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James Bonfield

Canadian politician (1825–1883)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ6129994 ↗
Source-derived summary

James Bonfield (1825 – January 29, 1883) was an Ontario merchant and political figure. He represented Renfrew South in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1875 to 1883 as a Liberal member.

He was born in Gortmore, County Tipperary, Ireland in 1825, the son of John Bonfield, and came to Canada in 1848. He worked as a clerk for lumber merchant John Egan, later opened his own general store and afterwards became a lumber merchant in Eganville. He served as reeve for Grattan Township. In 1854, he married Catherine Tracy.

He died in office shortly before the 1883 provincial election, and was succeeded by his son-in-law John Francis Dowling.

The Township of Bonfield, Ontario was named in his honour.

Family ties

His daughter Elizabeth married John Francis Dowling who succeeded Bonfield as the member for Renfrew South in the provincial assembly.

Another daughter Margaret married Martin James Maloney, who represented Renfrew South in the House of Commons as a Conservative from 1925 to 1935.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “James Bonfield” as canadian politician (1825–1883). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around James, Bonfield and Canadian.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1825, 1883, 1875, 1848—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1825-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with James, Bonfield and Canadian providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “James Bonfield”, the useful work is to connect “canadian politician (1825–1883)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6129994. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1825, 1883, 1875 and 1848.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

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  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “James Bonfield”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow James Bonfield primary sources, James Bonfield archive and James research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “James Bonfield” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.