John Molson

John Molson (December 28, 1763 – January 11, 1836) was an Anglo-Quebecer who was a major brewer and entrepreneur in Canada, starting the Molson Brewing Company.

Born in England, he emigrated to Canada as a young man and in 1821 built Lower Canada's first distillery. He also established the Champlain and Saint Lawrence Railroad, the first railway into Canada, and introduced steam power into Montreal industry.

John Molson was a member of the Unitarian Church.

Among John Molson's many contributions to Montreal, in 1825 he paid for the construction of the Royal Theatre on rue Saint-Paul that provided musical and theatrical entertainment similar to the music halls of France and England.

On November 4, 1986, the government of Canada honored him with his image on a postage stamp.

Effective January 2001, the faculty of Commerce and Administration at Montreal's Concordia University was renamed to the John Molson School of Business.

His son William Molson founded Molsons Bank.

John Molson is interred in the Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal, Quebec.

Sean Coleman

Birth and Early Life

Since the conquest in 1760 many British men have put their label on Montreal but none more than John Molson and his descendents. In 1763 John Molson was born in the small town of Lincolnshire, England. In 1770 John Molson’s father died and shortly after, in 1772, his mother died , leaving John’s grandfather, Samuel Elsdale to be his legal guardian. In 1774 John’s grandfather remarried and became the guardian of 5 children. Finding this responsibility a tirering one, most likely due to his old age, John’s grandfather sent him away to boarding school. Although John disliked his grandfather, who held on to his conservative beliefs during the Industrial Revolution, a time when many changes were underway, Elsdale was a big help to John. He made sure John received a proper education and gave him the land on which he lived for inheritance, which was called ‘Snake Hill’.

Immigration to Canada

It was his dislike for his grandfather and his belief that he could not advance in Lincolnshire that made John immigrate to Canada in 1782. In 1782 John made the long and unpleasant journey to Montreal. Not long after John became a partner with Thomas Lloyd, a man who had emigrated from Lincolnshire not long before John did. Together they built a brewery in the St. Mary’s suburbs. After the first season of brewing, which had been a disaster; Thomas Lloyd became disinterested in the brewing industry and offered Molson total control of the brewery in return for ownership of the lands where they farmed the barley. Molson accepted this offer but knowing he would need more money in order to improve his business, Molson returned to England to sell Snake Hill. In 1785 Molson returned to England on the belief he would only stay for 8 weeks. When he returned Molson was locked in conflict with his grandfather who was against the idea of Molson selling the land. It took a full year for Molson to succeed in selling the land but the year was not a total waste.

Career as Brewer

It was during that year that Molson picked up the book "Theoretic Hints on an Improved Practice in Brewing" by John Richardson. Molson returned to Canada with more money, a new mindset and during a time when many of the British Loyalists from the United States were immigrating to Canada. The new influx of Englishmen increased demand for beer. Molson worked harder then ever, staying up long into the night and hired two workers. Molson hired an apprentice, Christopher Cook and a loyalist house-maid who had fled from the United States, Sarah Vaughn. He soon became very close with Sarah and the two later got married. Soon Molson’s beer was in such demand that according to one of his diary entries "Cannot serve half my customers and they are increasing every day." One of the big reasons for this was the cross-class liking of this beer. Beer had class distinctions, where the high British officers imported London porters and the normal merchants preferred Bristol. Yet Molson’s beer was special as it was ‘universally liked’ (a quote from Molson’s diary). Molson soon began attending church. It was here that he met many influential and wealthy businessmen like James McGill, a rich fur trader; Joseph Forbisher, founder of the North West Company; and Alexander Mackenzie.

Career Success and Marriage

Between 1788- 1800 Molson’s business grew quickly and developed into one of the larger ones in Lower Canada. It was between these years that Molson and Sarah Vaughn, his wife, had 4 children. They were named John Molson Junior, Thomas Molson (who died shortly after birth), Thomas Molson and William Molson.

By the start of the 19th century Molson’s small brewery had grown tenfold. Molson now was racking in the profits and had the money to improve his business by buying new technology. Molson toyed with the idea of buying a steamship after seeing Fulton’s Vermont go down the Hudson. Molson’s steamship would be the first in Canada. Molson teamed up with John Jackson and John Bruce who would build the ship for Molson in return for putting up the money and part ownership. The whole ship was built in Saint-Morice and in 1809 the Accommodation was the first steamship to ride on the waters of the St. Lawrence. This was a great feat for Molson but from a business view, Molson lost a lot of money. Molson was determined to make money on his ships so he dismantled the Accommodation and purchased two steamship engines from England. Molson combined the two engines and the remains of the Accommodation to create the Swiftsure, a magnificent boat that was seen as a vision of elegance. During this time Molson’s business continued to grow and the War of 1812 only pushed sales even higher. The Swifsure was leased to the British army and brought in a supplemental income. In 1815 Molson was voted by the people to represent Montreal East with the platform of building a wharf.

