Edward Aemilius Jarvis (April 25, 1860 – 1940) was a Canadian businessman and sailor.

Career and Military Service

A member of a prominent Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 family, Jarvis apprenticed as a banker, and eventually became president of the Trader's Bank of Canada. Jarvis founded the Steel Company of Canada

Stelco

US Steel Canada is a steel company based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.-History:Several existing smaller steelworks combined and were incorporated as the Steel Company of Canada in 1910. Charles S...

. He built the King Edward Hotel and created the British Columbia Salmon Canning Industry. Jarvis also formed AEmilius Jarvis & Co., earning the friendship and respect of such men as Lord Minto (Governor General of Canada), J.P. Morgan, Sir Thomas Lipton

Thomas Lipton

Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, 1st Baronet, KCVO was a Scotsman of Ulster-Scots parentage who was a self-made man, merchant, and yachtsman. He created the Lipton tea brand and was the most persistent challenger in the history of the America's Cup.-Parentage and childhood:Lipton was born in Glasgow...

, Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Henry Pellatt

Henry Pellatt

Major-General Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, C.V.O. was a well-known Canadian financier and soldier....

, and Ned Hanlan. He acted as a spy for King George V

George V of the United Kingdom

George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....

 while visiting Czar Nicholas of Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 in 1915. Jarvis was instrumental in forming the Canadian Navy during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, and was awarded an S.S.D. (Special Service Decoration) for his wartime efforts. He also operated a famously successful stud farm, breeding hunter-jumper horses.

Love of Sailing

Jarvis sailed alone around Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...

 in a tiny dinghy

Dinghy

A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed for use as a ship's boat by a larger vessel. It is a loanword from either Bengali or Urdu. The term can also refer to small racing yachts or recreational open sailing boats. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor,...

 when he was just ten years old. Later in life, he spent two years sailing the world in a square-rigger sailing vessel. He designed and built numerous innovative and successful racing sailboats, and founded the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club and the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, of which he was elected commodore four times. Additionally, he won over 100 international freshwater sailing events while at Royal Canadian Yacht Club. He published an account of sailing his yacht, "Haswell" from Toronto to the Caribbean in the winter of 1920-21 entitled, "5,000 Miles in a 27-Tonner."

Scandal

Jarvis was convicted on a charge of conspiracy

Conspiracy (crime)

In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...

 to defraud the government of the Province of Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, after having saved that government millions of dollars in the retirement of war bonds. Though he was jailed, for the remainder of his life he stoutly defended his innocence. The Premier of Ontario, Ernest C. Drury, labelled him "Canada's Dreyfus

Dreyfus Affair

The Dreyfus affair was a political scandal that divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s. It involved the conviction for treason in November 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent...

."

His grandson Robert Aemilius Jarvis published the biography "The Last Viking".

See also

• Ontario Bond Scandal
  Ontario Bond Scandal
  The Ontario Bond Scandal was a scandal that hit the government of Ontario in the early 1920s.Ontario had been governed by the United Farmers of Ontario of Ernest C. Drury since 1919. In 1922 a scandal broke out over the purchase of government bonds...