McGill Libraries
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Gillespie, Moffatt & Co.
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1816-1886
History
Gillespie, Moffatt & Company was the largest wholesale dry goods importing and exporting house in Montreal. It was founded in 1816 by Robert Gillespie, George Moffatt, and several other partners, including Samuel Gerrard, Jasper Tough, and John Jamieson. George Moffatt was the principal associate overseeing the business in Montreal. By the early 1820s, Robert Gillespie managed the business in London. The firm also acted as an agent for the London-based Phoenix Assurance Company. By 1842 partners of Gillespie, Moffatt, and Company in Quebec, Toronto, and London provided important links with the major commercial centres of Canada, Britain, and the West Indies. Robert Gillespie retired from the business in 1856 and George Moffatt in 1865. They were replaced as directors by Alexander T. Pattinson, who ran the Montreal business, and James B. Greenshields, who managed the London business. The company changed its name in 1886.