Thomas Henry McMillan, ca.1910

Publication: Historic Sketches of Oshawa (Oshawa), ca.1910, p. 140

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Creator

Thomas Erlin Kaiser, Author

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Image

Item Type

Photographs

Description

Studio portrait of Thomas Henry McMillan.

Notes

Thomas Henry McMillan was born in Pickering Township on 18 August 1839. About 1860 he went into the dry goods business in Perry's Block on Brock Street North in Whitby. On 10 June 1864, the building burned down and McMillan built a new three storey brick building on the same site known as McMillan's block. He owned the building until 1912 when he sold it to the William Hewis family.

He remained in business in Whitby until the economic recession of 1873 when he moved to Oshawa where he founded and managed the Ontario Loan and Savings Company with Thomas Gibbs and William Cowan. In 1882, he founded the Western Bank of Canada with its head office in Oshawa and branches throughout Southern Ontario. Western Bank amalgamated with Standard Bank of Canada in 1909 and with the Bank of Commerce in 1929. McMillan remained on the Board of Directors when Western and Standard Banks amalgamated.

McMillan died at Oshawa on 5 May 1917 and is buried in Oshawa Union Cemetery.

Date of Original