John Munn (Newfoundland politician)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

John Munn (1807 – September 29, 1879) was a Scottish-born merchant and politician in Newfoundland. He represented Conception Bay from 1842 to 1848 and Harbour Grace from 1869 to 1873 in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly as a Conservative.

Born at Port Bannatyne near Rothesay, Scotland, to Stewart Munn and Isabella Fisher, he moved to St. John’s in 1825. He worked as a bookkeeper until 1833, then moved to Harbour Grace and started a business with Captain William Punton. The firm traded in seal products and built ships. Munn married Naomi Munden in 1838. In the 1870s, his company purchased Thomas Ridley’s assets. He helped found the Union Bank and served as a director, and he also owned the Harbour Grace Standard newspaper.

Munn was named to the Legislative Council in 1855 and served until 1869. He died in England in 1879, at Southport, Lancashire. After his death, his company was taken over by his son, William Punton Munn, and his nephew, Robert Stewart Munn. William Munn’s son, John Shannon Munn, was also a prominent Newfoundland businessman until his death in the wreck of the SS Florizel in 1918. In 2016, John Munn was designated a National Historic Person.