Beatty Blackstock, 1890-1906

• Author: C. Ian Kyer
• Pages: 89-122



M Chapter N

BEATTY BLACKSTOCK,



ABmanagingpartnerbyTomBlackstock

had become the principal lawyer WithBeay ot herwise occupied it was

Blackstock who acted as solicitor for the Bank of Toronto, Manufacturers

Life, Gooderham & Worts, and other businesses in which the Gooderhams

invested their funds. It was also Blackstock to whom Judge Stevenson Burke,

a noted corporate lawyer from Cleveland, turned when he and his assoc iates

wereghtingforcontroloftheCentralOntarioRailwayorCOR

This railway had begun in  with a line in Pr ince Edward County

linking Picton with Trenton. The discovery of gold in the hills to the north

at a spot soon named Eldorado spurred a line north. Then the discovery

of iron ore near Bancroft led to the line being extended to that area. The

primemoverbehindtheCORwasanancierandminingentrepreneurfrom

Akron, Ohio: Samuel J. Ritchie invested in the iron ore discoveries and also

helped develop the Copper Company of Canada in Sudbury. After a time,

withtherailwayinnancialdicultiesotherinvestorsledbyJudgeBurke

lost faith in Ritchie and seized control of the company. Ritchie, Burke, and

various bondholdersspe ntmore th an a decadei n court ghting over the

railwayBlackstocknotonlyoversawthelitigationundertakenbytherms

lawyers, including his brother George and Percy Galt, but he also joined the

board of COR and acted as an agent for the Burke group, buying up bonds

and shares on its behalf. Blackstock’s litigators were generally successful in

ﾍﾄLawyersFamiliesandBusinesses

their many skirmishes, but they would ultimately prove pyrrhic victories

because the COR went bankrupt.

BeaymeanwhilehadotherthingsonhismindOnabusinesslevelhe

was busy overseeing the planni ng and construction of the massive new head

ocebuildingforConfederationLifewhichstilltowersoverthenortheast

corner of Yonge and Richmond. The company had announced its decision

tobuildaheadoceinbecauseBeayandtheotherboardmembers

wantedthecompanyhousedinabuildingthatreecteditsimportanceand

potential.ItwouldbecompletedinandonMayBeayasvice

presidentpresidedovertherstannualmeetingheldinthenewbuilding

Onapersonallevelhewasengagedinabierfamilydisputewithhis

sisterinlaw Mary Worts the widow of James Gooderham WortsJr his

fatherinlawsyoungestsonWhenJGWortsJrdiedinatagethirty

oneBeayandMaryWortshadbecomehisexecutorsMarywasleftwith

twoyoungchildrenaboyandagirlInBeaywhoconsideredheran

alcoholicandanuntparentconvincedhertorelinquishherexecutorship

aswellasherhomeandthecustodyandcontrolofherchildrenInshe

sued him, alleging that he had procured her agreement by fraud and mis

representation and that he had used threats a nd duress against her. Herbert

MacRaeher brot herinlawa nda lawyer wit h WatsonThorne Smoke 

MastenbroughttheactiononherbehalfBeayretainedSamuelBlaketo

defend what he had done. It was regarded by the Montreal Herald as “the

most sensational case on the docket.” Blake and Watson, the senior partner

inMacRaesrmmetextensivelyinDecembertoseletheactionandrob

the Herald of “the latest cause célèbre” to which it was so looking forward.

Z

BreectedinanewrmnameinForvir

tually all of the rst t wentynine years the rst two names on the r ms

leerheadhadbeenthoseofitsfoundersBeayandChadwickForthenext

twentythreeyearsthermwouldbeknownasBeayBlackstock

Chadwick, although more senior, had clearly been eclipsed by Black

stock. He was slowly losing his hearing, and his interests in heraldry,

genealogy, and the building of St. Alban’s Cathedral were consuming more

andmoreofhistimeHehadcelebratedtheOntariocentenaryofby

issuing a book on the genealogy of his family. The positive public reaction

tothisstudyandfrequentrequestsforgenealogiesofotherfamiliessoonled

BeayBlackstockﾍﾅ

him to plan a more ambitious genealogical study, entitled Ontarian Families,

therstvolumeofwhichwouldbepublishedin

Blackstockhadnotonlybecomeprominentinsidethermbutwascom

ing to be well known and respected outside of it as well, as a noted business

lawyera nd as George Gooderhamsrighthand man Toma ndh is father

inlaw had become close and clearly George trusted Toms judgment and

enjoyed his company. They not only worked together but they played and

travelled together. Both were prominent members of the Royal Canadian

Yacht Club, or RCYC. While George favoured a sailing yacht, calling his c raft

the Oriole, Tom chose a motor yacht, which he dubbed the Cleopatra. Tom

mightwellhavechosenthenamebecauseinGeorgehadtakenhimand

their respective families on an extended vacation to Egypt, where they had

ridden camels out to the pyramids.

ThehighregardinwhichTomwasheldisreectedinthefactthatGeorge

entrusted him with supervising the building of Gooderham’s new palatial

house on St. George Street just north of Bloor, as well as homes for his chil

drenonadjoiningPrinceArthurStreetHaieandTomhisfavouriteswere

to have a mansion modelled on his and built immediately north of it, at the

corner of St. George and Prince Arthur. Each of these impressive new homes

was designed by David Roberts Jr., the Gooderham family architect. Once

Gooderham had approved the designs, he left for Europe and put Tom in

charge of the construct ion of both houses. Tom took the job very seriously,

personally selecting the building materials. He even went to Italy to recruit

skilled tradesmen to come to Toronto to mould the ceilings.

AlthoughtherecanbenodoubtthatHaiehadmuchtosayaboutthe

furnish ing of their new home Tomsinterests were c learlyreected He

found placesfor h is hunting trophies especial lyh is belovedbua loThe

librarywallsfeaturedmooseandbualoheadsandamassivebualohead

was a principal feature of the entrance hall. The large head in the entrance

wasagiftfromthefederalgovernmentinrecognitionofhisdonationin

ofasmallbualoherdtoCanadasnewnationalparkinBanAlberta

Given in the hope of saving the species from extinction, the donation had a

profound impact on the philosophy of Canada’s national parks.

Z

ABa nd Blackstock had become in the Toronto business

communitytheyhadlileimpactwithintheLawSocietyofUpperCanada

theselfgoverningbodyoverseeingthelegalprofessionintheprovinceThe