George Thew Burke was a soldier, merchant and political figure in Upper Canada

Upper Canada

The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...

.

He was born in Ballyartella, County Tipperary

County Tipperary

County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 in 1776. He was a captain in the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 serving in Canada from 1811 to 1818; he fought under Major General Isaac Brock

Isaac Brock

Major-General Sir Isaac Brock KB was a British Army officer and administrator. Brock was assigned to Canada in 1802. Despite facing desertions and near-mutinies, he commanded his regiment in Upper Canada successfully for many years...

 at the Battle of Queenston Heights

Battle of Queenston Heights

The Battle of Queenston Heights was the first major battle in the War of 1812 and resulted in a British victory. It took place on 13 October 1812, near Queenston, in the present-day province of Ontario...

. In 1818, he became head of the settlement at Richmond

Richmond, Ontario

Richmond is a Canadian village. Founded in 1818, it spans the Jock River, a tributary of the Rideau River. Like many communities in eastern Ontario, Richmond houses several unique populations. Some residents have historic and economic roots in the immediate area. Richmond operates as a small core...

, where a number of members of the army had received free land grants, and he set up a store there. He served in the Carleton

Carleton County, Ontario

Carleton County is the name of a historic county in Ontario, Canada. In 1969 it was superseded by the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton. In 2001 the Regional Municipality and the eleven local municipalities within it were replaced by the current City of Ottawa.-History:Carleton County was...

 militia and was named colonel in 1822. He became a justice of the peace in the Johnstown District in 1819 and in the Bathurst District in 1822. He represented Carleton in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada

Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada

The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. It was the elected legislature for the province of Upper Canada and functioned as the province's lower house in the Parliament of Upper Canada...

 from 1824 to 1828. He died in Bytown

Bytown

Bytown is the former name of Ottawa, Canada's capital city. It was founded on on September 26, 1826, incorporated as a town on January 1, 1850, and superseded by the incorporation of the City of Ottawa on January 1, 1855. The founding was marked by a sod turning, and a letter from Governor General...

in 1854