Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1822 - 1865, added material 1926, 1964 (Creation)
- Creator
- O'Brien, Dennis
Physical description area
Physical description
6 cm of textual records; 1 volume
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Dennis O'Brien was born in County Cork, Ireland in 1792. In 1811, he immigrated to the United States and in 1820 to York, Canada, where he worked as a foot pedlar and sold hardware and tinware.
Settling in London in 1826, O'Brien established a hardware store and became one of the earliest merchants in the city. In opposition to other merchants in the area, he was the first merchant in the area to reduce the prices of his goods to a level deemed a reasonable exchange for farmers' produce. In 1834, O'Brien was one of the incorporators of the London and Gore Railroad, and added to his business holdings by purchasing Blackfriars grist mill in 1835. He later operated a distillery and engaged in land speculation.
In 1837, O'Brien built the first brick business block, and the third brick structure, in London on the corner of Dundas and Ridout. As well as housing his own and other businesses, it served as the temporary barracks of the British garrison stationed in the town after the rebellions of 1837. After the Great Fire of 1845, he and his family moved to Westminster Township and had the store remodeled into the Western Hotel.
O'Brien was a staunch supporter of the Roman Catholic Church and by 1831 was London's agent for Catholic, Upper Canada's first Catholic newspaper. Active in the community, he was a prominent member of the Irish Benevolent Society and was noted for his works of charity.
On July 22, 1834, Dennis O'Brien married Jane Shotwell of Westminster Township. They had at least one daughter and two sons. O'Brien's daughter Mary married Duncan McMillan, a grain broker in London, and had two children, Charles and Edward.
Dennis O'Brien died on May 17, 1865, at the age of 73.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The fonds consists of materials related to O'Brien's business activities, personal life and family history. Included are legal and financial records, correspondence and miscellaneous documents.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
A note in the Account Book indicates that this volume was donated to the Lawson Library, at The University of Western Ontario, in June of 1926 by E.G. McMillan, O'Brien's grandson. The remaining materials were acquired by The University of Western Ontario in 1972.
Arrangement
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Access restrictions apply to Series 5 Restricted Originals.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Associated materials
Accruals
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Control area
Description record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules or conventions
- Information for the Biographical Sketch taken from The Dictionary of Canadian Biography IX 1861-1870 and The forest city: An illustrated history of London, Canada.; 2. Fragile documents have been photocopied. Originals have been removed from files and placed in the Restricted Originals Series. Some originals have been duplex copied to conserve paper.