Showing 44 results

Persoon/organisatie
Instelling · 1874-1953

The predecessor of the various Waterous companies was a foundry established by P. C. Van Brocklin in Brantford, Ontario in 1844. The foundry made stoves and plows until Charles H. Waterous (1814-1892) joined in 1848. Waterous, with his experience as a machinist and founder, enlarged the product line to include sawmills, which became the standard products of the Brantford Engine Works Co. Waterous was the first company to introduce the straight line sawmill, thousands of which were put into operation around the world. Waterous also manufactured portable steam engines. In 1874 Waterous and his sons become the sole owners of the foundry which they renamed the Waterous Engine Works Co. In 1877 Waterous received the right to manufacture the Champion Vertical steam engine which was very popular for agricultural work. Waterous developed a traction engine version of this engine, but in 1890 the company started to build conventional horizontal-boilered traction engines. They were a popular product until demand fell off and the company ceased making them in 1911. By 1887, the company has an office in Winnipeg, and two Waterous sons established a factory in St. Paul Minnesota for the manufacture of fire engines for North-American cities. In 1929 the company bought the Edmonton Iron Works which became the Waterous headquarters for the Canadian West.

The company prospered throughout the early and mid-twentieth century by adding road making equipment to its portfolio. It also acquired patents for pulp-wood grinders, which gave the company an important role, along with screens, beaters, and vats, in the pulp and paper industry. After World War Two, the Waterous family sold their controlling interest in the company to Modern Tool Works based in Toronto. The Koehring Co., an American manufacture of construction and forestry equipment, purchased the Waterous Company in Sept 1953, which became Koehring-Waterous Ltd. In 1988, Koehring-Waterous was acquired by Timberjack Ltd., a forest harvesting equipment manufacturer in Woodstock, Ontario. The final years of the Waterous plant was spent in the production of log skidders, winches and other related tree harvesting equipment. In 1991, Timberjack was purchased by Rauma Repola, a Finnish conglomerate with interests in construction machinery and woodland equipment. On October 6, 1992 an announcement was made of the closure of the Koehring-Waterous plant. The plant’s equipment was auctioned off in February 1993 and the buildings razed in 1994.

Lehmann, Fritz, 1936-1994
Persoon · 1936-1994

Fritz Lehmann was born in 1936 in Oak Park, Illinois. He received his undergraduate degree at Oberlin College in 1958, and his master’s degrees and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin (1961, 1967). His area of expertise was the history of India and the South Asian region, in particular the role of Islam in the region, technology and its relation to the region`s culture and development, and Urdu language and literature.

He joined the University of British Columbia’s Department of History in 1967, where he was a member of the faculty until his death in 1994.

Throughout his life Lehmann was a lover of railways, especially steam locomotives. Wherever he went, he sought out, photographed and studied railways. In the late 1970s he became aware that very little was known about the locomotive construction industry in Canada. He decided to write a book about this subject and started writing articles on various individual manufacturers. He also collected material on Canadian railways on the macro level. He worked diligently on this project on his own time. However a stroke in 1988 slowed work down and his book remained incomplete at the time of his death.

Instelling · 1906-1974

The Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario (HEPCO) was special statutory corporation established by the Act to Provide for the Transmission of Electrical power to Municipalities of 1906. Prior to its creation, hydro-electric power had developed as a series of solo ventures, private or public stations powering towns or businesses, but forming no common network. These often operated as monopolies, providing poor services at high prices. In response to these practices, the Ontario provincial government recognized in 1905 that electricity should be consider as ‘public good’ rather than commodity. The Commission’s role was to supply the electrical needs of the citizens of Ontario municipalities, and later to rural areas, at the lowest possible cost. Over the course of its history, HEPCO connected Ontario municipalities to its delivery system through the upgrading of local distribution lines and extension of transmission lines. To supply its clients, HEPCO bought power from private companies and acquired or built its own stations. In 1939, the Power Control Act gave the Commission the authority to regulate other electricity generators. The network extended past the borders of Ontario as HEPCO bought power from American-owned utilities and from private hydro producers in Quebec. As the Commission developed its capacity for thermal and nuclear-generated power starting in the 1950s, it became more self-sufficient and even became a net exporter of power. HEPCO was officially renamed Ontario Hydro in 1974 when the six-man commission that governed it was changed to a Board of Directors composed of a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, President, and a number of directors. Ontario Hydro continued to operate the generation and delivery system until deregulation of electricity market in Canada split the corporation in 1999 into two entities: Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to produce energy, and Hydro One to distribute it on the open market. The deregulation ultimately ended the generation and delivery model established with the creation of HEPCO in 1906.

