Adam Beck
Encyclopedia
Sir Adam Beck was a politician and hydroelectricity
advocate who founded the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario.
to German
immigrants, Jacob Beck and Charlotte Hespeler. He attended school at the Rockwood Academy
in Rockwood, Ontario. As a teenager he worked in his father's foundry
, and later established a cigar-box manufacturing company in Galt (now Cambridge, Ontario
) with his brother William. In 1885 he moved the company to London, Ontario
, where it quickly flourished and established Beck as a wealthy and influential civic leader.
He was also involved in horse
breeding and racing, and at a horse show in 1897 he met Lilian Ottaway of Hamilton
daughter of Cuthbert Ottaway
and Marion Stinson. Lilian's mother, by then Marion Crerar, objected to their 21-year age difference – she was 19 and he 40 – as well as Beck's love of horse racing
, which they felt would keep him away from home. Nevertheless, they were married on September 7, 1898. Beck named their London mansion Headley, after Lilian's parents' home in Surrey, England. In addition to horse breeding, for which he won numerous prizes, Beck was also associated with tennis
and lawn bowling.
Also in 1898, Beck ran for provincial legislature for the first time, but lost. In 1900, Beck founded the London Health Association, which would later develop into the University and Victoria Hospitals. In 1902, he was elected mayor of London and a few months later was elected to the Ontario legislature as the Conservative member from the London riding. He was re-elected mayor in 1903 and 1904 while simultaneously serving as a member of the provincial legislature (which is no longer permitted). Already a wealthy man, he donated his salary to charity while serving as mayor. In 1905, he was appointed minister without portfolio
in the government of premier Sir James P. Whitney.
Beck was an early and prominent advocate of publicly owned electricity grids, opposing the privately owned companies who he felt did not adequately serve the needs of the public. With the slogan "Power at Cost" and in Latin
, "dona naturae pro populo sunt" ("the gifts of nature are for the public"), he convinced Premier Whitney to create a board of enquiry on the matter, with him as chairman. The enquiry suggested creating a municipally owned hydroelectric system, funded by the provincial government, and using water from Niagara Falls
and other Ontario lakes and rivers. In 1906 Whitney appointed Beck the first chairman of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission. He was knighted by King George V
in 1914 for his promotion of electricity and development of transmission lines.
In 1915, he tried to introduce a network of interurban
railways, also known as radials (long-distance trolleys) in Ontario under public ownership, but this plan had to be put on hold during World War I
. In the 1919 post-war election, Beck lost his seat to Hugh Stevenson as the United Farmers of Ontario
swept the Conservatives out of power.
Beck continued to push his railway proposal after Word War I, which pitted him against Premier Ernest Drury
, with whom he had an antagonistic relationship. In 1920, Drury created a Royal Commission
, chaired by Robert Franklin Sutherland
, which concluded that the popularity of automobiles had rendered Beck's proposal obsolete.
During his time in the provincial legislature Beck remained active in London. His daughter Marion, born in 1904, suffered from tuberculosis
, but with Beck's wealth and influence she had access to the best doctors and medicine. Realizing that not everyone could afford such care, in 1910 Beck founded a sanitorium, which was very advanced for its time. The Queen Alexandra Sanitorium, named after Alexandra of Denmark
, wife of King Edward VII
, was officially opened on April 5 of that year by Governor General
Earl Grey
. It was later renamed the Beck Memorial Sanitorium. Later still it was renamed the Children's Psychiatric Research Institute (CPRI). Today the building houses the London Child-Parent Research Institute. In 1918 Beck also paid fellow Londoner Guy Lombardo
to play at Marion's débutante
party.
Lilian Beck died of cancer
on October 17, 1921. In 1923 Beck was re-elected to the Ontario legislature, until his own death from anemia
in 1925. Former Prime Minister of Canada
Arthur Meighen
, Ontario premier George Howard Ferguson, and London mayor George Wenige
attended his funeral.
