William Cawthra

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William Cawthra (29 October 1801 – 26 October 1880) was the eldest son of Joseph Cawthra, the founder and patriarch of the Cawthra Family in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

William inherited much of his father's fortune and business interests, and greatly expanded on them. William eventually became the wealthiest man in Toronto. He and his wife, Sarah Ellen Crowther Cawthra, lived in a townhouse at the corner of King and Bay Streets (the current site of the Bank of Nova Scotia's main headquarters). This house has been recognized as the most beautiful ever built in Canada, but was torn down in 1946 to make way for the Scotia Tower. (Anthony Patrick Cawthra Adamson, a descendant of Joseph Cawthra, tried to rescue the mansion from demolition, but could not. He managed to save some architectural elements from the house and installed them in his Rosedale, Toronto garden). William Cawthra died without heirs, and left his fortune to his nieces and nephews, who would use their fortunes to build lavish mansions on Jarvis Street and elsewhere (the land granted to Joseph Cawthra by the Crown became the site of numerous Cawthra family country homes), and to elevate themselves further in Toronto society.

Cawthra Park in the city's Church and Wellesley neighbourhood, adjoining Cawthra's former Jarvis Street properties, is named for him.