John Fitzwilliam Stairs
Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Template:Use Canadian English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person John Fitzwilliam Stairs, also known as John Fitz William Stairs (January 19, 1848 – September 26, 1904) was an entrepreneur and statesman, born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a member of the prominent Stairs family of merchants and shippers founded by William Machin Stairs (1789–1865) that included the Victorian era explorer, William Grant Stairs.
Known as "John F.", he studied at Dalhousie University and then entered the management of the family's vast business empire. He was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in 1879, resigning in 1882 to successfully run for election to the House of Commons of Canada in Ottawa where he served as a Conservative Party member until 1896.
Stairs was president of many companies, including Nova Scotia Steel, Eastern Trust, Trinidad Electric (B.W.I.) and Royal Securities Corporation. He served as director of the Dartmouth and Halifax Steamboat Company, Nova Scotia Sugar Refining, the Union Bank of Halifax, Consumer Cordage, and during his lifetime, came to dominate the financial elite of the Maritime provinces.
He also employed Max Aitken (later, Lord Beaverbrook) at the beginning of Aitken's business career, hiring him in 1902 when he set up Royal Securities, the first investment firm in Eastern Canada. Max Aitken was at Stairs' bedside when he died in Toronto, Ontario. His remains were sent to Halifax where he was buried in the Fairview Cemetery.
Electoral history
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References
- Frost, James. Merchant Princes, Halifax's First Family of Finance, Ships and Steel. (2003 - James Lorimer & Co.) Template:ISBN
External links
Template:Mayors of Halifax, Nova Scotia Template:Authority control
- 1848 births
- 1904 deaths
- Canadian people of American descent
- Canadian businesspeople
- Stock and commodity market managers
- Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs
- Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Nova Scotia
- Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia MLAs
- Politicians from Halifax, Nova Scotia
- Burials at the Cimetière du Grand Jas
- Nova Scotia political party leaders
- 19th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada
- 19th-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly