Fondo F1658 - Thomas and William J. Shaughnessy fonds

Thomas George Shaughnessy, 1853-1923, was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. From 1866 to 1882 he worked for the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, of which W.C. Van Horne was general manager. When Van Horne became general manager of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), he invited Shaughnessy to Canada to work for him. Shaughnessy began as general purchasing agent of CPR in 1882, rose to become vice-president in 1891 and president in 1899. He retired as president in 1918, but remained chairman until his death. He was created a Peer of the United Empire. He married Elizabeth Bridget Nagle, also of Milwaukee, in 1880 and they had two sons, William and Alfred.

William James Shaughnessy, 1883-1938, was born in Montreal. He received his LLM degree in 1910 and became a KC in 1920. During the First World War he served overseas with the Irish Canadian Rangers. He left the law practice in 1924 to become director of Sir Mortimer Davis Inc. He was a director of CPR, Canadian Bank of Commerce, and the West Kootenay Power and Light Company. In 1911 he married Marion Laura Graham, ?-1936, of Montreal and they had four children, William Graham, 1922-2003, Margaret Helena, Hazel Marion and Bridget Ann.

For further information see T.D. Regehr's entry, "Thomas George Shaughnessy", in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography (www.biographi.ca).