Hartland Molson
Hartland de Montarville Molson, OBE ,
OC ,
DCL ,
FCA (
May 29,
1907 -
September 28,
2002) was an
Anglo-Quebecer statesman,
Canadian Senator and a member of the prominent
Molson family of
brewers.
Born in
Montreal, Quebec,
Canada to a wealthy brewing family, Hartland Molson was educated at
Selwyn House School in Montréal and at
Bishop's College School in
Lennoxville, Quebec before attending the
Royal Military College of Canada at
Kingston, Ontario where he played
ice hockey for the Kingston Juniors team that made it to the 1926
Memorial Cup finals. An all-around athlete, Molson also played first string
football, made it to the colleges
boxing finals twice, and was a member of the
track and field team. After graduating in 1928, the bilingual Molson was then sent for training in finance as an employee at a bank in
Paris, France. On his return home, he earned his
Chartered Accountant designation and in his spare time took flying lessons.
In 1931, he married Helen Hogg with whom he had a daughter, Zoe. She married
Henry Nicholas Paul Hardinge, 5th Viscount Hardinge and moved to live in
Jersey. With the onset of
World War II, Molson became a member of the
Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), serving in
England with the No. 1 Fighter Squadron. During 1940, he flew on 62 missions during the
Battle of Britain. After being wounded in action, he continued to serve in a variety of administrative positions until the end of the war and commanded several RCAF stations. Discharged after the 1945
German surrender, the following year he was made an Officer of the
Order of the British Empire.
At home in Montreal, in 1948 Hartland Molson was named Governor of
McGill University, a position he held for the next twenty years. In 1953, he was appointed President of the family's brewing empire,
Molson Breweries. He served as President between 1953 and 1966, then Chairman until 1974 and Chairman emeritus until 1983, retiring completely in 1988. During his tenure, the company experienced substantial growth, expanding operations across Canada.
In 1955,
Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent appointed Hartland Molson to the
Canadian Senate. In 1957, in partnership with his brother
Tom Molson, he purchased the
Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team. As a member of the Board of Governors of the
National Hockey League, Molson was instrumental in raising the profile of both the league and his brewing company through sponsorship of the
Hockey Night in Canada television broadcasts. As head of the Montreal Canadiens team, he helped develop the personnel to end the
Detroit Red Wings dominance, building one of the greatest dynasties in all of sport. In 1973, he was inducted into the builders category of the
Hockey Hall of Fame.
Outside of the Molson family businesses, Hartland Molson served on the Board of Directors of a number of major Canadian companies including the
Bank of Montreal and
Sun Life Assurance. However, his high profile image made him a prime target for the
Front de libération du Québec, a
terrorist organization dedicated to
Quebec sovereignty. During the 1970
October Crisis, when
British diplomat
James Cross was kidnapped and
Pierre Laporte, the Vice-Premier of Quebec, was kidnapped and
murdered, Hartland Molson's name was found on a terrorists' list of future victims.
Hartland Molson was involved with a number of a philanthropic causes including the Canadian Paraplegic Association, the Montreal General Hospital, the Douglas Hospital Corporation, and the
Boy Scouts of Canada. In 1995, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and in 2000, the
Ordre national du Québec, the highest civilian honor of his country and his native
province. Hartland Molson Hall at
Bishop's College School is named for him.
Hartland Molson retired from the Senate in
1993 at the age of 86 - the last Senator to serve past the mandatory retirment age of 75 as he was appointed prior to the institution of the limit in 1965 and thus exempt. He died in
2002 and was interred in the family mausoleum in the
Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal.
*
Federal Political Biography from the Library of Parliament
