The founder of the Molson family and father of the steamboat enterprise in Canada came to this country from Lincolnshire, England, in 1782. Two years later he returned to Britain and raised money on his paternal estate to erect a brewery in Montreal. Subsequently he sold his English property, which enabled him to complete the Canadian enterprise that eventually grew into an extensive and lucrative business. Mr. Molson was an excellent business man and did much to advance the commercial and educational interests of his adopted country. He was President of the Bank of Montreal from June, 1826, till his death, which occurred in Montreal in 1836, in his seventy-second year. He was also an influential member of the Executive Council of Lower Canada. His son, the late Hon. John Molson, who inherited his father’s enthusiasm in regard to steamboats and shipping, also took a prominent part in the introduction of railways in Canada. The Molsons Bank and the William Molson Hall of McGill University are fitting memorials of the family in Montreal.
The Torrances are a “Border” family. The late Mr. John Torrance was born at Gatehouse, in the Shire of Galloway, Scotland, June 8th, 1786. Early in the century he came to Canada, and before long established a wholesale business in Montreal and founded the eminent firm of John Torrance & Co. His elder brother Thomas had preceded him in Montreal, and was at the head of a large and lucrative business, residing at Belmont Hall, which he built, and which was at that time considered a palatial mansion. On his removal to Quebec this fine property was acquired by a member of the Molson family. Mr. David Torrance, a nephew of Mr. John Torrance, was born in New York in 1805. He came to reside in Montreal about the year 1821, and became a partner in his uncle’s firm. He was a man of exceptional business capacity, energy and enterprise, and did much to advance the commercial interests of Montreal and Canada. In 1826 this firm purchased the steamboat _Hercules_ and placed her on the Montreal and Quebec route, in the double capacity of a tow-boat and passenger steamer—this being the first step towards the vigorous opposition to the Molson line of steamers that ensued. They were also the first in Canada to branch out into direct trade with the East Indies and China. Mr. David Torrance died in Montreal, January 29th, 1876. His son, Mr. John Torrance, now the senior member of the firm of David Torrance & Co., was born in Montreal in August, 1835. He has had the Montreal agency of the Dominion Line of steamships for many years, and is otherwise extensively occupied in the shipping business. It may be added that after the death of Mr. John Torrance, _primus_, in 1870, the name of the firm was changed to David Torrance & Co., which it still retains.