Luther H Holton: A Founding Canadian Entrepreneur

Robert W. Sexty is a professor of commerce and business administration
at Memorial University of Newfoundland and the author of Canadian
Business: Issues and Stakeholders.

Canadian business history has traditionally focused on prominent names
such as Massey, Eaton, McLaughlin, and Flavelle. Now less well-known,
yet equally worthy, individuals who made substantial contributions to
entrepreneurship in this country are being recognized. Luther Holton, a
Montreal entrepreneur during the 19th century, engaged in a variety of
businesses, including transportation, manufacturing, banking, and real
estate. Holton was also a prominent politician, and the biography covers
both his business and his political careers.

Rather than being strictly chronological, the book’s 10 chapters
focus on stages in Holton’s two careers. The first two chapters
briefly describe his youth and his career working for others. His
entrepreneurial career began when he became a major shareholder in a
steamship company. Sensing a change in transportation, Holton sold his
interests in ships and entered the railway construction business. The
next three chapters are devoted to Holton’s political career,
including a period as minister of finance in pre-Confederation Canada
and an involvement in Canadian government constitutional changes in the
mid-1800s. The last three chapters return to his involvement in
manufacturing, banking, and real estate. Holton’s two careers were
intertwined in a manner that today would be considered a conflict of
interest.

The author, a professor emeritus of history at the University of
Calgary, gives a balanced portrait of his subject, describing the
setbacks as well as the successes. Luther H. Holton is based on
extensive archival research that uncovered over 50 maps, photographs,
and drawings that effectively illustrate the volume. Klassen admits that
he has not written a complete biography or a comprehensive history of
the era; what he has produced instead is an excellent record of this
early Canadian entrepreneur.