"Fire Insurance, an index to prosperity", by T.L. Morrisey

 

Upper and lower photographs are of T.L. Morrisey's office at 260 St. James Street;
Notman photograph, McCord Museum, 1894

This essay by T.L. Morrisey is taken from:

Canada's Future, What She Offers After the War

A Symposium of Official Opinions

Edited By E. A. Victor

Copyright Canada, 1916

Published by:

The MacMillan Co. of Canada, Ltd

Toronto, MacMillan and Co., Limited

Thomas Louis Morrisey, around 1917

By T. L. Morrisey

Author's biography: Thomas Louis Morrisey: born I860; president, All Canada
Fire Insurance Federation: past-president, Montreal Insurance Institute; past-president, Canadian Fire Underwriters Association. One of the leaders in the insurance world. He is the father of T.S. Morrisey and the Beaver Hall artist, Darrell Morrisey.

                                            -o-

It would, indeed, be difficult to find a truer index to the material growth of Canada than the steady increase in the volume of fire insurance reported to the Department of Finance at Ottawa.

Insurance on property presupposes property; therefore, the amount at risk held by the fire insurance companies operating within the territory may be taken as a reasonably safe guide in estimating the wealth of the community.

The Dominion of Canada came into being in the year 1867, and although the Fathers of Confederation overlooked specifically mentioning insurance as coming within the pur¬ view of the legislative powers of Parliament, nevertheless, the legislators of that day, sitting at Ottawa, appear to have had little doubt on the subject, since one of their earliest acts— Act 31, Vic., Cap. 48—related to insurance.

The first return to Parliament, under this Act, was presented at the second session of the first Parliament, covering the year 1868.

A perusal of this report now, in the light of later developments, proves very interesting reading.

The total amount of fire insurance in force on December 31st, 1868, was $203,653,894, a sum, no doubt, considered by our sturdy forebears not to be despised. Possibly when we picture to ourselves what Canada was then—four provinces not yet connected up; the conditions of life, simple, as com¬ pared with the complex social existence of to-day, the then chief sources of wealth being the four basic industries, agriculture, fishing, mining, and lumbering, the latter including the cognate industry, wooden shipbuilding—the great indus¬ trial development that has since taken place being still hidden m the womb of the future—we, too, can perceive why the modest figures of 1868, taken as an earnest of what was to come, amply justified the satisfaction of our forefathers.

The gradual expansion, and industrial development, of the country is reflected in the returns for succeeding years.

For the purpose of comparison, the amount at risk as at 31st December, 1868, and the corresponding figures for 1874, and at each quinquennium thereafter, are here given. These figures speak more eloquently than words:—

1868.$203,653,894

1874.$321,132,413

1879. $407,357,985

1884.$605,507,789

1889.$694,538,378

1894. $836,067,202

1904. $1,215,013,931

1909.$1,863,276,504

l914.$3,456,019,009

The population of Canada in 1868 was probably around 3,250,000 (census, 1871, 3,485,761). To-day it is, roughly, 8,000,000 (census, 1911, 7,206,643). Thus, while the popula¬tion has increased less than two and a half times, the fire insurance on property, as reported to the department at Ottawa, increased seventeen times.

It must be borne in mind that the figures quoted, being merely for the purpose of comparison, are, of necessity, limited to the amount carried by companies licensed by the Dominion Government, since no others are available for the earlier period. The control of insurance, unlike banking, has never been assumed solely by the Dominion. The provinces have also granted charters and licensed companies to carry on the business of insurance within their respective borders, and the volume of business so written by such companies, as com¬ piled from latest available reports (Ontario, 1913) reaches the very respectable total of $753,078,617.

This is not all. Under the Insurance Act of Canada, paradosical as it may seem, insurance with unlicensed com¬ panies—having no legal status in the country—is permitted; persons placing insurance with such companies are merely required to make a return of same to the superintendent of insurance.

The insurance placed with unlicensed companies, as re¬ ported for 1914, amounted to $219,743,335, which, while a sensible reduction from that reported for the preceding year, is still considerably in excess of the amount at risk of all companies in 1868.

