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The iconic Kingsmill department store was founded as a dry goods store in London, Ontario in 1865 by Thomas Frazer Kingsmill (1840-1915). He and his wife, Anne immigrated from County Tipperary, Ireland in 1858. Kingsmill's department store was successfully run by Thomas Frazer Kingsmill's direct descendants until it closed in 2014. The history of the family is inextricably linked with that of the store.

The store at 130 Dundas street, London, Ontario operated from 1876-2014. It survived two fires (1911 and 1932) and expanded over the years to include at times: a carpet warehouse, a Chatham location and a kitchen store (2001 -2014). The Kingsmill family also operated a real estate business in London and surrounding areas in Southwestern Ontario in the early 20th century. The first family farm, Bellevue was sold to Western University for their new campus in 1916. The family later owned and operated a dairy at Bellevue Park Farm off of Sarnia Road. The store continued to operate successfully in the same location at until its closing.

The Kingsmill family has contributed significantly to the social, political and religious life of the city of London. Family members were well-known in many different local circles, acting as chairs, presidents and committee members for a number of commercial, academic, religious, political and charitable organizations. Thomas Ford Kingsmill served as Mayor of London from 1936-1938 George Frederick Kingsmill was a board member at Huron College, and as the bell-ringer and clock maintenance worker at St. Paul's Cathedral for most of his life. Thomas Frazer Kingsmill, Thomas Frazer Kingsmill Jr, Thomas Ford Kingsmill, George Frederick Kingsmill and T. Fred Kingsmill were all actively involved in London's Masonic community. Thomas Frederick Kingsmill was a major member of London's Downtown Business Association, as well as the Ad and Sales Club. Henry Ardagh Kingsmill and George Frederick Kingsmill.were active in the military, serving in WWI.

When the store closed, it had grown to 73,000 square feet on five floors and had operated successfully for 148 years. Tim Kingsmill, the last store president, closed Kingsmill's Department Store on August 10, 2014.

Born December 18, 1928. Son of George Frederick Kingsmill and Netta May (Nixon) Kingsmill. Fred married Clarissa “Claire” Barker (June 20, 193(1?) - ) on October 31, 1952. They had two children: Timothy Frederick and Anne Ardagh.

He was very active in the London business and retail community. He was a major member of London's Downtown Business Association, as well as the Ad and Sales Club. In 1990, he received a letter from Prime Minister Brian Mulroney congratulating him on the 125th Anniversary of Kingsmill's department store. He is noted for his dedication to charitable works, including Victoria Hospital and The Salvation Army.

He was awarded the Ontario Medal of Good Citizenship in 1991 which recognizes those who have made exceptional long-term efforts towards the well-being of their community.

He was President of Kingsmill Limited from 1970 - 2003.

Thomas Frazer Kingsmill : born in Ireland in 1840 and died in 1915 in Canada. Married Anne (Ardagh) (Burris) in 1857. Immigrated to the United States before settling in Canada in 1860. Moved to London in 1864.
6 children: Mary Kingsmill, Ann Kingsmill, Alice Maud Kingsmill, Thomas Frazer Kingsmill Jr., Arthur Kingsmill and Henry Ardagh Kingsmill.
Thomas Frazer Kingsmill had a 2nd bigamous marriage to Margaret (Gill) Kingsmill. They had 3 children: Percy Kingsmill, Irene Kingsmill and Vernon Kingsmill.
Thomas Frazer Kingsmill founded Kingsmill's as a dry goods store in London in March 1865. He also opened Kingsmill's Carpet Warehouse, which closed in the early-middle 1900's. He was President of Kingsmill's until his death in 1915. After his death Margaret went to court to challenge his will, which left the bulk of the estate to Thomas Frazer Kingsmill Jr. She declared Thomas Frazer Sr. intended to leave the Kingsmill Carpet

Thomas Frazer Kingsmill Jr. was born September 1, 1865. He was the son of Thomas Frazer Kingsmill and Anne Ardagh Burris Kingsmill. He married Kate Isobel Ford (1861-1940) of England on June 18, 1890 in a double wedding along with his sister Alice Maud and her husband Edgar Bray. It was the last wedding at St Jerome's Church, Old London. The reception was held at Bellevue Farm. Together, they had three children: Thomas Ford, George Frederick and Alice Ruth.