The Queenston Chippawa power station (now Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Power Stations
), which he helped to create, was renamed after him in 1950. Also named for him were Sir Adam Beck Collegiate Institute, a public secondary school
in London which is now home to the Thames Valley District School Board headquarters, an elementary school
in Upper Beaches, Toronto, Ontario
, and a bilingual elementary school
in Etobicoke . In 1990, Headley, the Becks' mansion at Richmond and Sydenham streets, was demolished by Sifton Properties Ltd. and replaced with a condominium replica dubbed the Sir Adam Beck Manor. In Toronto, there is a statue of Beck (Adam Beck Memorial
), sculpted by Emanuel Hahn, on University Avenue
at Queen Street West. It was jointly erected by City of Toronto and the Toronto Hydro-Electric Commission in 1934.
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
advocate who founded the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario.
Biography
Beck was born in Baden, OntarioBaden, Ontario
Baden is a community in Township of Wilmot, Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It has a population of less than 1000 and was named after Baden-Baden in Germany...
to German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
immigrants, Jacob Beck and Charlotte Hespeler. He attended school at the Rockwood Academy
Rockwood Academy
Rockwood Academy was a private school in Rockwood, Ontario. It was founded in 1850 by William Wetherald, a Quaker. Wetherald had previously taught pupils privately in the evenings, and the number of these had grown to an extent that he decided to open a school for older boys and young men...
in Rockwood, Ontario. As a teenager he worked in his father's foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
, and later established a cigar-box manufacturing company in Galt (now Cambridge, Ontario
Cambridge, Ontario
Cambridge is a city located in Southern Ontario at the confluence of the Grand and Speed rivers in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It is an amalgamation of the City of Galt, the towns of Preston and Hespeler, and the hamlet of Blair.Galt covers the largest portion of...
) with his brother William. In 1885 he moved the company to London, Ontario
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
, where it quickly flourished and established Beck as a wealthy and influential civic leader.
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
breeding and racing, and at a horse show in 1897 he met Lilian Ottaway of Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
daughter of Cuthbert Ottaway
Cuthbert Ottaway
Cuthbert John Ottaway , one of the most talented and versatile sportsmen of the 1870s, was the first captain of the England football team and led his side in the first official international football match....
and Marion Stinson. Lilian's mother, by then Marion Crerar, objected to their 21-year age difference – she was 19 and he 40 – as well as Beck's love of horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
, which they felt would keep him away from home. Nevertheless, they were married on September 7, 1898. Beck named their London mansion Headley, after Lilian's parents' home in Surrey, England. In addition to horse breeding, for which he won numerous prizes, Beck was also associated with tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
and lawn bowling.
Also in 1898, Beck ran for provincial legislature for the first time, but lost. In 1900, Beck founded the London Health Association, which would later develop into the University and Victoria Hospitals. In 1902, he was elected mayor of London and a few months later was elected to the Ontario legislature as the Conservative member from the London riding. He was re-elected mayor in 1903 and 1904 while simultaneously serving as a member of the provincial legislature (which is no longer permitted). Already a wealthy man, he donated his salary to charity while serving as mayor. In 1905, he was appointed minister without portfolio
Minister without Portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry...
in the government of premier Sir James P. Whitney.
Beck was an early and prominent advocate of publicly owned electricity grids, opposing the privately owned companies who he felt did not adequately serve the needs of the public. With the slogan "Power at Cost" and in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, "dona naturae pro populo sunt" ("the gifts of nature are for the public"), he convinced Premier Whitney to create a board of enquiry on the matter, with him as chairman. The enquiry suggested creating a municipally owned hydroelectric system, funded by the provincial government, and using water from Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
and other Ontario lakes and rivers. In 1906 Whitney appointed Beck the first chairman of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission. He was knighted by King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
in 1914 for his promotion of electricity and development of transmission lines.
In 1915, he tried to introduce a network of interurban
Interurban
An interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...
railways, also known as radials (long-distance trolleys) in Ontario under public ownership, but this plan had to be put on hold during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. In the 1919 post-war election, Beck lost his seat to Hugh Stevenson as the United Farmers of Ontario
United Farmers of Ontario
The United Farmers of Ontario was a political party in Ontario, Canada. It was the Ontario provincial branch of the United Farmers movement of the early part of the 20th century.- Foundation and rise :...
swept the Conservatives out of power.
