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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1975-06-26, Page 72•fev...reoefooeeepsofeims000eofee4v, , . • Congratulations - to the people of SEAFORTH ST. PATRICK'S' DAY AT CARDNO'S HALL —. This group performed on stage in Cardno's Hail quite some years ago, in a St. Patrick's Day show. Front, left are Ella .and Mabel Turnbull. Behind them, from left, are Bessie McMichael, Marie Martin, Margaret Williams, Fred Faulkner, Count De Lacey, Joe Sills, Beth Willis, Norma Hartry and mrs.D0 Lacey. • on the 100th anniversary of the forming of your town. It has been a pleasure working ,with you JACK RIDDELL MPP , HURON READ and USE EXPOSITOR CLASSIFIED Canada Company director named 4 (Continued from Page 29) had invested. When the Company wound up its affairs in 1953, after more than a century and a quarter of existence, it had only five shareholders left, the minimum . number allowable under the law. Its assets, apart •from land in Canada which reverted to the Crown for non-payment of taxes, were five pounds ten shillings. Each of the four surviving male shareholders was awarded one pound each while the other shareholder, a spinster, got one pound ten shillings. After helping to get the Canada Company started and remaining on its Board of Directors for several. years, Tuckersmith devoted much of his business skills to the East India Company. In addition, he was member of parliament for High. Wycombe for 21 years (1847-68). He did not,. however, take an active part in debates, never speaking more than three times a session and sometimes not at all. But on April 20,•1855, he took the government of the day to task for explaining,in the morning how prosperous the nation was and then increasing taxes in The afternoon., He was a supporter of Gladstone and a Whig or Liberal. The Times Tuckersmith died at St. Leonards:nn-Sea on October 12, 1880, aged 77. His obituary in The Times makes no reference to the Canada Company. During Tuckersmith's lifetime, the firm of Smith, Payne & Smiths hit the headlines only once. For several years in the mid-1850's, by far the best selling books in. London were Thomas Babington Macaulay's volumes on The History of England. In 1856 . his royalties for a few month's saki came to 20,000 pounds, nearly $100,000 at the prevailing par of exchange and perhaps a million dollars at present-day purchasing power. No author and few other individuals up to this time had ever received such a large sum by a single cheque. Two hanks, Smiths and Williams, Deacon's (now Williams & Glyn's) had to cooperate . in handling the big transaction, Both were connected With the Canada Company, the Williams name being borne by a township (since divided in two) in 1. Congratulations TO THE Sea, forth Community on Or? Century of Progr ss and Growth. McGAVI 'S FARM EQUIPMENT S LES & SERVICE Phone 527-0245 Walton, Ont. THE HURON EXPOSITOR, JUNE 26, 1975 —31 North Middlesex. Tuckersmith and his wife had two daughters and three sons, one of .whom died as a youth. - Their younger. son Sir Gerald (1839-1920) was, like his father, M.P. for High Wycombe (1883-5) and then became Governor of the colony of Western Australia (1895-1900). While there he laid the cornerstone of the legislative building in Perth using a mallet and a gold trowel now on display at Smiths' Bank in London. Tuckersmiths' elder son was Martin Ridley-Smith (1832-1908). He was one of the incorporators of the Bank of British Columbia in 1862. It made exceptionally high profits during the gold rushes in that coleny but by the end of the century it was handicapped by a number of factors. These included a lengthy business depression, intense competition from other Canadian banks, and the fact that every matter of importance had to be refered to the Board of Directors in London. This took time and, in addition, the London group was overly conservative in its policies. Consequently in 1901 the Bank of British Columbia , though still solvent, was absorbed by the Canadian Bank of Commerce. Of Value By its purchase the Toronto- based institution acquired three things of value: an excellent foundation for expanding its operations in Canada's Pacific province; an agency in California; and the head office of the Bank of British Columbia in London, England. The name on the building was quickly changed and perhaps a new building was. erected. 'At any rate two bank buildings, Smiths and the Commerce, connected with Martin Tuckersmith and his son, Martin Ridley-Smith, today stand side by side on LoMbard Street. One of Tuckersmith's uncles was Robert Smith (1752-1838) who was for many years the senior partner of the family banking firm in London. Elected to Parliament in 1774, he quickly hitched his wagon to the star -of William Pitt the Younger. It is recorded that "while his character was above reproach and his fortune ample, he possessed no Parliamentary talents." He (Continued on Page 32)