Sir William Cornelius Van Horne (1843-1915), principal builder of the Canadian Pacific Railway and prominent businessman, was an important collector of paintings and Japanese ceramics and an accomplished amateur painter. Born in Illinois, he worked for American railway companies in various capacities until 1882, when he was appointed general manager of Canadian Pacific Railway, the construction of which was completed under his direction. In 1888, Van Horne was elected president of the company, and in 1899, he became president of its board of directors. He retired from active work in the company in 1910. Van Horne incorporated the Cuba Company in 1900 following a visit to that country; under its operations he built and operated a railway, sugar plantations and hotels. In North America, Van Horne was executive or director of more than 40 companies, and was considered one of Canada’s most successful businessmen. William Van Horne married Lucy Adaline, daughter of Erastus Hurd of Galesburg, Illinois, in 1867. They had 3 children: Adaline (1868-1941), William (1871-1876), and Richard Benedict (1877-1931). The family lived principally in Montreal, and also had residences in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, and in Cuba. Van Horne was knighted (KCMG) in 1894. Sir William’s art collection is considered to have been the most prominent pre-First World War collection in Montreal. It contained Old Master and 19th-century European paintings and Japanese ceramics, and also featured ship models and European decorative arts. Van Horne lent regularly to the Montreal Art Association (precursor to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts) from 1887 to 1912. His reputation as a collector resulted in his appointment to the consultative committee of the Burlington Magazine in London from 1905 until his death in 1915. Following Sir William’s death, the bulk of his ceramics collection was left to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and the art collection passed to the joint ownership of Lady Van Horne and her children Adaline and Richard Benedict, according to terms of Sir William’s will. Lady Van Horne died in 1929. Under the terms of her will, a portion of the art collection went to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the rest was shared among her children. Richard Benedict Van Horne died in 1931. His widow, Edith Molson, had no claim to any share in the remains of the art collection; subsequently she married R. Randolph Bruce. A fire at the Van Horne mansion in 1935 did not damage any paintings. Adaline Van Horne, who had been managing the collection through the 1930s, died unmarried and childless in 1941. Ownership of the collection then passed to Richard Benedict and Edith’s son William C.C. Van Horne (1907–1946) and his wife Margaret (d.1987), familiarly known as “Billie” (née Hannon). When William died, leaving no heir, ownership of the collection remained with his wife. Margaret Van Horne managed the art collection for over forty years, corresponding with art dealers and conservators in order to achieve optimal values for paintings. Numerous paintings were sold in several different auction sales over the course of this time. She continued to live in the Van Horne mansion until 1972. The house was demolished the following year to great protest in the architectural conservation community. When Margaret Van Horne died in 1987, the remainder of the collection passed to her brother Matthew Hannon. Upon Matthew Hannon’s death in 1988, the remainder of the art collection passed to his heirs.
Corinne Clark Van Loon (1915-2005) was a lay person active in the United Church of Canada in the second half of the twentieth century. Born Corinne MacDonald in 1915 in Acton, Ontario, she lived most of her life in Hamilton, Ontario. She worked for London Life Insurance for twenty-five years. She was active in Livingston, Westdale and Bowman United Churches, with the Canadian Girls in Training (Builders Group) and I.O.U. Sunday School Class. Corinne Clark van Loon also served as local and Presbyterial President of the United Church Women, as Chairman of the Board of Wesley Centre, as Chairman of Hamilton Presbytery and as President of the Hamilton Conference of the United Church of Canada. She was married to Otto Clark and John V. Van Loon, both of whom predeceased her. Corrine Clark Van Loon died in 2005.
This office was established in 1942 by the Ottawa Association for the Advancement of Learning, the body which founded Carleton College. The President and Vice-Chancellor is the Chief Executive Officer of the University, and is appointed by the Board of Governors on the recommendation of the Senate, for a seven year term which may be renewed. The President is responsible to the Board of Governors to ensure the University functions in accordance with the policies enacted by the Board and Senate pursuant to their respective powers as set in the Carleton University Act of 1952. As such, the President attempts to reconcile the academic direction of the institution and the demands of finance and administration. Functions of the President include providing overall leadership, presenting the annual budget and making recommendations to the Board and Senate. He or she is an ex officio member of the Senate, Board of Governors, and all faculty boards and may also perform the function of Chancellor should a vacancy in the office exist. The secretariat for the Senior Planning Committee is in the Office of the President. The current President is Richard Van Loon (1996 - present ). The past Presidents have included: Dr.Henry Marshall Tory (1942-1947), Murdoch Maxwell MacOdrum (1947-1955), James Alexander Gibson (1955-1956), Claude Thomas Bissell (1956-1958), Mr. Arnold Davidson Dunton (1958-1972), Michael Kelway Oliver (1972-1978), James Downey (Pro tempore, Jan-May 1979), William Edwin Beckel (1979-1989), Robin Hugh Farquhar.
