Molson biography

International beer and spirit merchant [ edit ] A crisis almost struck the Molsons in when the Mansion House Hotel caught fire; some of the books from the library were saved but not much more was salvageable. While John junior and William took care of the businesses within Canada, Thomas was busy working in England. Thomas brought over gallons of beer to London, England.

The response was encouraging and Thomas brought another gallons on his next trip. Molson's had its first international market. The first Canadian distillery on an industrial scale was a Molson endeavour. In those pioneer days, alcohol was the primary form by which was monetized grain, and in the absence of Scotch supply the British craved Canadian whiskey.

Prohibitionists called for the elimination of import, manufacture and sale of strong liquor for beverage purposes. After the hotel was completed Molson built a theatre adjacent to it. It seated 1, guests, presenting Shakespeare and Restoration authors and was also used for circuses and concerts. In Molson decided to run against a young Louis-Joseph Papineau but resigned quickly after discovering the amount of support Papineau had from the French and the Irish.

Molson biography: John Molson (28 December –

On 18 MarchMolson's wife Sarah Vaughan, died after treating her rheumatism with laudanum. Sarah became addicted to this opium-based painkiller and died from the effects. Molson sold the house they lived in together and moved on with his life. His four-year term as president of the Bank of Montreal — [1] ended and Molson did not run for a second.

Even at the age of 67 Molson did not contemplate retirement; one of his biggest projects still lay ahead. Molson had told the head of this project, Jason Pierce, that he was interested. Pierce did not forget about Molson's interest and in Molson's request for a railroad was accepted by the Assembly.

Molson biography: The Molson family of Montreal, Quebec,

This was the first railway ever constructed in Canada. Molson became the Railroad's largest shareholder, [1] [37] when a cholera epidemic that struck Canada in and added to echoes of the economic depression caused by the crisis closure of the Second Bank of the United States. This all caused the railroad project to lose much of its momentum. William had just begun distilling at their businesses in Montreal, and Thomas was probably invited to come because of his molson biography as a distiller.

Moreover, John Molson Sr, who was to die inhad found a way of getting round the consequences of the community of property of Thomas and Martha: he would entail the breweries in Montreal on their eldest son, John Henry Robinson, on condition that Thomas and William manage them until his grandson reached the age of majority. Throughout this long period Thomas diversified his interests and increased the holdings he shared with his brother William in the Montreal distillery.

In the s he bought several pieces of land and houses in the district near the distillery: in his statement for land taxes owing to the city of Montreal concerns 68 plots of land and houses. He bought a large farm at Sherrington, in Huntingdon County. By he had become involved in a new investment in Upper Canada until the end of his life he retained all his Kingston premises, which he had rented since He leased the two distilleries, but until his death he ran the sawmill and flour mill through a manager, Robert Orr; he himself sold the flour on the Montreal Corn Exchange through his brokers, John and Robert Esdaile; this flour was intended for export to England.

Molson biography: Meet Our Families. In

Molsons Bank was set up inin accordance with the law controlling private banks, and in it became a chartered bank; Thomas assisted its development by circulating its notes in the Port Hope region, and even in the American Midwest when he bought grain at Chicago. Thomas built a new church inbut fell out with the Church of England bishop of Montreal, Francis Fulfordbecause he himself wanted the right to appoint the parish priest of his church.

In parliament conferred upon the ministers of this church the right to keep registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials, and to celebrate marriages. In the same year, Molson had a college built for training clergy of the new sect; some 20 students were enrolled in The rental contract was renewed in Februarybut this time it included the church itself.

Molson biography: John Molson founded Canada's oldest and

In his will Thomas bequeathed the temple and 11 houses to the Church of England, which had modified its rules to allow groups to own churches and appoint their own priests. Early in Julyat the age of 18, he emigrated to Montreal, and immediately became involved in various commercial endeavours with family friends who had arrived at the same time as he.

Coming as he did from the English gentry, Molson naturally wanted to own a farm. He parted with it in the spring ofwhen he began to run the brewery. He had sued Loid for repayment of a debt in the summer ofand as Loid had formally admitted the justice of the case, the buildings had been seized and put up for auction. At an initial sale on 22 October there had been no offers, but at the second, held on 5 Jan.

He could now settle his business affairs himself. In England, Molson bought some equipment for the brewery. Returning to Montreal on 31 Mayhe took over management of the operation. He oversaw the enlargement of the plant and began to buy grain for the coming season of malting and brewing. He invested in it all the funds at his disposal in order to enlarge his facilities and production.

Molson had turned away from the import-export business in because the risks were too great and the profits too slow; he also foresaw that the large-scale fur trade would run into increasing difficulties. He therefore did not seek to diversify his activities during this period. Molson preferred to reinvest continually in his Montreal establishment and for that purpose went occasionally to England, as in andto buy equipment.

The young immigrant had decided to put his money into a sector which was at the forefront of technological innovation in that country during the late 18th century. The influx of loyalists to the colony, and then the first arrivals of British immigrants, opened a market for him and soon there was a demand even from French Canadians, who had not previously been inclined to drink beer.

As there was not much barley being produced in the Canadas, Molson induced farmers to grow it by initially supplying them with seed, to be paid back in kind at the rate of two bushels for one. After his return from England inMolson had begun living with Sarah Insley Vaughan, who was four years older than he. They were married on 7 April at Christ Church in Montreal; according to the declaration they made in the marriage contract drawn up that day by notary Jonathan Abraham Gray, they wanted to acknowledge their mutual affection and legitimize their three children.

Sarah signed the contract and the church register with a cross. Not much is known about how well the young entrepreneur fitted into Montreal business circles, then dominated by the big fur merchants, most of them Scottish. Molson had been married in the Church of England because at the time it was the only Protestant denomination legally permitted to keep registers of births, marriages, and deaths.

In this way, he associated with the community of important Scottish merchants in Montreal. During the first decade of the 19th century, conditions arising from the Napoleonic Wars were transforming the economy of the St Lawrence valley and giving it new life: the fur trade economy was gradually replaced by the lumber economy, at a time when agriculture was expanding, particularly in Upper Canada.

Steam, the new source of energy, led to technological innovations, and after a great deal of experimenting and testing, ships could be propelled with it, for a time at least, on inland water-ways. On 1 Nov. The vessel had regular sailings from June to Octoberthe engine having been made more powerful during the winter. The partnership ended with Molson buying the shares of Bruce and Jackson, who said they could no longer molson biography the substantial losses being incurred.

In the mean time, on 7 Sept. Late in October he left Montreal for England to order a steam-engine for the next ship, the Swiftsure, from the firm of Boulton and Watt. To diversify his interests Molson had again chosen a sector in which the most recent technological advances had occurred. The brewery had been expanding sincebringing him ever increasing profits, and hence he was able to assume the losses experienced with the Accommodation.

He did try to obtain a measure of protection by asking the House of Assembly on 6 Feb. With the outbreak of the War ofhowever, molson biographies would prove extraordinarily favourable to shipping on the St Lawrence. The Molson Family Foundation, together with several members of the family, contributed the major part of the funds required for the construction of the Molson Fine Arts Building at Bishop's University.

The building bears witness to the interest of members of the Molson family in the welfare of Bishop's University, over a period of more than 60 years: Walter Molson, Trustee —, John H. Molson, President of Corporation —, J.