Thomas Frazer Kingsmill Jr. started working at Kingsmill's in 1878 and ran the company from 1915 - 1939. He rebuilt the store from the ground up twice, after fires in 1911 and 1932. He was a life member of St. John's Lodge 209A of the Masonic Order, and Mocha Temple. He was also active in the local Anglican community at St. George's Church and St. Paul's Cathedral, and was an ordained Anglican Minister.

He died suddenly of a heart attack in 1939 at the age of 74.

Arthur Kingsmill was born in 1870 and died 1898. Son of Thomas Frazer Kingsmill and Anne (Ardagh) (Burris) Kingsmill. He married Jane “Jennie” King on July 1, 1891. Together they had three children: Arthur King, Jack Ardagh and Marjorie.
Arthur ran a second Kingsmill's location on King Street in Chatham, across from the market. Arthur died tragically young at the age of 28 from blood poisoning and the Chatham Kingsmill's location closed for good.

Born April 24, 1891. Died March 29, 1970. Son of Thomas Frazer Kingsmill (Jr.) and Kate Isabel (Ford) Kingsmill. Brother of George Frederick Kingsmill and Alice Ruth (Kingsmill) Hodgins. He married Margaret Campbell (October 10, 1889 - June 25, 1968) on October 27, 1917. They had one child, Katherine Elizabeth.

Thomas Ford Kingsmill was heavily involved in the London community. He was elected to the Victoria Hospital Trust 3 times, and resigned to run for mayor. He was elected Mayor of London in 1936, 1937 and 1938. He then returned to the Victoria Hospital Trust. Appointed provincial representative on the Hospital Trust in 1948, serving until 1960. He was a member of: Kiwanis Club, St Paul's Cathedral's Men's Club, St. John's Lodge No. 209a, Mocha Shrine, Knights Templars and the Orange Order. Was a 32nd degree Mason in the Scottish Rite.

He became managing director of Kingsmill's Limited in 1915 when his father Thomas Frazer Jr. became head of the business. He was subsequently elected president and general manager of Kingsmill's Ltd in 1939 upon the death of his father. Remained as such until 1968, when he relinquished the position but remained as director until his death. He held a directorship in the Ontario branch of the Retail Merchants Association, and was active in the London Chamber of Commerce.

George Frederick Kingsmill (1892-1973). Son of Thomas Frazer Kingsmill Jr. and Kate Isabel (Ford) Kingsmill. He and Netta May Nixon (June 1, 1888 - August 30, 1976) were married on October 11, 1918. They had three children: Mary Netta, Doris, and Thomas Frederick.

He held a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and majored in beekeeping at the O.A.C. Upon graduation, he was appointed Assistant Dominion Apiarist.

During WWI he enlisted as a gunner and served in France with “E” Battery. He was decorated as an M.B.E (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) and for Civilian Service in WWII.

He was involved in the London community including: as a member of Huron College Council; Chairman, Dependents Board of Trustees, London District, 1940-45; a member of the Canadian Consistory Club; Advertising and Sales Club; Camera Club and was Deputy for Ontario Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite. He was also active in the local Anglican community serving for 43 years as bell-ringer and clock maintainer at St. Paul's Cathedral.

Active in Bellevue Park Farms, Bellevue Park Farms Dairy. He served as Secretary-Treasurer for Kingsmill's Limited from 1920 - 1923.

