Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Francis Millerd
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
1884-1976
History
Francis (Frank) Millerd was born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1883. He came to Canada via South Africa -- where he served in the Boer War -- in 1908. Upon arrival, he took a job in a cannery at Steveston, British Columbia, and thereafter remained in the fishing business of the Fraser River area of British Columbia for the rest of his life. In 1909, he married Annie Findon of Ontario and they subsequently parented five children. By 1937, he was a member of the prestigious Vancouver Club. Millerd's home and place of business were both located in West Vancouver.
Early in his career, Millerd entered into employ and eventual partnership with Captain Gosse, forming first the "Gosse-Millerd Packing Company" and later, the "Gosse-Millered Limited" company. In 1922, he disassociated himself from Gosse, and in 1924 established the "Sommerville Cannery Company Limited," building and purchasing several canneries. At some point, he also formed "Millerd Packing Company Limited," which was either concurrent with or subsequent to his other company. By 1942, he had established "Francis Millerd and Company Limited," with himself as president. This appears to have subsumed earlier companies, although at some point a subsidiary company called "Millerd Great Northern Fisheries Limited" was formed.
Around 1935, Millerd's sons Frank and Don began working for his company. Millerd never actually retired but his sons gradually assumed more business responsibility and by 1965, when he was 84, Millerd only worked a few hours a day. In the mean time, Millerd became more involved in various fisheries related organizations. Most notably, he acted as president of the Fisheries Council of Canada in 1951-52. This umbrella organization was aimed at consolidating the activities of groups involved in the fishing industry and representing them to government. In 1953, Millerd was appointed a member of the Fisheries Prices Support Board, aimed at preventing price collapses in the fisheries. In 1964, he was appointed to the International Pacific Halibut Commission, a Canada-US body whose purpose was to maintain local halibut stocks.
Francis Millerd died in 1976.