Chapter 44 of 68 · 3933 words · ~20 min read

Part 44

=Dinnick, Lieut.-Col. Wilfrid Servington=, one of the leading financiers and public men of Toronto, was born at Guildford, England, on July 19th, 1874, the son of (Rev.) John Dunn and Charlotte Matilda Dinnick. He was educated at York School, Brighton, Eng., and came to Canada in 1889. In that year he obtained a position in the office of the Provincial Loan Company, Toronto, where he remained for two years, joining the Canadian Birbeck Investment Security and Savings Co., with which corporation he remained until 1895. By the time he was twenty-one he had acquired through his natural aptitude for finance a very complete knowledge of the Canadian investment field and before he was thirty had become a prominent figure in Toronto financial circles. He is at present Vice-President of the Standard Reliance Mortgage Corporation, 84 King St. East, Toronto; and President of the Sterling Trusts Corporation. Notable among his business achievements was that of founding and organizing Lawrence Park, one of the exclusive suburban residential districts of Toronto, which by virtue of the policy which he adopted in the matter of planning and building restrictions, is one of the beauty spots of a city renowned for its palatial homes. His services of a public character became especially noteworthy during the late war. On Dec. 21st, 1914, he organized the 109th Regiment in which he holds the rank of Lieut.-Col. This organization largely through the energetic methods of Col. Dinnick sent to the front over 200 officers and 5000 men, who served chiefly in the 84th and 169th Overseas Battalions and seven other quotas also. It also contributed the C.D.F. Battalion for home defence in Canada. As an organizer of public benefactions Col. Dinnick also showed indefatigable energy and organizing talent. He was largely instrumental in securing $2,400,000 for the Toronto and York Patriotic Fund in 1916; and $3,400,000 for the same object in 1917. He was also the organizer of the British Red Cross Appeal in 1915 and raised $550,000, which was increased to $740,000 in 1916. He has likewise willingly given his services to numerous appeals of a minor character, and many organizations have profited by his unique abilities in that field. He has been active in support of schemes of civic improvement and was the originator of the Back Garden development idea in Toronto, which has been blessed with excellent results. He is a Conservative in politics, a member of St. Paul’s (Anglican) Church, Toronto, and is Honorary Secretary of the Canadian Council of the Pocket Testament League. His recreations are Motoring and horse-back riding and he is the President and one of the founders of the Lawrence Park Lawn Bowling Club. He is also a member of the Albany, National, Toronto Hunt, Lambton Golf, Rosedale Golf, and Royal Canadian Yacht Clubs, Toronto, and of the A.F. & A.M. In New York on June 16th, 1905, he married Miss Alice Louise Conlin and has two sons and two daughters. His residence is at Bedford Lodge, Toronto.

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=Ewing, William=, one of the best known of the younger business men of Montreal, was born in that city on May 4th, 1884, the son of William and Catherine Kinross Ewing. He was educated at Montreal High School and at L’Assomption College, L’Assomption, Quebec. On leaving college about sixteen years ago he joined the business of his father, who had established the firm of William Ewing & Co., Wholesale Seedsmen, at Montreal, in 1869. When the firm was re-organized as a joint stock corporation with the title of the William Ewing Co., Ltd., in 1913, the subject of this sketch became Secretary-Treasurer and also a Director. Formerly Mr. Ewing was known on the football field throughout Eastern Canada and is President of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and also of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association Football Club. He is an active member of the M.A.A.A. and also of the Caledonian Society of Montreal. His recreations are fishing and football and he has also interested himself in military affairs and holds a commission as lieutenant in the 1st Regiment, G.G. of C. On July 22nd, 1910, he married Isabel Swanson Forbes, a daughter of Mr. George E. Forbes of the well-known firm of Forbes Bros., Wholesale Grocers, Montreal. He has two children, Isabel Graham, born May 10th, 1912, and William, born Dec. 26th, 1914. In religion he is a Presbyterian and resides at 329 Addington Ave., Notre Dame de Grace, Montreal.

