James Austin (March 6, 1813 – February 27, 1897) was a nineteenth century

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

businessman and the owner of

Spadina House Spadina Museum (), also known as Spadina House, is a historic mansion at 285 Spadina Road in Toronto, Ontario, which is now a historic house museum operated by the City of Toronto's Economic Development & Culture division. The museum preserves th ...

, now a museum.

Life and career

He was born in

Tandragee Tandragee () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is on a hillside above the Cusher River, and is overlooked by Tandragee Castle. The town is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Ballymore, County Armagh, Ballymore and t ...

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

, Northern Ireland, to a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

family. He immigrated to Canada at age sixteen along with his parents and became apprenticed to a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James Printer (1640 ...

William Lyon Mackenzie William Lyon Mackenzie (March12, 1795 August28, 1861) was a Scottish-born Canadian-American journalist and politician. He founded newspapers critical of the Family Compact, a term used to identify the establishment of Upper Canada. He represe ...

. While not directly involved, his close association with Mackenzie led Austin to flee to the United States following the

Upper Canada Rebellion The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the Oligarchy, oligarchic government of the British colony of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) in December 1837. While public grievances had existed for years, it was the Lower Canada Rebe ...

of 1837. In 1843, those involved in the rebellion were granted amnesty, and Austin returned to Toronto. Entering business, he joined with Patrick Foy to found the Austin & Foy Wholesale Company in the

Daniel Brooke Building Daniel Brooke Building is a 19th-century Georgian building in Toronto, Ontario, Canada located on the northeast corner of Jarvis Street and King Street. The building is one of the last remaining buildings of the old Town of York. Built in 1833 f ...

at the corner of

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

and Jarvis streets in Toronto. The wholesale company was successful, but Austin was interested in pursuing other ventures and it was dissolved in 1870, leaving Austin with a fair amount of money. He then became a central player in the Toronto financial world. In 1871, he founded

The Dominion Bank The Dominion Bank was a Canadian bank that was chartered in 1869 and based in Toronto, Ontario. On February 1, 1955, it merged with the Bank of Toronto to form the Toronto-Dominion Bank. History The Dominion Bank's charter received royal ass ...

, ancestor of today's

Toronto-Dominion Bank Toronto-Dominion Bank (), doing business as TD Bank Group (), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The bank was created on February 1, 1955, through the merger of the Bank of ...

. He remained president of that institution until his death, but he was also involved in many others. He became president of the Queen City and the Hand-to-Hand insurance companies, and chairman of the North of Scotland Canadian Mortgage Company. He also was involved in the

Consumers' Gas Company The Consumers' Gas Company was a Canadian gas distribution utility that existed from 1848 to 2019. The company was founded as the Consumers' Gas Company of Toronto and was the city's main gas supplier. In 1957, reflecting its expansion beyond the ...

, being one of its founding directors. In 1881, he increased his control over Consumers' Gas and became president of that company. In 1844, he married Susan Bright, and they had five children. His eldest son Charles died at 13, and his second son James (Jim) died of pneumonia at 38. In 1866, he built

to house his family, which is now a museum. He retained all of his positions up until his death, despite suffering from

deafness Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is writte ...

late in life. He died after several months of illness at the age of eighty-four. At his death, he had a fortune of some $300,000, which was divided between his son and daughter. His business interests and his home passed on to his surviving son,

Albert William Austin Albert William Austin (27 March 1857 – 5 July 1934) was a Canadian businessman and golfer. The founder of Winnipeg's first streetcar system, he later served as president of Dominion Bank. He also founded the Lambton Golf and Country Club and r ...

Legacy

* Austin Terrace, Toronto - formerly a carriage drive for Casa Loma to Bathurst Street. * Austin Crescent, Toronto - residential street off Austin Terrace

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, James 1813 births 1897 deaths People from Tandragee 19th-century Canadian businesspeople Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Businesspeople from Toronto Province of Canada people Immigrants to Upper Canada Canadian deaf people Deaths from pneumonia in Ontario Burials at St. James Cemetery, Toronto