John Paris Bickell

John Paris Bickell

John Paris Bickell, mining executive (b at Molesworth, Ont 26 Sept 1884; d at New York City, NY 22 Aug 1951). A Toronto broker, Bickell invested in a Porcupine gold property that formed the basis of McIntyre Porcupine Mines Ltd, of which he was president and later chairman. During the 1930s, Bickell championed the interests of Ontario mine owners and made newspaper headlines with his airplanes, fast cars and close friends, including Premier M. HEPBURN. In WWII he served in England's Ministry of Aircraft Production under Lord Beaverbrook (Max AITKEN) and in Canada's Department of Munitions and Supply, where he was president of Victory Aircraft Ltd.

Bickell became the first president of Maple Leaf Gardens (the annual trophy awarded to the outstanding player on the Toronto Maple Leafs is named for him) and helped to establish the Toronto Art Gallery (later Art Gallery of Ontario). He was a senior partner of Thomson, McKinnon, member of the New York Stock Exchange. The J.P. Bickell Foundation, provided for in his will with a capital fund of $13 million, was established chiefly to assist medical and mining research in Ontario.