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=Kelso, John Joseph= (Toronto, Ont.), Journalist and Social Worker, has resided in Toronto since childhood, but was born in Dundalk, Ireland, March 31, 1864, son of George and Anna Kelso, descendants of Scotch Covenanters. Took up Journalism in 1886 and was for several years member of the “Globe” staff. Devoted to philanthropy, has written thousands of columns on Social Welfare. Organized Toronto Humane Society in 1886-7; Children’s Fresh Air Fund in 1888; Children’s Aid Society, 1891; Playgrounds Association, 1908; was mainly responsible for educational propaganda leading to passing of Children’s Protection Act by Ontario Government, and under its provision was appointed General Superintendent of Neglected and Dependent Children, and Inspector of Industrial Schools. In its initial stages Mr. Kelso had much to do with the inauguration of the Juvenile Court movement, having addressed the Waif Saving Congress on the subject at the World’s Fair, Chicago, in October, 1893. He was also one of the first advocates of Widowed Mothers’ Aid and Workmen’s Compensation Boards. In March, 1898, Mr. Kelso addressed the Legislature of Manitoba and British Columbia and they unanimously agreed to adopt the Ontario system of child protection. In 1905 he visited Nova Scotia with the same successful result; in 1908 Saskatchewan, and in 1913, New Brunswick. All Canada now follows the same methods of carrying on Child Welfare work, Mr. Kelso having organized over two hundred and fifty Children’s Aid Societies, in addition to Social Settlements, etc. Started Canadian Conference of Charities and Correction in 1897 and was elected Vice-President; was also elected Vice-President of National (U.S.) Conference of Charities in 1902. Represented Ontario at Conference on Child Welfare called by President Roosevelt and also at International Prison Congress held in Washington. These Conferences led to many present-day reforms. In 1903-5 Mr. Kelso performed notable service for the Province by emptying the Ontario Reformatory for Boys at Penetanguishene and the Ontario Refuge for Girls, by providing homes and situations for all the inmates. These institutions were converted into Hospitals for the Insane. Is still engaged in the work. Was married, 1901, to Irene Madden Martin, of Nashville, Tenn., and has two children, a son and daughter. Is Elder and S.S. Superintendent of St. James’ Square Presbyterian Church. He resides at 21 Prince Arthur Ave.

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=Douglas, William James= (Toronto, Ont.), Journalist, is the General Manager of the “Mail and Empire,” one of the leading Canadian dailies and influential exponent of the Liberal-Conservative thought in Ontario. He is a son of the late James S. Douglas, A.M., M.D., Ph.D., and Frances Boardman, and was born in Hamilton, N.Y., U.S.A., May 28, 1846. After education at Milwaukee, Wis., he came to Canada in 1877, where he has held his present position for many years. Mr. Douglas married Eliza, daughter of Jeremiah Riordan, Surgeon in the Royal Navy, in 1868, and has four children—William, James S., Howard R. and Amy Douglas. He was formerly Vice-President of the National Club, and is a Trustee of the Toronto General Hospital, and of the Canadian Associated Press, of which he was a promoter. A Presbyterian in religion and a Conservative in politics. Mr. Douglas numbers among his clubs the National and Albany of Toronto, the Rideau of Ottawa, the Caledon Mountain Trout Club and the Cuckoo Valley Fishing Club. Is a Justice of the Peace for the County of York.

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=Delage, Cyrille F.=, Notary Public (Quebec City, Que.), son of J. B. Delage and Mary E. E. Fraser, was born in the above place, May 1, 1869, and received his education at Quebec Seminary and Laval University, Quebec, from which last he graduated with the degrees of L.B., LL.B., and LL.D. In 1894, Mr. Delage married Alice, daughter of Telesphore Boursseau and Celina Genest, by whom he has four children—Paul-Edouard, Maurice, Emile, and Marguerite. To-day, this distinguished Canadian holds the following public offices: Superintendent of Public Instruction for the Province of Quebec; officer d’Acadamie (France); member, Royal Society of Canada, French Section; Hon. President of the Quebec Provincial Exhibition Commission; President, Canadian Patriotic Fund, Quebec Branch; President National War Saving Committee, Quebec Branch; Honorary President of Society of Education, Canada; President, Catholic Committee, Council Public Instruction, Quebec; Member Protestant Committee, Council Public Instruction; and member Conseil des Arts et Metiers, Quebec. Council of Agriculture. At the time of his appointment as Superintendent of Public Instruction, the “Quebec Telegraph” said editorially: “Undoubtedly the Legislature will lose by his disappearance from it, but the Province will unquestionably be a large gainer by the transfer of his abilities, experience, and congenial tastes to the Department of Public Instruction.” A Liberal in politics and a Roman Catholic in religion, Mr. Delage is a member of the Canadian and Garrison Clubs of Quebec City, in addition to the Union St. Joseph, St. Roch; Union St. Joseph, Beauport; Artisans Canadiens-français; Alliance Nationale; Royal Arcanum, and the Independent Order of Foresters.

