F. B. Fetherstonhaugh

F. B. Fetherstonhaugh
F.B. Fetherstonhaugh, c. 1923
Born	Frederick Barnard Fetherstonhaugh (1863-06-02)June 2, 1863 Paisley, Ontario
Died	July 6, 1945(1945-07-06) (aged 82) Mimico, Ontario
Occupation	lawyer, patent agent

Frederick Barnard Fetherstonhaugh /ˈfænʃɔː/, QC (June 2, 1863 – July 6, 1945) was a Canadian patent lawyer and agent who founded the patent agency Fetherstonhaugh & Co. He was a prominent citizen of Toronto, Ontario and was widely recognized for his expertise in patent law. He was also the owner of one of the first electric cars in Canada.

Frederick B. Fetherstonhaugh was born in Paisley, Ontario on June 2, 1863 to Francis Fetherstonhaugh and Frances Swift. He was a descendant of the Irish Fetherstonhaughs of Carrick House in County Westmeath. His father Francis immigrated to Canada around 1859, and resided in various towns in Ontario including Orillia, Guelph, and Paisley, until he settled in Toronto with his family.

Fetherstonhaugh attended the Ryerson School in his youth, where he excelled academically, eventually winning a scholarship to the Toronto Collegiate Institute for two years. He then attended the University of Toronto, taking courses at the School of Practical Science in Mechanical Engineering. Before finishing his diploma, however, he decided to pursue the study of law.

He married Marion Arabella Rutledge in February 1887 and had four children, though only the eldest—James Edward Marion (b. 1888)—survived into adulthood. Godfrey Orme (b. 1889) died of a cerebral hemorrhage after his nurse lost control of his baby carriage; Marion Vivian (b. 1890) died of "infantile convulsions" in 1892; and Frederic Harold (b. 1892) died on the eve of his fifth birthday when he was struck by a streetcar while crossing Spadina Ave in front of the family home near Harbord St. His eldest son James Edward Marion would later attain the rank of Major in the Canadian Army after serving in World War I and joined his father's patent business after the war as an engineering expert.