Arie (Harry) van Mansum was born at Utrecht, Holland, 1920. Respect for Jews was a value instilled in him by his devoutly religious parents who belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1940, at the age of 20 when van Mansum was traveling around Holland as a salesman, he undertook the dangerous task of distributing the Dutch underground newspaper Free Netherlands. Very soon thereafter, he started finding safe homes where Jews could be hidden. He was also involved in the distribution of food stamps and false identification cards for the Jews in hiding. He was arrested, imprisoned, released and re-arrested. He was released several weeks before the end of the war. In 1958 he emigrated to Canada and settled in Ottawa where he started an insurance company. In 1969, van Mansum was awarded a Medal of Honour by the government of Israel, the highest award to a Righteous Gentile, and in 1981 he planted a tree in his name at Yad Vashem. In 1986 he received an Honourary Degree from St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York. In 1991 the Ottawa Jewish community established the Arie van Mansum Holocaust Education Resource Project. He was also the subject of a biography A friend among enemies by Janet Keith, 1991. He died in Ottawa in 1999. He always maintained “I wasn’t a hero. I was just doing my duty”.
Jane Van Norman (fl. 1844-1857) was a teacher at Upper Canada Academy, Cobourg; and a founder of Burlington Ladies' Academy, Hamilton, Ontario.
Jane Van Norman (fl. 1844-1874) was a teacher in Burlington, Halton County, Ontario during the 1840's.
Peter Spohn Van Wagner (1818-1906), was born and farmed in Stoney Creek, Ontario. Mary Van Wagner (ca. 1850-1923), eldest daughter of Peter Van Wagner, married lawyer Jacob V. Spohn in 1886 and moved to the hamlet of Encinal, Texas, 200 kilometres southwest of San Antonio near the Mexican border, where she lived the life of a ranch owner's wife. She returned to Ontario following her husband's death in 1893. Henry P. Van Wagner, (ca. 1855-1940) son of Peter Van Wagner, became a local businessman, fruit farmer, and horticulturalist in the Stoney Creek area. Anna Van Wagner (ca. 1853-1931) was the second daughter of Peter Van Wagner. George Van Wagner, ((184-?]-1864) son of Peter Van Wagner, joined the Union Army and was killed in action at the battle of Petersburg, Virginia in June 1864. Chester B. Hamilton Senior, ([1853 or 1854]-1949), son of Almira Brown and William Buchanan Hamilton, founder of W.B. Hamilton Shoes, Toronto. Chester Sr. joined his father's firm and worked there until his retirement. Chester B. Hamilton Junior, (1884-1953), son of Chester B. Hamilton Sr. and Anna (Van Wagner) Hamilton. Chester Junior studied engineering at the University of Toronto and became co-founder and president of the Hamilton Gear Machine Company. He was also the inventor of a number of mechanical devices. Myra Hamilton, (1886-?), daughter of Chester B. Hamilton Sr. and Anna (Van Wagner) Hamilton, attended the University of Toronto. As a young woman, Myra had some involvement in education, possibly as a trainee teacher or an educational consultant.
Lt.Gen John Elwood Vance was born in 1933 at Tweed, Ontario. He began his military career in 1952 as an officer cadet at Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario. He was commissioned in the Royal Canadian Infantry Corps in 1956. He then served with 2 Battalion, the Royal Canadian Regiment (2 RCR) at London, Ontario. In 1965 he served as a company commander at Soest, Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), and in 1971he assumed command of 3 Mechanized Commando at Baden-Soellingen, FRG. From 1973 to 1975 Vance served as Director of Individual Training at National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ). In 1975 he was named Director General, Recruiting, Education and Training for the Canadian Forces. In 1976 he assumed command of 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, with headquarters at Lahr, FRG. In 1980 he was promoted to Major-general and named Chief of Personnel Careers and Senior Appointments and NDHQ in Ottawa. Promoted to Lieutenant-General in 1983 he assumed the duties of Assistant Deputy Minister (Personnel) until his appointment to Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff in June 1985. He retired in August of 1988.