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=Hocken, Norman Cecil= (Otter Lake Station, Ont.), Lumberman, the son of Henry Hocken and Lucina Soper, was born in Bowmanville, Ont., November 28, 1880, and educated at the Bowmanville Public School. His father being in the lumber business, he naturally came much in contact with that line of business, so deciding to strike out for himself in 1903, he became connected with the Victoria Harbor Lumber Company, and the Charlton Sawmill Company, finally going into business for himself and at the present time is owner of four sawmills and upwards of fifty square miles of timber limits. In politics he is a Reformer and was nominated by the Liberal party as their standard-bearer for the constituency of Parry Sound, for the House of Commons, to represent them at the next Dominion Election. Mr. Hocken is a member of the Methodist Church, of the Board of Trade of the City of Toronto, of the Ontario Club, Toronto, and of the Masonic Order. He married the daughter of James Kydd, and has five children—Bernice, Melvin, Loydd, Ralph and Robert.

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=King, Hon. James H., M.D., C.M., F.A.C.S.=, Physician and Surgeon, Cranbrook, B.C., President, King Lumber Mills, Ltd., Cranbrook, B.C. Born Chipman, N.B., January 18, 1872, son of Hon. G. G. and Ester Briggs King. Educated St. Martin’s Academy and McGill University. Practised Andover and St. John, N.B., 1895-1898. Came to British Columbia 1898; practised Cranbrook since. Vice-President Graduates Society, McGill University, 1908. Attended World Congress of Medicine and Surgery, Budapest, Hungary, 1909, and on this occasion was presented at the Austrian Court. Represented Cranbrook, British Columbia Legislature, 1903, 1907; unsuccessful candidate for Kootenay to House of Commons, 1911; elected to British Columbia Parliament, September 14, 1916; accepted portfolio of Public Works in the new government formed November 29, 1916; one of the original Founders and Governors of the American College of Surgeons at Chicago, 1913. Married Nellie Sadler, Maple View, N.B., 1907. Societies: A.F. & A.M., I.O.O.F., K. of P. Liberal, Baptist. Residence, Victoria, B.C.

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=Oliver, Hon. John= (Victoria, B.C.), son of Robert Oliver, of Derbyshire, England, and Emma Lomas, his wife, of Staffordshire. Was born on July 31, 1856, at Hartington, Derbyshire, England. In April, 1870, his parents, with eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the eldest, left the Motherland, and eventually settled on a farm in Wellington County, Ontario. There he worked on his father’s farm in the summer and went to the woods in the winter, and, in his spare time, picked up stone masonry. In 1877, the future premier set out for Victoria B.C., with only a few dollars in his pocket and no particular job in sight. Twenty-three years later he returned to the capital as a member of the Legislature, and forty years afterwards he became head of the Provincial Government. Shortly after going to British Columbia, Mr. Oliver took up land in the Delta municipality, and to-day he is the proprietor of one of the finest farms in the province. Mr. Oliver has always evinced a genius for public service, and has always taken a keen and intelligent interest in public questions. He had not been long in the west before he was elected a member of the Delta Municipal Council, and was later reeve for several terms. He was first elected to the British Columbia Legislature at the general elections in 1900, and re-elected in 1903 and 1907. At the general elections in 1909, as leader of the Opposition, he contested two constituencies, Victoria and Delta, and was defeated in both. A similar experience awaited him in 1911, and again in the campaign in 1912. In 1916, upon the formation of the Brewster cabinet, he was appointed Minister of Railways and Agriculture. On the death of Premier Brewster, after one session in office, Mr. Oliver was called upon by the Lieutenant-Governor to form a Government, which he did, retaining his former portfolios, besides acting as Premier. His reputation as a parliamentarian of the first rank was firmly established by the part he played in the exposure of what was known as the “Columbia and Western Railway Scandal.” He was chiefly instrumental in having grants for some 650,000 acres of coal mining land in the Kootenay district cancelled. Premier Oliver was married on June 20, 1886, to Elizabeth, daughter of William Woodward, of Mud Bay, British Columbia. He is the father of the following children: Robert, William Arthur, John Thomas, Charles Edward, Joseph, Elizabeth Alice, Sarah Ellen, Mildred Emma. Premier Oliver has for years been known as “Honest John,” and his long record for probity and fair dealing justly entitles him to this distinction. Although somewhat handicapped in early life by lack of scholastic training, the Premier was by nature a student, and he became a wide reader. He is a man of rugged honesty, industrious and aggressive, and enjoys a measure of public confidence which is indicated by the title conferred upon him by the people of his province. The Premier’s candour and courage are recognized as his greatest assets, while his long association with public affairs and foremost position in the Liberal party has made his name a household word in British Columbia. The Premier possesses sufficient property, acquired by his own industry, to make him independent of political fortunes. He is undoubtedly one of the most interesting and picturesque figures in Canadian public life.

