Edward Aemilius Jarvis (April 25, 1860 – December 19, 1940) was a Canadian financier, equestrian, and sailor. Jarvis was instrumental in forming the Royal Canadian Navy during World War I, recruiting both ships and men. Jarvis was notable in Toronto business circles and helped build the King Edward Hotel and Arena Gardens. He was convicted of conspiracy in the Ontario Bond Scandal of 1922, and never cleared of the conviction although his pardon was petitioned several times. He was fined and served several months in jail. He remained a prominent figure in Toronto sailing and business circles until his death in 1940.
Life and career
Jarvis was born on April 25, 1860, in rural York County north of Toronto, to William Dummer Powell Jarvis, a lawyer, and Diana Irving Jarvis, a family of Loyalist descent and associated with the Family Compact of Upper Canada. Jarvis' grandfather was Samuel Peters Jarvis and his great-grandfather was William Jarvis. In 1860, the family moved to Hamilton, Ontario to be closer to his mother's family, the Irvings. Jarvis attended Upper Canada College, leaving at age 16 in 1876. In 1884, Jarvis married his first cousin Augustus Irving, who died after World War I. He later married Marion Gertrude Read in 1929. He fathered three daughters and three sons, one of whom, Bill was killed in World War I.
Beginning in 1878, Jarvis apprenticed as a banker at the Bank of Hamilton, and eventually became president of the Trader's Bank of Canada in Toronto. Jarvis formed Æmilius Jarvis & Co. financial company, which figured in the later bond scandal. In his role as financier, Jarvis helped found the Hamilton Iron and Steel Company, later known as Stelco. He helped create the British Columbia salmon canning industry through the companies that still market Clover Leaf sea food products today. In 1899, the Toronto Hotel Company was founded by Jarvis, with the support of George Cox (of Canada Life and the Bank of Commerce) and George Gooderham (of Gooderham & Worts Distillery). The Toronto Hotel Co. built the King Edward "King Eddy" hotel, which opened in 1903. He also operated a stud farm -called Hazelburn- in Aurora, Ontario, breeding hunter-jumper horses.
Jarvis actively supported the Royal Canadian Navy during World War I, recruiting anti-submarine and other ships, and over 2000 men. He acted as an unofficial spy for King George V while visiting Russia on business in 1915, delivering a message to George's cousin Tzar Nicholas via an intermediary to encourage Russia to stay in the war, in order to maintain two fronts on Germany. (The intermediary was shortly thereafter assassinated on a train platform immediately following passing -and ignoring- Jarvis in a train-car corridor, with several "ugly" men following close behind her.) Aemilius was recognized by the Navy League of Canada's award of its unofficial “Special Service Decoration” for his wartime contributions.
Jarvis earned the friendship and respect of such men as Lord Minto (Governor General of Canada), J.P. Morgan, Sir Thomas Lipton, Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Henry Pellatt, Edward Roper Curzon Clarkson and world-champion rower Ned Hanlan. Jarvis died at age 80 in Toronto General Hospital on December 19, 1940, after a long illness. His funeral in Toronto's St. James Cathedral was largely attended and included many notables of the day including Canada's Ministry of the Interior Clifford Sifton. Jarvis' grandson Robert Aemilius Jarvis published a biography of his grandfather, "The Last Viking".
Legendary yachtsman
Jarvis sailed alone around Lake Ontario, from Hamilton to Niagara-on-the-Lake to Whitby and back, in a tiny dinghy aptly called Tar Pot when he was just twelve years old. Later in life, he spent two years sailing the world in a square-rigger sailing vessel. He designed and built racing sailboats, founded the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club (RHYC), and was a longtime member of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club (RCYC), of which he was elected commodore seven times. He won the inaugural Canada's Cup yachting race in 1896 sailing the Canada, a 57-foot cutter. Additionally, he won over 100 international freshwater sailing events while at Royal Canadian Yacht Club (& more than 300 overall), including a second Canada's Cup in 1901.