Jack Bickell

Bickell's parents were Rev. David Bickell and Annie Paris, who was a teacher.[1] Born in Molesworth, near Listowel, and raised in Toronto, Bickell was their second child of four. His father died when he was six years old; his younger brother died when John was eight years old; and his older brother died in 1898 when John was 12 years old.[2]

Bickell attended St. Andrew's College, where he was one of the first 100 graduates.[3]

Bickell started his own brokerage firm, J. P. Bickell & Co., at the age of 23 and was a millionaire by 30. He sold his firm in 1919 to concentrate on his various movie and mining interests. His hiatus from the industry did not last long as on April 15, 1926, he was a senior partner in the New York brokerage firm of Thomson McKinnon.[4] He left the firm in to take on his WWII responsibilities in late 1939.

Bickell was a key player in the development of the movie industry in Canada. He served as president of both Eastern Theatres Limited and Hamilton United Theatres Limited. Eastern Theatres oversaw the construction of Toronto’s Pantages Theatre, which specialized in the era's vaudeville acts. Similarly, Bickell also served as vice-president of the Select Pictures Corporation, a Canadian distribution company, and was also part of the team that acquired Montreal’s Théâtre St-Denis in October 1917. Bickell was vice-president of the Regent Theatre Company, one of Toronto’s first large movie theatres which stood on Adelaide between Yonge and Bay Streets. The theatre’s company was formed in 1916 by a group of Toronto financiers including; P. W. Cushman, E. L. Ruddy, W. J. Sheppard, J. B. Tudhope and, of course, Bickell. Anticipating the ever-increasing interest in moving pictures, the company sought to acquire and transform J. Ambrose Small’s theatre, The Majestic, into a deluxe movie theatre. In 1920 Famous Players Canadian Corporation Limited was founded in Bickell's office and he served as the vice president with Nathan Nathanson as managing director. Bickell's friend W.D. Ross, head of the Bank of Nova Scotia and later Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, Izaak Walton Killam of Royal Securities, Sir Herbert Samuel Holt of the Royal Bank, and Bickell, were all members of the Board of Directors that underwrote the necessary CA$4 million of the company's initial share offerings. He ultimately sold out his interests in the movie industry in 1930 to the president of the corporation, Adolph Zukor of New York. Bickell then concentrated on his mining interests.[5][6]

Bickell's initial involvement in mining was in the early 1900s in Cobalt, Ontario. In 1911 he invested in McIntyre Porcupine Mines Ltd. in Schumacher, Ontario. He became the president and later chairman, a position he held until his death. His work in mining earned him a place in the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame.

McIntyre Mine was formed in 1911, adding land staked by Sandy McIntyre to nearby ground obtained by Bickell. The initial assays were lean, but Bickell kept the faith and the company afloat through these tough times. Later, as grades improved, he obtained additional ground. The result was the McIntyre Porcupine Mine Limited, which has earned a place in Canadian mining history as one of the nation’s most important mines. Between 1912 and 1955, total production was valued at $230 million, and the company paid $62 million in dividends to shareholders. McIntyre also controlled the Belleterre gold mine in Quebec and the Castle-Trethewey silver mine near Gowganda, Ontario.[7]

During the Second World War, Bickell was a key member of a group under Canadian Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, the British Minister of Aircraft Production, which ensured an adequate supply of airplanes for the British forces. On July 24, 1940, in London, UK he was appointed the Controller of the Air Transport Auxiliary] (ATA), in July 1941 the ATA became the RAF Ferry Command and subsequently The Atlantic Ferry Organization (ATFERO). Bickell served two years with the British Airplane Supply Board. Along with other important businessmen and industrialists known as the "4 Busy B's" with Beaverbrook, (former Prime Minister) R. B. Bennett and Beverly Baxter (M.P.). Bickell was recruited by his friend Lord Beaverbrook to become one of the famous "dollar-a-year" men who headed up wartime industry and special projects. In 1942, he returned to Canada to become the president and chairman of the board of Victory Aircraft Ltd. in Malton, Ontario, the largest airplane manufacturer in Canada. Bickell was tasked with increasing the Avro Lancaster bomber production resulting in one per day rolling off the assembly line. This effort was credited with ultimately having a dramatic influence on winning the war.