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=Ferguson, Hon. George Howard, B.A., LL.B., K.C., M.L.A.= (Toronto, Ont.), son of Dr. Charles Frederick Ferguson (Scotch), and Elizabeth Wallace Bell, his wife (Irish). Was born on the 18th day of June, 1870, at Kemptville, Ont. Educated at Kemptville High School, Toronto University, and Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto. Called to the bar in 1894. Married April 14th, 1896, to Ella Cumming, of Buckingham, Quebec. Was a councillor for three years and a reeve for three years of the village of Kemptville. His father, Charles F. Ferguson, M.D., represented the constituency of North Leeds and Grenville in the House of Commons from 1893 to 1896, when he retired. First elected to the Ontario Legislature at the general elections as the member for Grenville, 1905. Re-elected at the general elections 1908, 1911, 1912 and 1914. A member of the Executive Council of the Hearst Administration as Minister of Lands, and Forests and Mines, December 22nd, 1914. Re-elected after assuming the office by acclamation, January 7th, 1915. He is an Anglican and a member of the Masonic Order; the Odd Fellows; Independent Order of Foresters; Orangemen and Maccabees. The Honorable Mr. Ferguson is a man of fine address and good oratorical ability. He is extremely popular with all members of the Legislature.

[Illustration: Hon. Adelard Turgeon, Quebec. R. W. Breadner, Quebec.]

=Grant, Gordon=, is the son of Peter Grant, a distinguished Civil Engineer who was employed on the construction of the Caledonia and Great North of Scotland Railways, who came to Canada in 1868, and who was from that date to its completion in 1876, employed on the construction of the Intercolonial Railway and subsequently on the Canadian Pacific Railway until its completion in 1885, and Helen (Gordon) Grant. Mr. Grant was born in Dufftown, Banffshire, Scotland, January 2nd, 1865, and came to Canada in 1872. He was educated in the Ottawa Business College and the Ottawa University. In 1882 Mr. Grant was invited to join the staff of his uncle, the late William B. Grant, C.E., who was then Chief Engineer of the Great Southern Railway in the Argentina Republic, and remained a member of his staff for six years, during which time he was employed on the construction of several hundred miles of railway. In 1887 there was a severe depression in the public works in that republic and railway construction came to a stop. Returning to Canada Mr. Grant was employed on the construction of the Sydney extension of the Intercolonial Railway until 1890. In July of that year he joined the staff of the late P. A. Peterson, then Chief Engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and remained with him until July, 1893, when he accepted a position as Division Engineer of Construction on the Palm Beach extension of the Florida East Railway, and remained there until its completion in 1895, when he joined the Construction Department of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and was employed on the construction of the Crow’s Nest Pass and other Western branch lines until 1905, when he joined the staff of Mr. Hugh D. Lumsden, recently appointed Chief Engineer of the National Transcontinental Railway Commission. He was appointed Assistant District Engineer in May, 1906, Inspecting Engineer over the whole line in May, 1907, and on the resignation of Mr. Lumsden in July, 1909, was appointed by the Government to the position of Chief Engineer and remained in that position until the completion of the Railway, when he was, in January, 1917, appointed consulting Engineer to the Department of Railways and Canals, and also had charge of the work of completing the Quebec & Saguenay Railway from Quebec to Murray Bay, a very difficult piece of railway construction. In December, 1906, Mr. Grant married Katherine McCarthy, daughter of William McCarthy, Civil Engineer, and has two sons and two daughters. Mr. Grant is a member of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, a member of the American Railway Engineers’ Association; and a member of the Rideau, Royal Ottawa Golf and Rivermead Golf Clubs. In religion Mr. Grant is a Catholic. His residence is 58 Sweetland Ave., Ottawa, Ont.