Taking the amounts for the three classes of companies, we find:—

Dominion companies. $3,456,019,009

Provincial companies .  $753,078,617

Unlicensed companies.  $219,843,335

Grand total .  $4,428,840,961

Here we have a rough-and-ready method of arriving at the value of all our buildings, and movable property; dwellings and their contents; churches, schools, colleges; warehouses and stocks of merchandise; factories and machinery; farm buildings, implements, and live stock; grain and lumber; steamboats plying on inland waters; railway property, other than right-of-way; in short, property in every conceivable form liable to destruction by fire.

Having regard to the uninsured property, and property, though insured, under-insured, a fair estimate would be to place the insurance carried at 50 per cent, of the actual value, which would yield a sum of $8,857,681,922, or well over $1,000, for every man, woman, and child in the country.

The people of Canada are, likewise, forehanded; they have money in the bank, the amount standing to their credit in savings account as at 31st July, 1915, being no less than $683,761,432. They carry life insurance to the extent of $1,216,955,432, upon which they paid premiums (1914) of $41,129,724.

Our wealth does not stop here. We have thirty thousand miles of railway; highways and bridges; municipal improvements, such as pavements, water, sewerage, and lighting systems, all contributing to the comforts of modern life. Our interest in these may be only an equity, as the bondholders, and m the position of mortagagees, but the benefits accrue to us.

 Our wealth does not stop here. We have thirty thousand miles of railway; highways and bridges; municipal improvements, such as pavements, water, sewerage, and lighting systems, all contributing to the comforts of modern life. Our interest in these may be only an equity, as the bondholders stand in the position of mortagagees, but the benefits accrue to us.

 Then, to cap all, we have a very nice little parcel of real estate, its "metes and bounds" being as follows: on the north, the Arctic ; on the east, the Atlantic ; on the south, the 49th parallel of latitude ; and on the west, the Pacific, comprising, in all, three and three-quarter million square miles, more or less, some of which has sold as high as $128 per square foot.

 Upon this estate is to be found a great diversity of natural resources: coal in abundance, east and west; minerals, base and precious ; orchard and argicultural lands suitable for all kinds of farming and producing the finest wheat in the world; the largest forest reserves; fur-bearing animals; shores teeming with fish; rivers and lakes navigable to the heart of the continent ; rivers not navigable, but possessing value as water-power, or hydro-electric, estimated at 20,000,000 horsepower, of which not 10 per cent, has been developed.

 Climate is sometimes urged against us, but even this has its compensations; for, if it is cold in winter, may we not reckon amongst our most valued assets the longest hours of sunshine in summer? Old Sol, with an utter disregard of labour union maxims, does not hesitate to work overtime in the ripening of our crops.

 To the climate may we not also attribute, in no small degree, the most valued asset of all the strong, hardy, self-reliant, virile race engaged in the world task of building a nation on this northern half of the North American continent ?

The sons of Canada have proved their mettle upon every occasion that has arisen. The same spirit that prevailed in 1885, when the Rebellion in the North-West threatened their country, and again in 1899-1900, when they answered the call of Empire half way around the world to South Africa, is the spirit that asserted itself immediately the long-talked of German peril crystallized itself into German attack upon their national life. The response of Canada was quick, and befitting the proud position she occupies amongst the free and self-governing communities forming that glorious Empire which stands for everything that makes for the uplift of mankind.

In the never-to-be-forgotten April days of the eventful year, 1915, when the torture of suspense spread like a pall over the country to its remotest corner, to be followed by the thrill of pride and exultation, as the story of the glorious deeds of the Canadians at Ypres and St. Julien gradually unfolded, a nation was born! There, upon the classic battle-ground of Europe, that witnessed the military operations of the mighty Caesar and his legions, and, down through the centuries, the struggles of various peoples for mastery ! There, against the onslaughts of the greatest military organization the world has ever known, employing methods entirely novel in warfare, and, be it said to the everlasting disgrace of Germany, as despicable as novel, these new-found warriors of the twentieth century held fast, and, in the words of their illustrious commander-in-chief, "saved the situation".