Instelling · 1947-2013

Otto Pick and Marie Jakesova were married in 1935 in the province of Bohemia, in the Czechoslovak Republic. Three years later, sensing the threat of war, they immigrated with their son and Marie’s sister to Canada. They began their life in Canada on a farm south of Caledonia, Ontario. The soil was poor and in 1940 the family moved to Streetsville (now Mississauga), Ontario, where Otto worked in machine shops, eventually starting the Tomart Machine Shop on King Street. When the Second World War was over, he returned to his agricultural background and joined the sale group of Greenland Permanent Pastures. In 1947, he decided to start his own company called Otto Pick Agricultural Services. The company initially worked with the supplier Middlesex Seed of London and orders were sent to a customer’s closest railroad station and paid by Cash on delivery (COD). At this time Otto Pick was the only sales representative. The company moved to bigger premises on Yonge Street in Richmond Hill, Ontario, in 1950. A warehouse and mixing equipment were installed in 1952. Sales agents were hired, covering areas in Ontario and Quebec. Marie Pick kept the company books, entering agent orders, noting delivery dates, price, weight, and other order, customer and banking data. Otto Pick died in 1959. Marie and sons Tom and Martin continued the business, changing the company’s name in 1962 to Otto Pick and Sons Seeds Limited. In 1964, the company built a small receiving and cleaning plant in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The company bought the Southern Ontario Seed Company based in New Dundee, Ontario, in 1966, entering into the seed corn market. It built a warehouse distribution facility in St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, in 1969. The following year the company established Pickseed West in partnership with W. Kent Wiley in Albany, Oregon. The company expanded further in the 1980s, acquiring the following interests: the seed division of Maple Leaf Mills (Hogg & Lytle); Roberts Seeds from Agway Inc. (Albany, Oregon); the Canadian assets of AgriBiotech including Oseco Inc. and Rothwell Seeds Inc; Seed Research (Corvallis, Oregon); and Farm Pure Seeds of Nipawin, Saskatchewan. A distribution facility was established in Sherwood Park, Alberta, in 1986, and a warehousing facility in Abbotsford, British Columbia, in 1997. During this period of expansion, the headquarters was moved to Lindsay, Ontario, in 1993. With the acquisitions, the combined revenue made Pickseed Group of Companies the largest forage and turf seed company in Canada and among the top 5 in the world. The Group was sold in 2013 to DLF Trifolium Landboforingers and is now known as DLF Pickseed Canada Inc.

Angus, Donald S.
Persoon

Donald S. Angus lived in Senneville, Québec. He operated the boat “Alert” in the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers from 1912 to 1975.

Richards Family
Familie · 1841 -

Grattan Township in Renfrew County, Ontario was surveyed and settled in the 1850s. Early settlers needed a sawmill for cut lumber and Duncan Ferguson and Donald Cameron built one in 1855 on Constant Creek which flowed out of Constant Lake. The small settlement which grew up around the mill was called Balaclava, named after the battle in the Crimean War. By the 1860s there were two hotels (later called boarding houses) and a general store, owned by Joseph Legree. In 1868 the sawmill was bought by William Richards (1841-1908) for $1 325. The Richards sawmill cut both hard and softwood for local consumption as well as for the larger commercial market. It is possible that William Richards bought the general store in 1896.

In 1896 the wooden dam at Balaclava broke, sending sawdust and other wood debris downstream. In 1903-1904 the mill’s waterwheels were replaced by more efficient water turbines and a sawdust burner was installed to get rid of the sawdust. However in 1911 William Hunter, who had a grist mill 2 km downstream, started a lawsuit against Richards for the sawmill refuse that was clogging up his mill. Hunter was eventually awarded $200 in damages and Richards was instructed not to pollute the creek with sawdust. This was one of the first environmental cases in Ontario.

In 1900 the name of the company was changed to William Richards and Son when his son, Harry Richards (1875-1938), became a partner. After William Richards’ death in 1908, the name was gradually changed to H. Richards. By this time the company was selling lumber to wholesalers in Montreal and Toronto and had large contracts to supply railway ties to Canadian railways. In 1936 a fire extensively damaged the sawmill, but it was quickly rebuilt. Harry Richards died two years later and his son, William (Bill) Richards (1899-1967) took over the mill and general store. Gradually timber supplies dried up and the mill worked less and less. In 1957 the sawmill was bought by David Dick. The sawmill continued to function and by 1967, it was recognized as the last functioning water-powered sawmill in Ontario.

At various times Richards family members were on the public school board for the Townships of Grattan and Brougham as well as executives on the board of the Brougham and Grattan Telephone Co.

