SIR MORTIMER B. DAVIS FONDS
Fonds PF5
Sir Mortimer B. Davis Fonds [textual records;; graphic materials] . -- [c.1920]-1983.
Jewish General Hospital
3 cm of textual records plus 1 photograph
Sir Mortimer Barnett Davis was born into a family of Jewish immigrants in Montreal, 6 Feb. 1866. After studying at the high school of Montreal, Mortimer Barnett followed his elder brothers Eugene Harmon and Maurice Edward into the cigar manufacturing firm, S. Davis and Sons, founded by his father, Samuel Davis, who had settled in Montreal in 1861. The purchase of Montreal firm D. Ritchie and Company in 1888 increased S. Davis and Sons’ production capacity and diversified their products by adding pipe tobacco, snuff, and cigarettes. Mortimer Barnett became the manager of D. Ritchie and Company in 1894. When the American Tobacco Company purchased D. Ritchie and Company in 1895, Samuel Davis retired from S. Davis and Sons and Mortimer Barnett left the firm in the hands of his brothers to become President of the American Tobacco Company of Canada. Under Davis’ stewardship, the company achieved a virtual monopoly on tobacco in Quebec. In 1908, the British-American Tobacco Company Limited, jointly owned by the US-based American Tobacco Company and the British-owned Imperial Tobacco Company Limited, purchased the American Tobacco Company of Canada. It became the Imperial Tobacco Company of Canada Limited and Davis was named its first president. In 1916, he bought out the family firm, known as S. Davis and Sons Limited since 1908, and reorganized it with himself as principal shareholder and president. In 1920, Davis coordinated the formation of the General Cigar Company, which merged his company and those of his major rivals into a large cigar trust. Davis remained at the head of Imperial Tobacco until 1926, when he was succeeded by David Patterson.
In 1889, Mortimer Barnett married Henriette Marie Meyer, daughter of Charles Meyer, a banker and philanthropist in San Francisco. They had one son, Mortimer Davis, born in 1901, who died in a car accident in 1940. The couple adopted Henriette’s nephew Philip, who took the name Philip Meyer Davis and later died during World War II. The couple divorced in 1924. After his divorce, Mortimer Barnett married Eleanor Curran, Countess Moroni. The last years of his life were spent with her at their home in Cannes, France, where he raised horses and kept stables.
In 1916, Mortimer Barnett was knighted by George V, in recognition of his success in business, his philanthropic activities, his status in the community, and his financial contribution to the WWI war effort. He was the first Canadian-born Jew to receive this honour.
Mortimer Barnett served a member of the Montreal Board of Trade and the Montreal Stock Exchange as well as director of various companies, including the Union Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Henry Corby distillery (serving as president from 1907 to 1922), Crown Trust Company, Empire Tobacco and part of the senior management of the Nova Scotia Silver Cobalt Mining Company and the Consolidated Asbestos Mining Company.
He was a member of Temple Emanu-El in Westmount, which his father helped establish. He held leadership positions in a number of associations and chaired fund-raising campaigns promoting public welfare and health in Montreal and in support of the Jewish community. He was benefactor and president of the Baron de Hirsch Institute and Hebrew Benevolent Society of Montreal and principal sponsor of the Mount Sinai Sanatorium. He donated $420,000 in 1926 for the construction of a YMHA building on the Mount Royal near Park Avenue. For a short time, he was honorary president of the Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada. He also supported Canada-wide and international charities such as serving as president of the Canadian committee of the Jewish Colonization Association and, in 1915, organizing the Canadian Jewish Committee for the Relief of War Sufferers, which sought to help the Jews of Russia.
After his death on 22 Mar. 1928 at the age of 62, his fortune was estimated at $50 million. His will provided for bequests to relatives and friends, a sum of $400,000 to be divided among the Montreal General Hospital, the Notre-Dame Hospital, the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, and the Young Men's Hebrew Association, and named his widow and son the principal heirs. The will provided also that after fifty years his fortune should then be used for philanthropic purposes and that three-quarters of it should be used to finance a hospital in Montreal that would bear his name and be run by a board of directors which had a majority of Jewish members. In 1978, the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal received $10 millions from the Estate and was renamed the Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital.
Works cited
Burgess, Joanne. “Davis, Sir Mortimer Barnett.” The Dictionary of Canadian Biography
Online.Vol. XV (1921-1930). Retrieved 20 January 2010. Http://www.biographi.
ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&idnbr=8097
Davine, Richard. “The Vision of Man: Tribute to Sir Mortimer B. Davis.” Given March
6, 1983. (Sir Mortimer B. Davis Fonds P5.3 Tribute Address Series)
English
Held in the Health Sciences Library of the Jewish General Hospital
Fonds consists of correspondence related to the Mortimer B. Davis Estate, as well as a photograph, clipping, and tribute address in honour of Mortimer B. Davis. The largest series consists of Correspondence regarding the donation to the JGH, 1972-1978, between lawyers, Estate executors, and JGH administrators (PF5.5). The second series of Correspondence relates to the Mortimer B. Davis will, 1929-1965, and consists of inquiries regarding the possibility of a donation to the JGH and the fifty-year ineligibility period (PF5.4). The Tribute Address given in honour of Sir Mortimer B. Davis in 1983 comprises its own series (PF5.3). As well, Mortimer B. Davis’ Last Will and Testament forms a series (PF5.2). Lastly included, are Photographs and Clippings, consisting of a portrait of Mortimer B. Davis and a clipping of the first Lady Davis' obituary (PF5.1).
