
ILLUSTROUS OBSCURITAS
Light From Darkness
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Location:
- 58 Yonge Street, Toronto [1897]
- 100 King Street West, Toronto [?-1909-?]
- 98 & 100 King Street West, Toronto
- Builders' Exchange, Toronto [1911], phone M 4615
Timeline:
Personnel:
- President: T. W. Horn
- Vice-President: E. B. Osler
- Secretary-Treasurer: F. W. Barrett
- Directors: W. R. Brock, W. D. Matthews, Wm. McKenzie,
Frederic Nichols, Rev. Dr. Warden
The Late Frederick W. Barrett
IT is with deep regret that we have to
chronicle the death of Mr. Frederick W. Barrett, secretary of the
Expanded Metal and Fireproofing Co., of Toronto, who suddenly passed
away at Montreal on Sunday, January the 26th. The deceased was a
most prominent active member of the building contracting fraternity
of Toronto, and was widely known throughout the Dominion as one
of the pioneers in the promotion of concrete construction, and as
one of the strongest exponents of substantial fireproof building
methods in Canada. Toronto as well as many of the largest cities
in the Dominion are indebted to the efforts of Mr. Barrett for the
fireproof qualities of many of their finest structures.
For the past fourteen years the late
Mr. Barrett had been associated with Mr. T. W. Horn, in the Expanded
Metal & Fireproofing Co., and the Luxfer Prism Co., with offices
and factories at 100 King street West, Toronto. He was about 51
years of age, being born in Port Hope, his father having been the
late Mr. William Barrett, well remembered in that section.
Mr. Barrett graduated at Victoria
University, and after taking up a legal course was admitted as a
member of the Upper Canada Law Society. After a brief period of
practice at London, he joined the management of the Polson Company,
having been prominent in connection with that firm's shipbuilding
enterprise in Owen Sound. Subsequently he entered the legal firm of
Messrs. Horn & Barrett, of the city of Toronto, a combination
of forces which continued when Mr. Horn launched the Luxfer Prism
Company, and later the Expanded Metal & Fireproofing Co. He
married the only daughter of Mr. Robert Wightman, druggist, of Owen
Sound, by whom he is survived. The funeral was held in Owen Sound on
Wednesday, Jan. 29, a special train conveying from Toronto many of
the members of the office and factory staffs of the two companies,
together with a number of family friends and relatives.
The deceased was a splendid
representative type of the self-made Canadian business man. Personally
he was of an affable, jovial and kindly nature, and will not only be
missed by his business associates and acquaintances, but his death
is mourned by a large circle of personal friends. He was a member of
the National Club, Toronto, the Canadian Manufacturers Association,
and many other well known influential bodies.
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THE LATE FREDERICK W. BARRETT
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Construction · A Journal for the Architectural, Engineering and Contracting Interests of Canada · Volume 1, 1907-8
History:
- "Pennycuick moves to Toronto, Canada, and enters into a
partnership with Thomas W. Horn, a Canadian businessman. In February
1896, Horn founds the Prismatic Glass Company of Toronto to produce
Pennycuick's tiles." —Luxfer Company History
- "The Luxfer Prism Company, Ltd., Toronto, has been incorporated
with a capital stock of $90,000 by William Cowan, H. B. Nicol, T. W. Horn,
and others." —Iron Age, Volume 93 · 1914
- "COWAN, Lieut.-Col. William—President and Managing Director,
The Luxfer Prism Co., Ltd., 100 King St. West, Toronto. Born Toronto,
Nov. 23, 1869, son of David and Amelia (Mitchell) Inglis. Educated:
Toronto Model School. With Aikenhead & Crombie, Hardware
Merchants, 1883; had charge of Builders' Hardware Department, until
1893; Traveller, Gourlay, Winter & Leeming, until 1900; Traveller,
Luxfer Prism Co., 1900-1905; became Manager, 1905; acquired entire
capital stock of business, September, 1908. Joined the Queen's Own
Rigles, May, 1885; served as Private, Corporal and Sergeant; took
commission in the 36th Regiment, 1897; served as Lieutenant and Captain,
until 1904; transferred to No. 2 Company, Canadian Army Service Corps;
promoted to Major, 1907; Lieutenant-Colonel, April 1, 1911; commanding
No. 2 Headquarters Co., Canadian Army Service Corps; appointed Officer
Commanding Divisional and Mounted Brigade Train, 2nd Division, 1913.
Married Evelyn Wilda Turner, daughter of Henry Turner, 1908; has one son
and one daughter. Clubs: Military Institute; Engineers; Canadian; Royal
Canadian Yacht. Societies: A.F. & A.M.; St. Andrew's. Recreation:
militia. Prebyterian. Resident: 9 Oaklands Ave., Toronto, Ont."
—Who's Who in Canada · 1914
- "WITHROW, WILLIAM JAMES, engineer, civil servant, militiaman,
and officer; b. 28 Oct. 1868 in Hamilton, Ont., one of the two
sons of William Henry Withrow and Sarah Anne Smith; m. first 7
Sept. 1896 Edith Mary Burns in Toronto; m. secondly 16 June 1908
Margaret Eleanor Guinevere MacCarthy in Ottawa, and they had three
children; d. 4 May 1917 in Mont-Saint-Eloi, France.
Little is known about William James
Withrow's childhood. He attended the Model Grammar School
and Collegiate Institute in Toronto and graduated with a BA in
engineering from the University of Toronto in 1890. By 1893 he
had become a draftsman for Fetherstonhaugh and Company, patent
lawyers and engineers, while continuing to live with his parents
on Jarvis Street. Not unusually for a member of the middle class,
Withrow had found time to serve in the ranks of the 2nd Battalion
of Rifles (Queen's Own Rifles of Canada), one of Toronto's most
fashionable militia units, for three years following 1887. He worked
with Fetherstonhaugh until 1895 or later; at the time of his first
marriage he was a patent solicitor in Montreal. By 1899 he was back in
Toronto, as an engineer/designer for the Luxfer Prism Company Limited.
..." — Dictionary of Canadian Biography (University of Toronto)
Paper:
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| Why Do We Advertise?
Because we have tested
our goods and know
that they are what our
customers want.
We tell you about
them and invite you
to call and see our
Art and Stained Glass
Luxfer Prism Company, Ltd.
100 King Street West
Toronto
The Society Blue Book of Toronto and Hamilton 1912
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Gallery:
Errata:
- Promotional celluloid ruler reads "Luxfer Prism Company
(Limited) / LUXFER PRISMS AND ELECTROGLAZING /
OFFICES 98 & 100 KING ST. WEST, TORONTO /
CHURCH AND DOMESTIC ELECTROGLAZED ART GLASS. /
GEOMETRICAL AND QUARRIE WINDOWS IN COPPER AND LEAD. /
BEVELLED WORK, POLISHING, BEADING, ETC. /
DEALERS IN ORNAMENTAL IRON WORK
AND GRILLES / MARBLE MOSAIC FLOORING. / ARCHITECTURAL TERRA
COTTA, FACE AND MANTLE PRESSED BRICK / MICA BOILER AND PIPE
COVERING / EXPANDED METAL / AND FIREPROOFING
COMPANY, (LIMITED) /
FIREPROOF CONSTRUCTION / LATH ·
FENCING · SCREENS"
- The Annual Financial Review: Canadian, Volume 1 · 1900
- Toronto Archives
- Collections Canada
- Rod and Gun in Canada,
March 1911 ad
- 1897 Envelope
addressed to J. E. Roy Esq., Halifax, N.S.
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