Series 3 - Northway family and company materials

John Northway was born August 17, 1848, at Leat, near Lifton, England, the eldest son of Thomas Neathern Northway and Grace Doidge. In 1868, John left England for New York, where he was soon relieved of his watch and money. Disenchanted, he made his way to Canada, and went to work for a tailor in Embro, Ontario. From this inauspicious beginning, Northway, using his sound business judgement, became, not just a tailor "on the floor" of a shop, but, by 1901, a merchant, manufacturer and financier with partnerships throughout the province and investments throughout the continent. Having achieved success, Northway sent his children to the best schools, and provided for them the formal education he had never received. John Northway founded two main companies: The Northway Company Limited, and John Northway and Son Limited. Upon his death in 1926, leadership of these two firms fell to his sons, A. Garfield and John A. respectively, under whose direction expansion and later retraction was carried out. The factory, begun in 1896 to supply the companies, was closed down in 1930. John Northway and Sons Limited came to have three stores in Toronto, and one each in Hamilton and Stratford. In 1957, this company bought the Brantford outlet of the Northway Company Limited, which A.G. Norhtway, who foresaw no successor, had been gradually disposing of. In January 1960, A.G. Northway died, and The Northway Company Limited was put into voluntary liquidation by its directors. In November 1960, the directors of John Northway and Sons Limited sold the company to outside interests. It has since disappeared. Dr. Mary Louise Northway, born in 1909, was the daughter of A. Garfield Northway and Mary McKellar and the granddaughter of John Northway, founder of the Northway Company Limited and John Northway and Son Limited. Mary was educated in Toronto and graduated from the University of Toronto, B.A. 1933, M.A. 1934, and Ph.D. 1938. In addition, Mary did graduate work at Cambridge University in England. Dr. Northway taught psychology at the University of Toronto from 1934 to 1968, and the last fifteen years of her tenure were as Supervisor of Research at the Institute of Child Study. She also earned international recognition as a pioneer in the field of Sociometry. From 1950 to 1963, she was the president of the Northway Company Limited. Among the many honours bestowed upon Dr. Northway were: Fellow of the Canadian Psycological Association, Honorary Life Member of the Ontario Camping Association, and an Honorary Degree from Trent University in 1979. Throughout her life, Mary was involved in camping and she believed in the value of Canadian summer camping and tripping. She was the program director of Glen Bernard Camp from 1930 to 1939 and, with Flora Morrison, was co-director of their own girls' camp, Windy Pine Point, from 1941 to 1950. Dr. Mary L. Northway died in 1987. In her will she left to Trent University its largest private benefaction to be known as the Northway Bequest in memory of her father, Garfield Northway, provising permanent support towards a number of areas, including the facilities for the Trent University Archives. (Information taken from a plaque commemorating the dedication of the Northway Reading Room which was written by the Trent University Archivist, Bernadine Dodge.)

John Northway (1848-1926), merchant, manufacturer, and financier, founded two main companies: The Northway Company Limited, and John Northway and Son Limited. Upon his death in 1926, leadership of these two firms fell to his sons, A. Garfield and John A. respectively, under whose direction expansion and later retraction was carried out. The factory, begun in 1896 to supply the companies, was closed down in 1930. John Northway and Sons Limited came to have three stores in Toronto, and one each in Hamilton and Stratford. In 1957, this company bought the Brantford outlet of the Northway Company Limited, which A.G. Northway, who foresaw no successor, had been gradually disposing of. In January 1960, A.G. Northway died, and The Northway Company Limited was put into voluntary liquidation by its directors. In November 1960, the directors of John Northway and Sons Limited sold the company to outside interests. It has since disappeared.