Sir James Woods
KBE
KBE may refer to:
* Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters
* Knowledge-based engineering
Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...
(1855 – April 25, 1941) was a Canadian industrialist and philanthropist who was
knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
in 1915 for wartime industrial work and named
knight commander of the
Order of the British Empire in 1917 for his work as a member of the
British War Commission in New York.
In 1928, he was vice-president of
Imperial Bank of Canada.
He was president of
York Knitting Mills Ltd. and of
Gordon Mackay and Company Ltd., a wholesale
dry goods company. Archives of Gordon Mackay are held by Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario.
In 1930, he proposed a merger of knitting mill companies including
Zimmerknit and Gordon Mackay.
Philanthropy
In 1912, he founded
St. Christopher House, a
settlement house in Toronto now known as West Community House. Later, he was vice-chairman of the
Health League of Canada.
Activism
He helped establish the "Forty to Fifty Club", which was intended to help men in this age group find appropriate work.
In 1938, he published a pamphlet titled ''Insurance of Employment''.
Personal life
Woods married Euphemia Douglas on 8 June 1880. Their son, Captain John Robinson Woods, was
killed in action on 24 October 1917 during the
Third Battle of Ypres, also known as Passchendaele. Another son, Captain William Blakeney Woods, also served.
[Library and Archives Canada, Personnel Records of the First World War, Captain William Blakeney Woods, RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 10566 - 33.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, James
1855 births
1941 deaths
Canadian chief executives
People from Woodstock, Ontario
Canadian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire