Thomas Boniface Molloy (November 28, 1878—?) was a politician in Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba

The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the lieutenant governor form the Legislature of Manitoba, the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly in provincial general elections, all in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post...

 from 1914 to 1915, as a member of the Liberal Party

Manitoba Liberal Party

The Manitoba Liberal Party is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, following the province's creation in 1870.-Origins and early development :...

.

Molly was born in Shelley, Manitoba. His father, John Molloy, was a Dominion land surveyor, and was involved in early construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

. The elder Molloy sought election to the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 in the 1879 federal election

Manitoba general election, 1879

This was the fourth Manitoba general election and was held on December 16, 1879....

, but lost to Joseph Royal

Joseph Royal

Joseph Royal was a Canadian journalist, lawyer, politician, businessman, and Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories.-Early life and career:...

 of the Conservative Party

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...

 in the riding of Provencher

Provencher (electoral district)

Provencher is a federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1871. It is largely a rural district, the largest community being the city of Steinbach, Manitoba.-Demographics:-History:...

. Thomas Molloy was educated at public school in Emerson

Emerson, Manitoba

Emerson is a town in south central Manitoba, Canada, with a population of 655. The town is named after writer Ralph Waldo Emerson.Emerson is located on the east bank of the Red River, just north of the border with the United States at the point where Manitoba, Minnesota, and North Dakota meet. ...

, and at normal school in Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

. He worked as a contractor.

Thomas Molloy was elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1914 provincial election

Manitoba general election, 1914

Manitoba's general election of July 10, 1914 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.The result was a fifth consecutive majority government for the Conservative Party, led by premier Rodmond P. Roblin...

, defeating Conservative

Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba

The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...

 incumbent Albert Prefontaine

Albert Prefontaine

Albert Préfontaine was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as leader of the Manitoba Conservatives in the late 1910s, and was subsequently a member of the United Farmers of Manitoba....

 by seven votes in the Carillon

Carillon (Manitoba riding)

Carillon is a former provincial electoral division in Manitoba, Canada.It was established for the 1886 provincial election, and eliminated with the 1969 election. The constituency was predominantly francophone...

 constituency. The Conservatives won the election, and Molly sat with his party in opposition.

In 1915, the Conservative government of Rodmond P. Roblin was forced to resign from office amid a corruption scandal. A new election

Manitoba general election, 1915

Manitoba's general election of August 6, 1915 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.This election was held only one year after the previous general election of 1914. In that election, the governing Conservatives of premier Rodmond P. Roblin were...

 was called, in which the Liberals won a landslide majority. Molloy, however, lost his seat to Prefontaine by twenty-four votes. His defeat was primarily due to the Liberal Party's unpopularity among some francophone voters, who opposed the party's plans to end funding for denominational education.

Molloy ran for the Canadian House of Commons in the federal election of 1921

Canadian federal election, 1921

The Canadian federal election of 1921 was held on December 6, 1921 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 14th Parliament of Canada. The Union government that had governed Canada through the First World War was defeated, and replaced by a Liberal government under the young leader...

 as a candidate of the Liberal Party of Canada

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...

, and lost to Progressive

Progressive Party of Canada

The Progressive Party of Canada was a political party in Canada in the 1920s and 1930s. It was linked with the provincial United Farmers parties in several provinces and, in Manitoba, ran candidates and formed governments as the Progressive Party of Manitoba...

 candidate Robert Alexander Hoey by 1,397 votes in the riding of Springfield

Springfield (electoral district)

Springfield was a federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1917 to 1968.This riding was created in 1914 from parts of Selkirk riding....

. He also attempted to return to the provincial legislature in the 1927

Manitoba general election, 1927

Manitoba's general election of 28 June 1927 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.This was the first election in Manitoba history to elect members through a single transferable ballot in all constituencies...

, but lost to Prefontaine by 1,146 votes. Prefontaine was by this time a member of the Progressive Party of Manitoba

Progressive Party of Manitoba

The Progressive Party of Manitoba, Canada, was a political party that developed from the United Farmers of Manitoba, an agrarian movement that became politically active following World War I...

.

Molloy made a further bid for elected office in the 1935 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1935

The Canadian federal election of 1935 was held on October 14, 1935 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 18th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal Party of William Lyon Mackenzie King won a majority government, defeating Prime Minister R.B. Bennett's Conservative Party.The central...

, running as a candidate of Henry Herbert Stevens

Henry Herbert Stevens

Henry Herbert Stevens, PC was a Canadian politician and businessman. A member of R.B. Bennett's cabinet, he split with the Conservative Prime Minister to found the Reconstruction Party of Canada.-Early life:...

's Reconstruction Party

Reconstruction Party of Canada

The Reconstruction Party was a Canadian political party founded by Henry Herbert Stevens, a long-time Conservative Member of Parliament . Stevens served as Minister of Trade in the Arthur Meighen government of 1921, and as Minister of Trade and Commerce from 1930 to 1934 in the Depression-era...

 in the riding of St. Boniface. He finished last in a field of five candidates with only 438 votes.