Adam Beck
1925 Obituary
We regret to have to announce the death of Sir Adam Beck, the chairman of the Ontario Hydro-electric Power Commission, which recently took place in London, Ontario. Adam Beck was born in Baden Waterloo County, Ontario, in 1857, and after his education was completed in public schools and at Dr. Tassie's school at Galt, he entered the milling business of his father. Later he removed to London, Ontario, where he established a boxmaking factory and founded a business which has extended until, to-day, it has branches in Hamilton, Toronto, and Montreal. Since 1905 Mr Beck had, however, devoted his sole attention to the development of electric power supply within the province of Ontario. At an earlier date the Falls of Niagara, were first harnessed for power and lighting purposes, but it remained to Sir Adam to consolidate and to extend the electric supply undertakings of the province. As the chairman of the Hydro-electric Power Commission of Ontario he sometimes came into sharp conflict with Government and private interest, but it cannot be denied that under his chairmanship the undertakings of the Commission flourished in a remarkable degree. An account of this undertaking and some of the efforts he made to extend the nine large power systems under his control will be found in the various reports of the Commission, of which the seventeenth annual issue, that for the year 1924, was signed by him not long before illness compelled him to retire from his official duties.