George White & Sons
One of the oldest and most storied agricultural empires in Canadian history
The history of George White & Sons Co. Ltd. is one of Canada’s defining agricultural stories. Based out of London, Ontario, George White steam traction engines and threshing machinery powered the rapid expansion of prairie farming across Western Canada from the late 19th century into the early 20th century.
George White was born in Devonshire, England. As a young man he learned the blacksmith trade at his father’s wagon-building shop and had he not decided to visit Canada on his honeymoon, a name prominent in the annals of Canadian industry might be missing.
Arriving at London, Ontario, Canada, in 1857, George White was delighted with the young country and decided to stay and open up a blacksmith and general repair shop in the fast growing city. However, he was soon enticed with the prospect of owning a hundred acres of land and the next few years found him farming a few miles north of London. White’s knowledge of iron-working became too well-known and his services were so much in demand that he decided to move back to the city and reopen a shop. Business was good and his small shop grew steadily and soon became known as the Forest City Machine Works.
During his farming days, George White became conscious of the great need for a suitable agricultural steam engine, and since he had the shop and tools, he began to work on plans for the manufacture of such an engine. Several small steam engines were designed and built. When he was satisfied with his engine, he set about acquiring the necessary boiler-making machinery. By the mid-to-late 1870s, White’s plant on King Street in London was producing portable steam engines mounted on wooden (and later steel) wheels, towed from farm to farm by horses.
During the late ’70s and early ’80s, George White made several pioneer trips to the Canadian West and established his machines in that fast-developing area.
The first engines had to be shipped via U. S. railroads and hauled the long distance north by horses or oxen. After the Canadian Pacific Railway crossed the prairie, a large warehouse was built in Brandon, Manitoba, to serve western Canada.
By the 1890s, simple portable engines gave way to self-propelled steam traction engines. These giants could haul heavy loads, break virgin prairie sod, and drive large “White” threshing separators via long flat belts. To meet this demand, the White factory built a number of traction engines of the return-flue type using the U. S. Huber as a pattern.
The George White engines were all simple, and were built plain and sturdy. They used no fancy fittings. Their traction engines were renowned for heavy cast gearing, heavy-gauge steel rear wheels, and durable single- or double-cylinder valve gear arrangements. The company prided itself on building what it advertised as the “First Quality Line.” On the round boiler doors cast at the front of their engines, the proud stamp read: “The George White & Sons Co. Ltd. London and Brandon - First Quality Line.”
Previous to 1898 only engines were built. That year the firm absorbed the plant of the MacPherson Company of Fingal, Ontario, which had been building the Challenge separator. This machine, already highly developed and well-known, rounded-out the George White output.
When the demand came for gas tractors, the firm became Canadian agents for the All Work kerosene tractor. Later, the John Deere tractors were handled for many years and then the B. F. Avery agency was secured.
George White had nine sons and three daughters. After finishing school, several of the boys started to work in their father’s factory. Upon completing his apprenticeship, each son was absorbed into an executive position in the firm, which became known in 1880 as the George White & Sons Company. George White died in 1913, shortly after the Whites celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary. Mrs. White died in 1919. One of their sons was involved with the company until 1950.
The last new machine was built in 1924, but engines were repaired and rebuilt for many years after. The company moved to large scale threshing machine production, which lasted well into the 1950s. Sprayer production began in 1968, and along with tractor mounted snow blowers, represented the major part of George White’s production until the severe agricultural economic downturn of the early 1980s. High interest rates and falling equipment demand hit many Canadian implement manufacturers hard. Facing crippling financial pressures after more than a century in business, George White & Sons was acquired, broken up, and liquidated by corporate creditors in the mid-1980s.
Today, surviving George White steam traction engines are prized centerpieces at heritage power shows and agricultural museums across Western Canada and Ontario.
