predecessor successor parliament birth_place constituency_mp death_date party birth_date term_start image article_title term_end
joshua homer gordon edward corbould canadian antigonish , nova scotia new westminster april 5 , 1890 conservative 1822 1887 donald chisholm.jpg donald chisholm
 1890
donald chisholm

donald chisholm -lrb- 1822 -- april 5 , 1890 -rrb- , also known as `` doc '' chisholm , was a canadian member of parliament from british columbia , representing the riding of new westminster .
chisholm was born in valley of the lower south river near antigonish , nova scotia , of parents who had migrated there from inverness-shire , scotland .
he was educated there and became a teacher , but in 1849 he started out for the california gold rush with 23 other prospectors .
in california , he took part in the evolution of that state 's mining laws , but had little success in the goldfields but also practiced medicine , and is credited with rescuing the lives of many miners -lrb- his medical skills were later of use during a cholera epidemic in british columbia -rrb- .
staying in california only a few years , he returned to canada and became involved in the wheat trade in ontario .
speculating on wheat prices during the crimean war , chisholm was left holding thousands of bushels at the time of the declaration of a peace , incurring the loss of a small fortune had the peace come only a few more weeks later .
in the wake of this experience , he migrated to british columbia in 1858 and became involved in many different businesses , settling in hope , british columbia .
possessed of `` herculean strength '' and standing 6 feet 4 inches -lrb- 193 cm -rrb- tall , and reputedly the strongest man in the colony , he was appointed a constable during the mcgowan 's war and in 1860 he was elected by the people of hope to a convention in new westminster , the purpose of which was to frame and present an appeal to the imperial government to introduce proper government for the mainland colony , which was then still ruled near-entirely by governor james douglas -lrb- a legislative assembly for the colony would not be created until 1864 , after douglas ' retirement -rrb- .
chisholm was among the first parties to travel to the big bend gold rush in 1860 , nearly losing his life when a snow bridge gave way as he was crossing mccullough creek and he was swept away , then rescued , unconscious , by a party of miners half a mile downstream .
in 1862 he went to the cariboo gold rush and spent a few years there before moving to the kootenay district to engage in both lumbering and mining , serving for a time as foreman for the cherry creek silver mine .
during this period chisholm was engaged to lead the partyof major-general selby smyth , militia commander of canada , and his staff through the mountains from alberta to hope .
in 1874 he moved to new westminster and became wealthy through investing in the wholesale and retail liquor business and also a flour and feed business of a mr. fred woodcock , and was president of the new westminster board of trade for several years .
he also launched a hotel and store at ladner -lrb- then ladner 's landing -rrb- , later owned by thomas ncneely , and was also a partner in the delta canning company , one of the large canneries then a mainstay of economic life in the province .
other property holdings included land in what is now the grandview area of vancouver , and at hastings -lrb- new brighton -rrb- , as well as holdings in the centre of the city of new westminster and also , in partnership with a mr. daniel mills was co-owner of a large farm on saltspring island .
chisholm was first elected to office in the 1887 general election , representing the new westminster riding as a liberal-conservative supporting sir john a. macdonald , and died in office on april 5 , 1890 .
