Frederick Williams-Taylor Explained

Sir Frederick Williams-Taylor
Birth Name:Frederick William Taylor
Birth Date:23 October 1863
Birth Place:Moncton, New Brunswick, British North America
Death Place:Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Children:2
Relations:Brenda Frazier (granddaughter)
Known For:General manager of the Bank of Montreal

Sir Frederick Williams-Taylor (October 23, 1863 – August 2, 1945) was a Canadian banker. He was general manager of the Bank of Montreal.

Early life

Frederick was born in Moncton, New Brunswick on October 23, 1863. He was the son of Ezekiel Moore Taylor, from County Donegal, Ireland, and Rosaline (née Beatty) Taylor, born in Moncton, New Brunswick.[1]

His paternal great-grandfather was Capt. Moore (d. 1849) of Buncrana Castle in Inishowen, Ireland (third son of William Thornton-Todd, heir of both Isaac Todd, the prominent Montreal merchant with the North West Company, and William Thornton, a British Army officer who served as Lieutenant Governor of Jersey)[2] and his maternal great-grandfather was Joseph Morse (30 Nov 1721 Medfield MA-1769 Amherst, Nova Scotia), a pre-Loyalist planter to Nova Scotia.[1] This Irish ancestry has not been proven.

Williams-Taylor was educated at the Moncton Superior School until he began working in 1878.[1] In 1914, he was honored with the honorary degree of doctor of laws by the University of New Brunswick.

Career

In 1878, Williams-Taylor joined the Bank of Montreal and by 1897, he was appointed Assistant Inspector, Head Office. In 1903, he became the Joint Manager of the bank in Chicago and by 1906, he was promoted to Manager of the bank in London, England, and eventually, and General Manager of the bank in 1913.[3]

In 1913, Frederick Williams-Taylor was knighted by King George V, and combined his middle name and birth surname into a new hyphenated surname. He received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of New Brunswick in 1915.[3]

Personal life

In athletics, he "earned great distinction in skating, rowing, tennis, squash, racquets, and stroked the Wanderers four-oared crew" in Halifax, in 1886.[1]

In June 1888, he married the former Jane Fayrer Henshaw (1868–1950), a daughter of Mr. Joshua Henshaw of Montreal. Together, they had a daughter:

Just before her daughter's wedding in Montreal in December 1917, Lady Williams-Taylor was painted by the Swiss-born American society artist Adolfo Muller-Ury at his palatial home, Star Acres, in Nassau in the Bahamas, after which he attended the wedding ceremony.[8] While living in the Bahamas, Sir Frederick and Lady Williams-Taylor were close friends of the Duke (formerly Edward VIII) and Duchess of Windsor.

Williams-Taylor died in Montreal, Quebec on August 2, 1945.[9]

Descendants

Through his daughter Brenda, he was the grandfather of Brenda Frazier (1921–1982), known as one of the most famous American debutantes during the Depression era.[10]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Sir Frederick Williams-Taylor. Manager of the Bank of Montreal, London, England. An important Factor in the Money Centre of the Great Metropolis. Canadian History Makers. A Volume Containing Accurate and Concise Sketches of Men who have Done Things in The Dominion of Canada Past and Present Together with Photogravures Made from their Latest Photographs . 1913 . Canadian Publication Society . Montreal . 63, 159 . 30 August 2018.
  2. Book: Burke, C.B., LL.D. . Sir Bernard . A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland . 1886 . Harrison and Sons, Pall Mall . London . 1813 . 30 August 2018 . en.
  3. Book: A cyclopædia of Canadian biography. 1919. Toronto: Hunter-Rose Company.
  4. News: 8 Years' Legal Battle Over Little Diana Frazier. April 29, 1933. The Milwaukee Sentinel. 45. August 15, 2014.
  5. Koenig. Rhoda. May 4, 1987. Better Dead Than Deb. New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. 20. 18. 118–119. 0028-7369.
  6. News: Brenda Frazier's Mother To Marry. August 1, 1942. Toledo Blade. 3. August 15, 2014.
  7. News: Montreal Officer Died in the Sudan Capt. Travers Williams-Taylor Saw Much Service in Great War Prisoner of the Turks Wounded and Captured While on Service in Mesopotamia – Twice Wounded With Canadians . 30 August 2018 . . 12 May 1926 . 4 . en.
  8. American Art News, Vol. 15, No. 25, New York, 31 March 1917, p. 8: 'A. Muller-Ury has had a busy winter painting portraits. Among his most recent works are a three-quarter length of Lady William Taylor, of Montreal, which he painted at Nassau.'
  9. News: Sir Frederick Williams-Taylor Dies Here After Lengthy Illness . 30 August 2018 . . 2 August 1945 . 1 . en.
  10. News: Brenda Frazier Once Mixed With Cream of Cafe Society. June 4, 1987. Toledo Blade. 30. August 15, 2014.