Waterloo Region Generations
A record of the people of Waterloo Region, Ontario.
Mayor George Duthie Forbes

Mayor George Duthie Forbes

Male 1860 - 1934  (73 years)

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  • Name George Duthie Forbes 
    Prefix Mayor 
    Born 30 Oct 1860  Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2
    Gender Male 
    Sports Team Membership 1882  Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    1882 Hespeler Baseball Champions 
    • 1882 Hespeler Baseball Champions beat Guelph 6-4. Front: George Forbes (SS), 2nd row l to r: Al Marchment (CF), James Mullen (3rd), Ben Stock (C), John Murdock (RF), Back: John Campbell (P), Andrew Jardine (LF), John Maul (2nd), Charles Hespeler (1st).
    1882 Hespeler Baseball Champions
    1882 Hespeler Baseball Champions
    1882 Hespeler Baseball Champions beat Guelph 6-4. Front: George Forbes (SS), 2nd row l to r: Al Marchment (CF), James Mullen (3rd), Ben Stock (C), John Murdock (RF), Back: John Campbell (P), Andrew Jardine (LF), John Maul (2nd), Charles Hespeler (1st).
    Elected Office 1901  Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Mayor of Hespeler 
    Occupation 1901  Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Manufacturer 
    Occupation 1911  Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Manufacturer, Woolen Mill 
    Residence 1911  Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Anglican 
    Died 1934 
    Hall of Fame - Waterloo Region Bef 2012  , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    House 155 Guelph Ave., Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    constructed house 
    • Also known as 171 Guelph Ave.
    Hespeler-GuelphAve0151-GeorgeD.Forbes.jpg
    Hespeler-GuelphAve0151-GeorgeD.Forbes.jpg
    Interesting politics, sports, house, business, mill, hotel 
    Eby ID Number Waterloo-83569 
    Buried New Hope Cemetery, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I83569  Generations
    Last Modified 26 Feb 2024 

    Father Robert Forbes,   b. 2 Jul 1814, Alloa, , Clackmannan, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 6 May 1895, Guelph City, Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 80 years) 
    Mother Ann Duthie,   b. 22 Dec 1825, , Aberdeenshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 25 Nov 1911, Guelph City, Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 85 years) 
    Married Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F35729  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Amy Victoria Ellis,   b. 24 May 1870, Brantford, Brant Co., Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1941  (Age 70 years) 
    Children 
     1. Robert D. Forbes,   b. 6 May 1892, , Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     2. George Alexander "Alexander" Forbes,   b. 2 Jan 1897, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1986  (Age 88 years)
     3. Norman E. Forbes,   b. Jun 1903, , Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
    Last Modified 2 Mar 2024 
    Family ID F21752  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Photos
    George Duthie Forbes
    George Duthie Forbes
    from Waterloo Region Hall of Fame

  • Notes 
    • Known as "The Chief" George Duthie Forbes was an industrialist of Hespeler. He started to learn the textile business in 1880 working for the Farr Alpaca plant in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Returning in 1882 he worked in the family business of R. Forbes & Co. Ltd. In 1888 he became the president assuming full control after his father died in 1895. He served as president until 1928 when he sold to the Dominion Woollens and Woresteds Co. Ltd. He also was a director of the Royal Trust Co. The |Lake Erie and Northern Railway, The Waterloo Trust and Savings Co. and the Hespeler Furniture Co. He also was president of the C. Turnbull Co of Galt, and another number of businesses. He was the first elected Mayor of Hespeler, donated Forbes park in downtown Hespeler.


      Cambridge Mosaic , Jim Quantrell, 1998, City of Cambridge [abbreviated snippet from original text in book]

      __________________________

      When Hespeler was incorporated as a town in 1901, one of the leading industrialists, George D. Forbes, became the first mayor, serving until the end of 1913.

      Forbe's distinguished father, Robert Forbes, who came to Canada from Scotland in 1836, had founded a woollen mill, the R. Forbes Company Limited in 1870. George Forbes succeeded him as president in 1888 and developed the industry into the largest woollen mill in Canada. The business was sold to Dominion Woolen and Worsteds Limited in 1928.

      Forbes donated Victoria Park and Forbes Park to the community. He was an ardent Presbyterian and it was while he was a member of the board of managers that the present Presbyterian Church was built. He was a generous supporter of Freeport Sanatorium and other worthy organizations.

      His business interests were many and varied and he served on the boards of several financial and industrial institutions.


      Waterloo Region Hall of Fame

      __________________

      "The Queens". On a plan dated 1846 the corner lot at Queen and Guelph Road is shown as "The Tavern Lot" which suggests that there was then an hotel either in building or in operation. I am lacking in its earliest history.