As Molson became more occupied by his multiple businesses and his seat in the assembly his three son’s began to take a much larger role in the companies. John Junior managed the steam ships, Thomas was married in England and would frequently travel sending back tips and advice to his father, and William was in charge of the brewery. In 1816 Molson built Mansion House Hotel which coincided with the Assembly’s acceptance of the wharf. Molson’s hotel was only for the rich who could afford such treatment. The hotel offered Montreal’s first library, boats rides on the river, well furnished rooms and 6 course dinners, which were famous throughout all of Montreal. In 1817 John Richardson, George Moffat and Horatio Gates joined together to create the "Montreal Bank." The three offered Molson partnership in it but Molson refused for the backers of this project had just come off of multiple failed banks in the United States and Molson felt it was a risky investment. Molson changed his mind not long after and the bank became fully Canadian owned when the U.S partners sold their shares after the U.S financial crisis in the fall of 1818.

By 1822 the Montreal Bank had received a charter from Britain and chose to change their name to ‘The Bank of Montreal.’ In 1819 Molson had a short bout of sickness. It was during this time that Molson noticed the only hospital in the city, Hotel Dieu, only held 30 beds. Molson proposed to the assembly that a new hospital be established would contain 200 beds. As good of an idea Molson thought it was, the assembly disagreed with him and denied his request. Although the assembly denied his request there was much private support and soon donations came pouring in. By May the new hospital, the Montreal General Hospital, was opened on Craig Street (now St. Antoine). A crisis almost struck the Molson’s in 1821 when the Mansion House Hotel caught fire. Luckily the books from the library were saved but not much more was salvageable. Molson was undaunted by this and had ideas to build an even grander hotel, a true testament to his character. While John Jr. and William took care of the businesses within Canada, Thomas was busy working in England. Thomas brought over 237 gallons of beer to London, England. The response was encouraging and Thomas brought another 1385 gallons on his next trip. Molson has his first international market.

By 1825 Molson’s hotel was completely rebuilt. It was renamed the British American Hotel. After the hotel was completed Molson decided to build a theatre adjacent to it. By November, Molson’s Theatre Royal was completed. This theatre was the first one in Montreal. Never resting Molson continued to build his empire by purchasing multiple steamships and created the St. Lawrence Steamboat Company. This fleet of ships was so big that it outnumbered all of those operating in the United States. In 1826 Molson decided to run against a young Louis-Joseph Papineau. He resigned quickly after discovering the amount of support Papineau had from the French and from the Irish.

On March 18, 1829 Sarah Vaughn, John Molson’s wife, died. She died after acquiring rheumatism and using the only known cure, laudanum. Sarah’s became addicted to this opium-based painkiller and died from the effects. Molson sold the house they lived together in and moved on with his life. His four year term as President of the Bank of Montreal ended and Molson did not run for a second. Even at the age of 67 Molson did not contemplate retirement for one of his biggest project laid just ahead.

Since 1825 Molson had followed the newspapers reporting the progress of a 12 mile railroad in England. Molson told the head of this project, Jason Pierce that he was interested. Pierce did not forget about Molson’s interest and in 1832 Molson’s request for a railroad was accepted by the Assembly. The railroad essentially connected the St. Lawrence to the Hudson River. This made the trip from Montreal to New York much quicker. This railroad was the first one ever constructed in Canada.

After his multiple successful proposals John Molson was appointed to the Legislative Council in Lower Canada. He was considered part of the ‘Chateau Clique’ as he was a rich English businessmen. The people were losing their faith in the English businessmen like Molson and were turning to men like Papineau and Robert Nelson, both members of the Patriotes. Unfortunately the Cholera epidemic struck Canada in 1832 and 1834 causing the railroad project to lose much of its momentum. Many businesses closed in Montreal but the Molson’s continued work as usual. In 1833 Molson’s hotel burnt down, again. This time though, Molson decided not to rebuild it.

After the second Cholera epidemic, when things returned to normal, John Molson’s railroad project began to gain speed. Unfortunately Molson never lived long enough to see his last dream realized. Molson picked up a high fever in the December of 1835. Molson wrote a will on January 10, 1836 and died later in the day. In his will Molson named John Jr., Thomas Molson, William Molson, George Moffat and Peter McGill executors.

and Legacy

After his death the Molson family business continued to grow on prosper. In 1850 William Molson created the Molson Bank. It was a powerful bank that later merged with the Royal Bank of Montreal. Molson’s railroad was merged with the Grand Trunk railroad and then part of the Canadian National Railway. In 1986 John Molson was honored on a stamp and in 2001 Concordia University renamed its faculty of Commerce and Administration, the John Molson School of Business.

External links

Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online

John Molson | John Molson