 May it not well be asked, where is there another eight million people as highly favoured as this eight million, another community possessed of the same per capita wealth, potential as well as in being? Should we not justly be proud of our heritage our "place in the sun" and forever be prepared to defend it to our last dollar, and our last man ? 

June 2024 visit to Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal

Where my parents are buried, "between Chaston and Green"

When Cote des Neiges Cemetery and Mount Royal Cemetery were founded in the mid 1800s, Cote des Neiges was a Catholic cemetery and Mount Royal Protestant; this has mostly stopped being the case. 

It was a hot day, it was +34C

A new headstone for my mother's brother who died in  1914

Headstone for Thomas Sydney Morrisey and his wife Hilda Coristine Morrisey; Syd 
is the brother of Darrell Morrisey, one of the "forgotten Beaver Hall artists 

 

A newly discovered painting by Darrell Morrisey

"Sunset Landscape" by Darrell Morrisey, dated May 1917

In March of this year I was contacted by Gretchen Shoring of ARTI, a company selling antique paintings located in London, UK, about a painting possibly by Canadian artist Darrell Morrisey. Darrell was a "forgotten" member of Montreal's Beaver Hall group of artists; while some members of the group have become famous, Darrell and several others have mostly disappeared from public view.            

"Sunset Landscape" is not signed on the front of the painting, but Darrell's signature is on the reverse, written in pencil in cursive; on the previously discovered painting (see below) by Darrell, her name is printed in block letters at the lower left of the painting; in both cases she has written her name, "D. Morrisey". Duggleby Stephenson, the auction house based in Yorkshire, UK, which first acquired this painting, describes it as follows:

Description: Darrell Morrisey (Canadian 1897-1930): Sunset Landscape, oil on board signed with initials, inscribed and dated 1917 verso 13cm x 19cm

Here is a suggestion of what might be the provenance of "Sunset Landscape". The painting might have been a gift by Darrell to someone she knew, I suggest it was given to Charles Darrell (or a member of his family), after whom Darrell was named, as he was both Darrell’s godfather and a close friend of  T.L. Morrisey, Darrell's father. In 1913, when Darrell was about fifteen years old, she left Montreal for the UK, accompanied by Charles Darrell to his family home in Chiselhurst, Kent, where she would board at Tudor Hall School. Charles Darrell and his wife, Emily Harries Jones, had four daughters, all older than Darrell, and Darrell could easily have been included in family gatherings. Charles Darrell was born and raised in Yorkshire, where Duggleby Stephenson is located; is it not possible that a descendant of Charles Darrell returned to Yorkshire and, many years later, in 2023 or 2024, decided to sell the painting? Someone identified the artist, Darrell Morrisey, who was a family friend, on a note attached to the reverse of the painting. I think this is a possible scenario. But, obviously, I am just speculating and I could be totally wrong.

Finally, I like this painting very much; it demands our attention. To me, the painting has a charisma (assuming a painting can have charisma; Darrell definitively had charisma). Of course, what we need are more paintings by Darrell, and we may find a few more, but for now we have her life story that is still unfolding, and we have these paintings by her.    

Here is a link to my 2012 essay on Darrell Morrisey: Darrell Morrisey, a forgotten Beaver Hall artist.  

In our living room: on left, a painting by Mary Harman, used as the cover image for
my selected poems, Mapping the Soul, Selected Poems, 1978-1998 (1998); on the right
is a watercolour by J.F.B. Livesay, the father of Canadian poet Dorothy Livesay; 
the painting by Darrell Morrisey is below the Livesay.

