Henry Timmins (born c. 1858) was a Canadian shopkeeper who, with his younger brother, Noah, became an influential

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

financier An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usually purchases some species of property. Types of in ...

. The brothers are considered to be among the most significant founding fathers of the Canadian mining industry.

Early life

Timmins was born Louis-Xavier Henri Timmins, in 1858, to Henriette Mineur (aka Moyer, aka Miner) (1830–1894), a German immigrant, and Noël Timmins (1828–1887), a merchant, who had emigrated from England with his parents, Joseph Timmins (1795–1835) and Marguerite Hirschbeck (aka Aspeck, died 1805), the latter being of German and French descent — her mother, Louise-Amable Morin, was a direct descendant of 17th-Century

settlers A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...

Noël Morin and his wife,

Hélène Desportes Hélène Desportes (c. 1620 – June 24, 1675) is often cited as the first white child born in Canada (New France). There is considerable disagreement about when she was born and, in particular, if she was born in Quebec or just before she arri ...

, who is often counted as the first white child born in Canada. Both Miner and Timmins maternally descend from several early

French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

settler families, include Boucher, Langlois, Guyon, Gagné, Gaudry, Merlot, Proulx and Martin. Noël Timmins prospered plying the lumber and fur trades, and founded the Timmins General Store in the

hamlet of

Mattawa, Ontario Mattawa is a town in northeastern Ontario, Canada at the confluence of the Mattawa and Ottawa Rivers in Nipissing District. The first Europeans to pass through this area were Étienne Brûlé and Samuel de Champlain. History In 1610, Étienne Br ...

, where the family had become "thoroughly francicized," according to Lucy Griffith Paré, daughter-in-law of Noah and Henry Timmins' sister, Josephine, and author of ''The Seeds: The Life Story of a Matriarch'', who had encountered them "more at ease in French than in English." Today, Mattawa remains one-third

francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

. Noël Timmins bequeathed his general store and fortune to his sons, Louis-Xavier-Henri and Noé-Antoine, who became better known as

Noah Noah (; , also Noach) appears as the last of the Antediluvian Patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baháʼí literature, ...

. Eldest son Louis-Xavier-Henri was commonly known as Henri and, in the

industry, is remembered as Henry Timmins.

Mining career

Henry's mining career began with a telegram from his brother, Noah, that led to the pair buying into the La Rose silver claim in

Cobalt, Ontario Cobalt is a town in Timiskaming District, Ontario, Canada. It had a population of 989 at the 2021 Census. In the early 1900s, the area was heavily mined for silver; the silver ore also contained cobalt. By 1910, the community was the fourth hi ...

, at the onset of the

Cobalt silver rush The Cobalt silver rush was a silver rush in Ontario, Canada that began in 1903 when huge veins of silver were discovered by workers on the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway (T&NO) near the Mile 103 post. By 1905 a full-scale silver rush w ...

Fred La Rose Alfred "Fred" La Rose, also known as "Fred Rose" and "Frederick LaRose" (c. 1870 - September 1940), was a blacksmith from Quebec who discovered silver on September 15, 1903 at the future site of Cobalt, Ontario. He is often referred to as the "Fa ...

, a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

, while working for brothers Duncan and

John McMartin John Francis McMartin (August 21, 1929 – July 6, 2016) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. He made his off-Broadway debut in '' Little Mary Sunshine'' in 1959, and acted on Broadway for more than 50 years. He won a Theatre W ...

in the construction of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway (T&NO) at Mile 103 from

North Bay, Ontario North Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing. It developed as a railroad centre and its airport was an important military locatio ...

– where he had built a small cabin –there chanced upon

Erythrite Erythrite, also known as red cobalt, previously '' cobalt ochre'Krivovichev V. G.'' Mineralogical glossary. Scientific editor A. G. Bulakh. — St.Petersburg: St.Petersburg Univ. Publ. House. 2009. — 556 p. — ISBN 978-5-288-04863-0 is a ...

, often an indication of associated

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. ...

and native

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

. (A fanciful story later developed that La Rose discovered the vein when he threw a hammer at a pesky fox.) Noah Timmins subsequently heard of the claim from La Rose who, at the end of his contract, had stopped at the Timmins brothers'

general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

in Mattawa, while returning to his home in

Hull, Quebec Hull is the central business district and oldest neighbourhood of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of Canada's ...

. Noah cabled Henry, who was in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

at the time and immediately set out for Hull, where he met with La Rose and offered him $3,500 for a quarter share of the claim, effectively partnering with the McMartin brothers. The foursome soon added a friend of the Timmins brothers, attorney

David Alexander Dunlap David Alexander Dunlap (October 13, 1863 − October 29, 1924) was a Canadian lawyer, mining company executive and philanthropist. He and his partners acquired an Ontario silver mine called LaRose, which was the basis of the great fortune he came ...