The Sisters of St. Joseph have historically, provided financial support to a variety of worthy causes. These have included educational bursaries as well as donations to charitable organizations and projects around the world. The Sisters’ vow of poverty mandates that they do not have personal ownership to distribute congregational funds, and therefore committees were established to assist in the allocation of charitable resources. The congregation seeks to support groups that work in the area of systemic change, which means groups that are about changing the whole way of “doing business” in our world, whether that be in the area of human rights, getting at the root causes of poverty, environmental justice, small projects in the developing world that foster self-sufficiency, or initiatives that address the position of women amongst the most poor.

The London Foundation was created to provide charitable receipts to donors to the congregation. Later, a sum of money was put into the Foundation so that the Sisters could disburse charitable donations from that fund. Prior to 2000, charitable giving was overseen by the General Treasurer, while a Bursary Committee handled educational grants.
The Sisters of St. Joseph Donations Committee was proposed by Sister Margo Ritchie in October 1999 and approved by the General Council in November 1999, to research, assess, and ultimately decide which requests for charitable financial aid would be supported by the Sisters. The Committee first met in January 2000. It has had a steady membership of Sisters, who served (starting in 2002) for a three-year term with possible renewal. The Sisters sitting on the committee in 2000 established guidelines for the decision-making process. These included favoring long-term projects for systemic change, groups that worked well with others, using annual reports to monitor the use of congregational-donated funds, not serving as the major financial support of any group, reconsidering each request annually, and favoring groups without a great deal of public funding or high levels of public awareness. These were grouped under five categories for reporting purposes, with targets for the allocation of available funds to each: child poverty (20%), women (15%), emergency relief (5%), Third World projects (20%), and Canada (40%). The committee met five times a year, alternating between Windsor and London. They made recommendations to the Leadership for final approval.

In 2009, the Sisters invited six members from the wider community to review the process of their annual donations. These six individuals possessed both knowledge of the congregation and experience in seeking or granting funds. Following this process, updated priorities and selection criteria for funding were established and shared with those seeking funding, and these guidelines remained in place until 2017.

The Children’s Aid Society (CAS) Bursary program was created in 2002 at the request of the CAS for a bursary to support the post-secondary education of youth in care (who lacked familial financial support). Beginning with four grants in 2002, the program grew to more than 28 grants in 2007, and The Sisters of St. Joseph were joined by other funding partners in providing financial support.

In 2009, Sisters Caroline Bering and Loretta Manzara proposed, and successfully executed, the first Pipe Organ Bursary, continuing a longstanding tradition of support for musical education by the Sisters. This bursary provided $1,000 to pay for 12 one-hour lessons on the pipe organ with supplementary instruction in Catholic liturgical music resources, over the course of one year. Eligible candidates had a minimum grade nine piano certification and completed an interview and audition process. The bursary was advertised within London parishes, the University of Western Ontario, and to London-area piano and organ teachers, and the candidates were adjudicated by the two founding Sisters. The bursary was sufficiently successful in its first two years to be awarded once again in 2013.

From at least 1998 onward, the Bursary Committee (later renamed the Educational Bursary Committee) of the Sisters of St. Joseph provided varying amounts of financial support (often in the range of $1,000-$2,000) for male and female lay persons attending ministry-related graduate programs at a variety of institutions of higher education in Canada and abroad. The committee was chaired by the General Treasurer of the religious community, who handled much of the correspondence relating to applications for funding. The programs pursued by students included fields such as practical nursing, business administration, and social work, as well as ministry and spirituality, but all applicants identified a desire to pursue these fields in conjunction with ministry-related purposes.

The Sisters of St. Joseph Bursary at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario was created in the early 2000s with a portion of a bequest left to the Sisters with instructions that it be used to alleviate child poverty. The portion of the bequest set aside for a college bursary was augmented with money received from the sale of the Sisters’ Queens Avenue property, making a total $100,000 donation which was matched by St. Clair College. The interest on the $200,000 fund allowed for a bursary of $500-$1,000 to be given each year. The bursary was awarded to single mothers studying at St. Clair College, and applied toward their tuition costs in the upcoming semester. A small committee of Sisters sat on the selection committee.

