James Austin Smith (son) Hugh Harvey Smith(son) Marcella Clara Smith (daughter) Frances Anastasia Smith (daughter) Gertrude Anne Smith (daughter)
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Minister Without Portfolio (1882–1891 &1892–1896) Minister of Public Works (1891–1892) Controller of Customs (Acting) (1896)
Sir Frank Smith,PC (March 13,1822 – January 17,1901) was a Canadian businessman and senator.[1] He was born in County Armagh in Ireland and in 1832 came to Canada with his family and his father established a farm in Etobicoke.
Smith went into commerce,first working as a clerk in several Toronto stores,and then opening his own wholesalers in London,Ontario in 1849. After a few years of limited business,the arrival of the railway in London set off an economic boom and Smith prospered greatly. He expanded his business interests,including becoming the primary shareholder in the Toronto Street Railways.
Smith made his fortune with the streetcar service generating record products by cutting costs,not replacing aged cars and requiring his employees to work 14-hour days,six days a week for $8 to $9 a week. When his workers threatened to join the Knights of Labor trade union he locked them out resulting in three days of violent protests. Mayor William Holmes Howland and the press supported the workers' right to organize but Smith refused to allow a union and criticized the city government for failing to maintain order.
In the end,Smith allowed limited pay increases but refused to allow a union and fired the organizers prompting a strike and the establishment of a rival,worker run "Free Bus Company" which was soon out of business when its fleet was destroyed by fire. Smith's actions alienated the Toronto working class,particularly Catholic workers among whom he hoped to build a political base. Smith sold his share of the TSR to the city in 1881 for $500,000.[2]
In politics,Smith was an advocate of the rights of Irish Catholics and lobbied for the appointment of Irish Catholics to patronage positions. In 1872,he lobbied Macdonald for the gradual release of Fenian raiders who had attempted military attacks on Canadian soil in order to promote Irish independence.
Sir Frank Smith and his wife Mary Teresa O'Higgins (1832–1896) had five children together:James Austin Smith,Hugh Harvey Smith,Marcella Clara Smith,Frances Anastasia Smith,and Gertrude Anne Smith.[3][1]
On 5 June 1888,Smith's son James Austin Smith married Mary "Minnie" Alice Ryan,daughter of Canadian railway magnate Hugh Ryan,at Our Lady of Lourdes,followed by a lavish ceremony in York,Ontario.[4][5][6]
On 12 October 1892,Smith's daughter Frances Anastasia Smith married Major Arthur B. Harrison of the 10th Royal Grenadiers in York,Ontario.[7][8]
↑ Champion, Thomas Edward (27 October 2022). History of the 10Th Royals and of the Royal Grenadiers: From the Formation of the Regiment Until 1896. Toronto, Canada: Legare Street Press, The Hunter Rose Company (published 1896). pp.90–104. ISBN978-1017596823.
1 The offices of Minister of Customs and Minister of Inland Revenue amalgamated and the office of Minister of Customs and Inland Revenue was created by Order in Council dated May 18, 1918.
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