Brewer. Entrepreneur. He was the founder of the Molson Brewing Company in Montreal, Canada. He was born in Moulton, a village near Spalding, Lincolnshire, England. His father, who had inherited an estate, died when he was only six years old and when his mother died two years later, he and his siblings were evicted from the family home and he went to live with a family friend and his education and other expenses were paid from a trust until he was sixteen years old. In 1782 he immigrated to Canada but he almost didn’t make it, as the ship he was on was lost at sea, but fortunately he was rescued. He returned briefly to England in 1786, and it was during that year that he read the book “Theoretic Hints on an Improved Practice in Brewing” by John Richardson. He returned to Canada with plans to establish a brewery, as many British Loyalists from the US colonies were immigrating to Canada, thus increasing the demand for beer. Between 1788 and 1800 his business grew quickly into one of the larger ones in Lower Canada. By the start of the 19th Century his small brewery had grown tenfold and with his profits, he improved his business by buying new technology. He contemplated buying a steamship after seeing Robert Fulton’s steamship “Vermont” go down the Hudson River. His steamship would be the first in Canada and he partnered with two others to build a ship in return for fronting the money and part ownership. In 1809 his “Accommodation” became the first steamship to ride on the waters of the Saint Lawrence River. From a business perspective it was a great accomplishment for him; however, by 1810 it resulted in a net loss. Determined to make money on his ships, he dismantled “Accommodation” and purchased two steamship engines from England, combining the two engines and the remains of Accommodation to create “Swiftsure,” a magnificent ship that was seen as a vision of elegance. During this time his business continued to grow and the War of 1812 pushed sales even higher. “Swiftsure” was leased to the British army during the War of 1812, earning him a supplemental income. In 1815 he was elected to represent Montreal East in the legislative assembly on the platform of building a wharf. In 1816 he built Mansion House Hotel, a luxury hotel which coincided with the Assembly’s acceptance of the wharf. The hotel offered Montreal’s first library, boats rides on the river, well-furnished rooms and six-course dinners, famous throughout all of Montreal. In 1817 he was offered a partnership in the newly created Montreal Bank and accepted it after and the bank became fully Canadian-owned when the U.S partners sold their shares after the U.S financial crisis in the fall of 1818. By 1822 the Montreal Bank had received a charter from Britain and chose to change their name to The Bank of Montreal, eventually becoming its president from 1826 until 1834. In 1819, after a short bout of sickness, he observed the only hospital in the city only held 30 beds. He proposed to the Assembly that a new hospital be established that would contain 200 beds. Although the Assembly denied his request, there was much private support and by May of that year the new hospital, the Montreal General Hospital, was opened. In 1821 the Mansion House Hotel caught fire. The books from the library were saved but not much else was salvageable. He set out to build an even grander hotel and by 1825, it was completely rebuilt and renamed the British American Hotel. After its completion, he built a theatre adjacent to the hotel, named Monson’s Theater Royale, which was completed by November of that year. It was Montreal’s first theater, with a seating capacity of 1,000, and was used for circuses and concerts as well as Shakespearean plays. He continued to build his empire by purchasing multiple steamships and creating the Saint Lawrence Steamboat Company, a fleet so large that it outnumbered all of those operating in the United States. In 1832, following reports of the first railway built in England, his request to build a railroad was accepted by the Assembly. The railway, the first ever constructed in Canada, connected the Saint Lawrence to the Hudson River, making the trip from Montreal to New York much quicker. In 1833 his British American Hotel burned down and he elected not to rebuild it. In December 1835 he became ill with a high fever and died in Boucherville, Lower Canada (modern-day province of Quebec) the following month at the age of 72. He was a benefactor of McGill University in Montreal. (bio by: William Bjornstad)  Family links:  Parents:  John Molson (1730 – 1770)  Mary Elsdale Molson (1739 – 1772)  Spouse:  Sarah Insley Vaughn Molson (1751 – 1829)*  Children:  John Molson (1787 – 1860)*  Thomas Molson (1791 – 1863)*  William Molson (1793 – 1875)* *Calculated relationship