# Thomas J. Egan

Thomas James Egan (1842 – 11 April 1914) was a Welsh-Canadian merchant, gunsmith, taxidermist, and naturalist.

## Early life

Thomas James Egan was born around 1842 in Wales, United Kingdom.
His father, John Egan, established himself as a gunsmith in the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia in the late 1840s.

## Career

Enlisting on 10 January 1860, Thomas J. Egan became part of the Halifax Rifles, one of six companies to form the Halifax Volunteer Battalion. Private Egan represented the Halifax Rifles in shooting competitions held by the Nova Scotia Rifle Association. Pte. Egan and Corp. Brennan were selected to represent the Halifax Rifles at the first provincial rifle match in Windsor, Nova Scotia, on 1 October 1861. That same month, Privates Egan and M. Neville represented the unit at the New Brunswick rifle match in Sussex. He was promoted to corporal in May 1862.
As early as 1876, T.J. Egan ran a shop at 177 Lower Water St., near the Halifax Hotel, specializing in firearms, ammunition, and taxidermy services. His firm also sold fishing tackle and sporting goods.
The Nova Scotia taxidermist participated as a member of the Canadian delegation at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. He earned a bronze medal for his land animal exhibit, which featured six glass cases of Canadian birds, a caribou, two caribou heads, two moose heads, and a black bear.
In February 1878, he attended the Nova Scotia Poultry and Floricultural Association's exhibition in Halifax, winning first prize for his Rouen duck display.
Prior to 1880, he had partnered with Edward William Myers as stock brokers in London at 78 Old Broad Street. The partnership officially dissolved on 28 June 1880 by mutual consent, with Myers intending to continue the business alone.
Egan advanced to captain on 21 August 1880, assuming command of the 63rd Halifax Battalion of Rifles. He was appointed Major by general order on 20 July 1883. That October, his former company honored him with a field officer's regulation bridle recognizing his promotion.
He began dog breeding in Halifax by the early 1880s and obtained a red Irish Setter. He also purchased a Clumber Spaniel that was brought to Nova Scotia, winning several prizes with it and breeding multiple litters with different dogs.
Thomas J. Egan played a key role alongside Halifax taxidermist Andrew Downs in preparing Canada's taxidermy display for the 1883 International Fisheries Exhibition in London. He spent $248 on specimen procurement.
In the fall of 1888, Maj. Egan published "History of the Halifax Volunteer Battalion and Volunteer Companies: 1859-1887".
By the mid-to-late 1880s and early 1890s, he was active in Nova Scotia as a naturalist. He recorded the first red crossbill's nest and eggs in the province on 30 March 1889. His findings were detailed in "Netting of the American Crossbill," an article featured in The Ornithologist and Oölogist, edited by Frank Blake Webster. In 1889, the taxidermist mounted an ivory gull. The Nova Scotian Institute of Science admitted him as an ordinary member on 6 January 1890. He mounted two holboell's grebes between 1891 and 1894. By 1893, he had acquired 20 red phalarope and 12 northern phalarope. He mounted a pair of king eiders in Nova Scotia and donated them to the American Museum of Natural History in 1898. In the following year, he corresponded with Canadian zoologist Hubert Lyman Clark on the study of ptarmigans.
In 1904, the building housing his shop on Lower Water Street caught fire, resulting in the destruction of his mounted bird collection. Egan and his son-in-law Daniel Chisholm later owned a property called Rockwood Cottage on the North West Arm in Nova Scotia.

## Personal life

His daughter, Canadian ceramic artist Alice Mary Hagen (née Egan), was born in Halifax in 1872. By 1882, he was a shareholder of Merchants' Bank of Halifax (now Royal Bank of Canada) and held five shares valued at $500. In 1911, he held 38 shares worth $3,800.

## Death

Thomas James Egan died on 11 April 1914 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He had suffered from a 6-week battle with pleuropneumonia and pulmonary edema. His body was later interred at Mount Olivet Cemetery.

## Works

* History of the Halifax Volunteer Battalion and Volunteer Companies: 1859-1887 (1888)