Beck continued to push his railway proposal after Word War I, which pitted him against Premier Ernest Drury
Ernest Charles Drury
Ernest Charles Drury was a farmer, politician and writer who served as the eighth Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1919 to 1923 as the head of a United Farmers of Ontario - Labour coalition government.-Family:...
, with whom he had an antagonistic relationship. In 1920, Drury created a Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
, chaired by Robert Franklin Sutherland
Robert Franklin Sutherland
Robert Franklin Sutherland, PC was a Canadian politician and Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons from 1905 to 1909, noted for his fine speaking ability and strong temperament....
, which concluded that the popularity of automobiles had rendered Beck's proposal obsolete.
During his time in the provincial legislature Beck remained active in London. His daughter Marion, born in 1904, suffered from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, but with Beck's wealth and influence she had access to the best doctors and medicine. Realizing that not everyone could afford such care, in 1910 Beck founded a sanitorium, which was very advanced for its time. The Queen Alexandra Sanitorium, named after Alexandra of Denmark
Alexandra of Denmark
Alexandra of Denmark was the wife of Edward VII of the United Kingdom...
, wife of King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
, was officially opened on April 5 of that year by Governor General
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
Earl Grey
Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey
Albert Henry George Grey, 4th Earl Grey was a British nobleman and politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the ninth since Canadian Confederation....
. It was later renamed the Beck Memorial Sanitorium. Later still it was renamed the Children's Psychiatric Research Institute (CPRI). Today the building houses the London Child-Parent Research Institute. In 1918 Beck also paid fellow Londoner Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
to play at Marion's débutante
Debutante
A débutante is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "début" presentation. It should not be confused with a Debs...
party.
Lilian Beck died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
on October 17, 1921. In 1923 Beck was re-elected to the Ontario legislature, until his own death from anemia
Anemia
Anemia is a decrease in number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin...
in 1925. Former Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen, PC, QC was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served two terms as the ninth Prime Minister of Canada: from July 10, 1920 to December 29, 1921; and from June 29 to September 25, 1926. He was the first Prime Minister born after Confederation, and the only one to represent a riding...
, Ontario premier George Howard Ferguson, and London mayor George Wenige
George Wenige
George Albert Wenige was an eccentric mayor of London, Ontario, Canada, who served nine terms, mostly non-consecutively.Wenige was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1874 and moved to London, Ontario, Canada as a stunt bicycle rider at the Western Fair in 1900. He liked the city and decided to stay,...
attended his funeral.
The Queenston Chippawa power station (now Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Power Stations
Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Power Stations
Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Power Stations are two hydroelectric power stations in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The stations divert water from the Niagara and Welland Rivers above the falls which is then released into the lower portion of the river, and together produce up to 1,926 MW.Adam Beck...
), which he helped to create, was renamed after him in 1950. Also named for him were Sir Adam Beck Collegiate Institute, a public secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
in London which is now home to the Thames Valley District School Board headquarters, an elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
in Upper Beaches, Toronto, Ontario
Upper Beaches
The Upper Beaches is a rather recently coined name for the neighbourhood directly north of the Beaches area in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It stretches from Coxwell Avenue in the west to Victoria Park in the east. The southern border is Kingston Road, while the northern boundary is generally...
, and a bilingual elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
in Etobicoke . In 1990, Headley, the Becks' mansion at Richmond and Sydenham streets, was demolished by Sifton Properties Ltd. and replaced with a condominium replica dubbed the Sir Adam Beck Manor. In Toronto, there is a statue of Beck (Adam Beck Memorial
Adam Beck Memorial
The Adam Beck Memorial is a memorial in Toronto in honour of the founder of Ontario Hydro, Sir Adam Beck. The status was commissioned in August 1929 and designed by Emanuel Hahn...
), sculpted by Emanuel Hahn, on University Avenue
University Avenue (Toronto)
University Avenue is a major north-south road in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At its north end, University Avenue is the site of the Ontario Legislative Building. The eight-lane wide street is the location for several hospitals, numerous office buildings, Osgoode Hall and the Four Seasons...
at Queen Street West. It was jointly erected by City of Toronto and the Toronto Hydro-Electric Commission in 1934.
External links
- Biocards: Sir Adam Beck at www.londonhistory.org
- Hydro One : About Hydro One : History : Sir Adam Beck at www.hydroone.com