Everything about E P Taylor totally explained
Edward Plunket Taylor, (
January 29,
1901 -
May 14,
1989) was a
Canadian business tycoon and famous breeder of
thoroughbred race horses. Known to his friends as "Eddie," he's universally recorded as "E. P. Taylor."
Early years
Born in
Ottawa, Ontario into a wealthy family, Taylor attended
Ashbury College and graduated from
Montreal's
McGill University in 1922 with a
Bachelor of Science degree. After graduation, he worked for the investment brokerage firm McLeod Young and Weir (now
ScotiaMcLeod).
Business
Starting with a brewery business (Brading Brewery) inherited from his grandfather, Taylor merged more than 20 other small breweries to create
Canadian Breweries Limited, which grew to be the world's largest brewing company.
During
World War II, he was a volunteer executive in the Canadian government's war effort. He was appointed by
C. D. Howe to the executive committee of the Department of Munitions and Supply and would be appointed by
Winston Churchill to run the British Supply Council in North America. He came close to losing his life when, in December 1940, the ship he was on was torpedoed while crossing the
Atlantic. He and others on the sinking ship were rescued by a captain who broke regulations to pick them up.
Through his war-time service, Taylor became connected to top businessmen from across Canada and around the world. At war's end, he founded
Argus Corporation, becoming the investment company's majority shareholder by rolling Canadian Breweries stock into the new entity. Over the years, he gained control of many of his country’s greatest companies such as Canadian Food Products,
Massey-Harris, Orange Crush, Standard Chemical,
Dominion Stores,
British Columbia Forest Products Limited,
Domtar Paper,
Standard Broadcasting, and
Hollinger Mines Limited. He operated the business until 1971 and would sell his shares to
Paul Desmarais. During the highest point of his career, he was one of Canada's richest buisnessmen.
He also founded the highly exclusive
Lyford Cay gated community and its 'Lyford Cay Club' on
New Providence island in the
Bahamas. This club is for the world's richest, or at least the richest tourists to the Bahamas. However, membership isn't so simple to acquire. Members include actor
Sean Connery and many dukes and duchesses and other royals. Although he sold it, his family still visits the club. He also founded many other Bahamian luxury clubs, such as 'Old Fort Bay Club', now a luxury private development where the Bacardi Family has houses, and 'South Ocean' bought recently by golf pros including
Tiger Woods who are turning it into a slightly less exclusive high grade golf club.
In 1948, E.P. Taylor and a small group of fellow alumni established the
McGill University Alma Mater Fund, inviting all graduates to give annual donations and thereby "make of themselves a living endowment."
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Thoroughbred racing
While a student at Montreal's McGill University in 1918, E. P. Taylor was introduced to the sport of
Thoroughbred horse racing at
Blue Bonnets Raceway. As a businessman in the 1930s he established Cosgrave Stable to race horses which notably owned and raced the future
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame filly,
Mona Bell.
In the 1950s, E. P. Taylor and his wife, Winnifred, began breeding
Thoroughbreds. Their involvement led to the acquisition of
Parkwood Stable near Toronto and then
Windfields Farm at
Oshawa, Ontario. The Taylor thoroughbred horse breeding operation produced
Northern Dancer, the greatest sire of the 20th century. In 1970, he was the world's leading horse breeder measured by money won. He was president of the
Ontario Jockey Club from 1953 to 1973 where he consolidated numerous money-losing tracks throughout the province into fewer, but viable businesses. He was voted thoroughbred racing's man of the year in 1973 and the following year was elected to
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. In 1977 and 1983 he was named the winner of the
Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder as the leading thoroughbred breeder in
North America. Taylor's horses won 15
Queen's Plate races and were named
Canadian Horse of the Year nine times. He was also a founder of the
Jockey Club of Canada.
Residences
In 1963, Taylor moved to the
Bahamas, taking advantage of the warm climate and its inheritance tax laws. He lived in the gated community he'd built called Lyford Cay. He died there in 1989 at the age of 88. His son, journalist and author
Charles P. B. Taylor, died in 1997 at 62 after a nine-year battle with cancer.
Windfields Estate was Taylor's home and was situated at 2489 Bayview Avenue in
North York, Ontario (now part of
Toronto). It is now the site of The
Canadian Film Centre. The 25 acre estate has been preserved as a heritage site. The
Canadian Royal Family often stayed at Windfields when they visited Toronto. The last royals to stay there were the
Queen Mother in the summer of 1974 and
Prince Charles and
Princess Diana. There were many maids, two gardeners and a house manager who worked at the residence.
Legacy
Taylor's legacy lives on within the community with various contributions. He even has a pub named after him in Oshawa, Ontario. E.P. taylor's Student Pub
(External Link
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Further Information
Get more info on 'E P Taylor'.
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