Windsor, Jack, 1914-2000
Persoon · 1914-05-03 - 2000-12-20

John J. Windsor, known as Jack Windsor, was born 3 May 1914, the eldest of four children, in Toronto, Ontario. He graduated from a technical college in Toronto in 1931. Over the next years, he worked as manager of White Corners fast food restaurant in Lindsay, Ontario, while continuing to take night courses in drafting. In 1938, he married Paula Thora Card. He joined Massey Ferguson in January 1941 and seems to have retired around 1979. While at Massey Ferguson, he was instrumental in designing the model 37 combine and was sent as representative (engineering advisor or project engineer) to Australia for one year and to France for three years. Windsor died on 20 December 2000.

Camions Pierre Thibault Inc.
Instelling · 1908-1991

La compagnie Pierre Thibault fit ses débuts en 1908 à Sorel avec Charles Thibault, carrossier et forgeron. Son fils Pierre poursuivit l’entreprise paternelle à St-Robert pendant quelques années avant de s’établir définitivement à Pierreville en 1938. Les contrats de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale procura un essor considérable à la firme québécoise. De là, la compagnie Camions Pierre Thibault prit de l’ampleur. Elle s’incorpora en 1957 pour devenir Pierre Thibault Canada Ltée. Au cours des années 1960, elle était devenue la plus grande entreprise canadienne de véhicules d’incendie. Ses camions étaient achetés partout au Canada et même aux États-Unis, en Amérique du Sud et en Jamaïque. En 1968, les malentendus familiaux survenus suite au décès du père menèrent à une scission entre les neuf frères ainsi que dans l’entreprise. Une nouvelle manufacture de camions à incendie, Camions à incendie Pierreville Ltée, vit le jour à St-François du Lac sous la direction des cinq fils aînés. S’amorça alors une ère de forte compétition entre les deux entreprises. La compagnie d’origine, Pierre Thibault Canada Ltée, connut par la suite vente et faillites avant d’être rachetée en 1979 par un des fils, René, l’un des fondateurs de la compagnie rivale. La compagnie devint alors Camions Pierre Thibault Inc. Lors de la faillite de Camions à incendie Pierreville Ltée en 1985, Camions Pierre Thibault Inc racheta Camions à incendie Pierreville, réunissant à nouveau la compagnie en une seule entité. Les opérations furent en majorité transportées à l’usine de St-François. Entre temps, trois autres compagnies de camions d’incendie furent créées par trois des fils, Guy avec Tibotrac à Terrebonne en 1979, Yvon, avec Phoenix à Drummondville en 1985 et Charles-Étienne avec C.E. Thibault la même année. En 1990, Camions Pierre Thibault Inc connut des difficultés financières et fut rachetée en 1991 par trois hommes d’affaires en association avec le Fonds de Solidarité de la Fédération des Travailleurs du Québec (FTQ). La compagnie devint alors Nova QUINTech. Lors de la faillite de la compagnie Phoenix en 1992, cette dernière fut rachetée par Nova QUINTech . Deux ans après, la compagnie prit encore de l’ampleur avec l’acquisition des actifs de MCI, fabricant d’autobus. Nova Bus était ainsi créée. En 1995, Nova QUINTech devint une division de Nova Bus. Elle fut vendue en 1997 à la compagnie américaine Pierce mettant ainsi fin à 90 ans de labeur d’une importante compagnie canadienne. Aujourd’hui, seuls les travaux relevant de la garantie sont encore effectués à l’usine de Pierreville et ce, jusqu’en 2002, par la compagnie Québec Inc. 9053 2698, donatrice du fonds. L’ancienne usine de Pierreville fut rachetée en 2000 par un des petits-fils de Pierre Thibault, Carl, le fils de René, qui opère avec son épouse Marie, la compagnie de camions d’incendie Camions Carl Thibault Inc.

Pierre Thibault Canada Ltée
Instelling · 1908-1979

Pour plus d'information sur la compagnie Pierre Thibault Canada Ltée, veuillez voir la notice d'autorité pour la société Camions Pierre Thibault Inc.

Instelling · 1968-1979

Pour plus d'information sur la compagnie Camions à incendie Pierreville Limitée, veuillez voir la notice d'autorité pour la société Camions Pierre Thibault Inc.

NovaQUINTech
Instelling · 1991-1997

Pour plus d'information sur la compagnie NovaQUINTech, veuillez voir la notice d'autorité pour la société Camions Pierre Thibault Inc.

