The Weston family is a prominent family of businesspeople that was founded in Canada and eventually developed global business interests, primarily in the food and retail sectors. The family operations began with the purchase of a bakery in 1884 by American-born Canadian

George Weston George Weston (March 23, 1864 – April 6, 1924) was an American-born Canadian businessman and the founder of George Weston Limited. He became Toronto's biggest baker with Canada's largest bread factory. Weston began his career at the age of 12 a ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario. Over the course of subsequent decades, his descendants also established themselves in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States. Through

George Weston Limited George Weston Limited, often referred to as Weston or Weston's, is a Canadian food processing and distribution company. Founded by George Weston in 1882, the company today consists of Weston Foods, a wholly owned subsidiary, and Loblaw Companie ...

and various holding companies, the Canadian branch of the Weston family currently owns or controls over 200 companies, including the

Loblaws Loblaws Inc. is a Canadian supermarket chain with stores located in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. Headquartered in Brampton, Ontario, Loblaws is a subsidiary of Loblaw Companies Limited, C ...

supermarket chain and the

Shoppers Drug Mart Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. (named Pharmaprix in Quebec) is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,300 stores in nine provinces and two territories. The company was founded by pharmacist Murray Koffler in 1962 ...

pharmacy chain. Among their other businesses, members of this branch own or control several additional retailers, including

Holt Renfrew Holt, Renfrew & Co., Limited (doing business as Holt Renfrew and known colloquially as Holt's) is a Canadian luxury department store chain founded in 1837 by William S. Henderson. It has been owned by the Weston family since 1986, and was previo ...

in Canada. They previously owned other upscale

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

s in the Selfridges Group, including

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge ...

in the UK,

Brown Thomas Brown Thomas & Company Limited is a chain of five Irish department stores, located in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Dundrum Town Centre. Part of the Selfridges Group, Brown Thomas is an upmarket chain, akin to Britain's Selfridges stores ...

and

Arnotts Arnotts can refer to; * Arnott's Biscuits, an Australian biscuit and salted snack food company * Arnotts (Ireland), a department store in Dublin, Ireland * Arnotts (Scotland) Arnotts was a department store in Glasgow, Scotland. It became part o ...

in Ireland, and

De Bijenkorf De Bijenkorf (; literally, "the beehive") is a chain of high-end department stores in the Netherlands, with its flagship store on Dam Square in Amsterdam. The chain is owned by Selfridges Group, which also owns Britain's Selfridges and Ireland's B ...

in the Netherlands. The main holding company of the British branch of the family is

Wittington Investments Wittington Investments Limited is a privately owned British holding company. It was incorporated in 1941 and is based in London, England. The company is 79.2% owned by the Garfield Weston Foundation, one of the United Kingdom's largest grant-ma ...

. 79.2% of this company belongs to a British charitable trust called the

Garfield Weston Foundation The Garfield Weston Foundation is a grant-giving charity based in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1958 by Canadian businessman W. Garfield Weston (1898–1978), who during his lifetime contributed to numerous humanitarian causes, both ...

, with the balance owned by various family members. Wittington Investments owns a majority stake in

Associated British Foods Associated British Foods plc (ABF) is a British multinational food processing and retailing company headquartered in London, England. Its ingredients division is the world's second-largest producer of both sugar and baker's yeast and a major pr ...

(which itself owns the discount clothing chain

Primark Primark Stores Limited (; trading as Penneys in the Republic of Ireland) is an Irish multinational fast fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. It has stores across Europe and in the United States. The Penneys brand is not u ...

), and 100% of British retailers

Fortnum & Mason Fortnum & Mason (colloquially often shortened to just Fortnum's) is an upmarket department store in Piccadilly, London, with additional stores at The Royal Exchange, St Pancras railway station, Heathrow Airport in London and K11 Musea In Hong ...

and

Heal's Heal's ("Heal and Son Ltd") is a British furniture retail company comprising seven stores, selling a range of furniture, lighting and home accessories. For over two centuries, it has been known for promoting modern design and employing ta ...

. In 2021, ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' named the Weston family among the most charitable people over the past 20 years, with donations of £1.661 billion.

Wealth

In 2018, the Westons were named Ireland's richest family for the tenth year running, with a wealth of €11.42 billion. In the ''

Sunday Times Rich List 2020 The ''Sunday Times Rich List 2020'' is the 32nd annual survey of the wealthiest people resident in the United Kingdom, published by ''The Sunday Times (UK), The Sunday Times'' on 17 May 2020. The List was edited by Robert Watts who succeeded long ...

'' ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK, "Guy Weston, Galen Weston Jr., George G. Weston and family" placed 8th in the list, with an estimated family fortune of £10.53 billion.

Family members

(1864–1924), married Emma Maud Richards; six children (of whom two sons and two daughters survived childhood), including: ** W. Garfield Weston (1898–1978), married Reta Lila Howard (1897–1967); nine children: ***Miriam Louise Weston (1922–2008), married Charles Ryland Burnett Jr. (1918–2004); one child: ****Charles Ryland Burnett III (1956–2018) ***George Grainger Weston (1923–2023), married the Hon. Caroline Cecily Douglas-Scott-Montagu (1925–2017), daughter of

John Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu John Walter Edward Montagu-Scott, 2nd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu (10 June 1866 – 30 March 1929), was a British Conservative politician, soldier and promoter of motoring. He is the father of Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of B ...

; five children ****Galvin Weston ****Sarah Weston ****Gregg Weston ****Glenn Weston ****Graham Weston ***Barbara Elizabeth Weston (1926–2001), married Dr. Robert Ian Mitchell (1927–2002); six children: ****Garfield Mitchell, two children ****Eliza Mitchell ****Mark W. Mitchell **** Emma Susan Mitchell, married Charles Adamo ****Sarah Mitchell, married Eric Siebert ****Serena Mitchell, mother of 1 child ***

Garry Weston Garfield Howard "Garry" Weston CBE (April 28, 1927 – February 15, 2002) was a Canadian businessman who was active in the United Kingdom. Early life Born in Toronto, Ontario, he was the son of Reta (née Howard) and W. Garfield Weston, owner ...

(1927–2002), married Mary Kippenberger, daughter of Major General Sir Howard Kippenberger; six children: **** Sir Guy Weston (born 1960) ****

Jana Khayat Jana Ruth Khayat (born August 1961) is a British heiress and businesswoman. She serves on the board of the department store Fortnum & Mason. Early life and education She was born Jana Ruth Weston in August 1961, the second child of Garry Weston, ...

(born 1961) ****

Kate Hobhouse Kate Hobhouse (née Weston) is a British heiress, businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the chairman of Fortnum & Mason, a luxury department store owned by her family and located on Piccadilly in Mayfair, London. Early life Kate Hobhouse is th ...

(born 1962) ****

George G. Weston George Garfield Weston (born 4 March 1964) is a British businessman, and chief executive (CEO) of Associated British Foods. Early life and family background George G. Weston was born on 4 March 1964 in the United Kingdom. He is the son of Garry ...

(born 1964) ****Sophia Mason (born 1966) ****Garth Weston (born 1969), ***Nancy Weston, married Stanley Baron ***Wendy Weston (born 1931), married Leslie Rebanks ****Tamara Rebanks, married James Appleyard ****Claudia Rebanks, married Graeme C. Hepburn ***Gretchen Weston (born 1934), married Humberto Bauta ***Camilla Weston (born 1937), married Peter Dalglish; three children: ****Kim Dalglish, married Martin Abell ****Geordie Dalglish, married Swith Bell ****Genevieve Dalglish (1970–2017) ***

Galen Weston Willard Gordon Galen Weston (October 29, 1940April 12, 2021) was a British-Canadian billionaire businessman and Chairman Emeritus of George Weston Limited, a Canadian food processing and distribution company. Weston and his family, with an esti ...

(1940–2021), married Hilary Frayne (born 1942); two children: ****

Alannah Weston Alannah Elizabeth Weston (born 8 January 1972) is the former chair of the Selfridges Group. Background Weston was born in Dublin, Ireland in January 1972. She is the elder child of billionaires Hilary Weston and Galen Weston. She has one sibl ...

(born 1972), married Alexander Cochrane, elder son of Sir Marc

Cochrane Cochrane may refer to: Places Australia *Cochrane railway station, Sydney, a railway station on the closed Ropes Creek railway line Canada * Cochrane, Alberta * Cochrane Lake, Alberta * Cochrane District, Ontario ** Cochrane, Ontario, a town wit ...

, 4th Baronet ****

Galen Weston Jr. Willard Galen Garfield Weston (born December 19, 1972), known as Galen Weston Jr. or Galen G. Weston, is an Irish-Canadian businessman and a member of the prominent Weston family. He serves as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Georg ...

(born 1972), married Alexandra Schmidt, granddaughter of Thomas J. Bata

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weston Family Canadian businesspeople Canadian business families British families

Wealth

Family members

See also

References