Thomas Coffin, was a Canadian

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...

 businessman and politician.

He was born in Barrington

Barrington, Nova Scotia

Barrington is a municipal district in western Shelburne County, Nova Scotia.Barrington forms the southernmost part of the province and contains Cape Sable, the eastern boundary between the North Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine.- Demographics :...

, Shelburne County, Nova Scotia

Shelburne County, Nova Scotia

Shelburne County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.-History:Shelburne County was founded in 1784 shortly following the influx of Loyalist settlers evacuated from the newly independent United States of America...

 in 1817. He owned a general store and with his brother and other partners operated a 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....

 and shipbuilding yard on the Clyde River from 1854 until late in the 1870s. In 1855, he was named a justice of the peace and he served as school commissioner in Shelburne County and the Barrington district. He represented Shelburne County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly

Nova Scotia House of Assembly

The Nova Scotia Legislature, consisting of Her Majesty The Queen represented by the Lieutenant Governor and the House of Assembly, is the legislative branch of the provincial government of Nova Scotia, Canada...

 as a Reformer from 1851 to 1855 and as a Liberal from 1859 until Confederation

Canadian Confederation

Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...

. In 1867, he was elected to 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 the riding of Shelburne

Shelburne (federal electoral district)

Shelburne was a federal electoral district in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1896.It was created by the British North America Act of 1867. It consisted of the County of Shelburne...

. He was re-elected in 1872

Canadian federal election, 1872

The Canadian federal election of 1872 was held from July 20 to October 12, 1872, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 2nd Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Sir John A...

 and 1874

Canadian federal election, 1874

The Canadian federal election of 1874 was held on January 22, 1874, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 3rd Parliament of Canada. Sir John A...

. He was defeated in 1878

Canadian federal election, 1878

The Canadian federal election of 1878 was held on September 17 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 4th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the end of Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie's Liberal government after only one term in office. Canada suffered an economic depression...

. From 1873 to 1878, he was the Receiver General

Receiver General for Canada

The Receiver General for Canada is responsible for making payments to the Government of Canada each fiscal year, accepting payments from financial institutions and preparing the Public Accounts of Canada, containing annual audited financial statements of the Government of Canada...

. He died in Barrington in 1890.