Charles Perry was a Canadian businessman and political figure. He was a Conservative

Conservative Party of Canada (historical)

The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...

 member of the 1st Canadian Parliament

1st Canadian Parliament

The 1st Canadian Parliament was in session from November 6, 1867 until July 8, 1872. The membership was set by the 1867 federal election from August 7 to September 20, 1867, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was prorogued prior to the 1872 election.It was...

 representing Peterborough West

Peterborough West

Peterborough West was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1953. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867 which divided the County of Peterborough was into two ridings...

.

He was born in Cobourg

Cobourg, Ontario

Cobourg is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Southern Ontario 95 km east of Toronto. It is the largest town in Northumberland County. Its nearest neighbour is Port Hope, to the west. It is located along Highway 401 and the former Highway 2...

, the son of Ebenezer Perry

Ebenezer Perry

Ebenezer Perry was a merchant and Canadian political figure. He was a Conservative member of the Senate of Canada from 1871 until his death and at the age of 83, the oldest person ever summoned to the Senate....

. He entered the timber trade, purchasing land in the Peterborough

Peterborough, Ontario

Peterborough is a city on the Otonabee River in southern Ontario, Canada, 125 kilometres northeast of Toronto. The population of the City of Peterborough was 74,898 as of the 2006 census, while the census metropolitan area has a population of 121,428 as of a 2009 estimate. It presently ranks...

 area and building a large sawmill

Sawmill

A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....

 on the current site of Trent University

Trent University

Trent University is a liberal arts and science-oriented institution located along the Otonabee River in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.The enabling legislation is the Trent University Act, 1962-63. The University was founded through the efforts of a citizens' committee interested in creating a...

in 1854. Perry served as mayor of Peterborough in 1853 and from 1861 to 1865. He was an unsuccessful candidate for a seat in the legislative assembly for the Province of Canada in a by-election held in 1864. Perry was a customs collector at Peterborough from 1873 to 1876 and died in Peterborough in the latter year.