Date Published:
July 2007

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

Thomas Dunn

Dunn, Thomas (1729-1818), president and administrator of Lower Canada (1805-7 and 1811), was an English merchant who came to Quebec during the period of military rule. From 1764 to 1774 he was a member of the Executive Council of the province of Quebec; and from 1775 to 1791 he was a member of the Legislative Council. After 1791 he became a member of both the Executive and Legislative Councils of Lower Canada; and during five different periods he was president of the Legislative Council. As the senior councillor, he was president and administrator of the province on two occasions, first during the interval between the departure of Sir Robert Milnes in 1805 and the arrival of Sir James Craig in 1807, and secondly in 1811 between the departure of Craig and the arrival of Sir George Prevost. In 1775 he was appointed a puisne judge of the court of King's Bench in Quebec; and he died at Quebec on April 5, 1818. He married a French Canadian, Mme. Henriette Fargues, née Guichaud; and his son William became a major-general in the British army.

Source: W. Stewart WALLACE, The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. II, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 411p., p. 251.