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Augustus Meredith Nanton
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Augustus Meredith Nanton
Sir Augustus Meredith Nanton (7 May 1860 – 24 April 1925) was one of the principal investors and developers of Western Canada, particularly at Winnipeg, Vancouver and Calgary. In the Canadian West, the town of Nanton, Alberta is named for him, and twelve cities and towns have streets named 'Nanton'. Committed to victory in the Great War, he gave over half of his fortune to the war effort and worked himself to an early grave supporting Canadian soldiers in Europe while maintaining Winnipeg's economy. In recognition of his war services he was knighted by George V in 1917 and made a Knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. He died in office as President of The Dominion Bank in Toronto, but is most closely associated with Winnipeg, his home for over forty years and where he is buried.
Born in 1860, he was the second son of (Daniel) Augustus Nanton (1831–1873) and his wife Louisa (1831-1906), daughter of William Botsford Jarvis of Rosedale. His middle name was for his uncle and godfather, Edmund Allen Meredith. Nanton's father, a barrister and partner of Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt, had emigrated from England where he had been educated at Eton and Oxford. But in Canada the father became an hopeless alcoholic and died at an early age leaving behind a widow, five young children and heavy debts. His mother, who had been to finishing school in Paris, survived by teaching French and taking charity from her sister, Mrs Meredith, and their family friend, Sir Casimir Gzowski.
At the age of thirteen, Nanton took the decision to leave school and find employment to help support his family. He worked as an office boy in the brokerage firm of Pellatt & Osler of Toronto, earning $300 a year. At the same time, he took a job cleaning a grocery store for $200 a year, sleeping under the counter to act as a night watchman. This income helped his mother with her debts and when still a teenager he paid for his brother (the future Brigadier-General Herbert Colborne Nanton R.E., who married a daughter of Sir Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière) to attend the Royal Military College of Canada. He also found the time to join The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, row with the Argonaut Rowing Club and crew aboard a yacht at Oakville. In 1881, Nanton acted as Best man at the marriage of his employer's son, Sir Henry Pellatt of Casa Loma.
The firm for which he worked had since become known as Osler & Hammond, and the decision was made to invest in the Canadian West, which required opening an office in Winnipeg. Under the control of the head offices in Toronto and Aberdeen, the firm of Osler, Hammond & Nanton was created with Nanton as resident partner in Winnipeg. It was not an easy start, and at first Nanton was severely disappointed by the lack of the branch's growth, but he didn't give up and by 1896 the North of Scotland shareholders were told that the subsidiary firm in Winnipeg had become "the largest and best mortgage business in the west".
Osler, Hammond & Nanton entered the Canadian West representing a considerable fortune, but their business was not centred on quick profits. The company came to represent standards of scrupulous honesty and thoroughness from which they never deviated and became an important link between financiers in Britain, Montreal and Toronto in the development of the young Canadian west. Under Nanton, the firm purchased land for building 'feeder' rail lines which they also financed and then acted as agents in selling them to the Canadian Pacific Railway. By 1900, the firm acted as agents for the sale of Galt Coal (founded by Nanton's father's former business partner) throughout the Canadian Prairies and, in the first year, sold 50,000 tons. Through this connection Nanton also became managing director of the Galt Alberta Railway (Galt Historic Railway Park) & Irrigation Company. In 1902, he concluded the sale of 800,000 acres in Saskatchewan, a deal worth several million dollars, solely on the basis of his personal handshake, testament to his solid reputation.
By the early 20th century, Nanton was a director of about thirty corporations and associations. He took the greatest pride in sitting on the boards of the "World's Greatest Transportation Company", the Canadian Pacific Railway, and on the oldest commercial organization in the world, the Hudson's Bay Company. On the board of the CPR, he joined F. E. Meredith, with whom he shared the same uncle and godfather in Edmund Allen Meredith. Nanton was one of a small group of Winnipeg businessmen who directed the massive financing of and servicing for the influx of over a million settlers then pouring into the newly opened Canadian West.
Within days of the outbreak of war, the Canadian Patriotic Fund was formed to help the dependants of those enlisting. Nanton became the president of the Manitoba Patriotic Fund (MPF), raising more, per capita, in the first year alone than any other Canadian Province. Of the $6 million raised by the MPF during the War, under Nanton only two per cent of that sum was used for administration costs and expenses. Nanton was known to get up in the night and personally drive wives and their children to hospitals to see their wounded husbands back from Europe. When the son of a Winnipeg family was lying severely wounded in a military hospital in England, Nanton anonymously arranged for a telegram to be sent each morning to the parents, reporting on their boy's condition. He was quite embarrassed when it was discovered he was responsible.
In 1917, Nanton was among those who forwarded the campaign led by Sir Frederick Borden to raise conscription and lead the successful Victory Loan Campaigns. Nanton was Chairman of the Manitoba Victory Loan Committee and the only westerner on the Dominion Executive. He set up committees across the Canadian Prairies and Manitoba ended up raising $32 million in 1917, at an average of $71 per head over the national average of $58 per head, making Manitoba the talk of Victory Loan Headquarters in Toronto. Despite the 1918 flu pandemic coupled with atrocious Blizzards, the three Victory Loan campaigns saw increasing investment each year and in total Manitoba raised $120 million for the war effort, spirited by Nanton.
