Thomas Clarkson (Upper Canada)

Thomas Clarkson
Born(1802-01-26)January 26, 1802
Susworth, parish of Scotter, Lincolnshire, England
DiedMay 4, 1874(1874-05-04) (aged 72)
Toronto, Ontario
Resting placeSt. James Cemetery, Toronto
Occupations
Known for
[1]
Board member of
Spouses
  • Elizabeth Farnham (d. 1829) 1821-1829
  • Carrie Brunskill m. 1834
  • Sarah Helliwell (d. 1878) m. 1844-1874
Children16

Thomas Clarkson, (c. January 26, 1802 – May 4, 1874), was an English Canadian merchant, banker, businessman, receiver, director, and associated with the Family Compact, although was noted for his desire to increase free trade relations with the United States whom he described as "Canada's most important traders and partners", even advocating for an ambassador be sent to D.C. to exert "some active, intelligent, and influential representation of the commercial interests of Canada near the controlling power of the United States" and reciprocity with the British West India Island.[2] He established the trustee and receivership business which would eventually become Clarkson Gordon in 1864 and was a founder, incorporator and first president of the Toronto Board of Trade, president of the Commercial Building and Investment Society,[3] director (alongside William Molson, John A. Macdonald, and James Morton) of the Beacon Fire and Life Insurance Co. of London, the Toronto for Unity Fire Association (of London) with Allan MacNab, Federick Jarvis, and Benjamin Cronyn,[4] and the Bank of Toronto where he additionally served as vice president in 1859.[5]

Thomas was a highly prominent early Toronto financier, described in a local paper following a June 1858 presentation of Handel's oratorio of Judas Maccabaeus in St Lawrence Hall, "as one of the distinguished patrons, which included such notables as Sir John Beverley Robinson and John A. Macdonald" [6]

  1. ^ "Biography – CLARKSON, THOMAS – Volume X (1871-1880) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography".
  2. ^ Report of the Board of Trade, annual meeting February 1856, Queen's University - University of Toronto Libraries, W.D. Jordan Special Collections and musical library F5012/1856 H4
  3. ^ 100 Years of Banking in Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank, p 2
  4. ^ Mights' Greater Toronto City Directory (1856) page 159,
  5. ^ 100 Years of Banking in Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank, p 17
  6. ^ "Little, "The Clarkson Gordon Story 1964", pg 7