b.1841 d. 1922
Married - Elizabeth Davidson
William Roos was the son of Michael Roos of Preston who, for a time was an early hotel owner in that town. Wiliam, at an early age, ran a stage coach from Berlin, through Waterloo to Millbank. In 1857, George Randall, William’s brother in law and William Hespeler began the Granite Mills that eventually evolved into a distillery. About 1861 William Roos joined the distillery company now known as Hespeler, Randall & Roos. This company owned a wholesale store in the Commercial Block where grain and feed were bought and sold. Part of the store also became the office for the distillery. Roos was listed as a clerk in the store but probably had other office duties as well. When Joseph E. Seagram bought out all shares in the distillery, he and George Randal began a wholesale grocery and dry goods business on Queen St in Berlin. In the mid 80s the William Roos family moved to the large home called Bon Accord, located at Queen St. and Margaret Ave in Berlin, which had been his father in law George Davidson’s home (now site of Church of the Good Shepherd). William Roos ran the Queen St store until it was sold in 1920 to John Shane [illegible]. When Victoria Park was established in _____ the island formed in the lake was called Roos Island after William. He died in 1922 at Bon Accord.
Sources:
1. Obituary, Waterloo Chronicle, March 30, 1922
2. J. E. Seagram Biography, Seagram Collection, City of Waterloo.
3. Marg Rowell et al, Welcome to Waterloo.
William Roos Biography
Description
- Creator
- Little, Ellis, Author
- Media Type
- Text
- Item Type
- Articles
- Description
- This is a handwritten biography of William Roos from the Ellis Little Papers. This biography has been transcribed exactly as written. Ellis Little was a local historian, who was the principal of Elizabeth Ziegler Public School.On his retirement, he invested much of his time in researching and writing about Waterloo's history. The Ellis Little Papers consist of extensive notes, papers and historical works.
- Notes
- Please scroll to the bottom of the page to see the transcribed text. To see the original document, please visit the Ellis Little Local History Room at the Main Branch of the Waterloo Public Library
- Subject(s)
- Personal Name(s)
- Roos, William ; Davidson, Elizabeth ; Roos, Michael ; Randall, George ; Hespeler, William ; Seagram, Joseph
- Corporate Name(s)
- Granite Mills ; Hespeler, Randall and Roos Distillery
- Local identifier
- ELP 51.178
- Collection
- Ellis Little Papers: Men and Women of Our Past
- Language of Item
- English
- Copyright Statement
- Copyright status unknown. Responsibility for determining the copyright status and any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Location of Original
- Ellis Little Papers
- Contact
- Waterloo Public LibraryEmail:askus@wpl.ca
Website:
Agency street/mail address:35 Albert Street, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 5E2
- Full Text
