Sir Henry Mill Pellatt and the

Queens Own Riffles Regiment

Created by Ms. Currie
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Sir Henry Mill Pellatt
Financier and Soldier
Sir Henry Mill Pellatt (1859-1939)
Biography

Sir Henry Mill Pellatt Was born January 6, 1859 in Kingston

Ontario to British Parents.

He was the 3rd of 6 children (and the first son)

His family moved to Toronto when he was 2 years old.

He studied at Upper Canada College before leaving in 1876 to

pursue a career in Business
Biography

He worked alongside
his father until age
23 when he became
full partner in his
fathers stock
brokerage firm

He Married his wife,

a young society girl
name Mary Dodgson
at age 23 as well.
Interests and Pastimes

In 1879, he became locally famous for beating the U.S.

Amateur champion in the running of the mile.

In his early years, he frequently travelled to Europe

where he developed a taste for fine art and architecture

He was involved throughout his life with the Military and

more specifically the Queens Own Rifles
A Big Businessman

After Thomas Edison developed steam-generated electricity, Sir

Henry realized that he could make a huge profit through supplying
electricity

He Founded Toronto Electric Light Company in 1883 and by the

time he reached 30 the company has exclusive control on the supply
of street lighting to the city of Toronto

After his fathers retirement in 1892, he invested in the Canadian

Pacific Railroad and the North West Land Company
Which lead to large profits!
A Big Businessman

By 1901 he was the chairman of 21 companies in areas such as

mining, insurance, land and electricity.

In 1902 he and his partners won rights to build the first Canadian
Hydro-generating plant at Niagara Falls

His businesses and investments continued to grow. In 1911 he had

made a fortune of 17 million dollars
That would be about $365 million dollars today!
Niagara Hydro
Plant

Sir Henry M. Pellatt,

President, laying a
corner stone of the
Power House of the
Electrical Development
Co. of Ontario Limited,
Niagara Falls Ont. May
8, 1906
 The Birth of Casa
Loma
In 1911, with his $17 million
fortune, he began
construction of his new
residence Casa Loma (Spanish
for Hill House) in Toronto

It is situated on a hilled piece

of land within the city

Cost Approx. 3.5 million to

complete and was the largest
private residence in Canada
at the time
Financial Troubles Ahead

Sir Henry could not sustain his fortune and the cost of
maintaining Casa Loma
Post-War economy lead to failing investments and high tax bills for
Casa Loma.

Pellatt begun losing money on his electrical power company

investments due to political changes that allowed for the
public ownership of electricity
Financial Troubles Ahead

His other stocks lost value in the slump following WWI

He attempted to regain his wealth through buying and

upselling large amounts of land but did not earn the profit he
was looking for
Goodbye Casa Loma

With large business debts and worthless stocks he was forced

to auction off his prized possessions (at a fraction of the
cost) and to abandon the castle in 1923.

He and Lady Pellatt moved to his Lake Marie farm in King

Township in 1924, only 10 years after the completion of his
dream castle.
Life End

Sir Henrys Wife Lady Pellatt died Shortly after the move from
Casa Loma in 1924. She was 67 years old.

Sir Henry passed away March 8, 1939 in Mimico Ontario. At the

time he was seemingly poor and living with a former chauffeur in
a small house in the Toronto Suburbs.

After his death, thousands lined the Toronto streets to witness the
funeral procession.
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Queens Own Rifles
Overview and Contributions/Relevance to WWI
What is the Queens Own Rifles?

The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada is an infantry regiment of the

Canadian Forces Reserve based in downtown Toronto and
Scarborough.

It is the oldest continuously serving infantry regiment in Canada

The role of the Army Reserve is to produce well trained soldiers

to oversee operations of the Canadian Forces in Canada and
abroad. The unit is prepared to respond to any emergency or
natural disaster in the region.
Contd

The trained soldiers in the regiment are

called Riflemen.

As an infantry regiment, the soldiers were

trained and responsible for fighting on foot
with weapons such as rifles, grenades, etc.

On the battlefield, a light infantry battalion

moves quickly on foot, unburdened by heavy
equipment.
Brief History of QOR

Formed April 26, 1860

Changed names until 1920 when the "Queen's Own Rifles of Canada was decided upon.

When World War I broke out in August of 1914, Canada responded by sending
the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

The QOF Regiment provided the bulk of the men to the Third Battalion CEF
However, Ottawa refused to allow the battalion to retain their QOR identity
QOR and WWI

The 3rd Battalion CEF fought in Northern France and Belgium,

from Amiens to Langemark.

Twenty one battle honours, were won during the war. By the
war's end 7,562 Queen's Own had served overseas, of these
1,254 were killed in action, died of wounds or of other
causes.
Six soldiers who had served with or been attached to The Queen's
Own were awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry.
Pellatt and The QOR

Sir Henry Pellatt enlisted as a Rifleman in the Queens Own Rifles

regiment on November 2, 1876

He rose through the ranks to become the Commanding Officer of the

QOR from 1901-1920
He was knighted by King Edward VII in 1905 for his Military service with
the Queens own Rifles

He was quite generous to the QOR and in 1910 financed a 5 week trip
for over 600 Queens Own officers to England for military training
Sir Henry Pellatt
and the Queens
Own Rifles

Photo taken in 1923 of

Sir Henry Mill Pellatt
and his QOR Regiment
officers
Resources

Check out the documentary: The Pellatt newsreel : The man

who built Casa Loma for more info on Sir Henry Pellatt and
his QOR regiment.

Also see the biography Casa Loma: Canada's Fairy-Tale Castle

and Its Owner, Sir Henry Pellatt By Bill Freeman

https://qormuseum.org/ see the museum website for more

info on the QOR and some of the sites we will see on our visit
to Casa Loma!