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Ogilvie Flour Mills fonds: Home

Ogilvie Flour Mills fonds

Call Number: Mss 120, Pc 122, Mc 3 (A.93-88, A.94-23, A.94-30, A.94-41, A.96-25)

Title: Ogilvie Flour Mills fonds.

Dates: 1847-1983.

Extent: 23.04 m of textual records and other material.

Administrative history: The Ogilvie family lineage can be traced back to 1750 when Katherine and James Ogilvie gave birth to a son, Archibald. He moved from Scotland to Canada with his wife, six of his eight children, £2000, and two fine French millstones. In 1811, Archibald’s third son, Alexander, joined his uncle John Watson in Montreal and added his millstones to his uncle's mill. Alexander married his cousin, Helen Watson. They had eleven children. Soon the Ogilvie milling dynasty would flourish. Alexander Walker, the seventh son, formed a partnership with his uncle, James Goudie. Goudie retired in 1855 and relinquished his share of the business to Alexander’s younger brother, John. In 1872, a mill was built at Seaforth, Ontario, and two years later another at Goderich. By 1877, the competitors complained that the Ogilvies were cornering the market because they held two million bushels of wheat in their grain elevators. John Ogilvie died in 1888. In 1895, the Ogilvie company acquired Stephen Nairn’s oatmeal mill in Winnipeg. In 1900, William Watson Ogilvie died suddenly, and two years later, Alexander Walker Ogilvie passed away as well. In May 1902, the executors of William Watson Ogilvie sold the flour mills and seventy elevators to a Canadian-owned syndicate. Charles Rudolph Hosmer was the president of the newly formed Ogilvie Flour Mills Co. Ltd. from 1902 to 1927. From 1912 to 1939, Ogilvie Flour Company were purveyors of flour to his Majesty, King George V, which indicated Ogilvie flour had been adopted by the royal household. In 1949, Gerber-Ogilvie Baby Foods Ltd. was formed and Ault Milk Products was purchased. In 1957, Ogilvie sold their fifty percent share of Gerber-Ogilvie Baby Foods Ltd. to Gerber, and in the same year Ogilvie-Five Roses Sales Ltd. was consolidated. Ogilvie bought control of Catelli stock in 1960. Between 1966 and 1996, Ogilvie Mills sold, purchased, and amalgamated with companies such as General Bakeries Ltd., Beatrice Foods Inc., Delmar Chemicals, Laura Secord Candy Shops Ltd., Catelli-Habitant Inc., Gourmet Baker Inc., among many others. In 1968, John Labbatt Ltd. bought out the 96% outstanding shares and Ogilvie became a subsidiary of Labbatt. In 1993-1994, Archer Daniels-Midland Co. of Decatur, Illinois purchased Ogilvie Mills from John Labbatt Ltd. At the time, the annual sales had reached $275 million.

Custodial history: University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections acquired the Ogilvie Flour Mills fonds from ADM Milling in several accessions between 1993 and 1996.

Scope and content: The fonds consists of twenty four series: A.W. & W.W. Ogilvie Co. Ltd. (1847-1973), Ogilvie Flour Mills Co. Ltd. (1900-1983), Seaforth Milling Co. Ltd. (1909-1978), La Boulangerie Nationale Ltee. (1913-1972), Consolidated Bakeries (1914-1980), Ogilvie Grain (1915-1977), Glenora Securities Inc. (1912-1976), Treeline Navigation (1925-1936), Ault Foods (1937-1977), Miracle Foods (1944-1977), Industrial Grain Products (1946-1976), H.B. Saunders Ltd. (1959-1977), Les Porcheries Canadien Ltee. (1960-1971), Canadian Grain Export Co. Ltd. (1945-1976), Cal – Ed Poultry Products (1965-1977), Brampton Milling & Farm Supply (1968-1969), Edmonton Produce Ltd. (1968-1971), Cham Foods Ltd. (1968-1976), Delmar Chemicals Ltd. (1969-1977), McGavin Toastmaster Ltd. (1920-1977), Catelli-Habitant Ltd. (1928-1977), Lake of the Woods Milling Co. Ltd. (1887-1977), Blueprints (1851-1975), and Photograph Collection (1890-1977). The photograph collection consists of 1408 photographs, 149 slides, and 8 paintings. The map collection consists of 419 technical drawings and blueprints.

Source of supplied title: Title based on contents of fonds.

Restrictions: There are no restrictions on this material.

Accruals: No further accruals are expected.

Related material: Bradley Morrison fonds (MSS 120 (A.04-160, A.07-34)).

Finding aid: A printed finding aid is available in the Archives reading room and on-line finding aids are available at the links below:

MSS 120 (A.93-88, A.94-23, A.94-30, A.94-41, A.96-25)

PC 122 (A.93-88, A.94-23, A.94-30, A.94-41, A.96-25)

MC 3 (A.93-88, A.94-23, A.94-30, A.94-41, A.96-25).

 

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