Sir Frederick Williams-Taylor (1863-1945)

Sir Frederick Williams-Taylor Kt., General Manager of the Bank of Montreal

He was born at Moncton, New Brunswick, where his father emigrated from Co. Donegal. He left school at fifteen and started his lifelong career with the Bank of Montreal. Rising steadily through the ranks by 1897 he was appointed Assistant Inspector-General at the Head Office in Montreal and was said to have cornered the wheat market in the late 19th century. In 1903, he became Joint Manager of the bank in Chicago and by 1906, he was promoted to Manager of the bank in London, England, before his final promotion to General Manager at the Head Office in Montreal in 1913. In that same year, he was knighted by King George V and double-barrelled his surname by combining his middle name with his surname. In 1915, he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D) from the University of New Brunswick. He was a director of the Allan Steamship Line; the Liverpool, London & Globe Insurance Company; the Royal Trust Company, Montreal; and, Vice-President of the Canadian Banker's Association.

As a sportsman, he "earned great distinction in skating, rowing, tennis, squash, racquets, and stroked the Wanderers four-oared crew" in Halifax, in 1886. In 1888, he married Jane, daughter of Joshua Henshaw, of Montreal, and a niece of Sir Joseph Fayrer 1st Bt., Surgeon-General in India etc. They were the parents of two children but were survived by just their daughter. They lived at 594 Pine Avenue, Montreal, and "The Wave" at Nassau in the Bahamas where they became friends with and mixed in the same circle as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. While resident in England they lived at "Farmwood" outside Ascot. They were the grandparents of Brenda Frazier, "the world's first 'celebutante'".

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Contributed by Mark Meredith on 14/10/2021 and last updated on 05/03/2023.
Image Courtesy of the Notman Archives, McCord Museum, Montreal; Nineteenth Century Landlords of Greater Buncrana; The 'Fame' Privateer of Dublin, by Sean T. Rickard; Brenda Frazier, World's First Celebutante