In 2012, four formerly separate congregations in Hamilton, London, Peterborough and Pembroke, amalgamated to form one new congregation. After amalgamation, the congregation moved to consolidated financial statements, one budget timeline, a common chart of accounts, and one charity returns form. Since amalgamation, the original London Donation Committee was maintained. This committee continued to review applications from groups which carried out work locally, nationally and globally, and made recommendations to Leadership for the distribution of funds specifically set aside in the London Foundation to be donated. Bursaries continued to be administered separately.
A donations review committee was set up in 2014 which met four times to discuss how to make donations in a unified manner. The review committee made recommendations that were approved at the Congregational Leadership Circle (CLC) meeting in November 2014. The CLC established a Central Funding Committee (CFC) for donations. The committee was composed of two members from each of the four originally separate congregations, as well as the General Treasurer and two members of the CLC as ex-officio members. The CFC’s mandate was to review requests for larger local donations and all national or international grant applications in keeping with the Constitutions, the call of the Gospel, and the objectives of the congregation. Funding requests were supported in keeping with established priorities and Canada Revenue Agency guidelines. Local Donation Committees were established in London, Hamilton, Peterborough and Pembroke comprised of at least three Sisters as well as an Associate/Companion. These committees meet at least twice a year to review requests for local donations. Their mandate includes support of the poor, women and children in need, food banks, and housing for people in need. Donations included funding from the congregation and through the Luke 4 Foundation with initial capital from the former Peterborough congregation.

In 2015, a committee was established which met in June, October and November to create the terms of reference for the Central Funding Committee (CFC) and the Local Donation Committees. Following the election of the CLC in 2016, the CFC welcomed the participation of an Associate/Companion.

Between 2015-2016, most national funding was allocated to address issues concerning poverty, Indigenous peoples, and the environment. Global funding was allocated in the areas of women’s issues.

A meeting at the Hamilton site in October 2017 was held to review CFC processes and priorities. This meeting resulted in changes to the funding structure and funding level ranges for grants were introduced. National priorities were determined to be poverty reduction, reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, and environmental action, with international priorities continuing to be empowerment of women.

Beginning in 2017, the London Donations Committee mandate was redefined to focus its donations primarily on groups within its geographical area. National and international grant applications were now the work of the Central Funding Committee. The London Donations Committee considered applications from groups in the London area and in areas in the west and north of Canada where the Sisters ministered. The London Donations Committee decreased its funding level range and revised its three previous priorities to target people in need and the care of the earth. The committee also outlined its expectations for grantees. The committee wanted to fund projects that built and sustained relationships; promoted systemic change; sought funds in conjunction with other funders; built on community input and needs assessment; demonstrated achievable outcomes; and required minimal administrative costs.

Stephen Comfort was born in 1810 in the United States, later moving to Canada. He and his wife, Elizabeth, had several children. He died in 1895.
James Greer was born in 1798 in Ireland. He married Ruth Ann Rayers in 1819 and they had several children. He died in 1866 due to an accident when he was thrown from his wagon when his horses spooked.
Stephen Comfort and James Greer ran a carding mill and cloth dressing establishment, sometimes referred to as Comfort & Co. They were located along the Thames River in Kilworth, Ontario, about nine miles from London. Their carding machine was a notable piece of equipment in 1857.

