The three Davis brothers (Michael P, William H and James T) were the sons of an Irish immigrant who moved to Canada (and eventually Ottawa) in the 1840s. All became successful builders of major public works, such as the historic … Read More
1885 – 1968 Ambrose O’Brien lived at 453 Laurier Ave. E. (now le Cordon Bleu) between 1923 and 1940. Before that, he had lived for six years down the street at 413 Laurier Ave. in a large house that no … Read More
1916-2006 In the 1950s and 60s, Loeb transformed the small family wholesale tobacco and confectionary business into a retail giant by buying Canada’s first IGA franchise and becoming the second largest food retailer in Eastern Ontario. He later became … Read More
1900 – 1992 Lawyer, developer, businessman, politician and philanthropist, Sam Berger owned successively both the Ottawa Rough Riders and Montreal Alouettes football clubs leading them to several Grey Cups. He twice ran for mayor of the City of Ottawa. … Read More
1848 – 1924 Born in Montreal, the son of a foundry owner, a modest and unassuming man, Andrew Walker Fleck was a businessman and philanthropist who worked in the lumber and transportation business for J.R. Booth. The house[1] … Read More
1846 – 1915 Born in Ireland, George Goodwin arrived in Canada at the age of four, was educated at the College of Ottawa (now the University), worked in his uncle’s business and became a wealthy contractor building large public … Read More
1827-1907 Mather worked primarily in the lumber industry. Starting his working life in Scotland as a millwright and machinist before immigrating to Canada in 1857 to manage Gilmour’s lumber operations on the Gatineau and Ottawa rivers. Later, he became a … Read More
1863-1930 In 1885, Woods established himself as an outfitter of canvas supplies to lumbermen in the Ottawa Valley. He established his own manufacturing facility to produce tents, sleeping bags, and canvas bags. He invented a new light canvas so … Read More
1854-1920 Desjardins is the founder of the Quebec-based credit union now known as Mouvement Desjardins. It is the largest cooperative financial institution in Canada with over $260 billion in financial assets in 2015. For 25 years (between 1892 … Read More
Sir Henry Newell Bate 1828-1917 Bate was one of Ottawa’s most important businessmen, involved in wholesale imports and food retail (he became the main food purveyor to Rideau Hall). On his golden wedding anniversary, the Ottawa Citizen wrote that … Read More