Peter McSweeney was a merchant and political figure in New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

, Canada. He sat for Northumberland division in the Senate of Canada from 1899 to 1921 as a Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

.

He was born in Moncton, New Brunswick

Moncton, New Brunswick

Moncton is a Canadian city, located in Westmorland County, New Brunswick. The city is situated in southeastern New Brunswick, within the Petitcodiac River Valley, and lies at the geographic centre of the Maritime Provinces...

, the son of Peter McSweeney, an Irish

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...

immigrant, and Joanna Downing. He first went into business with his brothers, Edward and Thomas, who dealt in dry goods and furniture. In 1872, he married Wilhelmina Smith, the widow of H. Peter Fisher. McSweeney went into business on his own in 1877. He also served on Moncton town council.