Fonds is arranged by subject and material type. There are two Correspondence series divided by subject and date range, one series containing Davis' Last Will and Testament, one series that is comprised of a Tribute given in his honour, and one series of Photographs and Clippings. There is no discernible arrangement within series.
Title based on content of fonds
No restrictions.
Provided for non-commercial usage only -- Commercial usage requires fee and written permission.
Series description and box list available.
Associated material: Photographs of Sir Mortimer B. Davis available through the McCord museum. Photograph accession number II-94434 is found at: www.musee-mccord.qc.ca/scripts/viewobject.php. Photograph II-94434 and II-201469 of Mortimer Barnett Davis, Montréal, QC, 1891 found at: www.museemccord.qc.ca/scripts/viewobject.php number=II-94434§ion=196 and www.museemccord.qc.ca/scripts/viewobject.
php? Lang= 2&accessnumber=II-201470§ion=196. For other records related to the Davis family, see the Allan Raymond Collection at the Jewish Public Library Archives, Montreal and the Sir Mortimer B. Davis Fonds (P0045) at the Canadian Jewish Congress, National Archives and Reference Centre, Montreal. Records related to S. Davis and Sons and Davis’ business activities can be found in the Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited Archives, Montreal. For records and plans related to the Mortimer B. Davis House in Montreal, see the Robert Findlay Fonds, Blackader-Lauterman Library of Art and Architecture, McGill University, Montreal.
Location:
Cabinet 5 - Private Fonds Box
Item No. Range:
PF5
Series 2
Series of the Last Will and Testament of Sir Mortimer B. Davis [textual records] . -- 1928.
Jewish General Hospital
0.8 cm of textual records
English
Held in the Health Sciences Library of the Jewish General Hospital.
This series contains Sir Mortimer B. Davis’ Last Will and Testament probated 18 Apr. 1928, plus a later photocopy of the will.
Folder 4.
Limited access.
Provided for non-commercial usage only -- Commercial usage requires fee and written permission.
File list available.
Location:
Cabinet 5 - Private Fonds Box
Item No. Range:
PF5.2
Series 3
Series of the Tribute Address by Richard Davine [textual records] . -- 1983.
Jewish General Hospital
0.5 cm of textual records
English
Held in the Health Sciences Library of the Jewish General Hospital
This series consists of a spiral-bound text of Richard Davine’s tribute address, “The Vision of Man: Tribute to Sir Mortimer B. Davis,” given 6 Mar. 1983. It is accompanied by a later photograph of the text
Folder 2
No restrictions.
Provided for non-commercial usage only -- Commercial usage requires fee and written permission.
File list available.
Location:
Cabinet 5 - Private Fonds Box
Item No. Range:
PF5.3
Series 4
Series of correspondence regarding Davis Estate [textual records] . -- 1929, 1948, 1964-1965.
Jewish General Hospital
0.5 cm of textual records
English
Held in the Health Sciences Library of the Jewish General Hospital.
This series includes original correspondence and copies of correspondence between M. M. Sperber and E. G. F. Vaz (1920s), Philip Vineberg and Allan Bronfman (1940s), and Samuel S. Cohen, Alvin Bronstein, and Dr. W. R. Slatkoff (1960s), as well as extracts from the Davis Will. Files are related to inquiries as to whether the Davis Estate is authorized to make a donation to the JGH and the will’s 50-year clause.
No chronological arrangement.
Folder 1 & 3; interspersed with following series, PF5.5.
Limited access.
Provided for non-commercial usage only -- Commercial usage requires fee and written permission.
File list available.
Location:
Cabinet 5 - Private Fonds Box
Item No. Range:
PF5.4
Series 5
Series of Correspondence Concerning a Donation to the JGH [textual records] . -- 1972, 1975-1978.
Jewish General Hospital
1 cm of textual records
English
Held in the Health Sciences Library of the Jewish General Hospital.
This series consists of original correspondence, copies of correspondence, memoranda, portfolio evaluation reports, and various notes. Some of the correspondents appearing frequently include Michael Greenblatt, Philip Vineberg, Justice George Montgomery, and Arthur Pascal. The files are related to the negotations between representatives of the JGH and the Davis Estate regarding a donation in fufilment of Davis’ will and its necessary stipulations.
No chronological arrangement.
Folders 1 & 3; interspersed with previous series PF5.4.
Limited access.
Provided for non-commercial usage only -- Commercial usage requires fee and written permission.
File list available.
Location:
Cabinet 5 - Private Fonds Box
Item No. Range: