1. Robert Dunsmuir was a Scottish-born Canadian businessman and politician.
19 Facts About Robert Dunsmuir
1. 2.
Robert Dunsmuir was recognized as a National Historic Person by the government of Canada in 1971.
3.
Three years later, grandfather Robert Dunsmuir died a relatively wealthy man, leaving a third of his estate in trust for his orphaned grandchildren.
4.
Robert Dunsmuir was schooled locally at the Kilmarnock Academy and then at the Paisley Mercantile and Mechanical School, a training helpful in the coal business.
5.
Robert Dunsmuir then went to work in local coal mines under his Aunt's husband Boyd Gilmour.
6.
On September 11,1847, at the age of 22, Robert Dunsmuir married 19-year-old Joan White.
7.
Eight days later, on July 8,1851, Joan Robert Dunsmuir gave birth to their third child, James Robert Dunsmuir.
8.
Robert Dunsmuir went on to propose to Douglas that he carry on personally with the operation of a seam that Gilmour had thought was played out.
9.
On October 12,1855, Robert Dunsmuir commenced work on his own account and within a month was producing seven tons of coal a day.
10.
Robert Dunsmuir worked from time to time as Superintendent of that company and, as well, for the Harewood Coal Company of his friend Dr Alfred Benson, which failed to raise the capital it needed to exploit its claim.
11.
In October 1869 Robert Dunsmuir was fishing for trout at Diver Lake, a few miles north and west of Nanaimo, when he found a coal outcrop.
12.
Robert Dunsmuir staked a claim to 1,600 acres in a band 1,000 yards wide and 4 miles long including the north half of Diver Lake and running right to Departure Bay in the area known as Wellington.
13.
Wadham Diggle, commander of the naval vessel Boxer, one of the first to use Robert Dunsmuir's coal, invested $8,000 in the venture.
14.
Robert Dunsmuir bought out Farquhar in 1879 and in 1883 Diggle was paid $600,000 for his half share of the business, then producing a profit of $500,000 per year.
15.
Robert Dunsmuir was one of the founders of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Company which built the rail line from Esquimalt to Nanaimo, later extended to Wellington, Victoria and Courtenay.
16.
Robert Dunsmuir was elected to the BC Legislature representing Nanaimo in the 1882 election while away on a European holiday, and was re-elected in 1886.
17.
Robert Dunsmuir died at Victoria, British Columbia while still in office.
18.
In 1888, Alexander Robert Dunsmuir was passing through Siskiyou County, California, and according to contemporary accounts, was so taken with the beauty of the area that he offered to donate a fountain to a new town, if they would name the town in his honour.
19.
The offer was accepted, and Robert Dunsmuir's fountain remains operational near the City Park in Robert Dunsmuir, California.