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Nairn, Alexander, Toronto,
is one of those Scotchmen who are endowed with pluck, and despite the
attractions of native country, leave it for the purpose of advancing their
fortune, and who, in the majority of cases, succeed. The subject of this
sketch was born in the City of Glasgow, on the 22nd of March, 1832; and
his parents were John Nairn and Margaret Kirkland. His father was well
known in Glasgow as a large mill owner and grain merchant, and for a
number of years carried on the Garroch Flour Mill near the Three Tree
Well, on the river Kelvin; and later on, the Washington Flour Mills, of
Glasgow. Alexander received his early education at the Normal School, and
afterwards finished it in Flint's Academy, Glasgow; and when he left
Principal Flint, he had what nearly all Scotch boys have, a fair and
useful knowledge of things generally worth knowing. At the age of sixteen
he entered his father's office, as an assistant in the business. In 1851
his father died, leaving six children, Alexander being the eldest son. The
whole management of the business now devolved upon him and for five years
he carried it on very successfully. In 1856, having sold out the business
in Glasgow, he joined his mother and borthers in Stirlingshire, where they
had already purchased a mill and a farm. Here, however, Mr. Nairn could
not content himself, and he left for Canada, and landed in Toronto in
1857. He did not remain long in this city, but removed to Rockwood
village, County of Wellington, Ontario, with the object in view of
studying and making himself proficient in the system of grain purchasing
and milling, then carried on in the country. In 1858 he commenced business
for himself in Rockwood, as a general store-keeper, and grain commission
merchant, and had the honour of being among the first to ship grain over
that section of the Grand Trunk Railway, and this was in a large degree
the means of building up Rockwood. In 1865 he purchased the Everton flour
and saw mills, and also the farm, and carried them on with his other
business, while at the same time he took a very active part in the
erection of a Presbyterian church and public school, and was one of its
trustees. On his departure in 1874 for Toronto, the inhabitants of the
village, as an expression of their gratitude for what he had done for the
place, presented he and Mrs. Nairn with a handsome illuminated address,
accompanied with a beautiful mantel-piece ornament. While in Rockwood, Mr.
Nairn became one of the directors of the Toronto Fuel Association; and in
1871, becoming interested in the coal mines of Ohio, he was the first to
introduce into Canada the celebrated Streetsville coal. In 1875, Mr. Nairn
entered into partnership with his brother Stephen, under the name and
style of A. & S. Nairn, wharfingers and coal merchants, and shortly after,
the firm built one of the finest docks in the city, and which is known as
the Nairn docks. Mr. Nairn, apart from A. & S. Nairn, still carried on
several contracts, and supplied, among others, the Grand Trunk and Great
Western Railways with wood, giving employment to a large number of men in
the State of Michigan, as well as along the Buffalo and Goderich Railway,
in making and delivering timber and railway ties. He was also interested
in the lake trade, and a large shareholder in the Western Transportation
Coal Co.; and in 1879 he was elected a director of the Toronto, Grey and
Bruce Railway. In 1880 he purchased the flour, saw and woollen mills at
Hanover, in the County of Bruce, and this property is still controlled by
him. In 1884 the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Nairn virtually
retired from active business. In 1865 he was elected to the Corn Exchange,
which is now knows at the Board of Trade, and in which he still holds a
seat. He is a director of the London and Ontario Investment Co., and is
also on the directorate of several other institutions. In religion Mr.
Nairn is a Presbyterian, and belongs to St. James' Square Church, and is
the chairman of its board of management. In politics he is a Reformer, and
takes an active interest in all public questions. He was married, in 1864,
to Elizabeth Ann David, daughter of the late Frederick Davis, St. Helier's,
Island of Jersey. As will be seen, Mr. Nairn's business career has been a
very successful one, and is worthy of imitation by our young men. Now that
he is able to take the world easy, we hope he will be long spared to enjoy
the abundant fruits of his industry, and help in all the good movements
that have for their object the bettering of the world. |