"Sunset Landscape", by Darrell Morrisey, 1917

                                            Reverse side of "Sunset Landscape” with Darrell's signature
                                and a sticker identifying Darrell and her brother, Thomas Sydney Morrisey  



Two paintings by Darrell Morrisey

Painting by Darrell Morrisey discovered in 2014

Newly discovered painting by Darrell Morrisey, 2024

T.L. Morrisey, excerpt from an essay he wrote

 

                From left: Darrell Morrisey; her father T.L Morrisey; her brother Thomas Sydney Morrisey;
                and her mother Clara Morrisey; outside their home "Hazelbrae", at 85 Churchill Avenue,
                                                                            Westmount, Quebec.



Canada's Future, what she offers after the war, a symposium of official opinion (1916) (ed. E.A. Vickers) is an early but important collection of statements, a symposium, on the future of Canada; included among the contributors is the father of Darrell Morrisey (pictured above), Darrell is a forgotten member of Montreal's important Beaver Hall Group of artists.

Here is an excerpt from T.L. Morrisey's contribution to this book. T.L.'s son, Thomas Sydney Morrisey, went on to have a prominent role in business and he  distinguished himself as a war hero in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Siberia. Darrell Morrisey, in 1916, was only 17 years old and still in school. T.L., himself, was born into a middle class family in Halifax, Nova Scotia; he became very wealthy in the insurance business in Montreal. T.L. died in 1926 not long after his retirement; he and his wife, and Darrell, had recently arrived in the UK planning to spend the winter months in England and France when he died:

In the never-to-be-forgotten April days of the eventful year, 1915, when the torture of suspense spread like a pall over the country to its remotest corner, to be followed by the thrill of pride and exultation, as the story of the glorious deeds of the Canadians at Ypres and St. Julien gradually unfolded, a nation was born! There, upon the classic battle-ground of Europe, that witnessed the military operations of the mighty Caesar and his legions, and, down through the centuries, the struggles of various peoples for mastery! There, against the onslaughts of the greatest military organization the world has ever known, employing methods entirely novel in warfare, and, be it said to the everlasting disgrace of Germany, as despicable as novel, these new-found warriors of the twentieth century held fast, and, in the words of their illustrious commander-in-chief, "saved the situation".

May it not well be asked, where is there another 'eight million people as highly favoured as this eight million, another community possessed of the same per capita wealth, potential as well as in being? Should we not justly be proud of our heritage— our “place in the sun” — and forever be prepared to defend it to our last dollar, and our last man ?

                            

                                                       --T. L. Morrisey

Visiting Thomas Sydney Morrisey's grave on 12 March 2012

Thomas Sydney Morrisey (1890-1975) is the brother of Darrell Morrisey, one of the forgotten Beaver Hall artists, and the son of Thomas Lewis Morrisey. T.S. is buried with his wife, Beatrice Hilda Morrisey (1891-1967). T.S. Morrisey's mother is buried near where her son and daughter-in-law are buried. The location is Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal. 

The grave of Thomas Sydney Morrissey at Mount Royal
Cemetery in Montreal, this visit on March 2012, T.S. Morrisey 

 

Home of Thomas Sydney Morrisey on Cedar Avenue, Westmount

Thomas Sydney (T.S.) Morrisey, Darrell Morrisey's older brother, lived most of his life within walking distance of his family home at 85 Church Hill Avenue, in Westmount, Quebec. Morrisey is a true war hero, he has a distinguished military career which includes spending part of World War One in Siberia. He was also a family man. These are photographs of Morrisey's home at 3275 Cedar Avenue, in Westmount, Quebec. Morrisey phoned my mother in the early 1940s regarding Morrisey family history, but we are not related to his family. Photos taken fall 2012.

Revised: 03 July 2018

Darrell Morrisey on Church Hill Avenue

May 2011

Fall 2012

    

Here is where Darrell Morrisey grew up, at 85 Church Hill Avenue in Westmount, Quebec, as it looks today. Darrell is one of the forgotten or "lost" members or of the Beaver Hall group of Montreal artists. Regrettably, none of her art seems to have survived since her death in the 1930. 

Revised: 03 July 2018

Here is a link to my essay on Darrell Morrisey, https://archive.org/details/DARRELLMORRISEYAForgottenBeaverHallArtistByStephenMorrissey

Revised: 18 January 2023