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1844-1988 (Creation)
- Creator
- Merifield, Roy Russell
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60 cm of textual records
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Roy Russell Merifield was born 11 June 1916. He attended McGill University in Montreal, Quebec and was a graduate of its' law school. He served as a senior officer with the Shawinigan Water and Power Company and in the Canadian Navy during World War II. He became the general supervisor of corporate trust at the Royal Trust Company in Montreal. In 1967 he joined the Victoria and Grey Trust Company in Toronto as its vice-president and general manager. In 1974, Mr. Merifield took on the additional position of corporate secretary for Victoria and Grey and in 1979 he was named general counsel of the company. He retired from Victoria and Grey in 1981 at which point he was commissioned to write "From County Trust to National Trust" by the Company. This took 7 years to write. He and his wife, Helen, divide their time between their home in Toronto and cottage on Lake Memphramagog, near Magog in Quebec.
Custodial history
This fonds was created by and in the custody of Roy Russell Merifield before it was donated to the Trent University Archives.
Scope and content
This fonds consists of draft manuscripts and research notes for the book "From County Trust To National Trust" published in 1988 by Roy Russell Merifield; annual reports for Victoria and Grey Trust and affiliated merged trust companies; company and media biographical sketches of company officers and directors; correspondence to and from company president Walter Harris 1968 to 1971; photocopies of press clippings relating to the collapse of the Atlantic Acceptance/British Mortgage and Trust Company and the Hughes Royal Commission.
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This fonds was donated by Roy Russell Merifield.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Series A: Annual Reports.
Series B: Share Offerings and Related Reports.
Series C: Trust Companies Association of Canada reports.
Series D: 1965 Victoria and Grey Trust takeover of British Mortgage and Trust Company of Stratford, Ont.
Series E: Trust Company Speeches.
Series F: Correspondence to and from Victoria and Grey Trust President Walter Harris.
Series G: National Interest, official newsletter of the National Victoria and Grey Trustco companies.
Series H: Biographies and media profiles of senior Victoria and Grey Trust officers and directors.
Series I: General Correspondence.
Series J: Internal Company Policy Documents.
Series K: Correspondence Related to From Country Trust To National Trust.
Series L: Minutes from board of directors, executive committee meetings.
Series M: Victoria and Grey Trust charter documents.
Series N: General Historical information related to Victoria and Grey Trust.
Series O: Final Draft Manuscript for From Country Trust To National Trust.
Series P: Photographs.
Series Q: Miscellaneous: includes undated list of telephone numbers for family and friends of Russell Roy Merifield; and January 9, 1985 proxy ballot for Victoria and Grey Trust annual meeting.
Series R: 1985 VG Trust Worker Discontent.
Series S: Historical Material on Lambton Loan & Investment Company of Sarnia, 1844-1977.
Series T: Audio cassette tapes containing preliminary research for From Country Trust To National Trust.
Series U: 1988 First Edition copy of From Country Trust To National Trust.
Box 1
SERIES A: ANNUAL REPORTS
Folder
1: Annual Reports, 1889-1950, plus loose in box, bound Annual Reports, 1952-1988.
SERIES B: SHARE OFFERINGS AND RELATED REPORTS
2: Share Offerings and Related Reports, Victoria and Grey Trust takeover of the Metropolitan Trust Company, January 1979.
3: Share Offerings tendered for amalgamation of Victoria and Grey Trust and the National Trust Company, Ltd., July 1984.
SERIES C: TRUST COMPANIES ASSOCIATION OF CANADA REPORTS
4: Reports from 1977 to 1981, covering the history of the Trust Companies Association of Canada; August 1981 submission by the association on The Revision of the Federal Trust and Loan Companies Act; general information bulletin.
SERIES D: 1965 VICTORIA AND GREY TRUST TAKEOVER OF BRITISH MORTGAGE AND TRUST COMPANY OF STRATFORD, ONT.
5: Photocopies of newspaper stories on the 1967 Ontario Royal Commission conducted by Mr. Justice Samuel Hughes into the 1965 collapse of Atlantic Acceptance Corporation Ltd. and its linkages with British Mortgage and Trust Company.
6: Photocopies of newspaper stories on September 30, 1965 takeover of British Mortgage and Trust Company by Victoria and Grey Trust.
SERIES E: TRUST COMPANY SPEECHES
7: Speeches and addresses given by senior trust company executives and guest speakers between 1954 and 1974.
