenora and a branch line between Emerson andSaint Boniface, Manitoba . He built asawmill at Saint Boniface to supply lumber during construction of the rail line. In 1877, he brought the first steam locomotive toManitoba , The "Countess of Dufferin", transporting it by boat up the Red River toWinnipeg . For a time, he worked in the timber trade in Manitoba, but later retired to Clinton. He died there in 1894.External links
* [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/key/bio.asp?Language=E&query=3123&s=M Synopsis of federal political experience from the Library of Parliament]
* [http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/mtq?doc=32945 "The Canadian parliamentary companion", HJ Morgan (1871)]
* [http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/hrb/events/famous_manitobans/whitehead_j.html Manitobans who made a difference]
* [http://www.ourroots.ca/e/toc.aspx?id=2258 "The Canadian album : Men of Canada; or, Success by example ...", W Cochrane (1891)]s-ttl|title=
Member of Parliament forHuron North
years=1867–1872
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