In 1897, brothers John McKinnon McDermid and Duncan Hugh McDermid joined the C.R. Somerville Company in London, Ontario. C.R. Somerville manufactured chewing gum, popcorn, and boxes, among other products. In 1908, the company was sold to an American firm and the candy manufacturing division moved to Toronto while the box division remained in London under the new name, Somerville Paper Box Company, with J.K. McDermid as its President. In February 1911, the McDermid brothers purchased the company for the manufacture of chewing gum. Their new company was named the O-Pee-Chee Gum Company. Opeechee, meaning Robin in Ojibwe, was the name of the McDermid cottage in Grand Bend, Ontario.
In 1921, the O-Pee-Chee Gum Company was incorporated as a public company with members of the McDermid family holding the five shareholder positions and the four director positions. The company’s name changed from the O-Pee-Chee Gum Company to the O-Pee-Chee Company Limited at the time of incorporation. The company now manufactured chewing gum, mints, and popcorn, including the popular Krackley Nut. A manufacturing plant was constructed at 430 Adelaide Street in 1928. The company experienced an increase in production in the ensuing decade as a result of various licensing agreements in Canada and the United Kingdom. The 1930s also saw the introduction of collectable cards sold within their gum packaging. These included a baseball set, a Mickey Mouse set, and a Fighting Forces set.
The O-Pee-Chee Company was forced to rethink their business strategy during World War II and the onset of sugar rationing. They signed war contracts to supply dried egg powder overseas. The only confectionary product sold during the war was Thrills chewing gum. In addition to changes in production, there were many leadership and corporate changes during this time. D.H. McDermid passed away in 1942 and J.K. McDermid passed away in 1945. The company changed from a public company to a private company in 1945. John Gordon McDermid, son of J.K., took over the role of President in 1946. He remained in this role until his death in 1953.
Frank P. Leahy, who had worked as a Sales Manager for many years, became the company’s next President. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Leahy arranged multiple licensing agreements with various companies, such as Topps Chewing Gum Company, to manufacture and market brands to the Canadian market, which substantially increased the company’s sales. In 1958, the O-Pee-Chee Company began promoting trading cards on a regular basis. This first year included hockey and football cards. In the 1960s, the company produced cards for baseball, football, and hockey, as well as entertainment cards, such as the Beatle Bubble Gum cards.
In 1961, Frank Leahy purchased the company from the McDermid Estate. He remained President until his death in 1980. Leahy’s son-in-law, Gary Koreen was the owner and President of the company until it was purchased by Nestle Corporation in 1996. The O-Pee-Chee brand is still used in the trading card business through licensing agreements with Topps (1996-2004) and Upper Deck (since 2007).

Robert Frazer Kingsmill was the brother of Thomas Frazer Kingsmill. He immigrated with his mother Mary (Frazer) Kingsmill to Toronto in 1952. He married Mary E. Centrillion and together they had 5 children: James William, Thomas Frazer, Robert, Arthur Henry and Frank J. He operated a dry goods store on Dundas St, a couple of doors away from his brother Thomas Frazer.

William Riley Stansell was born March 26, 1881 in Courtland, Ontario to Ephream and Eunice Belore Stansell. He began his career as a baker’s apprentice working in St. Thomas, Portsmouth, and Windsor. He started his own business selling baking equipment in Dundee, Michigan in 1902. Stansell married Bertha Buchner, daughter of A.O. Buchner, on October 12, 1903. They had six children together.
Stansell changed careers and began work in the machinery business with positions at the Read Machinery Company and the Lynn Superior Machinery Company. He founded the Motor Car Sales Company in Detroit, Michigan in 1915 selling and distributing Lexington, McFarlane, and Premier Motor cars. After working at Packard in Detroit, he joined Deby Motor Truck Company as their City Sales Manager. In 1919, Stansell was transferred to the Deby Motor Truck Company’s factory in Chatham, Ontario as their Factory Sales Manager.
In 1921, Stansell raised $750 000 to start London Motors Limited and set up shop in London as the President and General Manager. The company acquired space on Hale Street, near the family’s home at 367 Hale Street, and a second site at 67-69 King Street, the original site of the White Portable Steam Engine Company. Production began on pilot models in autumn 1921. The London Six was displayed at the London Motor Show in February 1922 and the CNE in August 1922. Stansell was known for his abilities in marketing and in April 1922 Governor General Lord Byng and his party were transported to and from the ground breaking ceremony for the new Western University campus in London Sixes.
London Motors built 98 London Sixes over the course of their operations. The cars were priced at $2700 to $3700. The price tag depended on the specific model, touring, roadster, or sedan. The London Six included a Herschell-Spillman engine underneath a rounded aluminum body. A variety of finishes were available, including polished, painted, or covered in cloth.
In 1924, Stansell needed to raise more capital for the business, and when he was unable to do so, the Board of Directors took control of the company. London Motors was unable to change their finances and the company dissolved in early 1925.
After the company dissolved, Stansell sold real estate in London before leaving for Detroit around 1928, where he worked as a car salesman. He retired to Courtland, Ontario in the 1950s and died on July 22, 1961.

