Education
Born in Laurel, Indiana, Peirce attended the public schools and also educated by private tutors. He was graduated from Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, in 1866.
United States representative politician
Born in Laurel, Indiana, Peirce attended the public schools and also educated by private tutors. He was graduated from Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, in 1866.
Born in East Lothian, Scotland, Bruce"s family moved to County Cork, Ireland, when he was seven years of age. He became an apprentice sailor at 13, leaving London on an East Indiaman. He eventually arrived in New Zealand on the Blue Jacket in 1860.
After working in the goldfields of New Zealand and Queensland, he went to the United States where he remained for several years.
In 1877 he returned to New Zealand, buying land in Paraekaretu in the Manawatu region. He represented the Rangitikei electorate from 1884 to 1890.
He contested the 1890 election in the Waitotara electorate, but was beaten by the incumbent, George Hutchison. He served until the end of the parliamentary term in 1893 when he retired.
He was one of three candidates to contest the new Manawatu electorate in the 1896 election, but he was narrowly beaten by John Stevens.
He challenged Stevens again in the 1899 election but was again defeated. Bruce was a notable pioneer of the Manawatu District, who preserved several native forest remnants, including Bruce Park Scenic Reserve. Late in his life, he wrote a book about his experiences at sea.
He died at his homestead Carrick in the Wanganui suburb of Saint Johns Hill on 23 April 1917.
Bruce was an independent conservative Member of Parliament in the Manawatu region of New Zealand.