In 1864, Whitford Vandusen began his grocery and dry goods business in Tara, Bruce County, Ontario, in partnership with John Tobey. He was a prominent business man, building Vandusen's Brick Block in Tara in the early 1880s and rebuilding the block after it was destroyed by fire in the 1890s. In 1884, he sold his general store and opened a private bank, of which W.J. Fawcett was manager. In 1900, Vandusen sold to the Merchants Bank and moved to Toronto. Vandusen and Fawcett were also partners in a private bank in Brigden. Vandusen and his brother-in-law, Robert Everard Moore, were also partners in a lumber business managed by Moore in Lion's Head, Bruce County, Ontario, commencing in or around 1884.
David Vanek (1915-2008) was born on a farm in Whitchurch Township, York County, Ontario in 1915. He was the sixth of seven children to Jacob and Jesse Vanek, Jewish-Russian immigrants from the Ukraine who emigrated to Canada in 1913. The family lived in the Newmarket-Oak Ridges area where they owned a farm and the Vanek Grocery and Confectionary Store in Oak Ridges, and Cedarhom Park in Lake Wilcox, which had a bandstand, cottages and sold refreshments. They opened the park specifically for Jews who were being excluded from other nearby social venues. The family also lived in Toronto.
Vanek completed his elementary school education at Annette Street Public School and attended Richmond Hill High School and Harbord Collegiate. He was admitted to the Honour Law course at the University of Toronto. In 1936, he graduated with a B.A. in Honour Law and went on to law school at Osgoode Hall. While in law school he worked for Carswell’s Canadian Law Abridgement and was editor of Obiter Dicta student publication at Osgoode Hall. He received his L.L.B. in 1939.
During the Second World War Vanek served in the Canadian Intelligence Corps and Field Security in England from 1943 to 1945. Following his military service he returned to Toronto where he tried private practice briefly before beginning a new career as a lecturer in the newly created Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto. He taught a variety of subjects, including legal bibliography, real property, and public international law.
A community activist, Vanek was the founder of the Lawrence Manor Ratepayers Association. In 1963, he ran for the Ontario Provincial Legislature as a Conservative candidate, but failed to win the seat. He was the founder of the Credit Counselling Service of Metropolitan Toronto, which was established in 1965. Vanek was also actively involved in the new reform congregation,Temple Sinai, and served as its third president.
In September 1968, Vanek was appointed to the Magistrates Court. A few months later, the Provincial Courts Act came into being and he became a judge of the Provincial Court, Criminal Division. Vanek presided over and wrote judgements in many significant cases including Weightman and Cunningham, involving the residual power of a trial judge to stop unfair prosecution, and Squires, involving the lawful exclusion of cameras from the courtroom. His best known case was that of Susan Nelles, a nurse who was charged with the death of four babies at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children in the early 1980s. He also served as president of the Ontario Provincial Judges' Association. In 1989, after twenty-one years on the bench, David Vanek retired. A decade later he published his autobiography, Fulfilment : Memoirs of a Criminal Court Judge, which documents his life and career.
David Vanek married Joyce Lester in 1942 and the couple had three children. Vanek died in 2008.
Georges Philius Vanier was the Governor-General of Canada between 1959-1967. Educated at Université Laval, he joined the Royal 22e Régiment in 1915. He won both the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service Order while serving in France and also lost his leg. He later joined the Department of External Affairs, serving during the Second World War as Canadian minister to the exiled French government in London. He was appointed Governor-General of Canada in 1959, a position he held until his death.
Jean Vanier was born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1928 to Canadian Governor-General Georges Vanier and Pauline Vanier. He founded L'Arche, an international network that supports individuals with intellectual disabilities in 1964.
Mrs. Leslie Vanportfliet, a collector of photographs and postcards, lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
George Henry Vansittart was the son of John Vansittart and the Great Grandson of Admiral Vansittart. Born in India, he attended Upper Canada College and the Military College in Kingston. He was sent overseas in the fall of 1914 and was killed in the trenches for which he received a military cross. He was the last surviving Vansittart on the male line in Canada.