John Kinder Labatt (1803 – 26 October 1866) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

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 ...

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

and the founder of the

Labatt Brewing Company Labatt Brewing Company Limited (french: La Brasserie Labatt Limitée) is a Belgian-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada. In 1995, it was purchased by Belgian brewer Int ...

Life and career

He was born in Queen's County (now

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

), Ireland, to Valentine Knightley Chetwode Labat (1761–1813), an Irish-Huguenot, and Jane Harper Labat. Little is known of his early years. Labatt immigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in the 1830s and initially established himself as a farmer near

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

. In 1847, he invested in a brewery with a partner, Samuel Eccles, launching "Labatt and Eccles". When Eccles retired in 1854, Labatt acquired his interest and renamed the firm the "London Brewery". He was assisted by his sons Ephraim, Robert and John. In 1849, Labatt started a new venture along with several other London businessmen including Thomas Carline called the Proof Line Road Joint Stock Company. The company built a road that linked London and the northern hinterlands. Upon completion, the road had three tollgates. Beyond the brewery, Labatt was a town councillor for Saint David's Ward from 1850 to 1851 and a founding member of the London Board of Trade (which is now The London Chamber of Commerce), as well as the founder of the

London and Port Stanley Railway The London and Port Stanley Railway (L&PS or L&PSR) was a Canadian railway located in southwestern Ontario. It linked the city of London with Port Stanley on the northern shore of Lake Erie, a distance of approximately . History The L&PS was on ...

. Upon his death, his son

John Labatt John Labatt (11 December 1838 – 27 April 1915) was a Canadian businessman and brewer. Labatt took charge of Labatt Brewing Company, formally known as Labatt and Company, after his father's death in 1866. Labatt helped Labatt Brewing Company ev ...

purchased the brewery, which grew to become one of the largest in Canada.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

1803 births 1866 deaths Pre-Confederation Canadian businesspeople Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario People from County Laois Businesspeople from London, Ontario Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Canadian company founders Canadian farmers Labatt Brewing Company Immigrants to Upper Canada {{canada-business-bio-stub

Life and career

See also

References

External links