John Labatt

John Labatt (11 December 1838 – 27 April 1915) was a Canadian businessman and brewer. Labatt helped Labatt Brewing Company eventually become the largest brewery in Canada.

Early life Labatt was born in 1838 in Westminster Township, near London, Upper Canada, and was the son of Eliza (Kell), from Bradford, England, and John Kinder Labatt, an Irish immigrant and founder of the Labatt Brewing Company. Labatt went on to apprentice to American brewer George Weatherall Smith in Wheeling, West Virginia, from 1859 to 1864, where he learned the skills to work for his father's company.

Labatt grew up around beer, brewers, and beer drinking, helping him learn and understand other necessary skills that enabled him to begin working for his father's company at the age of 19. Aware of other competition in his area, Labatt sought to grow his company as fast as he could. After the passage of this act, the Dominion Brewers and Maltsters' Association (DBMA), to which Labatt was a large financial contributor, was created, to help counter what the Scott Act stood for. With Labatt's financial help, the DBMA lobbied the Canadian government to try to put an end to the Scott Act. Contrary to its intention, the passage of this act actually benefited brewers and their companies, especially Labatt, because he was forced, due to the proximity of dry areas, to expand to places where the Scott Act had not reached. Labatt expanded to the far east and west of Canada, and took advantage of large markets like Vancouver, in British Columbia. The Scott Act also changed the way that Labatt sold his beer, increasing his sales as the company turned more towards the bottled beer approach, which gained popularity from 1878 to 1889. By selling his beer in bottles, his profits almost doubled, from $29,415.36 in 1878 to $55,117.15 in 1889. In 1911, his company continued to grow despite continued governmental restrictions on the sale of alcoholic beverages, selling almost $500,000 worth of beer. At that point, Labatt's company had grown to the largest brewery in Canada. In the same year, Labatt became the last Ontario brewer to incorporate his company, to ensure the continuity of ownership, and get rid of private ownership, as made popular by famous Harvard business historian Alfred Chandler.

Personal life and legacy Labatt's wife was Catherine Maria Biddulph. They together had nine children, most notable being John Sackville Labatt and Hugh Francis Labatt. His grandson was actor Hume Cronyn and his great-grandson was actor Graham Jarvis. In 1915, at the age of 77, John Labatt died, the company being controlled by a trust operated by all his children, although his sons John and Hugh assumed managerial control.