| Harry Markland Molson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
9 August 1856 Montreal, Canada |
| Died |
April 15, 1912 (aged 55) RMS Titanic, Atlantic Ocean |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | Politician and Entrepreneur |
| Known for | RMS Titanic sinking |
Harry Markland Molson was a Canadian politician and entrepreneur. Former Mayor of Dorval, Quebec; Governor of Montreal General Hospital, and on the board of directors for the Molson Bank. as well as a victim of Titanic sinking, April 15, 1912.[1]
Born on August 9, 1856, as the son of William Markland Molson and Helen Augusta Converse1919), at Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His grandfather, John Molson, who arrived in Montreal in 1782, had established his famous brewery, the Molson Brewery, on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in 1786. He would later found one of the first Canadian shipping companies and, by 1817, owned a fleet of five steamships that he had produced in his own shipyard.John Molson also excelled in the banking world.
Harry Markland Molson studied in Montreal, of course, but equally in Germany and Paris.between 1873 and 1877.He did not belong to the most influential branch of the Molson family and had inherited his fortune unexpectedly when one of his uncles, John Henry Robinson Molson, unexpectedly decided to bequeath him his entire fortune. At the same time, he inherited the position of director of the board of directors of Molson Bank.
He was a director of the Canadian Transfer Corporation and held a high position in the oldest Masonic lodge at Saint-Paul, number 374. He was a city councillor for Dorval(on the outskirts in those days, but today merged with Montreal). He was also commodore of the Royal Yacht Club of St. Lawrence and governor of the Montreal General Hospital.
Although Harry Molson was not a prominent member of the influential branch of the Molson family, he serendipitously inherited his fortune from his childless uncle, John Henry Robinson Molson (1826–1897), who was former owner of Molson Brewery and President of Molson Bank, founded in 1889.
He lived at No. 2, Edgehill Avenue, Westmount and had another residence in Dorval. He frequented the Mont-Royal club, the Saint-James club, the Royal Montreal golf club, the Montreal Jockey, the Montreal hunting club and the Saint-George Society. He had a reputation as a playboy and hedonist.
He himself owned the Alcyone, a 75-foot, 40-ton yacht. Modern for its time, it had 26 electric lights. He had made the Maiden Voyage of this yacht with his cousin Alexander Morris and the latter's wife, Florence Nightingale Morris. Their biographer states that they formed a love trio. This became public knowledge.
He had survived other inccidents involving sinking ships; in 1899 he managed to escape the wreck of the Scotsman by swimming in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.Four years later, in 1904, he swam to shore when his ship, the Canada, collided with a saithe near the Sorel Islands in the St. Lawrence River. According to the Montreal Herald, he had just enough time to put on pants and a shirt and then jump out of the window of the cabin he occupied. Returning to the waters in a rescue boat, he would have participated in the collection of several more passengers.
In February 1912, called to cross the Atlantic for his business in England, he was careful to change his will in favor of Florence Nightingale Morris, to whom he bequeathed his Westmount home as well as $ 30,000 (approximately $ 800,000 today). He booked his return ticket on the Tunisian in late March 1912. Major Arthur Peuchen, who ran one of the companies, convinced him to extend his stay in England, and so he exchanged his ticket for another on the publicized Titanic — a decision that would be fatal. He shelled £30 and £10 shillings and occupied cabin C-30.
On the night of April 14-15, 1912, witnesses claim to have seen him on the upper deck taking off his shoes, planning to swim to the light of a ship he claimed to have seen from the port bow, and which according to all indications would be the SS Californian detained in an ice field, without coming to the aid of the 2,209 passengers of the condemned White Star Line liner.
His body was not found, or if it was, he could not be identified and was most likely lost to the sea.
External links[]
- ↑ "Montrealers on the Titanic". Rootsweb Website. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~qcmtl-w/titanic.html. Retrieved August 22, 2011.