Beatty Blackstock, 1890-1906
Author | C. Ian Kyer |
Pages | 89-122 |
M C hapter N
BEATTY BLACKSTOCK,
A B managingpart nerbyTomBlackstock
had become the principal lawyer WithBeay ot herwise occupied it was
Blackstock who acted as solicitor for the Bank of Toronto, Manufacturers
Life, Gooderham & Worts, and other businesses in which t he 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
wereghtingforcontroloftheCentralOntarioRailwayorCOR
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 dis covery
of iron ore near Bancroft led to the line bei ng extended to that area. The
primemoverbehindtheCORwasanancierandminingentrepreneurfrom
Akron, Ohio: Samuel J. Ritchie invested in the iron ore discoveries and al so
helped develop the Copper Company of Canada in Sudbury. After a time,
withtherai lwayinnancial dicultiesother investorsledbyJudgeBurke
lost faith in Ritchie and seized cont rol of the company. Ritchie, Burke, and
various bondholdersspe ntmore th an a decadei n court ghting over the
railwayBlackstocknotonlyoversawthelitigationundertakenbytherms
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LawyersFamiliesandBusinesses
their many skirmi shes, but they would ultimately prove pyrrhic victories
because the COR went bankrupt.
BeaymeanwhilehadotherthingsonhismindOnabusinesslevelhe
was busy overseeing the planni ng and construction of the massive new head
ocebuildingforCon federationLifewhichst illtowersoverthe northeast
corner of Yonge and Richmond. The company had announced its decision
tobuild aheadoce inbecaus eBeay andthe otherboard members
wantedthecompanyhousedinabui ldingthatreecteditsimporta nceand
potential.ItwouldbecompletedinandonMayBeayasvice
presidentpresidedovertherstannualmeetingheldinthenewbuildi ng
Ona personal levelhewas engagedin abier familyd isputewith his
sisterinlaw Mary Worts the widow of James Gooderham WortsJr his
fatherinlawsyoungestsonWhenJGWortsJrdiedi natageth irty
oneBeayand Mary Wortshadbecomeh isexecutorsMar ywaslef twith
twoyoungchildrena boyandagirlInBeaywhoconsideredheran
alcoholicandan untpare ntconvincedher torelinqui shherexecutorship
aswellasherhomeandthecustodyandcontrolofherch ildrenInshe
sued him, alleging t hat he had procured her agreement by fraud and mis
representation and that he had used threats a nd duress against her. Herbert
MacRaeher brot herinlawa nda lawyer wit h WatsonThorne Smoke
Mastenbrought the action onher behalf Beay retained SamuelBlake 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
inMacRaesrm metexten sivelyinDec emberto selethe action androb
the Herald of “the latest cause célèbre” to which it was so looking forward.
Z
Breected ina newrm namei nForvir
tually all of the rst t wentynine years the rst two names on the r ms
leerheadhadbe enthos eofitsfounder sBeayandChadwickFort henext
twentythreeyearsthermwouldbeknowna sBeayBlackstock
Chadwick, although more senior, had clearly been eclipsed by Black
stock. He was slowly losing his hearing, and his interests i n heraldry,
genealogy, and the building of St. Alban’s Cathedral were consuming more
andmore of his timeHe had celebratedthe Ontario centenar yof by
issuing a book on the genealogy of h is family. The positive public reaction
tothisstudyandfrequentrequestsforgenealogiesofotherfamiliessoonled
BeayBlackstockヘナ
him to plan a more ambitious genealogical study, entitled Ontarian Families,
therstvolumeofwhichwouldbepublishedin
Blackstockhadnotonlybecomeprominentinsidethermbutwascom
ing to be well known and respected outside of it as well, as a noted business
lawyera nd as George Gooderhamsrighthand man Toma ndh is father
inlaw had become close and clearly George trusted Toms 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 Cleopat ra. Tom
mightwellhavechosenthenamebecauseinGeorgehadtakenhimand
their respective famil ies on an extended vacation to Egypt, where they had
ridden camels out to the pyramids.
ThehighregardinwhichTomwasheldisreectedinthefactthatGeorge
entrusted him with s upervising the buildi ng of Gooderham’s new palatial
house on St. George Street just north of Bloor, as well as homes for his chil
drenonadjoiningPrinceArthurStreetHaieandTomhisfavouriteswere
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 t he building materials. He even went to Italy to recruit
skilled tradesmen to come to Toronto to mould the ceilings.
Althoughthere can be nodoubt thatHaie hadmuch tos ayaboutt he
furnish ing of their new home Tomsinterests were c learlyreected He
found placesfor h is hunting trophies especial lyh is belovedbua loThe
librarywallsfeaturedmoos eandbualoheadsandamassivebualohead
was a principal feature of the entrance ha ll. The large head in the entrance
wasagiftfromthefederalgovernmentinrecognitionofhisdonationin
ofa sma ll bualo herdto Ca nadasnew national park in Ban Alberta
Given in the hope of saving the species from exti nction, the donation had a
profound impact on the philosophy of Canada’s national parks.
Z
AB a nd Blackstock had become in the Toronto business
communitytheyhadlileimpactwithintheLawSocietyofUpperCanada
theselfgoverningbodyoverseeingthelegalprofessionintheprovinceThe
To continue reading
Request your trial