A FORMER Launceston MP, who wrote a successful Canadian literature series in the 1800s, has been remembered by a local man, writes Rosie Cripps.

Thomas Chandler Haliburton was a Canadian author, who later became the Conservative MP for Launceston in the mid-1800s. He is most well known for his series of novels detailing the humorous adventures of the character of Sam Slick.

Over 100 years on, Launceston man, Jim Edwards, is keen to bring the author and MP’s history to the forefront once again, highlighting the local connections between such an influential person and Launceston.

Thomas Chandler Haliburton was born on December 17, 1796, to William Hersey Otis Haliburton and Lucy Chandler Grant in Windsor, Nova Scotia. Once a lawyer, Haliburton was best known for his creation of the entertaining character, ‘Sam Slick’, in The Clockmaker serial, which was first published in the Novascotian and later appeared in book form across the British Empire.

Haliburton attended the University of King’s College in Windsor, graduating and setting up his post as a lawyer with his own firm at Annapolis Royal. During time spent in England, he met and married Louisa Neville in 1816, and brought her back to Canada with him. She died in 1840.

After retiring from law, Haliburton moved to England for good in 1856, and married Sarah Harriet Owen Williams. In 1859, he began his political career with the Conservative party, taking up the post as Member of Parliament for Launceston. He would serve as a politician for the town until his sudden death in 1865.

Haliburton visited Launceston on many occasions, and would often stay at the White Hart Hotel in the town square. After his death, following a short illness in August 1865, it was decided that a bust would be created and installed on the front of the hotel, marking Haliburton’s significance to the town. The bust, which sits just above the ‘Hart’ on the building, is believed to have been put in its place below the window of the room that Haliburton would stay in.