Edmund Boyd Osler

Sir Edmund Boyd Osler (20 November 1845 – 4 August 1924) was a Canadian businessman, politician and philanthropist. He was a founder and benefactor of the Royal Ontario Museum.

Early life

Osler was born in 1845 at Bond Head near Tecumseh Township, Simcoe County, Canada West.

Political career

Due to his financial success, many believed that Osler should enter politics. Osler began his political career in the 1892 mayoralty race. He lost to R.J. Fleming despite having the support of the Toronto establishment.

Osler was a founder and generous benefactor to the Royal Ontario Museum. Together with George Agnew Reid, Byron Edmund Walker and others, Osler participated in the campaign to found an art museum in Toronto in the early 1900s.

Osler was a close personal friend of Canadian railway magnate Hugh Ryan and served as one of his pallbearers —alongside Ontario politician, William Harty; Conservative Senator, James Mason; Ontario Banker, W.S. Lee; and Canadian businessman Eugene O'Keefe —at his funeral held in St Michael's Cathedral Basilica in 1899.

Osler descended from a British family with a long naval tradition. Edmund's great grandfather, Edward Osler, was variously described as either a merchant seaman or a pirate. One of Edmund's uncles served as a medical officer in the Navy and wrote the Life of Lord Exmouth and the poem The Voyage. Osler’s father was Featherstone Lake Osler (1805–1895). Featherstone was the son of a ship owner from Falmouth, Cornwall. Featherstone formerly served in the Royal Navy as a Lieutenant on the H.M.S. Victory. In 1831 Featherstone Osler was invited to serve on H.M.S. Beagle as the science officer on Charles Darwin's historic voyage to the Galápagos Islands, but turned it down as his father was dying. Featherstone retired from the navy in 1837 and emigrated to Canada. Featherstone married Ellen Free Pickton and they had four sons, Edmund was their youngest. In Canada, Featherstone became an Anglican Reverend.