John Draper Perrin (August 26, 1890 – September 19, 1967) was a Canadian entrepreneur, mining executive and civic leader.[1][2][3]
Perrin was born inMedicine Hat,North-West Territories, to William Perrin, a former British soldier in theWolseley Expedition, (1st Battalion, 60thKing's Royal Rifles) andSergeant in theNorth-West Mounted Police and Sarah Lytle; both parents wereIrish immigrants. Perrin attended school inRegina andWinnipeg, includingAberdeen School.
He worked for theCanadian Pacific Railway land office from 1906 to 1908, eventually embarking on amining career. Perrin founded and developed theSan Antonio Gold Mine, serving as president from 1931 to 1962. The San Antonio mine was the first dividend paying metal mine between the Great Lakes and the Rocky Mountains in Canada.[4] He financed development of the mining town ofBissett, Manitoba.[5]
Having successfully secured the financial support ofNoah Timmins andHollinger Mines Perrin took the stock public in 1934, one of the first in Manitoba on theToronto Stock Exchange.[6] The offering made him one of Canada's wealthiest citizens. He was also an early adopter of commercial aviation, organizing charter serviceWings Limited, later purchased byCanadian Pacific Airways. Perrin has been credited as the first person in the world to use an aircraft to access a remote mining site.[7] He was financier and president of the minor proWinnipeg Warriors Hockey Club in the 1950s.[8] Perrin was inducted with the 1955-56 Warriors team into theManitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in the Champions category as winners of theEdinburgh Trophy.[9][10]
Perrin was chairman and a key leader in the Greater Winnipeg Victory Loan organization,[11] which put onIf Day on February 19, 1942. He also served during theSecond World War as National Vice Chairman of TheCanadian Red Cross Prisoners of War Parcels Committee. In this capacity Perrin was the organizer and sole Director of the Winnipeg Prisoners of War Parcels Packaging Plant[12][13] (the only such facility in western Canada) which packaged 2,604,990 parcels[14][15] for shipment overseas to POW's. Beginning in 1948 he was also Chairman ofThe Children's Hospital of Winnipeg Building Committee,[16] which successfully raised the funds necessary to build the Children's Hospital on William Avenue, opened in 1958 and now part of theHealth Sciences Centre. Perrin served as a Director on the Board of the Children's Hospital from 1946[17] until his death in 1967. He was President of theManitoba Club in 1953–54. At one time he owned the rural property that now makes up the largest portion ofBeaudry Provincial Park (Manitoba), on theAssiniboine River near Winnipeg.
Perrin died in Winnipeg and is buried atSt. Johns Cathedral Cemetery. He is commemorated by John Perrin Marsh atBeaudry Provincial Park (Manitoba) and in theManitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum and theManitoba Hockey Hall of Fame as president of theEdinburgh Trophy championsWinnipeg Warriors Hockey Club.
Perrin was married for 53 years to Ruth Taylor Litle; they had one son and three daughters, Alix Elizabeth, Sarah "Sally" Ruth and Marion Joan. His son J. D. "Jack" Perrin Jr. worked in the family businesses and in their hockey operations, for which he was inducted into theManitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and theManitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.[citation needed] He owned Winnipeg'sOlympic Rink andFort Garry Hotel.[18][citation needed] Perrin's son-in-lawDuncan Jessiman served as chair of the Board of Regents of theUniversity of Winnipeg and was appointed to theSenate of Canada from Manitoba.[citation needed] Perrin's son-in-law W. J. "Jack" Hopwood served in the 1967 Winnipeg Pan American Games organizing committee and as President of theSt. Charles Country Club and the Winnipeg Squash Racquet Club.[citation needed] MusicianJohnny Perrin is his great-grandson.