William Gamble (5 August 1805 – 20 March 1881) was a Canadian businessman and pioneer. He was the son of the politician John Gamble and brother of John William Gamble, and was born in Kingston,

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 ...

. He started a store in Toronto before becoming a

miller A miller is a person who operates a Gristmill, mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Mill (grinding), Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surname ...

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

. His business interests expanded to include a hotel, a

distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

and shipping to transport his flour, as well as local crops, to Toronto. After 1835 he also became involved in developing

Mimico Mimico is a neighbourhood (and a former municipality) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, being located in the south-west area of Toronto on Lake Ontario. It is in the south-east corner of the former Township (and later, City) of Etobicoke, and was an in ...

and given right to King's Mill. He was active in building new roads and bridges, opening up territory for development.

Flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

damage by the Humber River in 1850, and the repeal of the British

Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They were ...

in 1849 (bringing a dramatic fall in the price of his flour) caused his milling business to collapse, but his reputation as a business leader endured and he was active in the foundation of the

Bank of Toronto The Bank of Toronto was a Canadian bank that was founded in 1855 by a group of grain dealers and flour millers. On February 1, 1955, it merged with The Dominion Bank to form the Toronto-Dominion Bank, which is now known as the present-day TD Bank ...

in 1855. The last remnants of his milling business fell out of his hands in 1862 when his

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...

was foreclosed, leaving him on the cusp of bankruptcy. He also served on the York Board of Health (appointed 1833), as a

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

of the

Bank of Upper Canada The Bank of Upper Canada was established in 1821 under a charter granted by the legislature of Upper Canada in 1819 to a group of Kingston merchants. The charter was appropriated by the more influential Executive Councillors to the Lt. Governor, t ...

(appointed 1829 – ironically it was this bank that foreclosed his mortgage in 1862) and the British America Fire and Life Assurance Company (appointed 1834), as a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

(from 1842), and as the

warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically identic ...

o
St George’s-on-the-Hill
an

Anglican church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

for which he donated the land in 1846, in two spells, from 1846 to 1848 and from 1851 to 1852.

Marriage

He married Elizabeth Bowles Brenchley on 10 December 1833. In 1838, they had a daughter, Janice. Gamble died in Toronto on 20 March 1881. He is a member of the

Etobicoke Hall of Fame Etobicoke Hall of Fame is a civic hall of fame in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It began as a project of Etobicoke, a borough of Metropolitan Toronto. Etobicoke is now part of the larger city of Toronto. The project has been continued by the City of Tor ...

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamble, William 1805 births 1881 deaths Canadian Anglicans Pre-Confederation Canadian businesspeople People from York, Upper Canada Mayors of Etobicoke