(1863–1924)– for whom the

David Dunlap Observatory The David Dunlap Observatory (DDO) is an astronomical observatory site in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1935, it was owned and operated by the University of Toronto until 2008. It was then acquired by the city of Richmond Hill ...

was named –as a full fifth partner, after he had won a case lodged by then former Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway Commissioner M.J. O'Brien, who had bought out adjacent claimant, Neal A. King, then disputed the Timmins' claim. In 1910, the five partners incorporated as the Canadian Mining and Finance Company, Limited (later

Hollinger Mines The Hollinger Gold Mine was discovered on October 9, 1909, by Benny Hollinger, who found the gold-bearing quartz dike that later became known as Hollinger Mines. With his friend, professional Prospecting, prospector Alex Gillies, Hollinger had trav ...

), with Noah appointed President. In 1916, officers of the corporation were reported as: "President, L. H. Timmins, Montreal; vice-president, J. McMartin, Cornwall, Ont.; treasurer, D. A. Dunlap, Toronto; secretary, John B. Holden, Toronto; general manager, P. A. Bobbins, Timmins, Ont." While the family company explored stakes and mining operations around the globe; their greatest development was ever the important Hollinger Gold Mine in

Timmins, Ontario Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 at the 2021 Canadian census and an estimated population o ...

, the city that bears their name. Despite Henry's early reservations, Noah had purchased stakes from

Benny Hollinger Benjamin Hollinger (1885–1919) was a Canadian barber turned prospector from Haileybury, Ontario, now considered one of the Founding Fathers of Timmins, Ontario, Canada. He was born April 10, 1885, in Point Alexander, Ontario, the youngest son of ...

and Alec Gillies, along with several adjacent claims, which were soon incorporated into

. Noah had first sent his nephew Alphonse "Al" Paré, then a geology engineering student, to assess the Hollinger mine's potential. Following incorporation, Noah then put him in charge of operations at the Hollinger Mine for the initial start-up phase of two years. Hollinger Mines became known as one of the "Big Three" Canadian mines, together with the

Dome Mine Dome Mine is situated in the City of Timmins, Ontario, Canada; and was developed during the Porcupine Gold Rush. Last operated by Canadian company Goldcorp, before it became a subsidiary of American company Newmont, it is one of three mines ( ...

and the McIntyre Mines. ''The Canadian Statesman'' reflected, in 1968, that, during the early days of the Canadian mining industry:

Death

Timmins died between 1941 and 1943, when his son of the same name passed away.

Family

Henry's son, Jules Robert Timmins (1888–1971), succeeded Noah Timmins, upon his death in 1936, as president of Hollinger Consolidated Gold Mines. His 1971 obituary in ''The New York Times'' commended Jules as "a leading figure in the great iron ore development of

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

"; he was inducted into the

Canadian Mining Hall of Fame The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame was conceived by Maurice R. Brown as a way to honor Canada's mine finders and builders, in recognition of accomplishments by leaders in the Canadian mining industry. The Hall was established in 1988; in 2023 it ha ...

, in 1989, for first developing iron ore fields of northern Quebec and Labrador, called "one of the greatest projects in Canadian mining history," and, in the 1950s, for building an "iron ore empire which was truly one of the most imaginative, most difficult mining projects ever undertaken." The

Alphonse and Lucy Griffith Paré Foundation Alphonse may refer to: * Alphonse (given name) * Alphonse (surname) * Alphonse Atoll, one of two atolls in the Seychelles' Alphonse Group *Alphonso (mango), a mango-cultivar from India See also *Alphons *Alfonso (disambiguation) Alfonso (and vari ...

was founded by the nine children of Henry's nephew, by sister Josephine, Al Paré, and his wife, Lucy.Paré Foundation website
Paré Foundation, "About the Foundation". Retrieved October 29, 2017.

References

Sources

''The Davis handbook of the Cobalt silver district: with a manual of incorporated companies'': "Historical Sketch of Cobalt", by Harold Palmer Davis, Canadian Mining Journal, Ottawa, Canada, 1910, pages 7-14. Retrieved December 5, 2017.

''Changing Places: History, Community, and Identity in Northeastern Ontario'' by Kerry M. Abel, McGill-Queen's Press, 2006, age 147. Retrieved October 28, 2017.

''The Seeds: The Life Story of a Matriarch'', by Lucy Griffith Paré (with Antoine Paré), Les Entreprises de Carpent Perdu Inc., Ste-Lucie-des-Laurentides, Québec, Canada, 1984.

* ttp://www.timminstimes.com/2015/09/24/over-the-hill-by-diane-armstrong-for-september-24-2015 "Small Town Links", by Diane Armstrong, September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
"Top 10 Mining Events in Northern Ontario", by Stan Sudol, ''Republic of Mining'', March 2, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2017.