Hilary Mary Weston ( Frayne; born January 12, 1942) is an Irish–Canadian businesswoman and writer who served as the 26th

Lieutenant Governor of Ontario The lieutenant governor of Ontario (, in French: ''Lieutenant-gouverneur'' (if male) or ''Lieutenante-gouverneure'' (if female) ''de l'Ontario'') is the viceregal representative in Ontario of the , who operates distinctly within the province bu ...

from 1997 to 2002. During her five-year tenure, Weston focused on issues related to women, volunteerism and young people, drawing public attention to people working with the homeless, in hospices and as mentors to at-risk youth.

Life and career

Born and raised in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland, she worked as a model before marrying

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 ...

in 1966. They moved to Toronto in 1974, and she became a Canadian citizen. They have two married children, Alannah and Galen Jr., and five grandchildren – two girls and a boy with Alannah and her husband Alex Cochrane (an interior architect), and two boys with Galen and his wife Alexandra. Prior to her appointment as Lieutenant Governor, Weston spent over two decades working in business and the fashion industry. As deputy chair of

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 ...

, she promoted Canadian design and merchandise. During the same period, she also served as a director of Brown Thomas & Co. in Ireland, co-founded Torwest in the United States, and served as vice-chair and design director of the Windsor Club at the

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

gated community in

Vero Beach, Florida Vero Beach is a city in and the seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. Vero Beach is the second most populous city in Indian River County. Abundant in beaches and wildlife, Vero Beach is located on Florida's Treasure Coast. It is thi ...

. In 1979, Weston founded the Ireland Fund of Canada, a non-partisan, non-denominational organization that funds community projects in Ireland to promote peace. She continues to serve as an honorary patron of the organization. An interest in

early childhood education Early childhood education (ECE), also known as nursery education, is a branch of education theory that relates to the teaching of children (formally and informally) from birth up to the age of eight. Traditionally, this is up to the equival ...

led Weston to serve as founding chair of the Mabin School in Toronto. She also co-founded and chaired the Canadian Environment Educational Foundation, and she established the Winter Garden Show at the

Royal Agricultural Winter Fair The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair (RAWF), also known as The Royal, is an annual agricultural fair that is held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada during the first two weeks of November. It was inaugurated in 1922 in the Coliseum, on the grounds of Exhi ...

. Weston has explored her longstanding interest in homes and gardens as co-author of two best-selling books, ''In a Canadian Garden'' (1989) and ''At Home in Canada'' (1995). After her term as Lieutenant Governor, Weston spearheaded the most successful fundraising campaign in Canadian cultural history, which raised more than $250 million for the Royal Ontario Museum. She is patron of several organizations dealing with social issues, such as the Abbeyfield House Society, the Hospice Association of Ontario, the

Landmine Survivors Network Survivor Corps, formerly known as the Landmine Survivors Network, was a global network of survivors helping survivors to recover from war, rebuild their communities, and break cycles of violence. The organization currently operated programs in Alb ...

(later known as Survivor Corps), the Ontario March of Dimes, the Prince's Trust Canada and the Yonge Street Mission. Weston also devotes a significant proportion of her time, as well as her business and fashion expertise, to

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 Selfridg ...

, the London department store of which she is a director.

Honours

As Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Weston received the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario () is the most prestigious official Award, honour in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the A ...

in 1997, and she served as chancellor of the order during her term in office. She was also invested as a Dame of Justice in the Venerable Order of St. John in 1997. Weston was appointed as a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

in 2003. She received the Canadian version of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 and the Canadian version of the

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

in 2012. In the

2015 Birthday Honours The 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...

, she was made a Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

. Ten post-secondary institutions have recognized Weston with honorary degrees, including the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames R ...

University of St. Michael's College St Michael's College, officially the University of St. Michael's College, is a constituent college of the University of Toronto. It was founded in 1852 by the Congregation of St. Basil and retains its Catholic affiliation through its postgraduat ...

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

Massey College Massey College is a graduate residential college at the University of Toronto that was established, built and partially endowed in 1962 by the Massey Foundation and officially opened in 1963, though women were not admitted until 1974. It was mo ...

, Trinity College, Dublin and

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

In 2009, Weston received the President's Award at the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

Toronto ''Women of Distinction Awards'', for modeling leadership in public and private life.

Ribbon bars

UK Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal ribbon

Arms

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weston, Hilary 1942 births 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people People from Sandymount Living people Lieutenant Governors of Ontario Members of the Order of Canada Irish emigrants to Canada Hilary Canadian billionaires Canadian philanthropists Irish billionaires Canadian non-fiction writers Canadian women non-fiction writers Canadian women in business Businesspeople from Ontario Irish expatriates in Canada Women in Ontario politics Canadian women viceroys Canadian Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order