Rupert E. Edwards (1894–1967), was a Canadian businessman, and the founder of Canada Varnish Ltd.

Canada Varnish

Edwards immigrated to Canada as a teenager, eventually settling in Toronto and founding a small paint factory in 1923. Canada Varnish Ltd manufactured paints in

Leaside Leaside (/'liːˌsaɪd/) is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located northeast of Downtown Toronto, in the vicinity of Eglinton Avenue East and Bayview Avenue. The area takes its name from William Lea and the Lea family, who set ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

. Canada Vanish grew to be one of the largest employers in the city. Alexander MacNevin became a partner in the company in 1927. Edwards stayed as manager of the company until August 1950, when he started a new company, Certified Paints Ltd. Canada Varnish was sold in February 1953 to businessman Nelson Morgan Davis for $375,000. The company no longer operates, but its former site is now called 'Canvarco Rd', located in the

area.

Carillon controversy

The Varnish factory was home to weekly organ recitals. In 1958, Edwards installed a

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast-bronze bells. The bells are hung in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmon ...

at the Canada Varnish factory in Leaside, which rang every 15 minutes from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The musical instrument was said to cost $66,000 – equivalent to over $600,000 today. Members of the community filed anti-noise compaints. Edwards argued that the musical performance should not be subject to the city's noise bylaws. He lost the case in court.

Edwards Gardens

In 1944 Edwards purchased a large piece of land in North York, and converted it into a garden and golf course. In 1955 he sold the property to the Municipality of

Metro Toronto The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an Regional municipality, upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the Old Toronto, old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and vill ...

at below-market rate, for $160,000 in order for the land to continue as a public park. The negotiation for the sale, was credited to councilor

Roy E. Belyea Roy E. Belyea (1894 – December 12, 1976) was a political and business figure in Toronto and a long-time member of Toronto City Council and member of council's executive, the Toronto Board of Control. He unsuccessfully challenged sitting Mayor o ...

. It became

Edwards Gardens Edwards Gardens is a botanical garden located on the southwest corner of Leslie Street and Lawrence Avenue East in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is also the site of the Toronto Botanical Garden, a private not-for profit organization previously ...

in 1956.

Toronto Botanical Garden The Toronto Botanical Garden (TBG) is located at 777 Lawrence Avenue East at Leslie Street, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Termed "The little garden with big ideas", the TBG is nearly four acres and features 17 themed "city-sized gardens". Located ...

(formerly Civic Garden Centre) relocated into the Milne home on the site in 1959.

Edwards Charitable Foundation

On his death he founded th
Edwards Charitable Foundation
which donated more than $5 million to the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...

and continues to operate in Nova Scotia.

References

{{ref-list Businesspeople from Toronto 1894 births 1967 deaths