The Hope Project ran from 2009-2010 in London, with the first meeting about the project in March, 2009. It was funded by a donation from the Congregation, and provided grants of between $20 and $200 to people with ideas to bring hope to their communities. The project was run by Sr. Catherine Stafford and Helene Diesbourg and was based on a similar project run by Sr. Catherine in Edmonton in 1995-1996. The project in Edmonton was sponsored by the Hope Foundation and involved the administration of small grants ($20-$100) to be used to spread hope. A project was also run by Sr. Yvonne Parent in Windsor. The Windsor project started in 2009 with a grant of $10,000 from the Congregation, which was disbursed in 2010. Funds were requested for 2011and $2,000 was received from the Congregation, with instructions to seek funding from four business partners. It was not possible to find partners, and so the Windsor project came to an end.

In London, Sister Catherine and Helene visited with contact people at local agencies who recommended applicants who then took part in the application process. The local agencies received the applications. Some of these agencies had strong connections to the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph. The agencies included Cross Cultural Learner Centre, My Sister’s Place, and St. Joseph’s Hospitality Centre. My Sister’s Place, originally Home for Women in Need, was run by the Sisters. The Cross Cultural Learner Centre is connected to the Congregation through the Sisters’ donation of the Refugee House behind the St. Joseph’s Hospitality Centre. The Hospitality Centre is a soup kitchen run by the Sisters. Glen Cairn Community Resource Centre, Crouch Community Resource Centre, and the London Intercommunity Health Centre were other agencies which accepted applications for the Hope Project.

Over the course of The Hope Project in London there were 50 funding requests, with total project expenditures of $7,455. The types of projects that were funded included supporting the purchase of YMCA memberships, musical instruments, pet care, health or dental care, and household supplies.

Garnet McPherson was born in Pickering, Ontario in 1952 and spent much of his childhood exploring the nature surrounding his home in Ajax, Ontario. In school he worked for the school newspaper, was a member of student government, and president of the camera club. At 16, McPherson was hired by a local newspaper as a photojournalist and was freelancing for two national journals. By 18, he worked regularly for the Toronto Star.

McPherson graduated from the Commercial Photography program at Sheridan College in 1974. He then returned to freelancing and began working in aerial, editorial, landscape, and commercial photography. In 1975, he started a photography studio on Champlain Avenue.

Between 1975-1990, McPherson’s studio grew into a group of companies that included Insight Photo-Graphics, Vision Photo Labs, Aerial Photographics of Canada, a local paper called Entertainment Calendar, and Cinema Whitby, a movie theatre which regularly held screenings and workshops with local filmmakers. His company Insight Photo-Graphics created a photographic slide “film” about the town of Whitby, Ontario that screened at Cinema Whitby in 1987. While the master film has been lost, the photographic slides of which the film is comprised were donated to Archives at Whitby Public Library. Besides photography, Garnet loved sailing and flying. He kept his sailboat in Whitby Harbour, and his aerial photography aircraft at Oshawa Airport.

Beginning in the 1990s, McPherson closed his studios in Whitby, and began focusing on environmental sustainability. He wrote and edited for various magazines about the topic and produced documentaries about the impacts of sustainability. He also acts as a keynote speaker about environmental issues and has worked with David Suzuki and Al Gore. He is now semi-retired and resides in Victoria, British Columbia where he continues to support the eco film industry through a new film studio.

O'Connor and Lancaster, Photographers, operated in London, Ontario during the 1870s. They also went by the name "Popular Photo Studio".