Persoon · 1923-12-19 - 1995

Douglas Freeman Parkhill was born on 19 December 1923. He received a bachelors in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto in 1949. From 1949 to 1951 he worked for Canadian Comstock Corporation on the frequency change from 25 to 60 cycles in southern Ontario. He worked with Computing Devices of Canada Ltd. in Ottawa as a systems engineer. He was briefly with AVCO of Canada Limited in Toronto as a Supervisor of Engineering before going to AVCO Corporation in Wilmington, Massachusetts, as Deputy Manager of the Computer and Electronic Systems Department. In 1958 Parkhill became chief engineer of the Advanced Development Department for General Dynamics Corporation in Rochester, New York. Working for MITRE Corporation in Bedford, Massachusetts, from 1961-69, he eventually became head of its Satellite Communications Systems.

In September 1969 Parkhill joined the federal Department of Communications in Ottawa as Director General of Policy, Plans and Programs Branch. He became Assistant Deputy Minister (Planning) in 1970 and was responsible for the Canadian Computer Communication Policy. He was also the OECD Panel on Computer Communications Policy which advised governments on changes brought about by computerization.

Parkhill’s final position with the department was as Assistant Deputy Minister (Research) starting in 1974. He was responsible for communication satellites, computer communications, the development of fibre-optic networks, image communications etc. Parkhill was one of the forces behind the development of Telidon, a Canadian public-private videotex and teletext system. Parkhill received the Outstanding Achievement Award of the Government of Canada in 1982 for his work in this area. He died in 1995.

Parkhill was the author of numerous talks and articles between 1956 and 1984 on the evolving role and challenges of computers, computer networks, communication technologies and the role of the federal government in these areas. He also produced fifty-some classified reports on military information systems, military space systems, satellite control systems and other topics. Parkhill was author of The Challenge of Computer Utility (1966) and with Dave Godfrey, wrote Gutenberg Two: The New Electronics and Social Change (1979).

After Parkhill retired from government service in April 1984, he received a contract from the Deputy Minister of Communications to write a history of the development of the videotex/teletext industry in Europe, Asia, the US and Canada. His manuscript on the development of Telidon “The Beginning of a Beginning” was completed in 1987.

Douglas, Althea, 1926-2018
Persoon · 1926-12-25 – 2018-10-21

Althea Cleveland Douglas (née McCoy) was born on December 25, 1926 in Moncton, New Brunswick. Her parents were George Thomas E. McCoy, a railroad executive, and Anne Robinson (Chapman) McCoy. The family relocated to Toronto, Ontario, and she obtained a senior matriculation from Branksome Hall School before moving to Montreal, Quebec, to study at McGill University. Her academic pursuits include a Bachelor of Science in mathematics, physics, and dramatic production; a Master of Arts in English and Dramatic Literature; and various courses in French language, archives/records management, and history. She married J. Creighton Douglas in 1948 (also known as Creighton Douglas). Althea worked as a costume designer for 10 years in Montreal and in New York before she began to work at McGill becoming first a lecturer in the English Department from 1947 to 1959, a Research Editor for the Burney Project in the Department of English beginning in 1960, and an Archivist for the Penfield Collection at the Neurological Institute from 1978-81. She relocated to Toronto in 1982 after Creighton started working for IMAX and opened “Althea Douglas Consultants” where she worked as an independent researcher, editor, and writer. She also began working for IMAX, at first as a part-time contractor for about three months in 1984 in order to edit a set of four standard manuals. However, as each theatre required a specialised manual to account for the host country’s technological context, a different manual was required for each system in operation. By 1985, she had edited 20 manuals and had learned to use AUTOCAD in order to streamline the development process and to create a manual that was easily updated. Her most notable works for the company included revising the manual “Design Facts (for IMAX and OMNIMAX Theatres)” and writing both “Design Considerations for an IMAX Theatre” and “Design Considerations for an OMNIMAX Theatre.” (First editions c. 1987; second editions c.1991). While employed there she traveled to Mexico, Japan, Europe, and Nigeria. She also, in her personal time, obtained a C.G.(C) Certified Genealogist designation from the Genealogical Institute of the Maritimes (1989), and worked for the national headquarters of the Girl Guides of Canada to establish an arrangement structure for their archives, a catalogue database, and to produce digital finding aids. When she closed her consulting business in 1991, she relocated to Ottawa, Ontario and worked as a professional genealogist. She has numerous publications credited to her, including “A Catalogue of the Burney Family Correspondence 1749-1878 (co-authored with Joyce Hemlow and J.M.M.Burgess), “Canadian Railway Records: A Guide for Genealogists” (co-authored with J. Creighton Douglas) including its revision and expansion, and several articles in various genealogy journals. She also was a member of the Association of Canadian Archivists, Association of Professional Genealogists (United States), Society of Genealogists (England), Ontario Genealogical Society, New Brunswick Genealogical Society, and Toronto Area Archivists Group. She won a Canadian Council Award category 6 and 7, and Canadian Council grants from 1961 through 1965.