David Wark, (February 19, 1804 – August 20, 1905) Irish-born, was a prominent Canadian Senator who served nearly 38 years in office.[1]
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He represented Kent County in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1843 to 1850. In 1847, he introduced a resolution calling for free trade among the British North American colonies and was, therefore, among the first to seek the closer relations among the colonies that eventually led, 20 years later, to Confederation.[2]
Wark was named to the Legislative Council in 1850 and served until Confederation. He served in the province's Executive Council as a minister without portfolio from 1858 to 1862 and as Receiver General from 1866 to 1867.[1]
Wark was named Senator by a Royal Proclamation in 1867. Known as the "Grand Old Man of the Canadian Senate", he served until his death at the age of 101. At the time of his demise, Wark was the longest lived legislator in the world; he was later surpassed by another Canadian Senator, Georges-Casimir Dessaulles, who died in 1930 at the age of 102.
David Wark's family originated in Scotland, but his forebears emigrated to Ireland in the early 17th century as part of an organized colonization known as the Plantation of Ulster.[3] His father was a farmer near Derry and David Wark was born there on February 19, 1804.[3] He received his elementary education in Derry schools before pursuing more advanced studies under the supervision of the resident Presbyterian clergyman.[3]
In 1825, at the age of 21, Wark emigrated to eastern New Brunswick's Richibucto, Rexton area where he worked as a bookkeeper for local merchants and for six years, taught their children.[3][4] By 1836, he had saved enough money to buy his own general store and later, he began a successful, 40-year career in the lumber business.[3][4] His long public service career began when he was appointed county magistrate and then, a judge in the Court of Common Pleas.[4]
Debates of the Senate of the Dominion of Canada, 9th Parliament, 4th Session Vol. 1, April 28, 1904. During a Senate tribute to Wark after his 100th birthday, his colleague Senator Richard William Scott said: "Among the many instances that might be quoted of the value of your life, I might cite one which I think is worth being remembered. It is, that the first impulse given to the expansion of our present Dominion was due to you, when in 1847 you moved a resolution in the provincial legislature of New Brunswick, expressing the hope that the sister provinces would abolish the custom-houses that then divided them. That certainly was the forerunner of the confederation of this Dominion." Jack, Isaac Allen. (1900) Biographical Review: Province of New Brunswick. Boston: Biographical Review Publishing Company.
