William Lawson (banker)

William Lawson (banker)

William Lawson - businessman, office holder, justice of the peace, and politician was born 14 March 1772, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the son of John Lawson and Sarah Shatford.

Business & Public Career

He was a founding director and first president of the Bank of Nova Scotia, now known as Scotiabank. As a member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, he introduced a bill chartering a public bank. The bill ensured that any bank directors were responsible for double the amount of their holdings in case of insolvency. This clause was an innovation in British North America, and came at a time when most banks limited liability to the value of a shareholder’s stock. As a means of building trust and ensuring the savings of depositors, the concept provided stability to the fledgling bank which prospered and spread quickly from its inception in the Merchants' Coffee House, Halifax to become an international financial institution. Besides his mercantile and shipping ventures he served as an elected member of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly from 1806 to 1836, and was appointed to the Legislative Council from 1838 to 1845.

Private Life

On 26 December, 1793, He married Elizabeth Handyside who was the daughter of his stepmother from a previous marriage. Although technically brother and sister, the couple were not biological relatives. William & Elizabeth had fourteen children and resided in a house at the corner of Hollis and Salter streets, built by Malachy Salter, about 1760. The house was sold by Lawson's heirs in 1856 to John Esson, and the land now comprises part of the site of Maritime Centre, in downtown Halifax.

External links

* [http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=37613 "Dictionary of Canadian Biography" (DCB)]
* [http://www.lib.uwo.ca/business/cr-bankofnovascotia.htm Bank of Nova Scotia history]


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