William Mellis Christie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Mellis Christie, (5 January 1829 – 14 June 1900), was one of the co-founders of biscuit maker Christie and Brown and namesake for Mr. Christie.
Christie was born in Huntley, Aberdeenshire, Scotland and was an apprenticed baker before arriving in Canada in 1848. Along with Alexander Brown, Christie co-founded a city baker (1858) and later to become Christie and Brown Cookie Company in 1868. By the 1880s, Christies was considered to be the largest manufacturer of biscuits in Canada.
The product had a market base in all parts of the country but does not appear to have penetrated export markets to any degree before his death. The product line, of which there were more than 400 varieties of cakes and biscuits, was carefully monitored for quality by Christie himself.
In 1899, Christie, Brown and Company incorporated as a joint-stock company. He owned all 5,000 shares but this structure was, at least partly, designed with a view to dealing with his estate after death. Christie died of bone cancer the following year in Toronto.
Christie Street and Christie Pits in Toronto are named after him. Christie subway station is named after the street.
