Sir Joseph Wesley Flavelle, 1st Baronet (February 15, 1858 – March 7, 1939) was a
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
businessman.
Life and career
Joseph Wesley Flavelle was born on February 15, 1858, in
Peterbough, Canada West, to John and Dorothea (Dundas) Flavelle. He married Clara Ellsworth in 1882. By the 1890s, Flavelle had made his fortune in the meatpacking business as president of
William Davies Company, which was the British Empire's largest pork packing firm. He subsequently became prominent in finance and commerce as chairman of the
Bank of Commerce, National Trust and
Simpson's department stores.
Flavelle was chairman of the
Imperial Munitions Board during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, and it was for reorganizing the industry that he was awarded a
baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
cy in 1917. His was the last British
hereditary title
Hereditary titles, in a general sense, are nobility titles, positions or styles that are hereditary and thus tend or are bound to remain in particular families.
Though both monarchs and nobles usually inherit their titles, the mechanisms often d ...
to be granted in the normal course to a Canadian citizen, due to the passage of the
Nickle Resolution in 1919.
Flavelle died on March 7, 1939, in
Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...
.
He left his
Queen's Park mansion (Holwood House at 78 Queen's Park Crescent) to 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 ...
. It is now called
Flavelle House and forms part of the university's
Faculty of Law
A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...
. He was succeeded in the
Flavelle baronetcy by his son,
Ellsworth.
References
Bibliography
*
*
Sir Joseph Wesley Flavelleat
The Canadian Encyclopedia
''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...
External links
*
Sir Joseph Flavelle fondsa
Queen's University Archives*
1858 births
1939 deaths
19th-century Canadian businesspeople
Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Canadian baronets
20th-century Canadian businesspeople
Canadian food industry businesspeople
{{Canada-business-bio-stub