David Milne Fasken (December 31, 1860 – December 2, 1929) was a Canadian lawyer from Wellington County,

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

, whose wealth, later inherited by his family, formed Fasken Oil & Ranch in 1979, an oil company which currently owns approximately 300,000 acres of land in Texas. In 2015, the family was estimated to have a net worth of $3 billion.

Life

David Fasken was born in 1860 the son of Robert Fasken and Isabel Milne. The Fasken family emigrated from

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in 1837 to Elora, then in Upper Canada, but by the time he was born in Canada West. David was the 5th of ten children and went to school in Elora. He graduated from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in 1882 and pursued law. He later worked at the law firm of William Henry Beatty who mentored him. In 1913, Fasken acquired 226,000 acres for $1.50 an acre in what would later be called

Fasken Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP (doing business as Fasken) is an international business law firm with approximately 925 lawyers and offices in Vancouver, Surrey, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, London and Johannesburg. The firm t ...

, near

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, intending to convert it to a farm. He retired there and ended his law practice in 1919.

Death

Fasken died on December 2, 1929 at the age of 68 leaving behind an estate worth $1,792,300, excluding unknown oil reserves on the land. The

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

, while interpreting his will, commented that his inheritance was "very substantial". The ''

Toronto Daily Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands division. The newspaper was establis ...

'' ran the headline ''"David Fasken, Wealthy Mining Magnate Dies"''. Oil was discovered on the property leading to the creation of the Fasken Oil & Ranch company in 1979.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fasken, David 1860 births 1929 deaths People from Wellington County, Ontario Canadian emigrants to the United States