      Stephen Flynn kept Hotel there 1866-68; Michael Haller, 1868-71; John Fields, 1872-73; James Baker, 1874-86; then came the Waypers, father and son, and after them, Albert E. Thomson and then again by Joseph Wayper Jr. After "Josh" died the hotel was operated for a time by his widow and her second husband, Archie Smith. During the time of The Ontario Temperance Act, Mr. George D. Forbes bought the hotel and refurnished it and Henry Sachs managed it.

      After Mr. Forbes died, George Thorlby rented the hotel and then it was sold to James Sutherland Cornell, by him to Joseph Krempowich who in turn sold to Samuel Sturman, the present owner.

      Le Rue De Commerce, Other Times Other Customs Other Days Other Ways, Winfield Brewster 1954

      ______________________

      FORBES, GEORGE DUTHIE

      Death removed one of the outstanding industrialists of the Galt-Preston-Hespeler district on Thursday noon. . He died suddenly at his home on Guelph Ave. in Hespeler, in his 75th year. For many years Hespeler has been almost synonymous with the name "Forbes". Head of the great textile industry, formerly known as the R. Forbes Co„ which was originally an outgrowth of a woollen mill partnership in Hespeler in which his father was a partner of J. A. Schofield. Mr. Forbes was the most influential citizen in Hespeler. Ramifications of his business interests extended all over the district, to Guelph and other cities. In 1928, the R. Forbes Co. was sold to Dominion Worsteds Ltd. and since that time, Mr. Forbes has been popularly regarded as retired but his widespread business interests kept him a busy man until his death. He was born on a farm near Morriston, in Badenoch. He married Amy Ellis, who survives, as well as two sons, G. Alex, and Norman, both of Hespeler, three sisters, Mrs. J. F. Auld, Mrs. R. Harcourt and Mrs. Z. A. Hall, all of Guelph. A son, Robert, predeceased him. He has a grandson, Robert, in Toronto. He was known to every citizen of Hespeler as a charitable and tolerant man. Furthermore, he had the interests of every person in his town at heart and his quiet and generous manner of lending a helping hand has been recounted in hundreds of cases. Few men have accumulated fortunes as great and retained the sincere respect of everyone who knew them. He was a member of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church and for many years, was a trustee. In 1908, he was in charge of the construction of the present fine edifice. In his younger days, Mr. Forbes was a baseball player of no mean ability and his name appears in the records of many hard-fought games in which the Hespeler team participated. He retained his interest in sport down through the years and his aid financially and his advice from experience has been a great aid to the promotion of organized sport in Hespeler. Shooting and fishing were favourite pastimes. Some of his business interests were: Director of Royal Trust Co. , Montreal; President of the C. Turnbull Co. Ltd. of Galt; President of Taylor-Forbes Co. of Guelph; Vice-President of Galt Malleable Iron Co. ; Vice-President of the Canada Machinery Corp. of Galt and other cities; President of the Guelph and Ontario Investment and Savings Society; Vice-President of the Dominion Life Assurance Co. of Waterloo; Director of the Waterloo Trust and Savings Co. ; Director of Lake Erie and Northern Railway. He was also associated with the Kondu Co. of Preston and the Stamped Enamelware Ltd. of Hespeler. Mr. Forbes was a Scottish Rite Mason. He was of a modest, unassuming disposition and did not seek or relish publicity. Indeed, he was intimately known to only a few close friends. The first mayor of Hespeler following its incorporation as a town, he held office from 1901 to 1913, inclusive. In 1928, he was president of the Hespeler Old Boys' Reunion. In 1915, he donated Forbes Park to the town. During the war, Mr. Forbes was very active for the Red Cross and the Patriotic Fund. All of his benefactions were carried out in such a quiet way that it is difficult to secure a record of them. He was a consistent friend of the Freeport Sanatorium and did much to help it along for many years. Mr. Forbes' father, Robert Forbes was an Aberdonian and his mother was a Duthie of the family of that name world-renowned as breeders of Shorthorn cattle. Funeral on Saturday at 3 at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. Interment Hespeler Cemetery.

  • Sources 
    1. [S143] Census - ON, Waterloo, Hespeler - 1901, Hespeler (Village) D-2 Page 24.

    2. [S392] Census - ON, Waterloo, Hespeler - 1911, Div. 21 Pg. 8.

    3. [S220] Waterloo Region Hall of Fame Waterloo Region Hall of Fame.

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 30 Oct 1860 - Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsSports Team Membership - 1882 Hespeler Baseball Champions - 1882 - Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsElected Office - Mayor of Hespeler - 1901 - Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - Manufacturer - 1901 - Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - Manufacturer, Woolen Mill - 1911 - Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - Anglican - 1911 - Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsHall of Fame - Waterloo Region - Bef 2012 - , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsHouse - constructed house - - 155 Guelph Ave., Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBuried - - New Hope Cemetery, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth