Home Index Site Map Up: Canada Navigation
Up: Canada
Luxfer Prism Company of Toronto
Home  > Prism Glass  > Canada  > Luxfer Toronto
First: Canadian Allis-Chalmers, Ltd Last: Luxfer Prism Company of Toronto Prev: Hobbs Manufacturing Company, Ltd Next: Canadian Allis-Chalmers, Ltd Navigation
Canada: 4 of 4

Illustrous Obscuritas
ILLUSTROUS OBSCURITAS
Light From Darkness

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:

  • ?-1897-1914-?

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.
Frederick W. Barrett
THE LATE FREDERICK W. BARRETT

Frederick W. Barrett obituary
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:

Luxfer Prism Company ad in Canadian Hardware and Metal Merchant · 1898
T. EATON CO., LIMITED, QUEEN ST. & YONGE ST. SECTIONS
Canadian Hardware and Metal Merchant · 1898
Luxfer Prism Co of Toronto, Canada
Luxfer Prism Company Ltd
Toronto CA, ca.1910, 36p
JPG ~33MB: tar zip pdf
PNG ~128MB: tar zip pdf
Donated to Rakow

Luxfer Prism Company ad in The Society Blue Book of Toronto and Hamilton 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

Gallery:

Luxfer Prism Company of Toronto paperweight
Paperweight · MCC 983.20.3
Canadian Museum of History
Luxfer Prism Company of Toronto
Collections Canada

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.