| Notes |
- John James (JJ, or Jack) Codville was born 12/9/1851 (1901
Census says 11/19/1851) in Quebec City, QB, the son of Hilary
and Mary Ann Robinson Codville. At the young age of five,
John's mother died (1856), eight years later his older brother
Hilary died (1864), and when he was 22, his father died (1873).
When his father died, John and his sister Mary inherited the
family assets. That same year, John invested heavily in the
grocer firm Thompson, Codville, and Co., becoming a partner
and providing the principal funds for its inception.
When John's sister Mary was married in 1877, the wedding was
held at John's home in Quebec City, QB.
After the announcement in 1881 that the Canadian Pacific
Railway would pass through Winnipeg, the number of wholesale
establishments jumped from twenty-six to sixty while the
number of grocery wholesalers increased from four to nine and
stock values nearly tripled. Much of the growth was generated
by local capital, but a large portion was beginning to be funded
by eastern companies. The Thompson, Codville Company (later
The Codville Co.) transferred its base of operation from Eastern
Canada to Winnipeg. The company prospered by offering basic
staple items rather than luxuries.
The Thompson, Codville Company Building (Sures Building) is
an historic landmark in Winnipeg today. Situated between the
elaborate Telegram Building, built around the same time, and the
Geo. D. Wood Building of the 1890s, this warehouse is a rare
example of a modest-sized structure of the city's first boom
period that has not been significantly altered. The building is
located at 246 McDermot Avenue. In the photo, the second
storey sign reads, "Buck's Stove Works, J.W. Griffin & Co.";
while the main floor sign is, "W.G. McMahon Wholesale
Provisions". The smaller sign is, "G.W. Macowen Raw Furs".
In 1887, John married Miss Edith Anna Lorrine C. MacDonnell.
They had two children: Francis Hilary MacDonnell Codville born in 1889 and Maude Edith Crawford MacDonnell Codville
born in 1892.
The Quebec grocer branch was closed in 1888, but John
continued to expand the Codville Co which eventually had
braches in Brandon and Calgary, Alberta (under Codville, Smith
Co., Ltd.).
In 1895, Codville and Co. moved from the Thompson, Codville
Co. Building (Sures Building) to a larger facility. A stove retailer
and a pork-packing firm moved in to share the original building,
dividing the former Codville warehouse into two separate
sections with individual entrances.
In 1895, a rail spur line was built in the lane that ran between
Bannatyne and Market streets to service Ashdown Warehouse.
This ensured that goods could be delivered and shipped in
railway boxcars directly to and from this locale, which
encouraged other wholesalers to move to this area. In 1899, J.H.
Ashdown commissioned architect J.H.G. Russell to design a
warehouse for Codville and Company, a grocery wholesale firm,
at 179 Bannatyne Avenue. This location was separated from the
Ashdown Warehouse by an empty lot. Over the next eleven
years Russell designed various additions to the two buildings
eventually joining them and increasing their height to six stories.
In his 1906 "A history of Manitoba: Its resources and people",
George Bryce includes a biography of John James Codville on
page 473 . This biography details that John was an "enthusiastic
hunter... and has hunted and fished from California to the
Atlantic Ocean".
The family is shown in the 1901 Canadian Census living in
Winnipeg. Household members are: John J. Codville, age 49
(head); Edith A. C. Codville, age 38 (wife); Amelia L.
MacDonnell, 68 (mother-in-law); Francis H. MacDonnell
Codville, 11 (son); Maude E. C. Codville, 8 (daughter); and two
domestic servants.
Amelia L. Chesley MacDonell died at Winnipeg, 10/5/1902. She
is buried in Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada with
her husband Donald W. MacDonnell in the family plot where
John James Codville is also buried.
It is not known at this time when John and Edith moved from
Winnipeg, but John and Edith had a home built in Ottawa,
designed by Werner Ernst Noffke (1878 - 1964), one of
Ottawa's most influential and prolific architects. Francis listed
this address for his father as next of kin on his WWI attestation
papers, signed 24 Sep 1914. The "JJ Codville Residence" still stands at 443 Daly Street and today serves as the home of the
Polish Embassy.
John James Codville died in 1915 at the age of 62. He is interred
at Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa, Canada. It is believed that
after his death Edith moved to British Columbia to be near their
son, Francis. Edith is buried in British Columbia.
A letter from John to his sister Mary in 1881 details some of his
(and his partner Bertie Thompson's) early efforts to establish the
wholesale grocery business of Thompson, Codville Company in
the booming town of Winnipeg. [4]
|
Ernest Benjamin Gillis Family History
1851 - 1915 (63 years)
[4]