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=Rawlings, Henry Edward=, of 115 Crescent Street, Montreal, is a prominent Fidelity and Surety Underwriter in Canada and in the U.S.A., and is the President and Managing Director of the Guarantee Company of North America, the “pioneer company” in its particular field on this continent. He was born in Montreal on September 25, 1875, the son of Edward and Lucretia (Carter) Rawlings, and was educated at Lennoxville Academy and in other institutions. His late father, Edward Rawlings, was the founder of the Guarantee Company of North America in 1872, and the son was brought up with a most complete knowledge of its business. He went to the United States in 1897, and entered various branch offices of the G.C.N.A. and its affiliated institution, the United States Guarantee Company of New York. About 1905 he was appointed Vice-President of the American Company and in 1909 returned to Montreal to assume executive control of the parent institution, the Guarantee Company of North America. At this time he took the title of Assistant-Manager and on the demise of his father succeeded him in the positions, President and Managing Director. He was also appointed to succeed the elder Rawlings as a Director on the Board of the Montreal Telegraph Company. Mr. Rawlings’ business duties, which are international in scope have engrossed much of his time but he has published one important guide to business corporations entitled “How to Prevent Defalcations.” When the war broke out he entered the Home Guard as a full private and qualified himself by military drill. His recreations are described as “motoring, golf, and a little of everything else.” In religion he is an Anglican and in politics a Conservative, and is a member of the following Clubs: Mount Royal, St. James, Montreal, Montreal Hunt, Forest and Stream, Royal Montreal Golf, Beaconsfield Golf, Indoor Tennis Club, Winter Club, Automobile Club of Canada, St. Paul’s Lodge, A.F. & A.M. and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Mr. Rawlings was married in 1907 to a daughter of Hon. James Bunting Snowball, Senator and former Lieut.-Governor of New Brunswick, and one of the pioneer lumber merchants of that Province. The union has been blessed with two children, Margaret Snowball, and Henry Miller Fitzwilliam Rawlings.

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=Hara, Frederick North= (St. Catharines, Ont.), was born in that city on April 28, 1856. Son of John and Charlotte A. (Phelps) Hara. Educated at the Public Schools of St. Catharines and began his business career in 1874 as an office boy with S. Atkinson & Sons, Toronto. With said firm he subsequently became book-keeper and in 1878 returned to St. Catharines to accept a similar position with H. Patterson & Co. In 1884 he was promoted to the position of office and business manager and in 1893, when the firm name was changed to E. H. Phelps & Co., he purchased a partnership interest in the business and continued to act as business manager. In 1901, when the enterprise was re-organized and incorporated as the Canada Wheel Works, Ltd., he became its President and General Manager. In 1914 another change was effected when an amalgamation was arranged with the Windsor Turned Goods Co., Ltd., and the new corporation became known as the Canada Pole and Shaft Co., Ltd., of which Mr. Hara was appointed and still is President. His other business and industrial interests are extensive. He is President of the St. Catharines Steel and Metal Company, Ltd.; Vice-President of the Marathon Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd.; President of the United Gas Co., Ltd.; a Director of Industrials, Ltd., St. Catharines; a Director of the Port Arthur Wagon and Implements Co., Ltd.; and is also interested as a shareholder in many other companies. During the recent war his business energy was sought in connection with Red Cross and Patriotic Funds and he became an ardent worker and supporter of them, and was a member of the local executive in connection therewith. Though on many occasions his fellow citizens have desired that he take public office, his only experience of the kind was thirty years ago when he served two years as a school trustee at Merritton. His recreations are motoring and golf, and he is a Past President of the St. Catharines Club; Vice-President (1918) of the St. Catharines Golf Club and a member of the Laurentian Club, Ottawa. He is also a member of the A.F. & A.M., and is a Liberal in politics. On June 5, 1905, he married Emma Catherine, daughter of Mr. John Baillie.

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