It was no secret that Bickell was not a fan of the federal government of the day. Regardless, Bickell’s sense of duty to the nation prevailed, and his commitment to the war effort on both sides of the Atlantic was unassailable. Bickell’s personal actions at the outbreak of the Second World War were very generous. On September 12, 1939, Bickell donated his Grumman Goose G21A CF BKE to the RCAF, which took it on strength with the military serial RCAF924. On November 1, 1940, J.P. donated his other plane, a Grumman Goose G-21A CF-BQE, which became RCAF 941 on November 1, 1940. The Grumman Goose G-21A aircraft were amphibious planes and during that time known as the rich man’s aircraft.[17]

In 1942 Bickell wrote a cheque for five thousand dollars, which he donated to the RCAF’s Benevolent Fund. In a letter that accompanied the cheque, Bickell wrote

"If there is any branch of the services which merits recognition in a deferential degree, surely it must be that in which the personnel suffer the highest percentage of casualties in relationship to their numbers, namely the air force. Furthermore, I am firmly convinced that had it not been for the indomitable courage, skill and sacrifices endured by them during the Battle of Britain, the destiny of democracy everywhere would long since have been shattered beyond recognition, if not completely eliminated. When one realizes that the age range in this group comprises mainly of those just on the threshold of life and normally therefore with the longest expectancy before them, the tragedy to both them and their families becomes even more poignant".[18]

After the war, Bickell co-founded A. V. Roe Canada Limited (AVRO), Avro Canada with Sir Roy Dobson which took over the Victory Aircraft Plant and was a wholly owned subsidiary of Hawker Siddeley. He paid the $1,200 incorporation fee out of his own pocket, and personally backed a $2.5 million dollar line of credit at the Canadian Bank of Commerce, of which he was a director. Dobson became the President and Bickell became the Chairman, a position he held until his death in August 1951.[19]

In business, Bickell served as the Chairman of McIntyre-Porcupine Mines Limited, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto Maple Leafs and A. V. Roe Canada Limited (AVRO) He was also a director of Canadian Bank of Commerce, International Nickel Company of Canada (INCO), Imperial Life Assurance, and National Trust. He was also an active in healthcare, serving on several boards, including that of Wellesley Hospital, St. John's Ambulance Association and he was the honorary president of the Health League of Canada.

In the late 1930s, the radio station and newsprint building burnt down in Timmins. It was owned by Roy Thomson and it was J.P. Bickell who loaned him the necessary funds to re-build. In 1945, he provided the loan Jack Kent Cooke needed to buy Toronto radio station CKEY. During his life, Bickell gave generously and in death, he willed $13 million of his $14.6 million estate to the creation of the J.P. Bickell Foundation managed by National Trust Company (now ScotiaTrust a division of Scotiabank). He established it to donate half of its interest income each year at; 50% to the Hospital for Sick Children, 10% for bursaries aiding in Medical Research, 5% to Mining scholarships and 35% to be distributed to general charities in Ontario at the discretion of the J.P. Bickell Foundation Management Committee. The Foundation has generated over $300M and contributed $160 million to charity from 1953-2017.[20] Upon his death he bequeathed a multi-million dollar collection of approximately 112 pieces of original artwork and artifacts to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO),of which he was a founder-member. Camp Bickell is a non-profit children's camp that was established on Chapman Lake initially in 1939 with the assistance of Mr. Bickell and in 1949, he provided the necessary funds of $5,000 to permanently secure the land. The camp near Iroquois Falls is still in operation today (2017) and receives approximately 600 campers per season.

J.P. Bickell died in New York City on August 22, 1951, at age 66 and was buried in the Mausoleum at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto. Bickell’s life work and philanthropy isn’t well known because he was a private man who did not seek self promotion. His self-built business empire allowed him to be extremely charitable, a legacy that has continued after his death.[21]

• "J.P. Bickell, The Life the Leafs and the Legacy", Dundurn Press, 2017.

• Biographical information and career statistics from Legends of Hockey
• Canadian Mining Hall of Fame
• Camp Bickell