Sir Edward Mackay Edgar, 1st Baronet (27 February 1876 – 7 October 1934) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

- British banker. Mackay Edgar was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and educated at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

. He became a member of the Montreal Stock Exchange. In 1907 he went to Britain on business and stayed, joining Sperling & Co Ltd, merchant bankers, of

Moorgate Street Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, bu ...

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, in 1908 and later becoming a senior partner. In 1917, he became chairman of British Controlled Oilfields Ltd, remaining in the post until 1925. He was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in the

1920 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1920 were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. They were published on 1 January 1920 and 30 March 1920 (referred to as the 1920 civil ...

, largely due to his services to British-Canadian trade. His financial affairs ran into trouble in 1925 and he went into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...

, although this was rescinded the following year. He left Sperlings at this time and organised his own company, E. Mackay Edgar Ltd, with offices in London, Montreal and

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. This ended when he retired due to ill-health, but in 1928 he returned with a new company, Beeston's Trust Ltd, which folded during the Depression and in 1931 he again went into receivership. Mackay Edgar was also a notable figure in powerboat racing, owning a number of winning boats. He won the

Harmsworth Trophy The Harmsworth Cup, popularly known as the Harmsworth Trophy, is a historically important British international trophy for motorboats. History The Harmsworth was the first annual international award for motorboat racing. Officially, it is a cont ...

for two consecutive years (1912 and 1913) with his boat ''Maple Leaf IV''. Mackay Edgar's only son, John, was killed in a car accident in July 1925 and the baronetcy therefore became extinct upon his death. Mackay Edgar and his wife, Ethel Beatrice (née Pinder), a fellow native of Montreal whom he married in 1902, are buried in the cemetery in

Chalfont St Peter Chalfont St Peter is a large village and civil parish in southeastern Buckinghamshire, England. It is in a group of villages called The Chalfonts which also includes Chalfont St Giles and Little Chalfont. The villages lie between High Wycombe a ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

Footnotes

References

*Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 9 October 1934 *Sébastien Faurès Fustel de Coulanges, "Paths of glory: The Maple Leaf legacy", The Automobile, March 2015. 1876 births 1934 deaths People from Montreal McGill University alumni Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Stockbrokers Canadian bankers British bankers Canadian baronets recommended by the British government Canadian emigrants to England {{UK-business-bio-stub