Thomas Rennie (1868-1952) 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 ...

businessman and politician. Rennie and his two brothers took over the operation of his father's successful seed business when William Rennie retired in 1889. Rennie became chair of the firm in 1925, following the retirement of his older brother,

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

. Rennie would later become a director of the Canadian Seed Trade Association. He was appointed a member of the powerful

Toronto Harbour Commission The Toronto Harbour Commission (THC) was a joint federal-municipal government agency based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The agency managed Toronto Harbour as well as being responsible for major works along the Toronto waterfront. It built both ...

serving as its chair for many years. Popular historian

Mike Filey Mike Filey (October 11, 1941 – July 30, 2022) was a Canadian historian, radio host, journalist and author. He was awarded the Jean Hibbert Memorial Award in 2009 for promoting the city of Toronto and its history. Early life Born in 1941 in ...

wrote that he was appointed in 1930, was promoted to chair in 1936, and served a total of seventeen years. John McCutcheon, of

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campuses ...

, wrote that he was appointed in 1921, was promoted to chair in 1938, and served a total of twenty-six years. In 1951 the Commission recognized Rennie's contribution by naming its most recent ferry after him. Rennie's daughter, his only child, christened the vessel. In 1946 Rennie and his older brother Robert filed objections when Jaroslav Racek filed a request to change his name to Gilbert Rennie. Racek was a naturalized Canadian of

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

descent, who had lived in Canada for twenty-one years. McCutcheon suggested their objections were motivated by bigotry. :

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rennie, Thomas People from Markham, Ontario 1868 births 1952 deaths