SERIES F: CORRESPONDENCE TO AND FROM VICTORIA AND GREY PRESIDENT WALTER HARRIS
8: Correspondence to and from Victoria and Grey Trust Company President Walter Harris for the period 1968 to 1971.
SERIES G: NATIONAL INTEREST OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF VICTORIA AND GREY TRUSTCO COMPANIES
9: Original copies of National Interest from 1987 and 1988, the official newsletter of the Victoria and Grey Trustco companies.
SERIES H: BIOGRAPHIES AND MEDIA PROFILES OF SENIOR VICTORIA AND GREY TRUST OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS
10: Official company biographies and media profiles of senior Victoria and Grey Trust officer and directors from 1866- 1988.
SERIES I: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE
11: General correspondence for the period 1973-1984.
SERIES J: INTERNAL COMPANY POLICY DOCUMENTS
12: Internal company policy documents on employee benefits, dress code and customer services to the public from 1978 to 1981.
SERIES K: CORRESPONDENCE RELATED TO FROM COUNTRY TRUST TO NATIONAL TRUST
13: Correspondence related to the publication of From Country Trust To National Trust from February 1981 to July 1987; also original copy of January 22, 1983 news story "Corporate histories can be costly vanity" by Ann Silversides in The Globe and Mail.
SERIES L: MINUTES FROM BOARD OF DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS
14: Minutes from the meeting of the executive committee of the board of directors of Victoria and Grey Trust from 1966-1980.
SERIES M: VICTORIA AND GREY TRUST CHARTER DOCUMENTS
15: Photocopies of Victoria and Grey Trust charter documents issued between 1895 and 1984.
SERIES N: GENERAL HISTORICAL INFORMATION RELATED TO VICTORIA AND GREY TRUST
16: Historical information relating to Victoria and Grey Trust; newspaper stories; historical booklets and notes.
Box 2
SERIES O: FINAL DRAFT MANUSCRIPT FOR FROM COUNTRY TRUST TO NATIONAL TRUST
Loose in box: January 1988 final draft manuscript of From Country Trust To National Trust. Manuscript is word-processed and contained in three-ring loose- leaf binder. Approved by Victoria and Grey Trust senior management April 26, 1988. Manuscript contains color-coded editorial changes and deletions by Colin Bennett, who served as president of the company from 1974 to 1978; and Hal Jackman, chairman of the board of Victoria and Grey Trust, and the single most powerful figure since 1970 at both Victoria and Grey Trust and National Trust, even before their 1984 merger. Jackman controlled both companies through large blocks of shares held by E-L Investments. Manuscript also contains Merifield's blunt editorial notations in response to Jackman's editing.
SERIES P: PHOTOGRAPHS
Folder
1: Loose photographs. Also loose in box, four albums of photographs, many unidentified and undated, mainly relating to Victoria and Grey Trust official and social functions, such as branch openings or presentations.
SERIES Q: MISCELLANEOUS
2: Hand-written list of R.R. Merifield's friends and family home telephone numbers, including his three grown children, contained on a piece of cardboard, undated. Also January 9, 1985 proxy ballot in the name of R.R. Merifield for Victoria and Grey Trust's annual meeting.
SERIES R: 1985 VG TRUST WORKER DISCONTENT
3: Worker discontent after the merger of Victoria and Grey Trust with National Trust. Two clippings of Toronto Sun newspaper columns by business editor Garth Turner. February 3, 1985 column deals with worker discontent in general terms, while February 24, 1985 column suggests the possibility of the Union of Bank Employees organizing Victoria and Grey Trust employees.
SERIES S: HISTORICAL MATERIAL ON LAMBTON LOAN & INVESTMENT COMPANY OF SARNIA, 1844-1977
Loose in box: Historical publications; "People Made The Difference," "One Hundred Years of Service" and "Lambton Loan 1969."
SERIES T: AUDIO CASSETTE TAPES CONTAINING PRELIMINARY RESEARCH FOR FROM COUNTRY TRUST TO NATIONAL TRUST
Loose in box: Three audio cassette tapes from 1981 containing preliminary research for From Country Trust To National Trust.
SERIES U: 1988 FIRST EDITION COPY OF FROM COUNTRY TRUST TO NATIONAL TRUST
Loose in box: One 1988 first edition copy of From Country Trust To National Trust.