Henry Gifford Birks (1892 - 1985)

Born 6 Sep 1892 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Biography

Father William M. Birks, 294 Stanley St., Montreal, Quebec in 1915

Trade or Calling: Jeweller

Date of Enlistment: May 31, 1915

Three months with the McGill Contingent COTC.

Lieut. Henry G. Birks, of Henry Birks & Sons, who has been discharged from the army after 10 months in the trenches, is at the Hotel Vancouver. He is visiting the coast in the hope that the change will assist him in recovering his health. He is accompanied by Flight Lieut. C. B. Drummond.^[1]

Great War - Black Watch of Canada and fought at Vimy Ridge.

Between 1936 and 1979 Henry Birks’s grandson Henry Gifford Birks amassed a vast collection of Canadian silverware. The collection, which was donated to the National Gallery of Canada on 1 Dec. 1979, is the principal record of the output of Henry Birks and Company, Henry Birks and Sons, and Henry Birks and Sons Limited, and of its predecessors and suppliers.^[2]

Obituary: 'We mourn the death of HENRY GIFFORD BIRKS 1892-1985 former Chairman of the Board and Grandson of our Founder. HENRY BIRKS & SONS

HENRY GIFFORD BIRKS Henry C T - Birks was born on Septembr 6, 1892. The eldest child of William Massey Birks and Miriam Gifford, he grew up in Montreal. Like his grandfather and father, he was educated at Montreal High School. After a short period at McGill University he joined the Montreal store in 1911. Henry Birks was a people person. He cared about his family in the home and across the country in the family firm. He set up the "Old Guard" to recognize the contribution made to the firm by employees with 25 years' service or more He knew his people and reacted to them with warmth and with respect.

Perhaps his concern for people goes back to the war years. He enlisted in 1914 in the 42nd Battalion of the Black Watch and became a bombing officer. He was seriously wounded at Ypres in 1916 and sent home with little hope of living a full life. A man not easily defeated, he regained his vitality and with the aid of his wife, Lilian C Drummond, whom he married in 1917, he became involved in the social and political environment in which he lived.

Fluent in French, he was able to take an active part in the politics of the city; he served as a City Councillor from 1940 to 1943 when he became pro-mayor of Montreal. In 1945 he was appointed Campaign Chairman of the Red Feather Federated Appeal In 1948 he was elected President of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

Henry Birks also took an active interest in the religious and academic life of the country For many years he taught Sunday School and for twenty years he served as Governor of McGill University during which time ne was Chairman of the United Theological Colleges associated with McGill. Henry Birks entered the Company as a salesman in the Jewellery Department. From there he went on to learn about all aspects of the family business. An able administrator, he became President of the firm in 14. During his terms as President and Chairman, the firm grew and prospered.

At the same time he played an active role in the broader business community he served as director of over a dozen Canadian corporations including the Bank of Montreal, The Royal Trust Company and RCA. His special hobby during his years with Birks was the now famous Henry Birks Collection of Canadian Silver.

Henry Birks leaves three children, twelve grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren. In addition to his strenuously busy and physically demanding schedule, he created a strong home environments home with the normal ups and downs that any family may experience, but a home where warmth, love and affection were always the main order of the day. Because he was such a giving man, a part of Henry Birks will live on in the hearts of all who knew him and loved him

Sources

1. ↑ Vancouver Daily Sun, 02 October 1917
2. ↑ http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/birks_henry_15E.html

• http://www.canadiangreatwarproject.com/searches/soldierDetail.asp?ID=96473
• Obituary, Edmonton Journal, Thursday, November 14, 1985, Page: 77