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Augustus Meredith Nanton
Sir Augustus Meredith Nanton (7 May 1860 – 24 April 1925) was one of the principal investors and developers of Western Canada, particularly at Winnipeg, Vancouver and Calgary. In the Canadian West, the town of Nanton, Alberta is named for him, and twelve cities and towns have streets named 'Nanton'. Committed to victory in the Great War, he gave over half of his fortune to the war effort and worked himself to an early grave supporting Canadian soldiers in Europe while maintaining Winnipeg's economy. In recognition of his war services he was knighted by George V in 1917 and made a Knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. He died in office as President of The Dominion Bank in Toronto, but is most closely associated with Winnipeg, his home for over forty years and where he is buried.
Born in 1860, he was the second son of (Daniel) Augustus Nanton (1831–1873) and his wife Louisa (1831-1906), daughter of William Botsford Jarvis of Rosedale. His middle name was for his uncle and godfather, Edmund Allen Meredith. Nanton's father, a barrister and partner of Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt, had emigrated from England where he had been educated at Eton and Oxford. But in Canada the father became an hopeless alcoholic and died at an early age leaving behind a widow, five young children and heavy debts. His mother, who had been to finishing school in Paris, survived by teaching French and taking charity from her sister, Mrs Meredith, and their family friend, Sir Casimir Gzowski.
At the age of thirteen, Nanton took the decision to leave school and find employment to help support his family. He worked as an office boy in the brokerage firm of Pellatt & Osler of Toronto, earning $300 a year. At the same time, he took a job cleaning a grocery store for $200 a year, sleeping under the counter to act as a night watchman. This income helped his mother with her debts and when still a teenager he paid for his brother (the future Brigadier-General Herbert Colborne Nanton R.E., who married a daughter of Sir Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière) to attend the Royal Military College of Canada. He also found the time to join The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, row with the Argonaut Rowing Club and crew aboard a yacht at Oakville. In 1881, Nanton acted as Best man at the marriage of his employer's son, Sir Henry Pellatt of Casa Loma.
The firm for which he worked had since become known as Osler & Hammond, and the decision was made to invest in the Canadian West, which required opening an office in Winnipeg. Under the control of the head offices in Toronto and Aberdeen, the firm of Osler, Hammond & Nanton was created with Nanton as resident partner in Winnipeg. It was not an easy start, and at first Nanton was severely disappointed by the lack of the branch's growth, but he didn't give up and by 1896 the North of Scotland shareholders were told that the subsidiary firm in Winnipeg had become "the largest and best mortgage business in the west".
Osler, Hammond & Nanton entered the Canadian West representing a considerable fortune, but their business was not centred on quick profits. The company came to represent standards of scrupulous honesty and thoroughness from which they never deviated and became an important link between financiers in Britain, Montreal and Toronto in the development of the young Canadian west. Under Nanton, the firm purchased land for building 'feeder' rail lines which they also financed and then acted as agents in selling them to the Canadian Pacific Railway. By 1900, the firm acted as agents for the sale of Galt Coal (founded by Nanton's father's former business partner) throughout the Canadian Prairies and, in the first year, sold 50,000 tons. Through this connection Nanton also became managing director of the Galt Alberta Railway (Galt Historic Railway Park) & Irrigation Company. In 1902, he concluded the sale of 800,000 acres in Saskatchewan, a deal worth several million dollars, solely on the basis of his personal handshake, testament to his solid reputation.
By the early 20th century, Nanton was a director of about thirty corporations and associations. He took the greatest pride in sitting on the boards of the "World's Greatest Transportation Company", the Canadian Pacific Railway, and on the oldest commercial organization in the world, the Hudson's Bay Company. On the board of the CPR, he joined F. E. Meredith, with whom he shared the same uncle and godfather in Edmund Allen Meredith. Nanton was one of a small group of Winnipeg businessmen who directed the massive financing of and servicing for the influx of over a million settlers then pouring into the newly opened Canadian West.
Within days of the outbreak of war, the Canadian Patriotic Fund was formed to help the dependants of those enlisting. Nanton became the president of the Manitoba Patriotic Fund (MPF), raising more, per capita, in the first year alone than any other Canadian Province. Of the $6 million raised by the MPF during the War, under Nanton only two per cent of that sum was used for administration costs and expenses. Nanton was known to get up in the night and personally drive wives and their children to hospitals to see their wounded husbands back from Europe. When the son of a Winnipeg family was lying severely wounded in a military hospital in England, Nanton anonymously arranged for a telegram to be sent each morning to the parents, reporting on their boy's condition. He was quite embarrassed when it was discovered he was responsible.
In 1917, Nanton was among those who forwarded the campaign led by Sir Frederick Borden to raise conscription and lead the successful Victory Loan Campaigns. Nanton was Chairman of the Manitoba Victory Loan Committee and the only westerner on the Dominion Executive. He set up committees across the Canadian Prairies and Manitoba ended up raising $32 million in 1917, at an average of $71 per head over the national average of $58 per head, making Manitoba the talk of Victory Loan Headquarters in Toronto. Despite the 1918 flu pandemic coupled with atrocious Blizzards, the three Victory Loan campaigns saw increasing investment each year and in total Manitoba raised $120 million for the war effort, spirited by Nanton.
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