Aemilius Jarvis
| Aemilius Jarvis | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Edward Aemilius Jarvis April 25, 1860 Bonshaw, York County, Upper Canada |
| Died | December 19, 1940 (aged 80) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Occupation | businessman, equestrian, and sailor |
Edward Aemilius Jarvis (April 25, 1860 – December 19, 1940) was a successful Canadian financier, celebrated equestrian, and champion sailor.
A member of a prominent Toronto family, Jarvis apprenticed as a banker, and eventually became president of the Trader's Bank of Canada. Jarvis founded the Steel Company of Canada. He built Toronto's iconic King Edward Hotel and created the British Columbia Salmon Canning Industry. Jarvis also formed AEmilius Jarvis & Co., earning the friendship and respect of such men as Lord Minto (Governor General of Canada), J.P. Morgan, Sir Thomas Lipton, Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Henry Pellatt, and world-champion rower Ned Hanlan. He was the most celebrated yachtsman, and winning-est skipper, on the Great Lakes in his time. Jarvis was instrumental in forming the Royal Canadian Navy during World War I, recruiting both ships and men, & acted as a spy for King George V while visiting Tzar Nicholas of Russia in 1915. He also operated a famously successful stud farm -called Hazelburn- in Aurora, Ontario, breeding hunter-jumper horses.
Jarvis' grandson Robert Aemilius Jarvis published the dramatic biography/auto-biography of his grandfather, "The Last Viking".
Jarvis famously sailed alone around Lake Ontario, from Hamilton to Niagara-on-the-Lake to Whitby and back, in a tiny dinghy aptly called Tar Pot when he was just twelve years old. (This journey was reported in newspapers at the time, beginning the legend of the sailor.) Later in life, he spent two years sailing the world in a square-rigger sailing vessel. He designed and built numerous innovative and successful racing sailboats, founded the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club, and was a longtime member of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, of which he was elected commodore seven times. He won the inaugural Canada's Cup yachting race in 1896 sailing the "Canada", a 57-foot cutter. Additionally, he won over 100 international freshwater sailing events while at Royal Canadian Yacht Club (& more than 300 overall), including a second Canada's Cup in 1901.
...
Wikipedia